Hosta la Vista, Baby!

Of course I know it's supposed to be "hasta" but - since I'm not trying to say good-bye and I am talking hostas - well, I think Arnold would approve.

I took a little time to work on the hostas today. First, I took some covered floral wire, painted it green and stuck it into a piece of foam to dry. Then I started on the leaves themselves. Yes, like you, my original thought was to paint the back of the paper before cutting out the leaves but, paying attention to what Annie says in one of her video tutorials, I could be left with white edges on each of the leaves which wouldn't look good. So, I painted each individually and left them to dry. I have saved one sheet of leaves that I printed out so I am going to paint the back of this paper to see just how bad the edges show up, once cut. It's worth a try to see if I can live with it.


After the leaves were all dry I began the much slower part of shaping each individual leaf. Placing them on a piece of craft foam for a soft surface to shape them, I used the large end of my medium stylus and, moving in circles around each leaf, right to the edges, I gently shaped them into a more realistic, slightly cupped shape. I confess, I didn't press any "veins" into the leaves. I was too anxious to start putting them together and see the finished product! Cutting the lengths of painted floral wire into pieces about 1 to 1 1/2 inches long each, I bent the ends a little so the leaves would sit correctly. I gathered everything else I needed - a pot, some "soil", my tools and glue and got started! I also curved the wire a little - again, to look more realistic once planted. Then I dipped the end of the wire into a little bit of tacky glue, attached a leaf, and set it into my Styrofoam piece to dry.


Then comes my favourite part - actually "building" the plant. From Annie's printables I had a few different sizes of leaves which helped to add to the realism as well. I filled the bottom of my pots with some tacky putty, covered that with glue and sprinkled it with dried tea leaves from a used tea bag to simulate soil, then starting arranging. The end result - I love it!! I don't know why one of the pictures looks like there's something white in the middle of it because there isn't. I guess it's my terrible picture-taking abilities -- just one more thing that's not my strong suit!



Now I need to get some pictures of different varieties of hostas so I can add additional colours and textures to my greenhouse and its landscaping. Such fun. So - this time 'round - hasta la vista, baby .....or, in my usual manner.....TTFN!