Book of Flowers

I began working on this book a few weeks ago.  Started with papers partially painted and collaged from over the year along with ribbons and salvaged lace from the girls petticoats poked one too many times by thorns, brambles, and twigs on forays into the woods.  While cleaning out closets, found a box of blouses given by my aunt years back, so added those to the mix of materials; one big repurposing creative venture!

Starting out the pages felt veiled by curtained windows opening and closing to bright color, light, and flowers outside, coming in, moving around in the truck bearing blooms and a kangaroo pocket, with another in the foliage, for holding papers, notes, pictures, pens, feathers, and other treasures. Flower girls joined in and next thing I knew I was painting vases with bouquets, so just went with the floral feeling, book blossoming toward a theme.

Kept painting the pages little by little and stitching them in until it was assembled and then I thought I’d add blank paper booklets for writing in, so as to give this book continued purpose as a journal or a space to write stories, dreams, maybe birth stories . . . added three pamphlet stitched booklets with forty four pages in all:: forty weeks gestation plus four more, because sometimes it’s a bit more or less, the babes know when they’re ready despite what we may think . . .  I was pregnant forty two weeks with our first, thirty eight weeks with our second and with the last three forty weeks was when we met . . . birth happens in it’s own time, whether with babes or books or whatever’s conceived of that grows from conception small as a tadpole stretching out froggy then round as the moon full into fruition and after a spell once again over under over under seeds are sown ❤

Am thrilled with this journey from start to finish; felt like a voyage with trust, allowing the heart to lead the way digging in and bringing out, and now with the warm days having arrived, windows open with fresh ideas in the breeze singing 🙂