Ten Uses for Handmade Paper Flowers

"Flowers in a Crystal Vase," Edouard Manet, c. 1882
Courtesy of the National Gallery of Art Open Access Program

Hello friends,

A few weeks ago my always-coming-up-with-fun-new-things friend Kim invited me to attend a paper-flower-making class with her.  It was offered by Cocktails and Craft, a woman-innovated monthly workshop that teaches a different craft each month and offers a free cocktail while you're at it.  It was started by a pair of sisters who discovered a love of hanging out together having cocktails and crafting, and the whole thing grew from there.  Now they're looking to begin licensing the idea in other areas so definitely follow them if this is something you might be interested in bringing to your city (assuming you're not in Washington).

Kim having fun with crepe paper

The chief benefit of paper flowers is pretty obvious: They don't die.  They also don't require dirt or water, making them a lot more versatile for use in other craft projects than traditional flora.  Plus you can make your own custom combination of petal colors and, if you're using them in a craft project, you can construct your flower using a wire stem from the beginning and avoid the frustration of having to trim and wire real flower stems to whatever base you're attaching them to.

Working on my petals

Assembling my first flower

2 completed semi-peonies

I'm actually not going to write up a tutorial on how to make paper flowers because there are already ample resources online that will teach you how to do this.  Paper Source even sells kits.  And if you are in or near Washington, D.C. I highly encourage you to join Cocktails and Craft for an in-person workshop because it's really beneficial to learn a new craft from someone with experience, even if you can technically learn to do it on your own.  They'll have pointers that can only be gained through trial and error, and you can learn twice as fast from mistakes they've already been through.  Plus classes let you see what other students are doing and you can get inspired by all the different approaches.

A shot of the group workspace with my completed flower crown

My workspace as I created filler flowers for my crown

So instead of a tutorial, I'm going to tackle the next problem: What do you DO with your paper flowers once you've made them? Sometimes it's really easy fall in love with the beauty or the engaging process of a particular craft, but then it's challenging to find an actual function for the finished product to serve, and that beautiful piece ends up languishing on a closet shelf somewhere. Here are ten ways to use handmade paper flowers.

This being me, I had to make my flowers into a crown instead of leaving
them as freestanding stems

1. Flower crown



This is one where I feel there are pros and cons to using paper flowers over real ones. Adorning yourself with real flowers carries such a vavoom factor, and also lets you capture the season that you're in. But making a flower crown can be a painstaking process and paper flowers make it so much easier, plus after all that work it's nice to know your crown will last. So I say real flowers in the spring and paper flowers in the winter!

2. Gift wrap



To me paper flowers are hands down preferable to real flowers if you're using them for gift wrap. They're much more portable . Plus it's more portable; who knows how long your flowers are going to go without water, and no awkward stems or bumps to keep your flowers from gluing down and laying flat.  Plus, you're giving your gift recipient a lasting token of your efforts.

3. Use like real flowers in an actual vase to liven up a space



I mentioned that for flower crowns I think real flowers have a bigger vavoom factor, but I think paper flowers might actually have an edge over real ones when used in a vase, if only because they're so different and unexpected.

4. Make a wreath



Here paper flowers aren't just easier to work with and longer lasting; they also offer a greater versatility than real flowers to really match the flowers to the theme or event you're appealing to regardless of the season.

5. Photo backdrop



As someone who has taken many a still life photo of flower arrangements and also captured portraits of people posing with flowers, I have to admit that real flowers are a beautiful photo subject. But paper flowers enable you to capture a larger-than-life, fantasy quality that would be physically impossible and/or cost prohibitive with real flowers.

6. Mobile for baby's crib or other kid's room decor



Real flowers for a baby mobile would just be too impractical. Even if there were a way to supply them with water without having to individually take each flower down and dunk it, they wouldn't last very long, and they'd drip water on the baby!

7. Make a garland to trim a window or other part of your home



Beautiful garlands for special occasions definitely do exist (as beautiful as the wedding ones on Pinterest are, check out the ones for the holidays) but they are expensive and difficult to maintain. A paper flower garland is a great alternative that still imbues that sense of fantasy, and is both less expensive to begin with and only a one time cost for something that you can use over and over again.

8. Create a fantastical table spread



Floral centerpieces using real flowers are standard, but paper flowers let you surpass the boundaries of reality.

9. Lights!



Good luck doing that with real flowers. I suppose you could do this for just one night at a party or something, but you'll need to use paper if you want this to be a longstanding part of your decor.

10. An awesome pin or boutonniere



What I love about this one is that it's a way to incorporate items that are traditionally flowery in a way that is true to the personalities of people who aren't into flowers, both male and female.  In this example, a wedding boutonniere is made from music paper, so while it keeps with the tradition of pinning a flower to a lapel it downplays the flowery aspects and instead highlights something else (the music). This is a great way to incorporate an overall theme by giving everyone flowers made from the same paper - say music paper, or recycled paper, or vintage book pages, Japanese block prints, you name it - or, alternatively, to let individual people's personalities shine by using different papers for each individual.



For more ideas on how to use paper flowers see my Pinterest Board.




What about you?  Any interest in giving paper flowers a try?  What would you likely use them for? How do you like paper flowers compared to fresh flowers?  Do we add something or lose something by using paper flowers instead of real ones?  How do you think paper flowers compare to store bought silk flowers or other kinds of handcrafted flowers, like felt flowers or beaded wire flowers? Discuss in the comments.

Shibori dying with indigo is the craft you need to try this spring

Silk scarves I dyed with indigo using the shibori technique

Hello friends,

This past weekend I had the opportunity to take an indigo shibori dying workshop with Wax and Wane Fiber at the Lemon Bowl in DC (you've heard me kvell about the Lemon Bowl before).

Natural indigo dye is derived from the leaves of certain plants.  It's named after India, which was historically associated as a center of indigo dying, but ancient cultures around the world have used indigo to produce a beautiful, deep blue color.  It's also the color that blue jeans were originally dyed with, so denim blue and indigo blue are pretty much the same thing.

Shibori is a centuries-old Japanese art of dying using resist techniques (techniques that involve preventing sections of fabric from picking up dye, leaving them blank) and is essentially a much more complex, sophisticated version of the tie-dye techniques that we all now know as a summer camp classic.

In our workshop we died square scarves made of 100% habotai silk.  Natural fibers take dye best, and silk in particular absorbs dye quickly and responds with shining, vivid color.  Other natural fibers, like cotton and linen, can also easily be dyed with indigo, but the color turns out much less vibrant and it takes more dips in the dye to obtain the same depth of color.

All 3 of my pieces drying after being washed with soap and water

I garnered two major takeaways from this weekend's workshop:

1) Shibori dying with indigo is way easier and less messy or daunting than I originally thought it would be, and I could probably do this at home now that I know what I'm doing.

2) The art of creating a great pattern is all in how you fold the fabric.


To dye an amazing scarf you start by folding your fabric in a specific way (you can look up a variety of different shibori folds online).  I dyed three different scarves using three different folds.  One was a radial fold, which looks like a triangle once folded, and involved a diamond pattern that radiated out from the center.  One was a grid or square fold, in which you fold your fabric into overlapping squares and the resulting pattern involves squares with a repeating pattern in each one.  The third was a basic accordion fold, which basically results in stripes.  There are plenty of other folds out there, and other techniques that involve twisting, or binding your fabric around a cylinder with twine, but these are the basics and the results were so beautiful they're more than enough to get you started.

Then, you clamp stuff onto your scarf to create a resist, meaning areas that will remain white because the dye will be blocked from touching your fabric.  We used clothes pins, chop sticks, C clamps, wood blocks with clamps, rubber bands, even binder clips.

What looks like an exhibit on medieval torture is actually
a square scarf in a radial fold and covered in shibori

Then, you soak your fabric in clean water for a bit, with all the stuff clamped on, and dump the fabric, clamps and all, into your indigo dye vat.  Leave your piece in the indigo for 30 seconds, then remove for about a minute to allow it to oxidize, and repeat.  You want to repeat for however many times you like in order to achieve the desired darkness, but for a bold, beautiful indigo blue dip at least 3 or 4 times.

Same scarf after the dye process was completed.

Note the difference: one scarf was dipped in indigo 3 times,
the other was soaked in osage and dipped in indigo once

To achieve that gorgeous, mottled blue-green color we first soaked our scarves for several minutes in a dye made with a bit of osage extract diluted in water.  Osage is another natural plant dye, and it turns fabric a goldenrod yellow.  Then the piece took a single dip in the indigo dye vat.  I left all my shibori pieces in place for both vats, so the resisted areas on my piece remained white.  But, had I taken them off between the osage and the indigo, parts of my fabric would have been blue and parts would have been green.  And if I had added new shibori between the vats, some of the markings on the fabric would have remained yellow.  So with only two different types of dye you can achieve four different colors, not to mention many different variations in darkness.  In the future I'd like to experiment with other natural dyes in other colors.

Adding that first layer of yellow with osage

Next step, rinse the indigo out in the sink.  This is the only truly messy part; be careful of drips.  I recommend wearing all black clothing, and don't forget about your shoes.  Keep your dye vat as close to the sink as possible, and have a dye-friendly place to put your dyed items when they're resting between dips.  Once it's rinsed, lay out on a drying rack to dry.  You'll want to wash it again by hand with soap and water again before wearing, otherwise the dye will rub off on your skin and your clothes.  I found that once I hand washed my pieces at home with soap the silk became softer and shinier, and the color variations more vivid.

I highly recommend learning this craft if you're looking to add a new artistic skill to your repertoire. It's a high reward craft with great return on investment: the supplies you need (a few buckets, something to lay down on the floor to keep it clean, possibly a cheap shower curtain liner, which is what I plan on using, clothes pins, binder clips, chop sticks, rubber bands) are all easy to come by. You can buy the dye materials online, or pick up a kit from Wax and Wane, and a little bit goes a long way. The small kit I bought for $20 is enough to dye 5 pounds of fabric.  The most expensive thing is going to be whatever item you'll be dying, but you can actually buy silk dye blanks pretty cheap online, and in bulk.  Also, white cotton t-shirts, jeans, pillow cases, anything you have laying around (or that you find for cheap at the thrift store) is fair game, as long as it's made up of natural fibers.  You can dye yarn, or a cashmere sweater even.

As for the results?  They're instantly gorgeous and high impact.  You won't believe you made it yourself.  Super giftable and impressive, too.  The best part, though, is experimenting with the different shibori techniques and getting to surprise yourself every time you unfold a piece after completing the dying process.  I was super stoked with the how my green scarf turned out, in particular.  When I folded it into a square shape and clamped chop sticks and clothespins on the corners, I wasn't expecting it to result in a super cool diamond shape, but in retrospect it makes perfect sense.  I also didn't realize when our instructor said "green" that he meant that gorgeous, almost antiqued looking blue-green color.

I didn't realize that clamping off the corners of a square folded piece
would result in an amazing repeat diamond motif (see above)

I'm hooked and I want to make a thousand more.

If you're in the DC area, or in Baltimore, which is where Wax and Wane Fiber is actually based, it's totally worth the cost of taking the workshop first, even if you can find helpful instructions online.  It gave me the opportunity to learn by doing in a supervised setting, and it's nice to already have some experience with this before starting a potentially very messy process at home, having already learned tricks to keeping this efficient and low-mess from someone much more experienced than myself. There was also a real benefit in seeing how my classmates' pieces turned out and the totally different approaches they took from what I did, which is all helpful information that will inform my crafting at home.  And finally, you walk away from the workshop with a beautiful scarf that would probably cost you just as much as the workshop had you bought it in a store, only you made that scarf.

My classmates' pieces drying after being dyed;
it was so cool seeing how different everyone's pieces turned out

A classmate who was totally unafraid to experiment
and who took a totally different approach than I did

If you're unable to attend a Wax and Wane workshop, consider one of their kits to start, which makes it super easy to get going, and do some digging online for shibori folding techniques.  Then sit down and experiment because there is literally no wrong way to shibori a scarf!

How about you, readers?  Have you ever tried dying your own fabric before?  Have you tie-dyed before at camp or elsewhere?  Did you do anything beyond the standard rubber band technique or is venturing beyond rubber-bands new to you?  If not, have you found yourself shying away from dying in the past because it's messy?  Or because you're afraid of chemicals?  Or of screwing it up?  Discuss in the comments.

Recycle Paper to Make Your Own Beautiful Envelopes

Hello friends,

While I am clearly an appreciator of art, in my own endeavors I have always been drawn more to the crafts part of arts and crafts.  There's something about functionality that really appeals to me.  I'm a big believer that when we refer to "the creative process" we're really talking about creative problem solving.

Art is a response to a challenge: How do I express this concept that I want to convey using a particular medium?  Creating beautiful items that also have utility, to me, magnifies the opportunity to address problems: How do I express this concept that I want to convey while simultaneously meeting a practical challenge?  How do I make something beautiful and also useful?  The magnification goes even further if you add a third layer of challenge: How do I make this thing I'm doing eco-friendly? How can I be resourceful?  How do I do it cheaply?

I'm also a big fan of elegant solutions, and there are few solutions as simple and elegant as repurposing paper to make beautiful envelopes.  Magazine pages, images from last year's calendar, torn up wrapping paper, old text books that have lost their resale value; these things can all be reused to make a beautiful envelope.  That envelope can then be used to add extra flare to a greeting card, place card, or calling card but why stop there?  Envelopes are essentially just containers for flat things.  Glue that baby into the inside cover of your travel journal and use it to hold little trinkets like coins, scribbled-on cocktail napkins, ticket stubs and bottle caps.  Or use it to hold your bookmark. Use them at the office to organize all those post-it notes lying around everywhere.  Envelopes really do offer unlimited utility.

Yes, but can envelope-making truly be artistic, you may ask?  Yes!  It's not just choosing the paper that adds aesthetic creativity to this project.  It's the shape of the envelope, and what part of the paper you use, and there's even an aspect of composition. You'll see how this works a lot more once you get into the making process.




Step one is to obtain a template.  I use pre-made stencils I purchased from Paper Source.  But you could easily make your own using scrap cardboard.  Consider what you plan to use your envelope for and whether you need it to be a standard size.  All you really need for a functional envelope, though, is a flat plane to make up one side and then four flaps that are large and long enough to overlap one another when folded over.

You can purchase envelope glue that you can add to the top flap in order to make it lick-and-stickable like a machine-made envelope, but I don't find that it works very well, so I like to tuck the top flap inside the envelope instead to close it.  This means that if you make a template and decide to use this method, you want your top flap to be extra long so it can be tucked in.  You can also develop unique methods of closure, like attaching bits of yarn to tie a bow (and you can always just tape it shut or glue it when you're ready to give it away).

Now it's time to trace your stencil onto whatever paper you have selected.  For these examples I'm using several pages from a newsletter sent out by an art museum I frequent.

Start by Tracing Around Your stencil

Pay attention to how you place your stencil.  Try to work around unsightly areas like margins, undesired text, or areas with blank space unless you want a blank envelope.  But more than that, think about what parts of the image you want to capture.  Do you want your envelope to just feature abstract shapes and colors, or do you want to make sure to capture recognizable elements from the image?  I like to outline in pencil, but I've outlined here in pen to make it darker and easier to see.

Make sure to avoid unsightly elements like unwanted text, and also take margins into consideration

Some of the pages I've used feature lithographs by famed artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and I definitely wanted to get the faces of the figures he depicted.

Consider what parts of the image you care about capturing

 You also want to think about where on the envelope different elements will appear.  I try to center things like faces or other elements that I really like in the middle part of the template because that central portion of the template will form the seamless front panel of the envelope.  Sometimes, though, you don't have a choice because you have to fit the template to the page.

Consider where on the envelope each part of the image will end up - the front of the envelope,
the back flaps or the top flap?  What part of the image will end up being overlapped?

On this piece featuring more abstract work I avoided the eyeball, which I find a little bit disturbing, and focused the envelopes over areas that were about medium busy compared to parts of the composition with more or less going on.  Since the envelopes I'm making here are mini envelopes, too much or too little going on could impact the overall visual appeal by either overwhelming the envelope or being too boring.

Consider the proportions of the envelope you're making and
what part of the paper you're using will  fill the space best

Are you beginning to see how this is an artistic process?  Selection and placement choices reflect thoughtful aesthetic decision-making.

Next, you get to cut, fold and glue.  This does not have to be an exact science since a lot of  your edges are going to be hidden where the paper overlaps.  You can decide which side you want to fold under and which side will have the visible edge.

The paper cut-out that will eventually become an envelope once folded and glued

It's good to have nice, crisp folds, so I like to press the center of my crease down with the pad of my finger and then fold outwards from the center on either side using the tip of my finger with lots of pressure, or sometimes with the edge of my fingernail.

Make a nice crisp fold pressing from the center out

Any strong paper glue will do.  I'm a particular fan of PVA, which is a bookbinding glue specifically designed for adhering paper to paper in a secure, tight bond.  Use thin, straight lines close but not too close to the edge of the flap (maybe an eight of an inch away).  You don't need to use too much glue because it shouldn't ooze out.  In fact, too much glue will keep the paper from adhering because it will be too wet and the flaps will pop open.  Since a little bit of oozing will probably be inevitable, make sure that whatever glue you use dries clear and matte on your paper, which PVA does.

It only takes a very thin line of glue near the edge of your flap

Et voila, perfect, beautiful envelopes!

Online Stores that Feel Like Lifehacks

"Market Scene in an Imaginary Oriental Port," Jean-Baptiste Pillement, c. 1764
Digital Image Courtesy of the Getty Open Content Program

Hello friends,

In speculating on what my own creative business might one day look like, I regularly delight in discovering other businesses that are doing something interesting, aesthetically pleasing or innovative.  Yet as much guilt as I have about not doing more to support brick and mortar stores - particularly the tiny ones! - I'm an online shopping addict.  And, in all likelihood, so are you.  If holiday shopping trends are a fair analogy for the overall shopping zeitgeist, and I believe they are, then Americans' addiction to online shopping is clearly increasing year after year.  2016's online shopping numbers were through the roof (with Amazon alone capturing HALF of online sales!!! Wowza).

At the same time though, we lose a little bit of soul with online shopping, don't we?  The joy of the hunt, maybe.  Certainly the tactile elements.  The surprise of seeing that perfect something something out of the corner of your eye.  And, without knowing the data it certainly feels like corporate America is dominating the online scene at the expense of the tiny Mom&Pops, despite their efforts to get online.

It seems to me that if I'm going to continue to rely on the Internet for the vast majority of my shopping - and let's be honest here, that's exactly what's going to happen, it's just so damn convenient! - I should at the very least be seeking out new startups and things that are unique, things that are possible only because they are online, businesses that are native to the Internet, that are innovative new shopping hubs and gift ideas that cater precisely to the sentiments of us hyperconnected millenials.  Otherwise, I'd prefer to support the local brick and mortar boutique.

And I'm not talking about the subscription-box craze - that market is oversaturated and I have a feeling that in a few years' time the model will go the way of the luxury flash sale website and specialty cupcake shops.

No, I'm talking about websites that offer actual, useful innovation, that fill a need that wasn't being met, and that use the fact that they are natives of the online space to streamline their operations and offer something we haven't seen before.  It's really something that, in an age when brick and mortar stores are struggling to compete with online businesss, brands with a strong online presence like Rent the Runway, Warby Parker and Kit and Ace have achieved such a loyal brand following that they are now scrambling to open brick and mortar stores (as I write, these companies are only 7, 6 and 2 years old, respectively).

The sites I wish to feature today are basically the UberEats of online retail.  All the sites I have in mind were advertised to me, in my news feed, via Facebook.  Because Facebook knows me even better than Netflix knows me.  Which is to say, even better than I know myself.

Note that this post does NOT contain affiliate links.  I get nada, zero, zilch, for recommending any of these websites.  I just find them charming.


First, let's start with Greetabl.  Greetabl basically sends a pretty cardboard box in one of their whimsical prints, with tearaway sections containing your own uploaded photos and a personalized message, and a little gift inside.  I sent one to a friend to congratulate her on her engagement.  It took 15 minutes (or less if you're a more decisive person than I am) to design one of these little guys and went off without a hitch and she and her fiance loved it.

Super into this pic by @martadarby. Good colors + good soap + awesome pics = awesome gift. #deliverhappiness

A photo posted by Greetabl (@greetabl) on Oct 25, 2016 at 7:00pm PDT

So it's fast, it's affordable, it's customizable. And how does it fill a need?  Well, I don't know about you guys, but my family is a card family, not a gift family.  My parents yell at me when I spend money on them, claiming that they don't need anything. But finding good parent-appropriate cards that are funny and not sappy or tacky or hackneyed?  I have a reputation to maintain as an excellent card picker-outer and writer, but I'm sick of having to hoard good cards whenever I see them because I'm not always going to find good ones when it's crunch time. Enter the Greetabl:

How perfect is that?  Festive floral print for Mother's Day, sappy but not too sappy photos, some chocolate on the inside?  BOOM.  Daughter of the year.



In a similar vein, a company called Lovebook creates personalized "love story" books that you can send to somebody you have a close relationship with.  They have books for all different occasions and they can be platonic as well as romantic.  A little sappy, I know, but a cute idea and sometimes sappy is what hits the spot.  Bonus, they have this feature where you get to create your own stick figure avatar, basically, and that's obviously the most fun part.

Next up, Urban Stems.  Another one I haven't tried yet but want to.  Alas, this only works if you're in a Metro area they service, like NYC or D.C., but my guess is these guys are going to expand.

'Tis the season for cocktail parties and sparkles everywhere and this bouquet is quite the shindig-starter #sendhappyholidays

A post shared by UrbanStems (@sendurbanstems) on Dec 8, 2016 at 1:35pm PST

OK, so online flower delivery services have been around for a while.  What makes these guys different?  First of all, their arrangements are soooooooooo so so sooooo much more with the times aesthetically.  They've got the whole hipstery Dutch masters thing going on without being TOO hipstery Dutch masters thing, and they employ an arsenal that is made up both of flowers AND other forms of plantlife (I've referenced my adoration for non-floral botanicals in crafts and arrangements before).  Their arrangements are small and manageable and compact, and therefore well suited for the walk-in closets we're all living in for $1800 a month.

They have same day delivery.  They have succulents in planters (dude gifts, what up).  They let you pick the same arrangement in multiple sizes (which means price options), the website design is clean and navigable, and the options are well-curated so that you're not overwhelmed.  Like Greetabl, it takes 15 minutes or less to pop one of these out start to finish.  As someone who has found herself completely overwhelmed by more traditional online flower delivery websites, to a point where I just gave up, this seems just about perfect.



Fourth, I love the watch company Cluse. Sure, they are certainly not the only online watch game in town, but I'm smitten.

Every piece of marble in this collection of @cluse is different ! So everybody can get its unique watch ! Thats brilliant...what do you think ? We also ship...feel free to contact us via facebook! Enjoy your sunday evening ❤️ #goodevening #sunday #relax #sofa #enjoy #watch #cluse #unique #different #special #love #ootd #wiwt #style #stylish #fashion #shop #local #cologne #belgischesviertel #follow #us #fashionblogger #fashion #beunique #bedifferent

A photo posted by Magasin Populaire (@magasin_populaire) on Nov 20, 2016 at 9:43am PST

I love the clean aesthetic of their watch faces, their easy-to-mix-and-match bands, the innovative use of materials that still manages to still stay within their aesthetic (real marble watch faces and velvet bands come to mind). I even love, however silly it may be, that their "lookbook" is just a curated compilation of Instagram photos that other people have taken (it's genius, get people to Instagram your watches in an attempt to get into the lookbook = free advertising).

How does this utilize the Internet in a way that other stores don't?  Simple.  I have my watch face already.  If I decide I want a new band color I go to the website, order it, it comes to my house.  No fuss, no unnecessary trip to the store and, most of all, no new watch.  Ultimate convenience.



Finally, if you haven't yet had Framebridge advertised to you on Facebook I don't know where you've been hiding because they must have the world's largest Facebook advertising budget based on the frequency with which I've been seeing it.  I can't escape them.  And at first it was really annoying. Right up until I desperately wanted to frame something, and then Hallelujah.

And a happy Hanukkah, too! 🕯 Gorgeous art by @dorothy_shain.

A photo posted by Framebridge (@framebridge) on Dec 26, 2016 at 6:59am PST

What gap do they fill?  In addition to -this again- a curated set of customizable options, what really thrills me about Framebridge is the fact that you do not have to be physically involved in your artwork until the day you get it, all framed and shiny.  What does that mean exactly?  It means that you can upload a digital image directly to their website and they instantly size it, figure out how big a print you can get based on its resolution, and show you previews of what it will look like with different frames and different mats.

There's no printing, no physical mailing or dropping off (unless you want to, they do that, too).  The thing is optimized for Instagram - it will literally let you select photos direct from your Instagram feed, if that's your kind of thing.  Personally, my instant framing urge came after I fell head over heels in love with a meme.  Downloaded it from FB, uploaded it to Framebridge, had it framed and lovely in my apartment the following week.  Such a game changer when it comes to, say, downloading free printables, because I HAVE NO PRINTER.  Love.

Want to try it out?  Download some free floral watercolor images from Fox and Hazel (the makers of the cute watercolor images you see to your right) and go play around.


How about you readers?  Have you discovered any shopping websites that truly harness the power of the Internet through convenience, speed, customization ability and/or curation?  What other sites should I be looking at akin to these that I have mentioned?  Discuss in the comments.

Emily