Drying the poppies

Most of my notebooks have poppy petals in them. I press them, wait about a month for them to throughly dry then peel them from the pages of notepads and sketchbooks, and add the dried petals to my stash. Some of this batch went a little mouldy, but they look beautiful with it.

Dolciodille

Dolciodille [dohl-see oh-de-lee] are husband and wife team Ashley and dusty. They are a letterpress and design studio in Atlanta, USA. they make lovely paper things for weddings mainly. But they make lots more, for many occasions.

Their website describes them like this: "Together, they offer unique design to people in areas where the conventions aren't just tiresome and forgettable, but a dime a dozen... if you're looking for something out of the ordinary, unforgettable, and expertly crafted, then Dolci Odille offers a designer's take on things."


Here's their website
Here's their blog (very inspiring and regularly updated)

I mention them because they just updated their blog with a tutorial of how to make a miniature fabric flower garland, which is probably the cutest thing ever, and a good little project I shall be undertaking. Maybe as a Christmas present for someone, or maybe as a christmas day project (to distract myself from all the eating) the tutorial can be found in this link to the Once Wed website. Enjoy! I'll be making and photographing my flower garland soon, but here's one of them in the mean time. 

Poppies

I have been collecting poppies for a couple of Summers now, They are so delicate - like the thinnest paper imaginable. My favorite flower by far. Wild flowers are incredible. It is a mission of mine to fine a field of poppies, and spend a few days pressing them, keeping them in a big book until they loose their moisture and then .... well, I don't know, I haven't got any further than imagining the joy of collecting them. I think it's maybe enough to just collect. A poppy museum? I have to sow some seeds after the winter, I want to find some sneaky patches to plant some, where no one will miss them if I pick them. Imagine if you could write on seeds and when the plant grew, it had your words in the petals. That reminds me of those strange 'grow your own boyfriend' things you have to soak in water.

Image courtesy of www.coventrybirder.co.uk

The BBC tells you how to grow poppies: "Oriental poppies are easy to grow and almost thrive on neglect." But I want plain old red ones, they are pretty enough.

So my question is: where can I find a field of poppies this Summer?