Thursday 6 May 2010

Pink

I know that you have seen it here before but I have been obsessively up cycling old packaging to store things in and also to contain gifts that I have been posting out. It all started with the flower pounding, and then the daffodil dye baths. The petal pulp that was left over from the pounding and dye baths were calling out to be used, so they decorated containers. Soon, flowers of any description were no longer safe. Its so addictive even my little girl has been having a go.

The boxes have mostly pink flowers attached, the red pink of the camellia, pink roses and carnations, deep cerise and pale purple pink of the giant daisy. They all dry out into a pale golden colour in the end. The rose looks particularly good, almost like a leaf skeleton.

The other day an old lady stopped me in the supermarket and asked me if I had heard the expression 'pink to make the boys wink'. She seemed lonely and in need of human contact so I stayed to talk a while. I told her about something I heard on the radio recently. Pink was once a colour worn by men. It could show status as achieving the colour was more difficult than other colours at the time. I don't know how true that it is but it made me think of the psychology of colour and that pink is on the spectrum of the power colour red. If it is true, it is now interesting that women wear pink and have more status than at any other time in history.

Please visit my friends at Theme Thursday to see their interpretations of pink.

41 comments:

The Scrybe said...

<3 Now all we need is pink elephants ;)

Delphyne said...

Those are some very sweet packages, Jasmine - do you simply use lots of glue over the box and then let the petals dry? xoxo

Aleks said...

Here Is one! :O)
Hi Jasmine,love the story of a old lady and Pink,also your way of making those lovely boxes!All the time I wanted to do the same but somehow I stayed at stage of obsessive collector slowly vanishing herself under the piles of collected story! :O) Have a beautiful day!

brandi said...

~i adore what you have been up too...such precious delicate boxes to hold sweet treasures...beautiful...warm wishes and brightest blessings~

Fiona said...

Ah, a Radio 4 listener!

Caterina Giglio said...

well I haven't seen it!! brilliant!!

Titus said...

Jasmine: lovely use of leftovers!
Just a short stop as I'm working, but had to come over and tell you that our flower pounding project worked very well indeed, and I've just posted the results with suitable attribution!
Even better, no sewing required!

Theresa MacNaughton said...

I was so drawn to these beautiful boxes...they are works of art themselves. What a lovely array of leaves and flowers that decorate them. Theresa :)

Forthvalley scribe said...

Gorgeous camellia! I love the boxes too - did you see Alys Fowler doing flower pounding on BBC2 last week? Amazing results from such a simple concept.

Jasmine said...

Hi Scrybe - Lettuce already did the pink elephants ;)

Delphyne - I used an assortment of flowers. Some was pulp of petals after being boiled in a dye bath and some were fresh flowers. The most intense colour and the colour that holds truest are dried flowers that still have a little moisture to make them pliable. PVA glue for children works very well.

Faerwillow - Thank you :) Brightest blessings to you x

ALeks - Collecting takes on a whole new meaning when we start collecting for creating doesn't it. I will be over to read your story soon.

Fiona - Aha! Rumbled :)

Kat - Thank you. Sending big hugs xx

Theresa - they are a lot of fun to make too. Colour therapy, nature collage, food for the soul. I do them in the evenings whilst listening to music or watching TV, and sometimes during the day with my little girl.

Titus - I just looked, your post is BRILLIANT! Love it.

Elizabeth - No, I did not see that. I will try and get it on catch up. Thank s for the tip x

järnebrand said...

Beautiful boxes. You seem very creative. I loved how you did this. Happy TT! Love/ Jo.

Caio Fern said...

everything is so lovely on this port . beutiful !
pink is a very elitist color to me . i use to show that i don't belong to people .
here in brasil men that use pink are considered fags by the population in general . but using pink shirts is a way of men of higher social classes show that don't belong to the 'masses" .

ArtSparker said...

If all packages were like this, it would be a sweeter world.

PattiKen said...

Interesting observation about pink. There is no question that some pinks are strong and powerful.

My post for Pink, close to my heart, is up here.

Karen Harrington said...

My first time to participate in Theme Thursday....and visit your blog. :) Love your photos and the boxes are sumblime.

(Funny, I also commented on men wearing pink.)

Ed & Jeanne said...

Interesting though, the women with the most power now don't really wear pink that much, if at all...

Harnett-Hargrove said...

I wont say you are getting carried away ... you just have so much stiff to stow! Nice work! -J

Shayna said...

You've inspired me yet again! I love what you've done to the boxes ... and what a sweet slice of life experience you had in the grocery store with the woman. (have you ever heard the excellent song by John Prine called 'Hello in There'?) Fascinating observations on the color pink, too. Thanks, Jasmine! xox

Jingle said...

lovely pink collections!

mine is up
http://jingleyanqiu.wordpress.com/2010/05/06/theme-thursday-think-pink-thoughts/

moondustwriter said...

I love the pink pulp. I want to make some. Do you dry first and then make.

Lovely history lesson as well

happy TT day

Moondustwriter

Wildflowerhouse said...

You have been busy. I like it all. I have been having fun doing mail art. It's addictive!

BluMoon said...

Interesting about pink years ago it was pink for a boy, blue for a girl now it is turned round from the original. My husband always looked great in a pale pink shirt!

Sparklyjools said...

Beautiful containers - you always inspire me! and bless you for chatting with that old lady.x

Ginga Squid said...

Beautiful! What a fab idea.

Anne said...

a pinkred camellia, i bought it to plant in my garden tomorrow:))

Jaime said...

great pictures. love that first one of the flower.

Manon said...

Love the pics and those boxes rock! Omg.... they are so beautiful!!

Enchanted Oak said...

I love your method of flower recycling. It was nice to see you on my blog today so I could meet you. You like poetry and so do I. Gardening as well, of course. I compose a lot of poetry while tending the yard. Do you?
Cheers from Chris at Enchanted Oak

Gladys said...

i love projects such as these

Shayna said...

Jasmine ~ I must tell you about an experience I had today that reminded me of this lovely 'pink' post of yours ... I was browsing in a store and behind me a small boy came up to his mother - he was wearing a straw cowboy hat that he wanted to buy. His mother told him that her friend had one for him to wear (to wear to whatever event it was that he was going to attend) - and she said, "It is pink". He was not pleased but she was serious ... so, it seems he'll be wearing a pink hat to the party! xo

lynne h said...

boy, i wanna cover some boxes now... these are beautiful, jasmine! xo

Lisa Nanette Allender said...

Gorgeous pink-celebration.
Gorgeous quote, re: Paulo Freire!
Found you through Harnett-Hargrove blog.

Yvette said...

bordeel roze
disco pink
koekoeksbloem roze

I love it!!

and your packages are so great!

Suzi Smith said...

the boxes are delightful...!
thoughts... pink associated with the heart... maybe in years past men with the money to wear pink were more likely to be following their heart... women were at that time chattels that brought a dowry... ? now women can also & perhaps more women strive to follow their heart... ? here in uk, its now quite common to see men wearing pink shirts/ties aswell... are heart centres becoming more open?

Art4Sol said...

I always do "feel" prettier in pink....I don't know why....
Beautiful use of flowers.

Deborah said...

Beautiful! I think I may be inspired to try flower pounding!

Martine said...

Packaging with pink flowers, how lovely that is Jasmine!
XXXm

marina said...

Lovely boxes! Great project.
I also enjoyed in your post the part about the old lady wanting to talk... :-)

Tammie Lee said...

It is good fun to see your wonderful containers! Love that you are doing this with your daughter too. I love my cylinder! Pink is one of my most adored colors, especially soft pink.

California Girl said...

this is the second time I've read this about men wearing pink and all from TT. I have never gheard this before. Interesting how colors go in and out of fashion.

Laura said...

very interesting about pink...I love all of your sweet packages.