Birth Month Flowers - Personalizing Your Hand-made Crafts, Cards and Scrapbooks

Wondering how you can make your hand-crafted birthday card, scrapbook page or gift more personal? Consider the language of flowers. Every calendar month and every sign of the zodiac has its patron flower. With that as a beautiful starting point, your creativity can soar.

Birth-month Flowers

According to tradition, each month's flower represents the qualities of a person born during that month. Many of these meanings have their origins in antiquity. During Roman birthday celebrations (which were excuses for lavish gift-giving), flowers were often given that were meant to symbolize how the recipient was viewed by the gods. The Victorians brought this "language of flowers" to a high art, where flowers represented not only a person's qualities, but could also carry a specific romantic message depending on its type and color. A bouquet or arrangement could easily result in mixed messages.

Crafting, card-making or scrapbooking with birth-month flowers has an added benefit: they are often in full bloom during the celebration, so you can accompany your card or craft with a live bouquet!

Start with your flower in any form; silk or other artificial flowers; pressed flowers; photos or illustrations; rubber stamps; even flower seeds. You might try hand-drawing for a very personal touch. You can also research and write a poetic reflection on the qualities of the flower or be prosaic and give instructions for growing them. The colors of the flowers can set the palette for your card or craft.

The traditional birth-month flowers are:

January, Carnation or Snowdrop;
February, Violet or Primrose;
March, Daffodil;
April, Daisy or Sweet Pea;
May, Lily of the Valley or Hawthorne;
June, Rose;
July, Larkspur;
August, Poppy or Gladiolus;
September, Aster or Morning Glory;
October, Calendula;
November, Chrysanthemum; and
December, Holly or Narcissus.

Horoscope Flowers

If you are more inclined toward the celestial, you can choose the traditional flowers of the astrological horoscope. These tend toward the more uncultivated field or wild flowers. Again, let your creativity lead you on how to use them.

The traditional flowers of the horoscope are:

Capricorn, Ivy, Pansy, or Amaranthus;
Aquarius, Hydrangea or Orchid;
Pisces, Orchid or Water Lily;
Aries, Honeysuckle or Thistle;
Taurus, Rose, Poppy or Foxglove;
Gemini, Honeysuckle or Jasmine;
Cancer, Geranium or Water Lily;
Leo, Sunflower or Marigold;
Virgo, Buttercup or Forget-Me-Not;
Libra, Rose;
Scorpio, Geranium or Honeysuckle;
Sagittarius, Dandelion or Begonia.

I hope these ideas make your next card, scrapbook or craft project blossom!

Source : ezinearticles.com