Blossom: A Pictorial & Poetic Journey In Effortless Being

PROJECT UPDATE 19 ::: The Final BLOSSOM Hurrah!
about 2 months ago – Thu, Sep 26, 2024 at 07:43:02 AM

Dearest Kickstarter Friends --

I'm sitting here sipping a cup of cacao magic that a women's collective in Costa Rica made and I'm feeling deep into my heart, as I reflect on this Kickstarter campaign that we started together just 1.5 years ago. Last week, I sent out the final BLOSSOM package internationally--it brought tears to my eyes and a myriad of emotions like joy, sadness, elation, pride, happiness, melancholy, fatigue, and so much more! Mostly, I just feel a deep sense of HOLY freaking WOW y'all, WE DID IT.

FULFILLED, FULFILLING & FULFILLMENT

Each week since receiving the first printed copy of BLOSSOM, I have had the great joy of fulfilling all your rewards; hand-wrapping your books with care, autographing some, and adding ribbons, stickers, and rose petals to others, and then sending them off in the mail to you. Oh how I love to create! Packaging your rewards brought back fond memories of my first business that I had at the age of eight, wrapping Christmas presents for locals in our community—my first fulfillment job! :) 

Since BLOSSOM  launched this summer, I've been doing a little Snoopy happy dance to celebrate the different ways that the book is finding its way out into the world. Here's a few samples:

• BLOSSOM artwork was featured in the July edition of Artist Up Close, a magazine based in Europe. Over 150 artists were included and I was honored to be one of them!

• BOLD JOURNEY Magazine interviewed me about my work as a artist, how to keep that creative spark alive, and my latest project (BLOSSOM!)
• A small gallery in New York city reached out and asked me to submit my portfolio for an upcoming exhibit. Squeeee! Not sure it will happen but I do LOVE this! (BTW: if you have any connections or ideas of where BLOSSOM art might be featured, please do let me know!)
• My dear friend, creative pal, and founder of Creative Courage Press, Shelly recently interviewed me about BLOSSOM and the courage to create! I love how we delved into the many different ways that you can interact or play with the flowers via the book whether it's simply viewing the beautiful images, reading the poetry, or even doing some of the embodiment practices. If you're curious about how to let flowers be your spiritual guide, check out the full interview HERE. 

MY MOST FAVORITE-EST THING

By far, one of the best things about this project has been receiving pictures, social media posts, and videos of you (and even your pets!) unboxing or enjoying the book!  More than a dozen of you responded to my call to send them in and Hollan Pugh is the winner of the drawing for an 8x8 fine art flower print. I totally L-O-V-E, love, LOVED seeing all your interactions (and reactions) to the book. I've always said that it's one thing to put your artwork out into the world, it's a whole other thing to see people receive it! (Swoon.) Here's a few of my favorite highlights: 

FAREWELL BUT NOT GOODBYE

When this Kickstarter journey began, I had NO idea if it would fly! Did you know that over 60% of Kickstarter projects don't get funded? WOWzah. We rock. Mad props to you for saying yes to helping this little dream of mine come true, to helping share flower medicine in the world, and to helping me understand how art is love. The flowers and I are beyond grateful to your texts, flower pictures from your part of the world, and words of inspiration that kept me/us going till the end. 

It feels fitting that the fall season is upon us ad I let go of this project and it comes to a close, at least on this platform! Now that BLOSSOM is birthed, we will get to see where she next me/us next! Maybe to your city? Maybe a big ole celebration party? (Well, that's a heck yes, just not sure when yet!) I'll be sure to stay in touch via email with updates and news but in the meantime, please know you can always keep sending me pictures of flowers. I love it when you do! 

So with out further adieu, I will officially sign off and close this campaign here—not with good-bye, but rather ciao for now. 

May the love of flowers and their medicine guide your effortlessly and bless you infinitely!

DD

PROJECT UPDATE 18 ::: BLOSSOM IS ON ITS WAY TO YOU
4 months ago – Fri, Aug 02, 2024 at 08:05:43 AM

Greetings Dear Kickstarter Supporters!

I'm dropping in with a BLOSSOM Update for you--but FIRST--some flower LOVE that grew in my garden this summer! Don't these littles blossoms have a fairy like quality to them? 

GOOD NEWS:

The BLOSSOM books have all landed! The first air shipment arrived on the day before the fourth of Jully and the sea shipment just arrived yesterday evening! By splitting the shipment into a faster air shipment, it allowed me to get going on the processing, wrapping, autographing, numbering, assembling of book goodie packets and infusing each book with even more love!

I'm sending the books in small batches out to you as I get them processing -- and I'm happy to report that the first batch of BLOSSOM books are in the mail on their way to some of you!!! Keep an eye out for your mailboxes in the next two weeks! 

SPREAD THE BLOSSOM LOVE, WIN A FREE 8x8 BLOSSOM PRINT

Once you receive your BLOSSOM book, I would be ever so grateful, if you video your book opening, and post it on Instagram or Facebook! OR if you feel like just taking a picture of you and the book, that works too. Be sure to use the hash tag #BLOSSOMLOVE and @rosetemplelove ! For every post you post, your name will be entered into a drawing for an 8x8 print of your choice from BLOSSOM! 

I'll keep this one short, as I want to get back to processing your books! For now, I'm celebrating with you the birth of this beautiful book. I could not have done it without you all! 

THANK YOU!  

DD

PS: You all will receive flower seed to plant more flower love in your neck of the woods, and the flowers above are from those seed packets! 

PROJECT UPDATE 17: Up in the Air
5 months ago – Tue, Jun 25, 2024 at 03:50:26 PM

Hi Friends:

Some of you may remember that one of the things that the flowers are especially good at is helping us engage our SENSES, which can also help us feel more in our body and the present moment.

So yesterday morning when I opened my email from the printers—on Celebratioin of Your Senses Day—it was especially fitting to read their message:  BLOSSOM in the Beauty of Being is IN THE AIR! Meaning, the printed books are on a plane, on their way to me—and of course—to YOU very soon thereafter! YAYYY!

I'm told the books could be here in 7-10 days. Oh happy day!  I'm truly so excited and am pinching myself that this book baby is almost here. 

In honor of our senses, the flowers, and pride month, I'm sharing a bouquest of rainbow of flowers here -- some of them included in the book and others I've shot this summer!  Enjoy. 

I'll be in touch as soon as they've landed! 

XOXO,

DD

PROJECT UPDATE 16: Summertime BLOSSOM Love
6 months ago – Fri, Jun 07, 2024 at 07:11:36 AM

Hello my dear Kickstarter Friends!

I'm writing you with feelings of butterflies in my tummy and sweet flutter in my heart. BLOSSOM is nearing it's full birth! 

Last week I received the hard copy digital proof from the printer! WOWzah, it felt surreal and such a joy to hold in my hands. I cried. It's been such a wild ride, this creative journey!  The book feels like such a transmission of love and beauty. I simply cannot wait to share it with you ALL.

AND ALSO....can I just say???? that I'm ever so grateful to you all for believing in this project (and me!)  It's been such a beautiful project and process and I hope one day to not only write more about it but perhaps also help others find their way through their own creative process too. To borrow and modify one of my son and I'd favorite Ted Lasso phrases: Creativity is LIFE! 

As we near the arrival of the book, I've been sitting with what the next step is. This first step of being/sitting -- not doing -- has been so helpful for me. For most of my life--I've lept into action (a great skill) and now I find great value in letting the step come to me. (Don't get me wrong, sometimes the doing helps the flow start moving too!) 

In any case, I asked the book, "as we prepare for your birth, what's the next close in step?" (I borrowed this phrase/idea rom the poem by David Whyte) I thought the answer might be, get your website updated, plan the book launch, start a community, etc... Interestingly, the answer was, something entirely different: "start a garden." And so I did. I've already killed some lettuce. But there's still some living. And I'm learning a lot about giving love and attention to plants. Sometimes when we're still, the answers of our heart and soul, are so simple. They just need space to come forward.

I'll leave this note brief, but share the poem from which this inquiry came (back dropped by a photograph from the book, but of course!) I hope you enjoy the flower, June and all the peonies in bloom, and the poem! 

Much love and big hugs,

DD

PS: I've officially ordered all the BLOSSOM campaign swag for all you kickers who ordered books! I'll be finishing up some non-book fulfillment items this next week -- sending art prints to those who opted for that level and BLOSSOM readings for those who contributed at that level. Keep an eye on your inbox over then mid week for details if you were one of those backers who opted for a mini blossom reading. 

PROJECT UPDATE 15 ::: BLOSSOM Is Officially BLOSSOMing
7 months ago – Thu, May 09, 2024 at 07:55:19 PM

My Beloved Kickstarter Community—HELLO! 

I'm writing with some great news! 

It feels really surreal and dreamy to finally be able to say this: Blossom in the Beauty of Being, is officially with the printer and on it's way to being born! YAHOO! There's been quite a few quick (and sometimes not so quick!) movements this last month. Here's a short update to bring you up to speed since I last wrote!

COLOR SUPER STAR PRINTER SECURED

Oui oui oui! I found a printer to replace the old printer who closed it's local office. The printing prices are a little higher, which means I may print less (which is great for you all who purchased books as the individual value will be higher with a limited edition print run!) Here's a few of the things that I LOVE most about this company:

• It's a local! They're based in Boulder, CO, are family owned business, and carbon neutral too. In fact, their goal is to REMOVE carbon from the atmosphere! (Thank goddess says Mama Gaia and I!) 
• The humans I've interacted with at this company have been really friendly and uber patient with my gazillion questions. In fact, they love helping first-time writers turn their self-publishing dreams into a reality—especially Kickstarters like me. It's their jam.
• They have printed recipe books, space novella (had to look that up), and photography books too—but they are especially good at children's books! (My inner child loves this!) All this to say: they really how to work with color! 
• They use off-set printing. As I mentioned before, this is important to me because it means higher quality color images for you to feast your eyes on! Eco-friendly inks are used which is another bow to mama Gaia ! 
• Silly, but true bonus: their name is PufferPrint. Y'all have heard me say that the flowers are playful! It only makes sense that the printer we select has a fun name too! 

SO WHAT'S NEXT?

We're in the print proofing stage of the book, which means:

• We approved the digital file today!
• Once that's received, they will print an actual hard copy of the book for us to proof.
• Then they ship it our way for us to review and approve, or make changes. 
• This process can take time but we stand ready to make sure the color quality is as beautiful as the flowers themselves! 

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU

In the Kickstart campaign, I indicated that the book delivery would be at the end of May. Given the printer's schedule, it looks likely that the book delivery to you will be about a month late. We don't have a firm date yet, but once we've approved the hard copy proof, we should know more.

I'll be sure to keep you posted along the way if anything changes, but for now, my designer and I are optimistic you will have this book in your hot little hands SOON.  

FULFILLMENT IS HAPPENING

So now that the book is with the printer, I've begun fulfilling other aspects of the campaign such as those who ordered BLOSSOM Greeting Cards. All of the non-local orders were sent out today in the mail, so for those of you who backed with this option, keep an eye out in your mailbox! You should be receiving them by Monday! 

Next up? Sending out the Radiance fine art prints! 

After that, I'll be recording the BLOSSOM readings for those of you who were early bird backers and opted for this! If you want to get ready to receive these, be sure you have LOOM. It's visual app that allows you to send videos easily to people. If you don't have it, please go to www.loom.com to download. It's SUPER easy (less than 3 minutes). (This is how I'll deliver your personalized BLOSSOM reading to YOU!)

If you didn't opt for the BLOSSOM reading option--you're in luck! I'm offering a SUPER EPIC SALE! 60 minutes for $100! The readings are a great way help you tap into your innate wisdom and find your own answers, or clarity! Message me directly if you're interested or want more deets. 

SUMMAH TIME

As soon as we have final ship dates for the books to be delivered, I'll be scheduling the BLOSSOM Book Tour. For those of you in FL, ID, WA, and OR, stay tuned as I'll be heading to your states this summer! Not in that state, but wanna see me? HMU and we'll see what we can work out! I'd love to visit more of you in person on tour!

That's all I've got for now! But if you have any questions--please don't hesitate to reach out!  Of course, I'll be closing this with a few one more BLOSSOM photos from my neighbors yard! Oh the color and patterns! I can't wait to share more of these beauties with you!

Love and flower blessings your way!

XO,

DD