Dandelion Decade

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There is nothing quite as cheery as a bright yellow dandelion. 

And it only took ten years to make these cards! A decade ago I came up with the idea to use craft foam to print some dandelions. This is as far as I got:

Not at all how I had imagined they would turn out. I remembering playing around with the plates for the flower and the leaves but nothing ever quite jelled. Eventually everything went into a box to be forgotten until I was doing a little studio clean. I found I still really liked the plates, and decided to have another go.

At the time, I had made "flower" shapes in three sizes with sticky-backed foam and stuck them to old CD cases. I used plastic binder dividers to back the leaves. Having a clear mount is handy when it comes to printing.

I chose patterned paper and printed more leaves and flower shapes (sorry, no flower photos).

Once they were dry, I cut them out and added to the old prints.

Immediately I was happier! The smaller patterned shapes (printed on Asian book pages) brightened the dandelion flower and provided some interest and colour contrast. I also liked how the paler original leaves made a nice background for the darker patterned leaves.

I played around with a dark centre. Not sure that added anything. And then moved to a square format.

I'd also printed the flowers on a pinky background and wondered what it would look like if I kept some of the pink:

Again, not sure about leaving some of the pink background but I did like the dots I added. Dots of colour always make me think of dancing sunlight.

In the end, I spent several days just experimenting with the flower and leaf shapes, feeling free to try this and that just to see what it looked like. For me, it's a plus working with pre-printed and cut-out shapes - I can move them around without committing to a compostion. 

Always fun to see new prints packaged and ready to head out into the world!

Glad I hung onto these old plates and had a chance to give the dandelions another go. A decade of playing around in the studio helped me see potential in the old prints and I had a bit more experience and confidence to relax and see what developed. Likely a lesson for life somewhere in there!