Dandelions were the theme for this month’s design challenge from Art Elements.  Dandelions peaked in my neighborhood back in April, covering vacant lots, wild lawns, and traffic islands in golden yellow blooms.  By the beginning of May, there were still a few blooms here and there, but most dandelion plants had cottony white puffballs replacing the blossoms.  And that’s why my designs for this challenge are focused on the seed heads rather than the blooms.

I very nearly didn’t get anything made this month and only pulled something together with one day left in the month.  Why did I wait so long? I was on virtual vacation.  By which I mean, I spent most of my after-work and weekend time this month escaping into the alternate worlds of a series of urban fantasy novels. In case you’re interested in where I went virtually, it was Shannon Mayer’s Rylee Admanson and Elemental series. 

By the middle of the month, I sort of planned to skip the challenge. I had a few ideas percolating, but didn’t find any motivation to put down the books and bring them to life.  I finally finished the last book late Saturday (May 29) afternoon and suddenly felt motivated to make some dandelion art.   What could I realistically get done in two days or less without making it stressful?  Definitely not the embroidered dandelion botanical print I had in mind earlier in the month.  But if I scaled that idea down to just a puffball, and used a minihoop? Yup, that would work.

After spending about an hour making the minihoop, I felt even more motivated to make dandelion things.  But by then it was Sunday afternoon, the day before the end of the month. I found myself wishing I had not waited until the last minute. If only I had an actual dandelion puffball on which to make my wish.  

Sadly, there were no dandelion puffulls to be found in my neighborhood for wishing upon.  They’ve been replaced by blooming clover.  And even if I could wish upon a clover flower, I’d have to fight the bees for one. So, I rummaged around my craft room and found the supplies I bought when I thought I was going to make mini-mosaic pendants.  

The epoxy clay was somewhat less than fresh, but I optimistically mixed some and smooshed it into a pendant bezel. Then I pressed bugle and seed beads into the clay to make a dandelion puff.  I tried to give the white clay background some color with green mica powder.  The result was too subtle.  Green glitter to the rescue.  I knew there was a reason I kept it for years after discovering it didn’t mix well with polymer clay.  I’m not a hoarder, I’m crafty.

This may be the shortest post I’ve written since I started my blog. I was going to make some pithy comment about making wishes by blowing on a seed head, but I opted out. I also thought about opining on the use of pesticides to keep manicured lawns free of dandelions, then I thought better of it. So here’s my final thought on dandelions for this post: weeds are just plants that dare to grow where they’re not wanted. Thanks for stopping by my blog today.