College in my 30’s

This is my beautiful, very colorful Prima flower “garden”.  I am obsessed with paper flowers, specifically the brand Prima - made for scrapbooking.  “Planting” my garden took quite a bit of synthesis in that I needed to figure out where I wanted to buy my flowers, how much I wanted to pay each box/bottle and what variety I wanted to add to my collection.

First, I found about something about myself:  I am a “hands-on” shopper!  If I can’t touch it - feel the texture or see the true color of the flower, I won’t buy it.  Knowing this fact narrowed my choices of where I wanted to go to buy my flowers - online or in a scrapbooking/hobby store.  I asked others who were avid Prima collectors where they bought their flowers.  I also did a search on the internet to find scrapbooking stores within a 2 hour radius and then called them to see if they carried the flowers. 

I referred to the internet again to compare prices from the stores I found against the flowers found in nearby stores.  I also considered the price of shipping  and the amount of money in gas that I would spend buying certain flowers.  I also subscribed to email lists online to receive special notices or coupons to save even more money.  In my obsessive quest, I found a friend who shared this same addiction and she invited me in a “Prima-buying group”, where a store owner offered discounts to others in a scrapbooking group online (which my friend Rhonnie was a member) and I was able to pay wholesale for new releases of flowers (a great blessing indeed).
As far as what types of flowers to plant - I wanted colors that would liven up my scrapbooking area and make me smile everytime I looked at them!  Everytime I bought a box, I did a mental inventory in mind to remember what colors I am lacking - or sometimes I called whoever was home and asked them if I had that certain kind of flower already!
It’s so wonderful to see these gorgeous blooms right in my family room, giving me a instant pick-me-up if I need to brighten a dreary day.  Oh and yes, I do use them for my scrapbooking, once and awhile!