Book: The Language of Flowers

I've been meaning to mention the fact that there is a bestselling book called "The Language of Flowers" too!  It's about a young woman who has had a rather sad and lonely childhood growing up in foster care, who finds meaning in the beauty of flowers and the Victorian "language of flowers" and through this gift is able to connect with and help other people.

I haven't read it myself, but it sounds intriguing.  Thanks to Design Team member Michele Storms for sharing this with me, so that I can share it with you!  Have you read it?

Sponsoring Digitally Sweet Challenges

You know I love sponsoring over at DigitallySweetChallenges, and today they started the 100th challenge! I am proud to be their sponsor and provide images for this challenge.

And it's a great theme ~ a little different and a little challenging but very inspiring: "White on White with a Touch of Pink."  I think it works particularly well with vintage style.  The DSC design team was obviously very inspired by this theme, as you can see by the samples they submitted!  Take a look at all of them..

The DSC "White on White with a Touch of Pink" challenge continues all this week until Thursday evening, and I hope you will join in!

And of course remember to enter my Victorian Flowers & Fans challenge!  I'll try to keep bringing you thoughts on the Language of Flowers and Fans to give you ideas...

Orange Blossoms and Ivy

My Victorian Flowers & Fans challenge continues, and I'm still thinking about flower meanings.  I don't think this one is on my Victorian Language of Flowers page, but the pretty white blossoms of the orange tree used to be an important flower for brides and weddings (they may still be in England?)  As far as I can tell, the oldest meaning associated with orange blossoms is ... you guessed it, fertility! Just like the rice and the shoes tied to the back of the car, orange blossoms were believed (hoped) to bring the blessing of children!  Another nice symbol for weddings is the lovely evergreen Ivy, which has long symbolized fidelity and marriage.

Of course these days brides usually just choose flowers that they particularly like for their wedding -- based on personal preferences or color or the season.  (Mine was a collection of Tennessee June wildflowers that my husband picked for me -- day lilies, sweet peas, butterfly weed, lilac, Queen Anne's lace -- yes, I'm an accidental country girl, or maybe just a hippie at heart!)

But wouldn't it be fun to create a bouquet reflecting Victorian flower meanings?  I would love to hear from anyone who has done this!  What flowers would you choose?

The Victorians created meaningful "flower messages" for parties and occasions and remembrances for friends.  I'm sure sometimes little "nosegays" or "tussie-mussies" could communicate better than words.  And just imagine how much a young lady could communicate with how she held and moved her fan!

You can read more flower and fan meanings on my page, and remember to join the challenge!  You don't have to incorporate meanings into your entry -- just use flowers or fans however you like -- but aren't they fun?

Favorite Flowers -- Join the Challenge!

I'm happy to have a couple of entries in my "Flowers & Fans" challenge today ~ I hope to see lots more!  I've been researching flower meanings again today, and I added a couple of new ones to my Language of Flowers page at Lunagirl.com.

It seems various "flower dictionaries" might disagree about the meaning of a particular type of flower, but I've tried to use the most agreed-upon and authentic meanings I could find, based on Victorian sources.  And some flowers have come to have recognized meanings -- such as red roses for romance, for example.  Did you know that red roses can also be a symbol of Divine Love?

Yellow roses are for friendship or platonic love, pink for admiration and appreciation.  White roses to the Victorians often stood for purity or humility; to us they are often used to express condolences or sympathy.

Here are some pansies, which most every Victorian flower dictionary agrees symbolize "thinking of you" or thoughtfulness.  Did you know the name "pansy" comes from the French word pensee, meaning thought? Pansy flowers look like pensive little faces, don't you think?

An iris can mean "a message."  I'm guessing that's because in Greek mythology Iris was a messenger.  She was also goddess of the rainbow -- leaving a brightly colored trail across the sky -- and irises are known for coming in many different colors!

Did you see all the thousands of ceramic red poppies around the Tower of London?  That was such a beautiful memorial for those who died in World War I.  Poppies (the source for opium) are associated with sleep and also traditionally with death and memorials. After World War I ravaged the landscape of Europe, only the native blood red poppies would grow in the bare exposed earth. Fields of red poppies filling barren battlefields became a symbol of the sacrifice of those who died, and a flower of remembrance for those who lived on.

I love the idea of adding herbs to bouquets, which the Victorians often did.  Herbs add fragrance and greenery, and they have symbolic meanings, too!  Rosemary for remembrance, thyme for courage, basil for luck and fame... I need to learn more of those.

Finally, one of my favorite flowers is Zinnia -- because zinnias come in so many colors, because they're so easy to grow, but most of all because they grew all along the fence at the cabin where my husband and I first lived.  Zinnias will always remind me of our first two summers together at our first home.  The traditional meaning for zinnias, however, is "thoughts of absent friends."  Isn't that just lovely?

What are your favorite flowers?  What memories or meanings do you associate with flowers?

Creative Challenge: Victorian Flowers & Fans

Welcome to Lunagirl creative challenge #31 -- Our theme this time is "Victorian Flowers and Fans."  Your entry can be any craft or medium, using flowers and/or fans!

This theme is inspired by the Victorian "Language of Flowers" and the "language" of Victorian ladies' fans. During the Victorian era, "flower dictionaries" were popular, and flowers and pictures of flowers spoke a language all their own.  Blossoms, buds, and herbal bouquets were sent to friends and lovers not only for their beauty and fragrance, but also to convey messages -- sometimes messages that the sender dared not speak in words. A Victorian lady's fan could speak volumes as well, especially in a society in which certain sentiments were not properly spoken aloud between unmarried young men and women.

Of course now you want to know some traditional meanings for flowers and fans, yes?  I've created a page just for you!  Check out my Language of Flowers and Fans page at Lunagirl.com!

I would LOVE to see someone use some of the traditional flower meanings for this challenge -- but so to keep things simple let's just require FLOWERS and/or FANS (preferably vintage/Victorian!)     :-)  I have plenty of flowers and fans to inspire you in my Lunagirl.com shop!

Here are the challenge guidelines:

Any craft or medium is OK.

Limit of 3 entries from one person in each challenge, please.

Vintage style is encouraged.

Use a Lunagirl image or element and your entry will count twice in the drawing!

Remember to link to this blog and to Lunagirl.com on your site if you have one.

Prize:  The winner will be selected randomly, to receive a Lunagirl collage sheet CD of your choice! ($25 value).

Challenge ends at noon CST on August 17.

Of course I love if you use at least one Lunagirl.com product, and I hope you'll go take a look at my collection... but that's not a requirement. However, remember that if you use a Lunagirl image, you will be entered TWICE in the drawing! I want to welcome everyone and every style but also give a little something extra to my wonderful customers! 

LINK UP YOUR ENTRIES BELOW TO PLAY (and please don't forget to SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE Design Team creations!)

An InLinkz Link-up

LUNAGIRL MOONBEAMS DESIGN TEAM

MICHELE STORMS:
Card with images from Blossoms, Fans and Lady of the Flowers.

MANDY CHILVERS:
Images from from Blossoms and Fans 

VICKI ROMAINE:
"The background is a double mat.  One is designer paper and the other is solid cardstock.  The images are LG and the flowers are on a dimensional.  The sentiment is heavy chipboard."

Favorite Color challenge winner

Time for the drawing! I had so many beautiful entries in my "What's Your Favorite Color" challenge.  And quite a few entries used at least one Lunagirl vintage image and so got a double entry for that piece.  We'll have to do another "favorite color" challenge sometime!

Thank you to everyone who played. I enjoyed seeing all of your work, and I hope EVERYONE will come back again.

And the winner of the random drawing for the prize of a Lunagirl digital collage sheets CD of your choice is..... entry #22 created by NanaConnie of http://mygrammysattic.blogspot.com/, whose favorite color is "purple and anything"!  Don't you love her grumpy purple-winged dragon?

Congrats, NanaConnie! Email me at info@lunagirl.com to claim your prize!

My next challenge theme is "Flowers & Fans," inspired by the Victorian language of flowers and ladies' fans... starts tomorrow, see you soon!