{"id":106,"date":"2005-05-29T22:47:58","date_gmt":"2005-05-29T22:47:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/?p=106"},"modified":"2015-08-12T21:39:21","modified_gmt":"2015-08-12T10:39:21","slug":"month-of-softies-may-flowers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/2005\/05\/29\/month-of-softies-may-flowers\/","title":{"rendered":"Month of Softies: May Flowers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The theme for <a href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20130113200557\/http:\/\/loobylu.com\/softies\/index.html\">Month of Softies<\/a> this month was &#8216;May Flowers&#8217;. My first thought was of daffodils, as I remember loving how they came up all over the place in lawns in the chilly spring in York and Cambridge; and I thought I might try to make Talitha, the brave daffodil princess from the book &#8216;The Mouldy&#8217; by William Mayne, and illustrated by <a href=\"http:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/2005\/02\/13\/calendars-georgia-okeefe-and-nicola-bayley\/\">Nicola Bayley<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/05\/talitha.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3392\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/2005\/05\/29\/month-of-softies-may-flowers\/talitha\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/05\/talitha.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"300,282\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"talitha\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/05\/talitha.jpg\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3392\" src=\"http:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/05\/talitha.jpg\" alt=\"talitha\" width=\"300\" height=\"282\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Then I decided to consider Australian May flowers. There isn&#8217;t much flowering here in May, except some irises which usually flower in July, but this year are muddled by our late winter and drought. But there are a few winter-flowering eucalypt trees, so I started planning a red gumnut flower fairy. I thought the stamens could make a kind of drop skirt, or hat fringe, but in the end decided that I liked the flower just as a flower.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/05\/Red-flowering-gum-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3394\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/2005\/05\/29\/month-of-softies-may-flowers\/red-flowering-gum-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/05\/Red-flowering-gum-2.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"327,500\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Red flowering gum-2\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/05\/Red-flowering-gum-2.jpg\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3394\" src=\"http:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/05\/Red-flowering-gum-2.jpg\" alt=\"Red flowering gum-2\" width=\"327\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/05\/Red-flowering-gum-2.jpg 327w, https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/05\/Red-flowering-gum-2-196x300.jpg 196w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 327px) 100vw, 327px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Its quite big; including the leaves it measures just over 40cm (16in). For the stamens I used lycra, an idea that I had previously found worked well for making small octopus tentacles! I like the soft colours, too. There are few more pictures:<\/p>\n<div data-carousel-extra='{&quot;blog_id&quot;:1,&quot;permalink&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/2005\/05\/29\/month-of-softies-may-flowers\/&quot;}' id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-106 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/2005\/05\/29\/month-of-softies-may-flowers\/red-flowering-gum-3\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/05\/Red-flowering-gum-3-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" data-attachment-id=\"3395\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/2005\/05\/29\/month-of-softies-may-flowers\/red-flowering-gum-3\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/05\/Red-flowering-gum-3.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"500,420\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Red flowering gum-3\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/05\/Red-flowering-gum-3.jpg\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/2005\/05\/29\/month-of-softies-may-flowers\/red-flowering-gum-1\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/05\/Red-flowering-gum-1-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" data-attachment-id=\"3393\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/2005\/05\/29\/month-of-softies-may-flowers\/red-flowering-gum-1\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/05\/Red-flowering-gum-1.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"500,471\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Red flowering gum-1\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/05\/Red-flowering-gum-1.jpg\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/2005\/05\/29\/month-of-softies-may-flowers\/red-flowering-gum\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/05\/Red-flowering-gum-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" data-attachment-id=\"3396\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/2005\/05\/29\/month-of-softies-may-flowers\/red-flowering-gum\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/05\/Red-flowering-gum.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"317,500\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Red flowering gum\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/05\/Red-flowering-gum.jpg\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The theme for Month of Softies this month was &#8216;May Flowers&#8217;. My first thought was of daffodils, as I remember loving how they came up all over the place in lawns in the chilly spring in York and Cambridge; and I thought I might try to make Talitha, the brave daffodil princess from the book [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[184,20,92,10],"tags":[1359,1388,1371,175,262,261,196],"class_list":["post-106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-craft","category-make","category-portfolio","category-sculpture","tag-books","tag-craft","tag-make","tag-nicola-bayley","tag-red-flowering-gum","tag-soft-sculpture","tag-softie"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paZhI-1I","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3397,"href":"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions\/3397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}