Spoon Photo Trending on 52Frames

It’s been a while since one of my photos has been selected as a top 52 on 52Frames. And it’s also been a while since any of my photos were picked on the instagram site. I know my photos will never be in the top three out of 2500-3000 submitted weekly. But since April when a fellow framer told me that my photo was trending on the 52Frames website, I have been checking the website at least every day to see if the same would happen. And it has. My photo has trended usually on the second day after the album opens. And this week was no exception. I don’t know what the criteria is but am always happy to see that it gets that far. Maybe because the effort to create the image is usually intense. It’s not photographically the best, but I do spend a lot of time every week creating some sort of composite image. This week the subject was “spoon” and I made a spoon vase and spoon flowers out of white plastic spoons to make a bouquet. This entry was composed of about 42 layers! I have to say I was disapppinted that it didn’t make the top 52 because the comments I got on it from all over the world were just so inspiring. If nothing else that what really makes it all worth while. 

The Wall Vase

We brought our wall vase with us when we moved from Capitol Hill to Virginia. It was put to good use then and now because it gets replenished just about every weekend. It obviously depends on the type of flower we get and that depends on whatever stock is available at the grocery store. The flowers are always quite seasonal which makes filling the vase a routine treat. Depending on the time of year I’ve filled it with tiny pumpkins and gourds, tulips, and Christmas greens with twinkling lights. The last batch was some sort of carnation that lasted over three weeks! Usually some things hold over from week to week - particularly the greens, sticks, and leaves. Unfortunately we no longer have our patio garden to snatch and replenish some of the fillers. So today we got a bunch of the same sort of carnation flower but it was white this time. Aside from the wall vase are two smaller receptacles that require attention. One is a small bud vase for the bedside stand and the other is a tiny heavy glass piece for the dining room table. I stuck an ivy shoot in the bud vase hoping for it to root but haven’t had any luck so far. So, for as long as we can, the wall vase is one little item we like to indulge in. Cut flowers are so pretty and it hardly matters what kind they are. 

Teleflora #loveoutloud

It's been a busy week so far on our morning walks to the National Mall. On Monday the Capitol Christmas Tree arrived from Montana along with a huge star tree topper following behind. Yesterday we slipped in to the Botanic Garden before the throngs of people arrived and saw the Roadside Attractions Christmas Trains adventure. Today the Christmas tree is being decorated. But something in front of the reflecting pond caught our eye. There was a wall of something, and a lot of media and cameras about. So we walked over and saw boxes of beautiful flowers. There were people milling about. Two women approached us and asked us to check out the plaque, then do what we thought we should. One in particular asked if I would mind to be interviewed - but I declined. So we went over and read the plaque on this beautiful November morning and it was from Teleflora. It was an invitation to take a bouquet of Christmas flowers and give it to someone with the idea of watching the wall disappear. I have a feeling there would be a message left behind when all the bouquets were removed. So I gave my bouquet to my husband - not to tear down any wall - but because I love him! So you could say I was participating in the #loveoutloud campaign. On the way home we ran in to someone who lives in our building and told her to check out the flowers. She heard about it on Instagram and was heading in that direction. It was another way to attract attention - in a very nice way. 

Helen Olivia in Alexandria Artichoke Bouquet

Private Gardener in Milwaukee was our go to place for anything plant and flower related. They planned and installed our front yard garden; we always went there for unique and interesting bouquets; and they helped me surprise my husband on his fiftieth birthday by setting a beautiful table complete with goldfish in flower vases. Here in DC, we have a wall hanging vase that we try to keep updated with varieties of things based on the season.  It becomes a Christmas tree with lights in December, and when our garden has flowers, it's a wonderful container to show them off. This time of year is between all of that so we thought Helen Olivia in Alexandria might have something unique and long lasting. We were thinking a branch rather than a flower would be nice - an inspiration we saw at Vaso's Kitchen the last time we were there. In Milwaukee, I could pretty much cut things from all the trees, bushes, and plants on the one acre lot. Here, I don't have that option. What we found was an artichoke branch - not quite what we were looking for different. So we selected some leaves to display with it and hoped for the best. I think we could have used some color rather than all greens, but it was worth the experiment. The wrapping in itself made the bouquet exquisite. It's been a while since we have been there. The staff were busily preparing for an event and the place looked and smelled wonderful. Just going there changes your mood on a cold winter day. If nothing else, that in itself was worth the trip.