I've pressed many little flower blossoms over the years. I just use a thick telephone directory or similar book. Look for blooms that are more 2-dimensional rather than 3-dimensional... a pansy rather than a chrysanthemum, for example. Obviously a rose won't press flat! And avoid ones with thick centers like some daisies. If you want the daisy petals, pull them off individually to dry them, then reassemble for your project. You can use a piece of paper for the center. Do the same with other thick or complicated blooms - disassemble them and press the individual parts. Some dried flowers retain their colors well, others fade over time. And some dry to a different color... for example, some white blooms dry to a funky tan or yellow. You'll discover which suit your needs by trial and error. Be sure to press weeds and grasses, too. And four-leaf clovers! They add shape interest and color contrast to your compositions. Just go ahead and try drying some... it doesn't take much time or space. If you use a big book like a telephone directory, just start in the back, then as you discover more flowers to press, you can put them in the book closer to the top as you go. Just leave a few pages between each pressing so the moisture doesn't move to another batch. Pretty soon you'll have lots of pressed material to work with!

"If anything I find my tastes are influenced negatively here, not in a bad way really, just differently. I love funky bohemian combined with traditional and modern but don't feel that love from most posters so sometimes I second guess myself. There are some canvas prints at Pier One I am crazy about yet they are cheap. Will I hate them because they look cheap? ($30 each btw) Will they make my decor seem too wild? Cheap? As an artist, most other artists abhor this kind of thing and usually are quite snobbish about having only originals in their house. They would not buy a cheap print from Pier One! So, can I over come this pressure and the pressure here (subtle however) and actually get what I love? I do not like the vast majority of art people choose for their home so I would never ask anyone here "what do you think of this print?" I'm rambling but I guess it's all about keeping myself true to me." Bumblebeez, I feel your pain, really I do. :) Something that would truly *speak* to me, would be a gliclee of Monet's Sunrise. It was a work that was derided by critics in its time and I had the opportunity to see it in the Monet Museum in Paris. It would have much more meaning to me, and to my husband, than something I bought off of Etsy or Ebay. At least you, as an artist, have the pedigree be able to get away with buying what you want (not that you should have to make excuses). It's the same way about furniture. If it's not heirloom or CL, there will always be detractors. I just try to suck it up and decorate to the best of my abilities.

I agree that research is essential. Everyone has been seduced by glossy pictures at garden nurseries or has overlook good roses based on pics. For example, if I didn't read glowing reviews on Julia Child on this forum, it wouldn't be a rose I would had bought had I seen it at the nurseries. At glance, it looks just like any yellow rose that is available. But fellow rosarians can't be wrong, especially from so many people from different climates and countries. It is definitely one of my favourite rose so far. In my experience it is better to spend a bit more money on strong plant than to buy cheaper weaker ones. This may not always be the case but a strong plant with strong canes is essential in my opinion, especially for those of us who live in colder climates. After so many years growing roses, disease resistant varieties and vigor is on top of my list. I would be willing to forego most roses no matter how beautiful they are especially if they are famously prone to diseases and are not vigorous. Of course, I have made exceptions but there is no point in wasting time to nurse unhealthy plants that takes a lot of your time and energy and space for that matter. Last but not least, do not stress yourself out with rose problems such as Japanese beetles and blackspot. I admit that I have been beaten down last year by Japanese beetles. However, I am trying to find other ways to deal with them. I may experiment with the traps as a few gardeners I know has found to be very effective for them. I started to buy more bs resistant roses and I found it really helps. I still get bs at the end of summer but they are more minimal. The last advice I have is don't subject yourself to a heart attack if your rose died. It happens like everything else in life. There are so many roses to grow and take the opportunity to grow a new one.

Lukki, my DIL's kitchen is the same. She's not a cook but will bake brownies or banana bread once in a while. It makes me crazy to try to cook something for my grandson when I'm babysitting. It's a large, square kitchen with good counter space and storage, but there is no island, so it's like 9 or 10 ft from one side of the kitchen to the other. The work triangle is HUGE, lol. There are 2 lazy susan corner cabinets, kitty corner from each other. The one closest to the stove, where there is a microwave on the counter and a tiny bit of counter space, holds all the baking ingredients and some misc pieces. Kitty corner, on the side where the sink is, where there is one full counter run with nothing but the stand mixer on it, has all the pots and pans. OMG. Totally backwards from the most efficient arrangement. I do all I can to avoid having to cook there. Funny thing is, she'd be totally fine with me suggesting a different arrangement, but I don't want her to feel self conscious or bad that I noticed that.