Blooming Intentions

  Week 14: Eucalyptus This week, I made eucalyptus because I wanted a green filler for the bouquet, and eucalyptus is my go-to for actual bouquets. I have made these before but did not love the design I used, so this time I found a different one and I think it is better. I do wish I had a better green color as it would make it a bit more realistic instead of a vivid one, but I think since the bouquet is also so bright it works fine. These were easy to make so it was semi-relaxing, although I had other assignments to work on so I did rush through them. They are commonly associated with protection, which I think is something that everyone could use with all the evils of the world. I made these by using my Cricut to cut out the leaf pairs, and then assembled them by putting a ring of hot glue around the green-dyed dowels where I wanted the leaves to sit, and then slid it down the dowel to that point. I then just bent the flowers to give a bit more dimension. And this is the FINAL bouq...

  Week 13: Baby's Breath This week, I decided that I needed a flower that was easy to make and also relatively small because I am running out of room in the vase. I ended up choosing to make baby's breath because it is my favorite filler flower. Baby's breath is commonly associated with many things, such as innocence, purity, and devotion, but I am choosing to focus on it's association with hope. Many facets of life are very stressful right now, finals week, the economy, politics, my research lab, and the list goes on. A little bit of hope right now goes a long way, so instead I will focus on the good things upcoming and try to remind myself that I am always working towards my goals. Fun fact these flowers are made out of tissues, which is really fitting because I am incredibly sick right now and have gone through almost a whole box. These flowers were fun because I like baby's breath a lot and they were relatively simple to do, so I do think they provided a boost t...

  Week 12: Crocus This week, I made Crocuses (Croci?), which commonly represent cheerfulness. This week I had three exams, so I could definitely use some cheerfulness after a week straight of nothing but doing work. I got to make these right after my Calc 3 exam with a friend, so we both got some well needed stress relief. It helped that I picked a very simple flower to make this week, so it was a lot of fun to just chat and craft. I think these flowers turned out about as realistic as paper flowers can be, so I really like how they turned out. I think starting with plain white and light yellow cardstock and then coloring them with pastels gave a really natural ombre effect. Assembly for these is really easy, starting with rolling the yellow center pieces around the green-dyed dowel. Then I added the petals, offsetting them to fill the gaps. Finally, I decided to add green leaf-like pieces to cover the final seams and transition into the dowel, creating the finished flower! And thi...

  Week 11: Marigolds This week I made marigolds, which are commonly associated with power and strength, as well as remembering the dead. I think strength in this last stretch of the semester is definitely going to be a need. It also took a lot of mental power this week to get through all of my work and prepare for my three exams next week, just as it will to get through the three exams. So I will welcome all of the power and strength that I can channel. I was so tired throughout this week, so while making these flowers, although they are simple, I really did not want to do them and took some shortcuts to make the process faster. Because of this they did not really improve my mental health, but I guess it would be the same as doing any other traditional assignment so they also did not hurt anything. This week I made rolled flowers again, mostly because I am short on time. I do not think they are perfect recreations of marigolds, but I think they are fun and have lots of texture to ...

  Week 9: Bluebells This week I made bluebells, which are commonly associated with humility and gratitude. I actively try to incorporate gratitude into my every day life, as there are so many things to be grateful for. This week I also tried to separate humility from being insecure or underconfident in my abilities. I tend to downplay my accomplishments and feel awkward in compliments, but I am trying to be more confident and be proud in what I do.  These flowers hang off the stick a bit more, so I wanted to experiment with using floral wire. I made them by stacking layers, so I poked a hole in each pedal shape and then used hot glue to stack them, I rolled the stamen part and attached that to the center of the top. Then I put them onto each end of a wire and wrapped the wire around the green dyed sticks. After I got 6 wires, or 12 flowers, onto the sticks I positioned them where I wanted and hot glued them in place. I also added a slightly bigger flower to the top of the stic...

  Week 8: Cosmos This week I made cosmos, which are commonly associated with harmony and order. Yellow cosmos represent happiness and orange ones represent enthusiasm and optimism, but I mostly picked these colors because I thought the bouquet needed more of them. My life has definitely been extra stressful recently, so harmony and order would be very nice. I tried to focus on the good moments and find peace and order wherever I could. As usual, making these flowers did provide a break from some of the stress, and them being a simpler one to make made it not stressful.  These cosmos are a stacked flower, so its cut into three layers, each with three petals, and then offset and stacked together. I connected three different heights of the stamen and then rolled them using tweezers to create the center. I decided to add slight shading to the petals and some brown to the stamen to create more dimension, which I think helped a lot. Then I glued each piece onto the stick and added t...

  Week 7: Carnations This week I made carnations, which are generally associated with Distinction. Carnations are one of my favorite flowers and my go to if I am buying flowers or making a bouquet. Distinction is defined as "excellence that sets someone or something apart from others." Bringing this energy into my school work and hobbies reminds me that effort can make all of the difference between something mediocre and something great. I have made many of these flowers before, often as pens, so this was a nice and relaxing break compared to the frustration of the Dahlias last week, although I was not totally happy with how some of the shading ended up. A story I've heard before about carnations' history is a Roman myth about Diana, the goddess of the hunt. Her hunt was ruined one day and as she left she found a shepherd playing music, who she blamed for ruining her hunt. She plucked out his eyes, and it is said where his eyes fell, red carnations grew to represent t...