What I did with my bucket of evergreens!

So, this is the over all look after playing with my bucket of greenery all day!I made these large arrangements (the vase is 3 feet high) from the big branches my neighbor's trimmed from their tree. In the bottom of the vase are water pearls which will help to keep the evergreens from drying out. This should last all winter!


These little ones are made from all the scraps left over. I have them on all the doors in the kitchen.



And this was the arrangement that took up most of the morning. Three different kinds of
greens, painted pinecones, silver ornaments , two kinds of ribbon and a dusting of glitter!


I wish I could take better photos! I just keep practicing!
I will be getting large pillar candles to put behind this arrangement on the candle stand. You really can't see it in this photo, but it will show up better with the larger flowers.

I hope to put the end result on my web page (large candles and all). Have a peek there later on and see what it looks like when it is all done!

Thanks for looking! Hope you enjoyed what can be done with bucket of greenery and a free morning!

Evergreens

So, I have a bucket full of evergreens. They are soaking up water and waiting for me to do something with them. But, what shall I do?

A wreath?
A swag?
A centerpiece?
A garland?

Shall it be red and green and shiney?
Shall it be natural and woody and full of pinecones?

Should I add some gnarly old branches or maybe some smooth birch branches?

On the table?
Over the fireplace?
On the door?

Living room?
Dining room?
Entry way?

So many choices! I can't wait to get started but first I must decide! Welcome to a florist's Christmas decorating dilema!

Sympathy Flowers

Here is a challenge for me.

When I think of flowers, I think happy thoughts! But sympathy flowers are different.

I've only done three sympathy arrangements and they challenge my emotions. I'm not happy while I am making them, but I know they comfort those who receive them. They are very important.

So, when I put together a sympathy arrangement I focus on hope, memories, thoughtfulness, kindness and still remember the sorrow and seriousness of the situation. And, I pray. Praying for the one who is in pain to have peace that only God can bring.

for the ring bearers

A tiny little bout! This will be for the ring bearer. It is really smaller than it looks. These are little spray roses not normal size roses. They will be the perfect size for little boys!

Flowers in her hair...

flowers everywhere! I hope that the flower girls enjoy these special creations. Tiny spray roses, ming fern and ribbons all attached to a little hair clip. We had fun making these!

the beginnings!

The wedding flowers have begun!

Behold, the groom's man bout. I like it :)

Back to work!

The flowers have arrived!

~Here is one more blessing living in Colorado--your pantry become the perfect walk in flower cooler in November!

~ I brought home the flowers this morning and have trimmed all the ends, dipped everyone in quick dip (helps the flowers to drink) and set them in those very clean buckets full of water with flower food. Whew!

~Now for the hard part...waiting. The flowers need to sit and drink all day and night so that they will be in the best condition for arranging. So, I have a pantry full of the most beautiful flowers and I can't do anything with them. There must be a spiritual lesson here!

~For the rest of the day you can picture me totally distracted...blogging...admire flowers...cleaning...admire flowers...lunch...admire flowers.... I think you get the idea. But know that I am happy to have a house full of flowers!

~ The real fun starts tomorrow!

(and Whitney, if you see this, don't worry about those Christmas red flowers, they are for a different project and won't show up at the wedding!)

week-end progress

Just in case you were wondering what nearly 50 lbs. of glass marble/stones look like...here you go!

Well, I accomplished a few more tasks toward the progress of the wedding flowers this week end. As you can see, I made bows. Bows, bows and more bows! And believe it or not, there are still more bows to go :) But there were some that I could make ahead of time and now those are done.

You may be wondering what the little scraps are. Well, the end of each ribbon has to be cut to a 'dove tail' and those are the little scraps that are cut out. They were all over the floor and it looked quite festive actually! But I scooped 'em all up for the photo and now they are gone!

The vases are all washed, sanitized, and labeled. Now we should be able to get each vas back to its owner!

The dishwasher made quick work of this task. The buckets weren't so quick, but no big deal either. It is nice to have everything clean and ready for flowers.

And just more vases!

Wedding Blog

I had so many people enjoy the blogging of the step-by-step process of preparing wedding flowers that I am doing it again! Hope you enjoy this blog as much as the last :)

The first step (well, the consultations, flower decisions, a field trip to the wholesale warehouse, etc.) was to open all the little packages of glass rocks. They are so great to work with and add so much sparkle, but we need a lot. There will be 40 underwater arrangements, and that equals a lot of rocks in the bottom of the vases. This morning I had Todd weigh the rocks. Can you believe that we will be using 49.6 pounds of glass rocks!!?? I bet you never knew that floral design was also weight lifting!

Today I am washing buckets and vases. If you have read my earlier blogs then you know how important it is for every container to be CLEAN! If you wouldn't drink out of it, then don't expect your flowers to drink out of it! So, soap and bleach and hot water today. And thankfulness for rubber gloves! Big buckets and vases in the sink, smaller vases in the dishwasher.

When the vases are sparkling clean I will be adding stickers so that we know whose vases are whose :) The vases belong to 3 different people and it would be nice for them to all get back to the right people.

I am so thankful that I work from home and can do all this around my daily chores. I don't have to work 8 hours straight on wedding prep., I can just do bits and pieces here and there. It takes more days this way, but maybe less hours. And it is fun just to break up the normal routine with washing buckets :)

Flowers Ordered

Will and Whitney's wedding is just around the corner! Today I made the final count and ordered the flowers. It is going to be beautiful! The bride's bouquet will be especially stunning. Do you have a good imagination? Well then, imagine this:

Black Beauty Roses
Deep Red Lilies
Burnt Orange Tulips
Eggplant Callas
and a touch of 'pearls and diamonds.'

Beautiful isn't it!?

And, for the tables~underwater arrangements! Now this is going to be fun! This is too difficult to explain. I'll have to put up photos so that you can see what we are up to.

Will and Whitney are very creative--underwater arrangements! I hope my designs will all that they had hoped for--or better! Better is really my goal :)

The best compliment!

So, I was at the bridal shower where the arrangement I posted yesterday was on display. Just as I was leaving someone (who didn't know I made the arrangement) came up to me and said, "Did you see those flowers!?"

What a perfect compliment! Someone enjoyed my flowers enough to want to make sure that someone else got to see them :) This made me happy! I can't think of a better compliment than that!

Fall Baskets with Bird Nests

Once again, I am not a photographer...and I wish I was!









This basket is full of flowers and birds nests! At the top are two 'nests' filled with flowers.















Here is a tiny nest tucked down inside the arrangement. Can you see it?
















This is an up-close photo of one of the spheres that is tucked into a nest.













This arrangement is for Whitney's bridal shower. When her mother asked me to make an arrangement, Whitney made it clear that she did not want her bouquet to be 'given away.' So here are similiar colors to her wedding colors. But the flowers are completely different.

Home again!

So, the basement has been sanitized by the professionals and we are home.

How good it is to sleep in my own bed! How good it is to be on my normal schedule! How good it is to sit at the family computer! How good it is to be home!

I find that I take these simple pleasures, all simple pleasures, for granted. It's good to have my plans shaken up a bit so that I appreciate the fall colors in my front and back yard...so that I am thankful for my dining room table and my own shower. Life is made out of a million little things--how much happier I will be if I appreciate all those little things!!

This reminds me of an old song we used to sing. "Count your blessings name them one by one. Count your blessings see what God has done. Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings see what God has done."

So be it!

Hold your plans with open hands.

So, here I sit blogging in a hotel a couple miles from home. Why? Because our house had a sewage back up and now it smells like an out-house, a port-a-potty, a pit-pot. Not good. It smells like that little building you try to avoid when you go camping, but you always must visit.

Not only that, it is a health hazard. That is even worse than the smell. Even the microbs they spray to kill all the germs is harsh on sensitive lungs. We were in the house for a half hour gathering things to bring to the hotel. By the time we left, we all had headaches and stomach aches. Not good.

But there is always something to learn in life's little challenges (and this is a very little challenge compared with the trials that so many are going through.) I believe that my title of this blog is what I am needing to learn, trying to learn. I need to hold my plans with open hands.

I don't think there is anything wrong with making plans. We must make plans or we will lie in bed all day and simply waste away. But, I need to hold these plans with open hands--letting the Lord bless them or take them or change them as He sees fit for my own good. Now really.... Do I want to proceed with a plan that He sees fit to change? Do I want to cling to something that the God of the Universe deems wrong for me today? Am I so proud that I think I know better than He? To be honest...yea, most of the time--I really like my plans. Really I do! That is why I made these plans in the first place!

Thus, I am learning today to hold my plans with open hands. Here I sit, while all my plans are changed. I have a choice to make: Do I get mad and point my finger at God and tell Him that He doesn't know what He is doing? or...Do I trust Him and go with the new plan that He has obviously arranged just for me?

Well, today I am able to hold open my hand. I pray He will give me the ability to do the same tomorrow and the day after that as well.

Keys...

This was a fun little project. Just trying to keep up my wiring and taping skills with some left over carnations.

But the keys I am thinking about are on the computer keyboard. I am so surprised how much time I spend on the computer with business related items. Advertise on line, check for sales on line, write up forms, correspond with customers and potential customers, blog, up-load photos, create portfolio images, edit web-page, research prices of goods, research flower info, watch educational lessons on line, read other florists' blogs, facebook, web-pages. It is time consuming! But I guess that is what it takes to get a business going these days. I am thankful for this computer as never before. And I am spending time on it as never before too!

So I'm happy I got to spend some time taking photos of this little corsage on the piano keys. Getting to work with a different set of keys for a change. :)

Another basket

Guess I'm in the mood for baskets!

This one has pinecones and a fresh artichoke. They add so much interest and texture. Plus, if you look closely, you can see there is a little vine.

Now if only I was a better photographer. This really doesn't do it justice. However, I took about 30 photos and I can't get it right. Here I am trying you use the piano to give it scale and interest. I think it is the lighting. I just can't get what I want.

Anyway, another fall basket with lots of texture and interest and even a few flowers :)

Busy week

So I had two flower arrangements to make this week. A birthday celebration piece and a sympathy design.














The first was this copper basket with two dozen red roses. The most unique thing about this arrangement is the woven basket. Because it was woven I was able to make some of the roses and the greens look like they were growing right through the basket.

The second arrangement was a sympathy piece. I found this wonderful container in soft green that said, "home sweet home." These words reminded me that this world is not our home and that the one who recently departed in now really at home.

These white and green flowers matched perfectly. White is always a reminder of purity, which can lead us to think of Heaven. And green traditionally stands for life. In this case, Life Everlasting.

To add a special touch, I used the bear grass to make a heart~ of course, I reminder of the loved one.

It was honor to make this sympathy piece. It was touching to me, which surprised me and blessed me.

FALL

Time for a fall themed bouquet!

Sunflowers, orange/yellow roses, poms all tucked into a gathering basket.

A thank you gift to a very helpful mother/mother-in-law

Sunflowers!

When I set this sunflower on the table last evening, the sun was just beginning to set. The flower looked like it was glowing. Perfectly named--sunflower!





So, I grabbed my camera and started shooting. As you know, photography is very new to me, so I was very pleased with this shot! I even made it the background on our computer.

My dh and dmom were in the midst of making dinner--and I was no help at all! After all, the sun was setting and my opportunity was short. Fortunately, they are very understanding when it comes to me and flowers :)

Contest Results

No...I didn't win anything. But, as I said, it was a great learning experience. So, what did I learn? Well, I'll just make a quick list of 10.

1. Judges are nice and very helpful if you ask for help
2. I can drive downtown, on one-way streets, by myself
3. I can give complete strangers my business card without feeling like a fool.
4. Never forget the 'wow' element
5. My family is very encouraging no matter how I do
6. There is so much to learn
7. Pay attention to the details--every single one
8. I can find a parking spot and pay in the automated teller
9. I can find my car again after being gone for hours
10.Take something to read while you are waiting for the judging

I learned many other things as well, but I have a cold today and don't feel much like writing. I just wanted to keep you up-dated on how the contest went. No, I didn't win anything, but I probably learned more than anyone else simply because I have so much to learn!! So, I got my money's worth right there :)

Lemon-Lime and Flowers

Abby and I had so much fun working on this arrangement. It really says "Summer" to me, even as we are rapidly approaching fall.

Adding lemons and limes to the vase adds interest, texture, and just plain fun! It makes the yellow in the flowers 'pop' even more. And with it all in a canning jar it gives it a lemon-aide feeling. Refreshing and summer-y, all in a little arrangement.









Then, we had to experiment with taking photos. This is one of my weakest areas. Trying to take photos with lighting coming from different direction...Adding little props to make the photo more interesting...moving things out of the background of the picture that are distracting...having different focal points...all these things are new to me!






In the long run we came up with a flower arrangement that we like and some photos that are not too shabby!

Hope you enjoy too, as you watch us learn :)

And now for some photos....

Rose Count

I've just finished counting how many roses we will need for this week's wedding. Are you interested? Between 181 and 335. Of course if we have more than that we will certainly use them! How did we come up with this count? Keep reading....

Bride--12-24
Bride's Maids--5-7 (x6)
Thank you flowers--6
Flower Girl Baskets--5-10 (x2)
Corsages--3-5 (x3)
Boutonnieres--1-2 (x19)
Guest Tables--5-10 (x19)

Plus we will need some for the cake.

And there you have it. No special formula, just sit down and count :)

So, on Friday you can picture my kitchen (and living room, and dining room, etc.) filled with 200-300+ roses! I can hardly wait!

Rose Garden Wedding

Well, they are not getting married in a rose garden, but all the flowers for the next wedding are coming from the bride's grandmother's rose garden! This will be an exciting challenge. I have never designed with roses straight from the garden (and I did tell the bride this ahead of time!)

So we will be getting buckets of roses from the nearly 300 rose bushes from Grandmother's garden. When we get these, since we don't know yet exactly what we are getting, we will decide exactly what to do with them. Bouquets, corsages, table decor--they all depend on what is growing, blooming and thriving in Grandmother's yard.

We are praying for God's blessings and good weather for roses!

Texture!

Don't be afraid to experiment with texture when you make a flower arrangements. Texture is just as important as color or balance.


This arrangement is full of contrasting textures which adds interest and surprise. Who would expect roses and succulents? But they make for a very appealing arrangement.
















These roses have glitter on them to add texture to their beautiful, soft petals.












Sharp, prickly hens and chicks are a stark contrast to the velvety smooth lamb's ear.

There is even texture in the coffee cup that the arrangement is in. This adds even more interest.


Use texture to bring life and interest to your next arrangement!

Contest

So, my dh is encouraging me to enter a bouquet contest held next month. I've been pondering if I should and decided (with his encouragement) to go for it. One of the good things about contests is the judges will usually make plenty of comments on your entry. It's a good learning experience.

The contest is part of the Colorado Fall Home Show, Sept. 10-12, held downtown at the Colorado Convention Center. The theme of the contest is "A Bouquet to Remember."

This ought to be interesting. I've never entered a floral design contest. We had a little competition when I was in floral school and I didn't win--and there was only 4 of us in the class! :) But I have learned a great deal since then and I just hope to not come in last place. And, even if I do, it will be a learning experience--at least that is what I would tell my kids :)

I have spent the day shopping for glitter and flocking, and experimenting with flowers. I am narrowing down my flower choices and design details. Already it has been more fun that I expected. I've only got a couple of weeks until the contest and school will be starting soon. So I am getting on this right away.

I'll keep you posted on how it is going. In the mean time, know that I am enjoying myself with yet another little adventure!

Flowers and Jazz

A kitchen full of flowers and jazz playing (blaring?) in the background. Now that is what I call a very good combination. Kinda like ice cream and hot fudge...Charlie and Snoopy...basil and garlic...fireworks and watermelon...ocean breeze and sunset...Autumn and sweaters...babies and rocking chairs...Danny and Amy....

Decisions...

It is hard for me to make these simple decisions. Which photo to use on my web-site? I like the one with the little hedgehog peeking out behind the fan. It's just kinda fun and whimsical. But I like the one with the hand holding the fan. It shows what a fan arrangement would be like when it is actually being carried. Which photo is better? It is hard to say. Just one more decision when setting up a web-site. Not a big deal, but another decision! Which would you choose?

Ordered Wedding Flowers

Today I ordered Sheree and David's flowers.

Alstromeria, snapdragons, Queen Anne's lace, hypericum, Royal Sunset lilies and my favorite, chocolate cosmos.

Sheree wants her bouquet to look like a casual walk thru a garden. I think this combination of flowers will give her the look she wants.

Typical garden flowers like lilies and snapdragons...airy cosmos which seem more like wildflowers... hypericum will look like berries...combined with the brides favorite alstromeria...all hand tied with raffia to complete a garden feel. This will be perfect for her out doors wedding!

We are going with bright and dark colors which will be great outside. The flowers will be competing with nature all around and these more intense colors will show up great in this setting.

Can't wait to get my hands on the flowers--but that is 10 days away. Flowers should be ordered early so the wholesaler can contact their suppliers and get the exact flowers needed.

Out doors, garden style, hand tied bouquet...looking forward to this beautiful combination!

Saturday Afternoon Flowers

Well, my dear husband is heading off on a special vacation with one of our dear daughters. So he has bought me flowers as a going away gift. He is nice like that!

This is what I did!

From the wedding

At last a couple of photos from the wedding which, by the way, was lovely in every way!

The photographer has offered to send me some of her photos in a couple of weeks. I will use those on my web-site since I am obviously NOT a photographer. So, stay tuned to the web-site to see really nice photos of Nick and Mary's wedding.

So, now what will I do? Get ready for Sheree and David's wedding of course!