floral design- a tabletop arrangement

wildflower garden

Siberian Wallflower

                                                                       Catchfly

                                                                     Blue Flax

                           
                                                              Sweet William

The wildflowers in my front garden are starting to bloom again from the seed mix I planted last year. So exciting to see some of the new varieties like the Sweet William which is a biennial.
               

paper and fabric flower crown

I made this lovely floral crown as part of my Frida Kahlo costume for Halloween. I went about it without having planned it out much but incorporating various elements, colors and shapes into the design. I used crepe paper, thick tissue paper, cotton fabric, wool felt balls and a few vintage and millinery flowers that I had around the house. It's hard to see all the flowers in this image. I attached them to a headband with hot glue and the flowers that were wired were wrapped around the headband.

A couple of the flowers are from tutorials but, mostly I just cut and designed them by folding and scrunching as I went along.

 I also embroidered a realistic heart to wear on my shirt.

a day in a sunflower maze

 These photos are from a few weeks ago when we ran around a sunflower maze .

paper poppy, dip dyed tissue paper

I've developed  a renewed interest in paper flower making. Here is some crepe paper flowers I made a few years back. I dip dyed some tissue paper with bleach following directions from this beautiful book by Livia Cetti. This poppy was one of the designs in the book. I also have this one. I've got load of colors of crepe paper as well and am looking forward to trying out some more designs.

wildflower meadow

This Spring I planted a wildflower meadow on the front slope of my house that had previously been a strawberry patch. I still have strawberries on the other side. I bought a Northeast Wildflower Mix and lately it's been bursting with flowers and I'm so pleased with it. So far the blooms have included cornflower, baby's breath, red poppy, wild cosmos and plains coreopsis. Everything in the mix is listed here with annuals and perennials.

Happy 4th of July!

new york botanical gardens

Yesterday at New York Botanical Gardens.

Brooklyn Botanic Gardens on April 19, 2015

playing catch up

The computer was out for over a week! So now it's time to play catch up here but, first I just want to show you this granola which is hands down the best granola I've ever had. It's My New Roots Chunky Chocolate Buckwheat Granola and it's amazing. I made it last week and I agree that's it's more of a snacking then a breakfast granola. I highly recommend making this as soon as you can get your hands on the ingredients and buckwheat (found at Whole Foods) is really healthy for you.

I've spent the morning practicing my calligraphy, it's challenging yet relaxing. I have to remind myself to go slowly.

This beautiful antique hydrangea has been nice to look at while I work.

sweet peas

The sweet peas planted from seed 5 months ago on a freezing cold winter day have been blossoming. They are so beautiful. I can't wait to see what other varieties will appear.

floral arranging: week four, the bridal bouquet

This week in floral arranging the assignment was to make a bridal bouquet and boutonniere. My biggest challenges were finding the flowers. Prom season is here and roses are in high demand. I did consider visiting a rose garden with my clippers but was too afraid to get caught. I still wish I did as straight from the garden roses are so gorgeous.

After watching the videos, I came up with my color scheme which was whites, pinks and pale purple. I visited three grocers and two florists on the search for my perfect flowers. I did not find them but, I came as close as I could to my vision. I splurged on 5 white roses which were my favorite of the two roses here the other being pink ones that were really not that special. There are two varieties of spray roses in pink and white though quite different in shades giving it a nice balance and pale purple snapdragons.

All of my flowers were purchased yesterday and though I tried to complete my assignment that afternoon I ran out of time and would not have had natural light to photograph them in. I redid the arrangement this morning and photographed the arrangement while both kids were at school this morning. My second biggest challenge today was that the flowers were already starting to turn and drop while I worked on it because we are in the middle of a heat wave here and temperatures are in the 90's.

What I love best about this arrangement is the color scheme. It is not one I necessarily gravitate towards but, became very focused on. It is so feminine and light!

Well, if you make a bridal bouquet you also need to know how to make a boutonniere. For this I went with a bright pink tea rose to contrast with the pale pink spray rose. I had run out of white flowers.

I have really enjoyed this course and have learned a lot. It is a bit sad to see it end but, I know I will keep playing with flowers in the days to come.

floral arranging: week three

wax flower, sage and forget-me-not







wax flower and lily-of-the-valley

This week in floral arranging the lesson is about making a floral head wreath. I wanted a white palate and chose wax flower and lily of the valley. Though I do like this it did not turn out airy or wispy. This was due to the fact that my mini bouquets were a bit dense and I was missing one type of flower that would give it this quality. In retrospect, I think a little bit of greenery may have worked here.

I made a second one. Since I was not finding what I wanted at the market I decided to take a closer look around the yard. I still had some wax flower and decided to pair this with forget-me-not and sage which had flowered. I like the result and the forget-me-not does help achieve the look I was after.

I will continue experimenting with crowns over the summer. I bought extra supplies and there are so many flowers I'd like to try out.

Wild English Arrangement

Week 2 of of Floral Arranging 101 has been quite an adventure. This lesson is about a wild English Arrangement. In this type of design a round container is used with at least a 5" diameter. A floral frog and tape are also used to help distribute and arrange the stems. Two main flower varieties, filler flowers and a vining flower are the types of flowers here as well as greenery. The shape of the arrangement is asymmetrical. I wished I had a lower urn shaped container to fan it out a little better.

The flower recipe I used for my arrangement:

Peonies
Scabiosa
Goldenrod
Lilac
Larkspur
Greenery- Rose Leaves and blackberry leaves (taken from the front yard)


I have some plants growing in the yard that would have been perfect here but, they have not bloomed yet. At least now when they do show up I will know how to make this type of arrangement and be able to continue testing out this technique.

Hope these blossoms brighten your day. My house is really filling up with flowers. I have a cup of lily of the valley by my bedside that smells and looks amazing.

Ah, Spring...

hand tied bouquet

This month I am taking part in Chelsea Fuss's Floral Arranging 101 online course through Nicole's Classes. There are some technical issues with the app (some of the text and links are missing) but, after some struggling (clicking blindly) I did manage to get to the course and view the videos. We have not determined the reason why (the app and my mac compatibility?) but, please don't let this deter anyone from the school.

The first lesson was about conditioning flowers, tools and learning to make a hand tied bouquet. I learned how to arrange in a circular fashion with a variety of flowers, when to mix in greens and having a nice balance. I think each flower pops and works well together in the bouquet I made.

The recipe I used was:

geum (the orange, which I had in my yard)
pink hyacinth
white and red ranunculus
tiny daisies or chamomile? (this was part of a mixed bouquet I picked up and it didn't specify the variety)
greenery (from my yard, again I am not sure of the type as it was planted by previous owners)

I emailed my homework which was this bouquet and a aqua pack since I can't access the galleries and am looking forward to the feedback. I also want to make another one really soon!

Hope all you Mom's have a lovely Mother's Day tomorrow.