50th Birthday Themed Terrarium

After a challenging four days of searching for appropriate plants to use, I finally managed to get hold of a few pots of Sagina subulata (Irish moss), scurpus (Fairy Lights) and Selaginella.

My first intention was to make a female figure in Indonesian traditional clothing but  I know I still have a lot to learn when it comes to my polymer figures so I opted for something more simple, a birthday cake.  Below is the polymer cake I ended up with.  I just winged it free hand, I do not have the right tools at the moment.  It's rudimentary but I don't really want to fuss about it too much.  I'm sticking to my first thoughts; I'm doing this for fun, for therapy; and not to stress about.  Still no decent camera, please excuse the crappy photos.



I wish I had the right tools.  I must practice
more and try to be  more aware of my forms,
shapes and lines

 

top view....

Now the terrarium.  I only used a little bit of selaginella and a third of  a small pot from the Irish moss.  After putting the varnish on the cake decoration (which takes time as I had to wait two hours in between the three coats (sigh, sigh and more sighs), I looked at the jar with just the cake in it, something was missing,  It didn't seem enough to just have a cake plonked in the middle of the jar. 

my working space

So next I made was a bottle of wine or champagne as a 'celebratory symbol'.  When it was done I ended up making a female figure in long gown in the colours that I think she tends to use. 

A cake, a bottle of champagne, a celebrant; it was good  except I realised I've made the cake polymer a bit too big. I had to squeeze all of them in the middle.  I also ended up making a banner (or bunting) to complete the birthday scene.   

from behind

I forgot to impress the letters before baking the buntings
 so I had to use a marker pen before applying varnish

side view showing all four items

top view

Finally done!  It took me three nights to put everything together (because of the time involved in baking and varnishing the clay).  Sad thing is while driving to their place, the bottle tipped to one side and the items and a bit of the soil was moved.  I had to rearrange it before handing it to the celebrant.  It sure is a labour of love when you custom make anything,

I can only hope the recipient can appreciate what went into creating it.  I thought of just buying a bunch of flowers but they are expensive and last only a few days.  A terrarium that will remind her of her awesome 50th birthday party could last much longer...hopefully years (although at this point I know the polymer will not last very long in such a humid environment) 

Everything is purely experimental at this point.  By the way I just received the Stearic and citric acids I ordered to  make my own clay (resembling the air dry Japanese clay I believe is like a porcelain clay) in my efforts to find something more water-resistant than polymer clays.

Anyway to finish this post, I found some see-through wrapper and a pink ribbon from my junks/stash. Voila! My first custom made Terrarium!  I liked it so much I've decided to make my own of my 50th birthday just to keep alive my memories of an awesome evening with family and friends!

ready to be delivered...

We were treated to an  Indonesian culinary feast





My search for moss and other terrarium plants

I had a chance to custom make a terrarium this week for a lady celebrating her 50th birthday.  My greatest challenge was finding moss where we are.  I have tried buying it online but the people I contacted and ordered from (Australian Orchid Nursery) did not even bother to acknowledge / reply to my email (with my order).  No idea why but I might phone them instead to see what the story is. I was hoping to have moss to use for this particular one, big disappointment. 

I was lucky when I first started making my first few bottles to find moss growing in our garden under the palm trees.  I have started growing them in plastic containers but they are of course slow growers.  There's just not enough from the little patch we had.  During summer they actually die down,  only see them during winter.   I have used the lot apart from the ones I am growing in containers.  I'm only learning to propagate them at the moment.

My last alternative was to check one of the very few nurseries in town not hoping to find moss but to find selaginella  and or Irish/Scottish moss at least.  Bunnings and Masters do not have them nor do the other garden centres I have been too.   I decided to try my luck at Calligan's Nursery.  It was raining (our first after winter) but that didn't stop me from checking out the plants at their nursery.  I went around more than twice checking all the rows of plants hoping to find something I could use or hoping that I missed it the first time.  There was none, with my shoulders down I headed out.  But just before I got to the exit, I saw hidden behind taller plants a tray of Irish moss (about six punnets) and a few Scurpus or Fairy Lights. 

Remembering how hard it has been finding the right plants for my terrariums made me take the whole tray.  At the counter I also spotted on one of the vases on display at the store a pot of Selaginella.  The lady said it was their last one and I can have it if I want it.  A bit pricey but I have not seen any in Mackay for the past few months I've been looking. 

This is going to be the challenge for me, finding enough supplies of plants and moss especially.  I often remember  home (New Zealand) and the walk to the little Niagara Falls in Victoria BC, CA where every tree was covered in thick moss.  In contrast, t's just too dry where we are.  The only place I've seen moss around is in one of the running waters at the Botanical garden; unfortunately it's illegal to collect them from there or from any other state forest/parks//wildlife. In this very dry region, it would be almost impossible I presume to find any from privately owned land.  It's a challenge indeed!  But one I hope I can overcome.

Miniature Worlds

I've made a few simple experimental terrariums in the last few weeks.  Last week I had my first one on one 'build your own terrarium' workshop with a lady colleague of mine.  She really enjoyed it, maybe just as much if not more than I did.  It was a nice, relaxed afternoon with plenty of chatting and laughing in between.  She took home two of her first terrariums; a closed and an open terrarium.  She sent me a photo of her open terrarium after she's added an ornament she had at her home.

I  experimented on available plants I can use in my creations.  While doing so I came across a few miniature gardens in pots and was captivated by the broken pot projects that are plastered all over You Tube.  I like the idea of creating a scene, a story; something that means something to me.  So I channelled the ideas I have for my closed terrariums and used them to create my first three broken pot projects.

I had to buy new pots and then break them, sounds stupid but I learnt that the Italian made pots are better or stronger.  I want my miniature world to last, I believe it's worth getting a new pot plus I'm sure it is clean.  I never bothered to research how to break them to get the shape I want.  I had to glue or put grout in the bigger pot as it broke way further than I wanted it to break.  I think I've learnt a bit about breaking pots now, I know I'll do a better job next time.  I must say they are a pleasure to look at.  By the way, watching my mother's way of gardening all those years I helped her in her garden, I have become one of those gardeners who talk to their plants, they do respond very well!

The broken pots are really like mini-worlds, I just love them.  I am currently on the look out for a bigger pot I could use; only this time I am hoping to find a give-away one rather than buy a new one.  Good quality pots can be a bit pricey and I wouldn't have the heart to break a new big and expensive pot.  So keeping my fingers crossed.   

Below are a few shots I took while making my first broken pot mini-world.

Step1:   Breaking the pot, as you can see I made a mess out of it.  It was never my intention to break the pot halfway but I had no idea how to do it.  It just doesn't give you a good base/foundation when you only have half of the base.

Step 2.  So I had to sit it on something to create a full base...glad I found one sitting around...I used a premium potting mix for my planting medium and a few pebbles at the bottom to help with drainage.











Step 3.  Before I started planting, I wanted to use an ornament so I took a few of the dead flower branches from our golden cane palms and created a hut or log cabin.  My first hot glue gun job for a very long time, I couldn't control the amount of glue coming out.   Either I didn't have enough lighting to see what I was doing or it's simply the fact that I'm almost half blind and working under a dull light didn't help.

Step 4.  I chose a few little plants from the garden and small ferns from the garden centre and planted them where I wanted them to go

 

Step 5:  The end product; my first mini-world.  Looking back I realize now that I should have glued the base to the pot.

Moss would have made this mini-world look more lush and it should be achievable  but being an open mini-garden, moss would require too much time in trying to establish it.  I have plants dying each time I have to go away for a few days simply because there's no one reliable enough to water them.  Hence the reason I thought terrariums are the way to go as they can go without care for long period of time.  But I just fell in loved with the broken pots and  I know with a bit of consideration of the types of plants I use, they too can do without much care if left for a few days.

Terrariums and Bottled Dreams

Having made my first terrarium willy nilly and realising I should have checked the moss before using it; I thought I better do it properly next time.    The next few days instead of haphazardly putting together another one I decided to spend a bit of time learning more about them, thanks to Google and You Tube!  I purchased a few things I need  (as I learned about them) which were readily available from garden centres apart from the Sphagnum  moss.  It took a week before our local garden centre had them in stock.  Once I knew I had enough materials to make a few mini-ecosystem; I harvested (scooped) some of the moss we have in the garden.  I waited more than two weeks after getting hold of the Sphagnum moss before I started making terrariums again.  I thought that would give time to see if there are nasties (e.g. mould, bugs etc) lurking in the moss.  I kept them sealed in a recycled (disposable) plastic cookie container which kept them moist all the time.  I sprayed them regularly, they grew more green and dense.

Next I went looking for little ornaments for my bottles; they too are readily available but most were too big and are not proportional for what or where I intend to use them.  I read one terrarium artist on etsy that she uses polymer clay for her figurine.  Spotlight has Sculpey and Officeworks has Fimo;  between the two shops I managed to purchase enough to start making my own.  I was glad to find out how much easier to use them compared to the air dry clay I used in my first bottle.

My husband was horrified when he saw the first female figure I made.  He could not stop laughing, well...we could not stop laughing in fact!  He tried his hands on it but his I think was even worse.  I knew I can only get better with practice, I just need to try harder which I did.  Besides it's never my intention to create fine looking figurines or carbon-copies of my originals because to me they are only caricatures; there only to represent the real thing.  My main reason for doing this is to have fun, to enjoy, to relive memories and to celebrate life!  Life's too short to fuss too much about details.  That's my alibi anyway, it makes me feel better.

It's early days and I will continue to research in order to improve my creations.  At the time being, because of where I am geographically located I have no easy or cheap ways of acquiring plants,  containers but moss most especially.  So I make do with whatever materials I have or available around here.  Two months later, the moss are now established inside my closed terrariums and they look happy!

Here are a few photos I took of my latest bottles (close and open terrariums)  I made once I felt there's no nasties in my moss.  I apologize for the quality of  the pictures, my DSLR decided to retire a few weeks ago.



Moss and fern forest



Weekend Adventure: Rock climbing

 

Weekend Adventure: Kayaking

Why my Bottled Dreams?

I left everything that meant a lot to me almost three years ago now in order to start a new life across the ditch.  After having lived alone for several years after divorce, I met my Aussie husband and came to join him in Mackay.  It's always a struggle at the start. When you're in your golden years you have set ways and even more so when you've been alone for years.  But when you also have to leave your family  (good kids and a newborn grand daughter  most especially), awesome friends and your home country behind; it can double the anguish as I found out.

Transitioning from an urban (cosmopolitan) to a smaller city (a very quiet one in my opinion) lifestyle where I cannot get a job (in fact where jobs are being culled by the hundreds in most industries) came as the icing of my bitter cake.  It means learning the ways of the people, the services available; difference in local regulations,  establishing new connections and friendships, getting use to or getting to know neighbours.  Put together they can prove exhausting and can make one's experience either a tad better or much worse. It took a while for me to recover from all of these on my own and longer to recover from missing my children and most especially my only grandchild, my parents, brothers and friends.

Volunteering helped me in a big way by providing a support system, at the same time giving some sense of belonging and of self-worth from being able to help and support those who are most in need.  As much as I was open-minded and resolute in making this place my new home; there is no denying how hard it was to give up or push aside my passion for travel and adventure. 

The economic downturn in this area made it harder for some of us migrants to find full-time regular employments.  Without the wonderful people from the non-profit organisation I volunteered at who vouched for me, I'd still be jobless today I reckon.  Working in an industry that's close to my heart and where I can make a contribution to the next generation is my greatest motivation.  Even if it does not offer me enough hours to justify travel pursuits like I was used to in my previous employment.

Working and studying part-time allows me enough time on the side to be a housewife and still have some time to pursue other interests.  I'm lucky and grateful that I now have re-married to a guy who treats me as his equal and who encourages my creative streak in his own way.

I enjoyed a pretty well balanced social life and active private life across the ditch; one I unfortunately do not have here.  I miss the noise, the non-stop chatter, the laughter, the singing, the praying and the sound of little children that is so normal to my family.  Surprisingly enough I am enjoying the simple life and the peace and quiet I have here.  I guess one good thing is being able to indulge in tropical gardening.  It takes most of my time these days;  my therapy, my life-saver.  I am very grateful hubby and I have this to share..  There are still times I miss the nights out and social gatherings with my friends. I always will, not for the activities but for the awesome company of good and loyal friends. 

When I got here my husband had an established but almost bare small backyard.  We dreamed about transforming it into something greener.  A lot easier said than done especially without a budget.  Two years later on a shoe string budget and with a lot of give-away plants from a couple of lady friends (with beautiful tropical, oasis-like gardens); we now have a much greener backyard.  

So what does my long spill got to do with my Bottled Dreams?  Not much really except my "my Bottled Dreams" was born out of my frustrations of not having more space in the garden as well as not having enough adventure to keep me on my toes!  One night I googled dwarf varieties of fruit-bearing trees I could grow in pots as we do not have fruit-bearing trees apart from a couple (a lemon tree and a Sesbania grandiflora or katuray tree in my dialect) I planted in pots last year.  We now have a few more pots of dwarf trees in our backyard.  Aside from dwarf trees I also came across terrariums that night, a childhood passion that faded with the years......I made a few attempts making them when I was in grade school (not proper ones of course).

Seeing pictures of them online took me back to my childhood days, my mom's garden especially.   Well the next morning, I made my first terrarium with a bit of  groundcover  plants and moss growing from the shaded area in our garden.   I realised I could actually create my dreams or re-create memories of experiences I had inside these little bottles!   That was more than two months ago, my bottled dreams are looking established now.  I guess I can say I'm hooked on terrariums!

Tramping - my first Terrarium

I tried my hands on making figurines simply because my containers are small and I know it's hard to find the right sizes of ornaments and figurines I want to have everything inside the bottles proportional.  In the above photo without scrutinizing the figure's face; it looks okay or acceptable.  Working with air dry terracotta and trying to make an inch tall figure was a real challenge for me.  If one looks closer though, it will show how bad it is...but for now I'm happy!  Practice they say makes perfect!  Looking forward to more of my Bottled Dreams come true, I am indeed!