I took on a bit of an endeavor this weekend. On Saturday I stopped into this great little feed and seed in Kirkwood, Missouri named OK Hatchery. WOW! This place was amazing and I wish I had taken some photos. I might have to drop in this coming weekend to do just that.
When I walked in I was transported back to Ellabell, Georgia, my hometown. When I was young, my Grandfather, who passed in 1997, would take me to our small feed and seed/hardware store in town. OK Hatchery reminded me so much of those trips with my Grandfather. The smell, the lighting, the dirt all over the floors, but still somehow clean...weird I know. There were large tin cans full of feed for chickens and other animals. Gardening tools hung on the walls and there were new and used gardening gloves in large barrels. I loved this place. They even had right at the front door a small piece of paper advertising 12 issues of Playboy from 1964! This place was genuine!
I drive by this place every Saturday morning and was always wondering what was inside. I wasn't sure it it was touristy or just what it implied. I was pleasantly surprised. So, going in I thought I may discover some postcards...something like that, but instead I found seeds. Seeds galore! Seeds for flowers, vegetables, herbs, bushes. It was beautiful and I immediately thought of my Grandmother.
Grandmother is getting up there and she doesn't do a lot of gardening anymore, although we used to have a large garden complete with potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes and pretty much anything else you could grow. She had an amazing green thumb.
I found seeds that she could plant in hanging planters so that she could put them on the porch, and more importantly, tend to them while sitting down on the porch and out of the sun.
All of the flowers are vining or hanging flowers so they are perfect for the hanging pots. I also bought some sage and rosemary to plant as well.
This hatchery also had, to my surprise, a beautiful collection of cards. I bought a couple and one is going to my dear Grandmother with some loving words written inside.
That card is just so pretty. I love it!
Of course doing this inspired me to make some really pretty artwork on the envelope. It took me two days to complete and I think it turned out pretty well.
The bottom three flowers were inspired from two of the seed packages and the top...well, they are kind of like Daisy's. It's not perfect. I had lots of hiccups with the paper and the lines underneath. However, I am in love with the way that it turned out.
For the address label, I simply took some brown construction paper, cut waves on the edges and then burned them. I cut the waves first because it helps to construct a shape to the paper. If you don't, the paper just doesn't turn out well. It kind of burns in a straight line.
So that was my little love package for my Grandmother. I hope she likes it!!
I also sent out a letter to Tasha in Oklahoma. This is a new correspondence and I'm very excited to be exchanging letters with her.
I've been toying with the idea of creating some stationary so I thought I would give it a go with her letter. So here are my "real" attempts at making some pretty imagery on paper.
This was actually made from a stamp that my daughter has. I concentrated it in the corner and faded it outward. Then I took fine pen and made "sketchy" outlines on the flowers and the centers.
For this one, I drew a trio of daisies in a field of grass. Very simple but cute.
I really like this one. Two trees, two hills, one boy and one kite. I think it's pretty.
I really like this one too. Modern, has a stamped effect going on. I'm a sucker for typography.
Another flower. I think I have a thing with flowers.
I really enjoyed drawing these. Let me know what you think. I've been wanting to open an Etsy store for my bows, maybe I could add some stationary in there too....
Until next time...
