Last fall I had the opportunity to take a crepe paper moth orchid class from a master paper flower creator. (Seriously, check out her Instagram!) It was an incredible class and I was very excited to take the pages of notes I took and turn them into my own orchids. Once Christmas projects were done, I finally had time to create them. Then some friends bought their first home and I knew just what to give them! A custom orchid arrangement that won’t die! 🙂 The finished piece was about 27 inches tall.
How I Made the Arrangement
I found a great ceramic vase at a thrift store. It was originally a glossy green and I gave it a modern upgrade with white and 24-carat gold spray paint. I love how it turned out! It was tempting to keep the vase, but it was so perfect for these orchids.
I filled the vase with floral foam and topped it with cardstock so I could glue the white quartz pebbles I found at a local dollar store.
The flowers and buds were made using Lia Griffith doublette in Vanilla/Chiffon. I actually doubled up the doublette (so four layers total) so the flowers would have some thickness. For the pink centers, I used the palest pink in this chalk set and the light purple pen from the Staedtler Triplus Fineliners (love them!!). The stems are doubled or tripled up 18 gauge wire. The leaves are using a very heavy DCWV green crepe I have in my stash that worked out well. I also used Lia Griffith Crepe Paper in Cypress (from this pack) to wrap the stems.
Two of the three rhizomes.
I used wire to have the looped stem attach to the brace.
From above
The back
The arrangement in it’s new home.
This was such a fun project to put together! I’m loving learning more about crepe paper flowers!
For Christmas this year, I made another little storybook titled, “The Cupcake Caper,” for my nieces and nephew featuring a story and game they made up (with some help). I think it turned out so cute! The story is about three bakers who travel the world giving away cupcakes. Then their plane gets kidnapped! To get their plane back they have to bake the world’s largest cupcake. Will they be able to do it? Spoiler: Of course they will. 🙂
The kids loved opening it up (it was wrapped up in multiple boxes, ha!) and seeing a story featuring themselves. It was so fun being able to read it to them. The two year old can tell you who everyone is in the book. So adorable!
It was so fun to read it with them on Christmas and watch them excitedly look at their paper characters build a bigger and bigger cupcake to find the “Miss Megan.” The oldest niece was so excited to see the last HUGE cupcake! hahaha!
To create a copy of the book, I took photos of the pages and uploaded them to Shutterfly and created an 8″×8” photobook.
Do you have a fun, special game or tradition in your family? How have you documented and recorded it?
I wanted to create something to support International Mast Cell Disease Day that was a few weeks ago. I thought it would be fun to do something a little different for me. This year (and last year) I created quilled artwork that shows how I feel living with this rare disease. And typical of me, I didn’t quite get it done in time. Ha! (I’m currently trying to hard to get a big Christmas gift done on time!) But it’s finished and I’m happy with it!
So here it is!
Hope in My Heart
“Hope in My Heart” Quilled Paper, 12×12-inch. 2020.
This quilled artwork piece features a paper heart is wrapped in a purple ribbon with white polka dots, which is the official mast cell disease ribbon. I hope that as more awareness is raised about this family of diseases that more doctors will take it seriously and be willing to treat it. I hope more treatment options will become available and perhaps even a cure will be one day available. Raising awareness and raising money for this cause can help bring these hopes closer to a possibility.
I thought of this ribbon wrapped heart last year while I was working on ideas for this next piece.
Hope in the Morning
“Hope in the Morning” was created as a submission to the 2019 Rare Disease Art Contest. I felt very inspired creating this piece. While I didn’t place in the contest, I was really happy with how my submission turned out.
My home is nestled at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains and each morning I get to watch the sun rise over these glorious mountains. Each morning it fills my heart with happiness and hope in the new day. And each sunrise brings the beauty and hope of a new day where symptoms are manageable and new treatments can be discovered.
“Hope in the Morning” Quilled Paper and Gold Leaf on Canvas, 16×20-inch. 2019.
Both pieces are a style of paper art called quilling. I just love it. Its not my usual form of paper art, but it suited the look I wanted for both pieces. Its always fun to try and explore new art forms, right?
“Hope in the Morning” Quilled Paper and Gold Leaf on Canvas, 16×20-inch. 2019.
If you would like to help patients like me, please consider dontating to TMS, the foundation that supports Mast Cell Diseases. 💜💜
If there is an interest, I might consider making digital prints available in my Etsy Shop with proceeds going to TMS. Interested in the original of the Hope in My Heart? Please email me.
I thought it would be fun to highlight some new earrings in the shop I’ve posted. This new batch has T.E.N. new styles! Woohoo! Here they are:
Faux Leather Styles
Demeter Style Earrings These Earrings are just so lovely and are the sister earrings to the Aphrodite Earrings. The pink floral pattern has little scarabs and ladybugs flitting through the flowers and vines.
Aphrodite Style Earrings The Aphrodite Style Earrings are a beautiful compliment to the Demeter Style earrings. I just love the gold foil and pink combo of both of these earrings.
Golden Bee Earrings These pretty golden bees feature a little rhinestone in each wing that catch the light. If you’re a bee lover, you definitely need these in your life!
It’s amazing how quickly the world turned upside down. I live in Utah and two weeks ago I went into isolation. Turns out my main hobbies are shopping and having the freedom to go wherever I want. Ha. Fortunately, I can work from home for the foreseeable future, which has been nice. But I miss going out and running errands and visiting shops and not being scared that everyone I see will have an illness that could kill me. Wow, how’s that for dramatic. Haha. But still kind of true.
And because an apocalyptic plague isn’t enough going on, on March 18th, Salt Lake had a 5.7 earthquake to shake up our quarantine. Yeah, not a fan. I prefer my quarantines stirred. Despite being from California, this was my first significant earthquake. It was not a fun way to be woken up. 5.7 is moderate and we had a few decent aftershocks. Fortunately no damage at my house and no injuries or deaths. So, really, it wasn’t that big of a deal, but I learned I do not like earthquakes. I was so stressed the whole day and my body was really struggling to handle the adrenaline. And keep thinking I feel aftershocks when there haven’t been any. #feelingshakencrazy #andstircrazy
Map of some of the earthquakes in Salt Lake City on March 18, 2020.
As you may recall, I recently wrote about my primary immunodeficiency. It specifically leaves me vulnerable to lung infections, which is what COVID-19 is. So that’s fun. Utah has started to see the virus spreading in the community, but the next few weeks (months?) of isolation will be crucial to keeping the virus from swarming the community and overwhelming hospitals.
I’ll be honest, it’s been hard. If I catch it, I’m at a higher risk of complications, particularly because of my mast cell disorder. Will I have anaphylaxis to the treatments? Will I even have access to the medical treatment I need? Will I be deemed worthy of medical treatment if medical resources run thin or the system collapses? Will I also be asked to “sacrifice” my medical treatment or medications for some hypothetical future treatment for others? (Also, WHAT?? It’s insane that a pharmacy/insurance would deny a current medication of a patient and then have the gall to thank the patient for their sacrifice.)
It has also been really difficult to find safe food that I can eat. Stores have been sold out of a lot of things. Right after the Governor announced a significant social distancing effort, the stores were picked clean. And running from store to store is not the best idea. This weekend I missed getting to see a play I had been looking forward to for months and months–the show has been completely canceled. I’m so sad. Sad for me, but also sad for the theater and the actors, and technicians, and everyone who has lost jobs. It’s heartbreaking that so many people have (hopefully) temporarily lost their jobs because public places have shut down. Church has been canceled. Temples have closed. Life feels really hard right now. I know this is temporary, but it is reality.
Seeing all the empty shelves was disheartening
Entire aisles were empty.
Fresh produce was pretty picked over
Empty Shelf where my safe almond milk should be.
Last Jar of peanut butter in the store. But there was no bread. I got the peanut butter anyway.
I have my six-month check-up with my immunologist and get my Xolair shot (I get it every month) this week. I sure hope I still can. My risk for anaphylaxis goes up significantly if I’m unable to get it. I’ve been trying so hard to eat safe foods and avoid things that fill my reaction bucket so I don’t end up in the hospital. Stress is a big trigger for me, so you can imagine how well that’s going. I’ve taken a lot of Benadryl in the past few weeks.
I called my pharmacy this past week to make sure I’ll be able to get my medicine. They said yes, but they can only provide a 30 day supply of my hydroxychloroquine–even with my doctor ordering a 90 day supply–per a state order (because there’s an unsubstantiated rumor it will help patients with the virus). It worries me that something will happen and I won’t be able to get my medicine. This particular one is critical for keeping my body stable. I once accidentally forgot it for a week and my body was a complete mess and I thought I was going to get hospitalized. Fortunately, within a couple of days of restarting, I was feeling better. Within a week, I was back to my normal. I don’t want to go through that again. My body is already on the edge, I don’t know what it would be like if I didn’t have Xolair or hydroxychloroquine.
While working the other day, I was listening to the Hamilton soundtrack and the phrase “A world turned upside down” has been stuck in my mind since. It sure feels like that right now. It feels so scary, confusing, and overwhelming. I went and made my one weekly trip to the store yesterday and wore my mask, per usual (people still wear perfume, ugh), and people actively ran away from me. Geez Louise, if I had the plague, I would not be in public! That was fun. Oy.
Silver Lining
But the world also feels slower, kinder, more patient, and more moments of peace. I read a post from a woman living in China where they’ve been in a harsh lockdown and she said she’s lived in the city and never knew there were birds in the city. The pollution has gone away there. It’s gone here too.
People are home with their families. People are getting outside and enjoying spring weather (with social distancing!). Kids playing outside. People are finding clever ways to celebrate milestones, birthdays, and weddings. People are sharing more uplifting content on social media. And there have been some hilarious memes! I love all of it.
Painting together over video chat
My oldest niece turned 8 a few months ago and we’ve been planning a special “Gr-8 Adventure” in a couple weeks to celebrate that involved me flying to Sacramento and then us spending time in San Francisco and doing other fun things that she wanted to do. Unfortunately, the trip was canceled due to the virus. Everyone was too worried about me traveling to a virus-infested place. We were both disappointed. Last week I saw a free watercolor painting class given by an artist I love and thought it would be fun for my niece and I to do together via technology. We set up our computers so the instructional video played at the same time and then we painted and talked together (double monitors for the win). It was such a fun couple of hours. Despite the 800 miles and virus that separate us, we were still able to do something fun together.
So, how am I doing? Pretty good, considering. I’m pretty well unaffected. I’m still working. I am pretty introverted, so I have a pretty low-key social life anyway, so not missing much there. Hahaha. But I do miss Church and the Temple. I miss being around people (when I want to be, lol). I miss shopping. I miss not disinfecting everything whenever someone comes over. I miss having breakfast and lunch cooked for me at work. I miss the conveniences. I miss Amazon Prime being 2 days. Lol.
Praying for Guidance
Today we’re having a worldwide fast for all those affected by the virus. For the medical personnel on the front lines, for the government leaders, for the patients and their families, for those that are economically affected. It has been beautiful to see people come together, regardless of their faith, to pray and fast for help and guidance from God. (Fasting from food is really hard on my body, so I’m fasting from something else.)
I was recently reading my scriptures and read about a young man who was asked by God to do something seemingly impossible. Something the man didn’t know anything about. He and his family were far from civilization and he was asked to build a boat so his family could sail to a new, promised land. He didn’t even have tools. So in faith, he asked God where to find the materials so he could make the tools. He didn’t question the direction to build a boat. He didn’t say, okay give me tools for this impossible task. He said okay, help me find the materials so I can make the tools. Help me know how to put the boat together.
To me, this felt like such a direct correlation to today. God has given us all the material we need to fight this virus. We can do the seemingly impossible, we just need direction from Him on how to put it all together. We need guidance on how to help ourselves and our families build whatever boat God is trying to help us build in our lives. And we can, with His help.
In time, life will go back to what it was. Doctors will find the answers to this virus that helps save us from it. This will not be what ends all life on Earth. Overall, I am optimistic. I have faith and peace that God knows what is going on and He has His hand in this.
Maybe we just needed something to help us reset our lives a little and help us turn our hearts a little more towards Him?
And here are some of my favorite memes because that is how I am coping with life right now. hahahaha!
