Candy and the Giant Sunflowers

Every time I looked at the giant sunflowers I inadvertently grew in my chicken's garden, I thought of Jack and the Beanstalk. So, it seemed fitting that when I finally got around to scrapbooking my giant sunflowers, I look to the fairy tale for inspiration.

I started with Mist Grid Paper. It is a soft blue, almost a white, and it helps to showcase the flowers, without the harshness of a bright white.

I used the phrase that many fairy tales begin with, "once upon a time," as my title, but I also used it as the opening to my journaling, which reads: "... there was a woman who wanted to grow sunflowers for her chickens. Every time she went to the store, she looked at the seeds. Overwhelmed and confused by the number of varieties, she left without the seeds. One day, in a hurry, she randomly grabbed a package and raced to the counter. She planted them and watched them grow and grow and grow ... soon they were taller than her and then the house! They were so large they toppled over, but the chickens loved them, just the same!"

I knew I wanted some sort of vine to go along the side of my page to represent both the beanstalk that Jack grew and the sunflowers that I grew. Unable to find anything, a friend suggested I use a flourish die. I cut several out and added them behind, around and over the photos until they went up the entire side. Then, I added paper sunflowers to create my vine.

I wanted to showcase how large these sunflowers were, so I tried to take photos that would help show the scale ... one of me with the sunflowers taller than my house; one with the chickens enjoying their prize; and one of my husband picking the seeds out of the flower.

I also took some detail shots ... who knew the patterns in a sunflower could be so beautiful!? Although my camera's macro setting leaves something to be desired and this photo is not as sharp and crisp as I would like, I love the pattern and the bee in the photo. I made this photo my background on my computer shortly after I took this photo and it has yet to be replaced!