::Apple Orchard Lantern::

"This lantern is for my step-sister. Growing up we used to go to an apple orchard in New York State with our family, had a big picnic and picked apples."

::Seven Lanterns for Seven Bridesmaids::

even lanterns complete. Finally. It feels good. The order came in a few months ago for a September wedding. I was asked to make custom lanterns to represent each member of the bridal party. An annual trip to the orchard with a sister. A friend who loves road trips. A wedding in Mexico. . .

::Artist: Peony & Parakeet::

his handmade paper caught my eye ages ago. It's so detailed and vibrant. Paiva offers a tutorial on how to create papers of your own, but I'm not sure it's possible to replicate such beautiful colour and texture.

 Blog:::Peony & Parakeet::

::Artist: Leonid Afremov::

Some things just make my eyes so very happy. Leonid Afremov's paintings are one of those things. So vibrant and full of movement and life. He does all his work using scraping tools. No brushes. That's what gives the paintings those chunky bursts of colour.

I contemplated investing in a print, but will have to really think about where it would fit into my home. I think his paintings would be bets displayed on a white wall. Alone.

 His site: ::Leonid Afremov::

::Artist: Laura Gunn::

I love her because she paints my favourite flowers: Poppies & Magnolia's. And she does it well. I hope to try my hand at painting on a large canvas, and this is the kind of things I could see myself attempting.

 Laura's Blog: ::Paint In My Hair::

Her art has been made into several Fabric lines that I adore as well. They seem to be hard to find here in Canada, but I'll keep searching.

::Lotte Reiniger::

I've paid homage to the work of Jan Pienkowski before. Recently, while looking through some of his art work I mistook some of the pieces for his, when they actually belonged to a woman named Lotte Reineger.

Lotte was a German animator in the 1900's. Her exquisite silhouettes were used to animate several films in her time. She put as much detail into her work as Pienkowski does. It's no wonder that she has been a source of inspiration to him.

I will have to try and capture one of Lotte's silhouettes on a lantern one of these days. . .

. . . If my hand holds out for all of the detailed cutting!

::Wildflower Field Lantern::

"Paper Cutouts" by Helen Leroux-Hugon & Juliette Vicart is full of great silhouette ideas. Some are incredibly detailed, while others are simple enough for anyone to tackle. I turned one of the simpler silhouettes into a lantern.