Friday, February 11, 2011

Leaves Book: Part Two

I have to laugh at the amount of leaves I pressed that year.  It was lovely to have so many to choose from when I made this book, and I did use some in ATC's, but I must have pressed hundreds - really, several hundred - and I couldn't possibly have used more than fifty altogether at the time.  I still have a drawer full of them, sadly fading, and probably destined to fade away to brittle bits.  When that happens, I'll just go out collecting and press a couple hundred more.

Gold envelope for rubber stamped tag, maple leaves.

Pocket for tag, postage stamp, tassel, rubber stamps.
This page was another clear envelope with additional transparent pocket and vintage photo.
Handmade paper with leaves embedded. Blackberry on the left.

Postage stamp, and the same leaves as in the envelope.

I edged this page and the next with latin names of my favorite trees.
Postage stamp, rubber stamps, small envelope
It was surprising how some of the prettiest leaves when pressed were quite unimpressive.  The biggest surprise was how blackberry leaves kept a dainty red border.  I found a laceleaf maple in glorious red and orange outside a Starbucks with very tiny leaves and I think I used every one of them in one project or another.

When I conceived this book, I went through all my materials and scraps to pull everything leaf-related.  The process itself was great fun, but more importantly it reminded me what else I had waiting tucked away for other projects.  It is often a joke among my friends how I continuously organize, sort, and arrange all my materials, but just going through them is an enormous inspiration - every bit as much as books and magazines.

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