Since I am at home sick today, I thought I'd read the dictionary. Now that most of us get our information online these days, I thought it would be pertinent to remind myself what REAL research is about. All of those high-minded ideals went out the window, however, when a flurry of pressed leaves collected last fall, sandwiched between the pages and a few well-trimmed pieces of paper towel, came flooding out into my lap. I had gathered them last year during a trip to Quebec City, stuck them in the dictionary on my return and just completely forgot about them.

I got giddy when I realized I had a stack of new white frames that I had recently purchased (with not much idea as to what I'd use them for) and the little craft project that followed could not be stopped once the inspiration took over. I decided to frame a pair of the leaves, which were perfectly flat and completely free of moisture, one year after their first pressing. It's ideal to press them in a flower press, not books, since the pages of the book could potentially warp from the moisture or stain. But I made sure to layer them well with paper towel and there were no casualties.

I whipped out the craft paper (I have three large 'books' of various designs) and started planning. I tried the leaves, which are all of reddish hue, on various types of paper: calming neutrals and warm oranges, even some outlandish patterns like green with brown polka-dots.

I finally settled on a chartreuse-toned paper with a faux-bois pattern. It's modern and goes well with my decor. Green and red are also complementary colours and the crimson leaves stand out nicely against the green, which I really liked. I picked my two favourite leaves from the bunch I had, laid them out first to make a nice arrangement and then glued them with craft glue to the paper.
I have three other white frames and I'm not sure whether I'll make a gallery of leaves or just do the one frame. I'm also not sure where to put it yet, but I have a few ideas. The nice thing about these kinds of projects is that they're easy to do, inexpensive, and can be as temporary as you want them to be: a few days, a month, a year, or several years.

I should really get sick more often.