Cute and sweet. Tropicals don't have to be tall and top heavy, they can also be used for little spaces, like a powder room or a desk. A nice little token of appreciation that will last too! This floral design has antherium, ginger, orchids, willow ( my fave ) and fancy leaves with a touch of acacia, which ( I also love ) and it smells wonderful! Unfortunately I don't get to work with it much. If I did I wouldn't appreciate it.

Exotics are extraordinary flowers, they may be a little costly but there worth it in the sense that they do last longer than the average flower. They can be simple in a vase with some ornamental grass or made into a arrangement like this one, which I made for Macy's department store for Black History month. My design has ginger, lucidendrum, cymbidium orchids, mokara orchids, banksia, antherium and miscellaneous grasses and foliage.

Tropicals are a wonderful and unusual flower to have for any occasion. This one was a Valentines gift, I hope that person enjoyed it! Here I used birds of paradise, pink mink protea, kangaroo paw ( such a cool flower ) and the rest of the flowers were kinda fill ins such as liatris. Bells of Ireland, forsythia and hydrangea, heather, genestra and some Lily and bear grass.

Is this flan yummy looking or what ? Here's my birthday cake from my boss. To bad an employee and friend of mine called in. we missed her today. Yes today is my Birthday. See post below...Happy Birthday to anybody else who's Birthday's today Feb. 22

Happy Birthday to me!!!! I know this is a Floral Blog, but today is my BIRTHDAY. Here's the cake my child made for me with a little help. Chocolate with butter cream frosting. 

Just started seeing forsythia about 3 weeks ago. I'm working with stems almost as tall as I am, I never liked forsythia. My mom at one point planted it all around the fence in the backyard at the home I grew up in. I guess she was trying to have a beautiful privacy fence of sunshine to look at. But as a kid I didn't like how it looked when it wasn't in bloom and why was I worrying about forsythia blooming when i was supposed to be playing with my friends? Who knew I'd end up being a floral designer. Anyway I have great appreciation for this flower, and what a statement it makes. It does make me feel good when I look at it, it's like the sun shining bright.

Lovely in lavender. Check out the mirrored 4 inch glass cube ! I gotta get me one of those. So I'm not big on the color purple, but lately I'm liking it. Monochromatic is nice, I should do more of it. For Valentines day I made up 3 small cylinder arrangements, which are the same look and feel as the cube, anyway they were going to an office of 3 girls from there boss, well I made 1 in pinks,1 in purples, and 1 in greens. One of the girls didn't like the green floral design. How can you not like green ?? It's like the  hottest color right now!!! everybody loves it. Just look and see there is probably green in most of my work.

Soooo  pretty & sweet with tulips, wax flower, orchids, hyacinth, hydrangea and roses. With a touch of ribbon. Did you know that you can purchase cut single stems of  hyacinth without buying the whole plant ? well you can.

2 and a half dozen roses in a tight mound in 6 inch glass cube, wrapped with a ti leaf. Just the most simple, beautiful thing ever !! Remember I can make these in silk too! Some lucky lady got this sent to her on Valentines day. 

Just had to mention this sensational rose, it's a two-tone colored rose with pink and cream and a touch of green. Opens huge and is called Esperance. If you don't See it at your local florist ask them if they can order it for you. The only thing about this rose is one of its qualities is it does open fast and some people think the rose isn't going to last or is poor quality, but some roses have different characteristics, this one just happens to open quickly. I sent a dozen to my mother and mother n law and they really thought they were beautiful.  

Spring is on it's way!!!! Just look at this beauty doesn't it have spring written all over it ? I thought it was appropriate with the weather in Michigan the last two days. It's been a quiet week since valentine's day. This flower arrangement was made a little closer to spring and was made  for St. John boutique at Somerset Collection. It was ordered for a fragrance launch and I was to pick up the notes in the fragrance with theses flowers shown... like jasmine, orange blossom, roses, freesia and marigolds.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY ! MY BIGGEST WORK HOLIDAY SO NO BLOG TODAY BUT HERE IS WHAT IVE BEEN WORKING ON ALL WEEKEND HAVE A GREAT VALENTINES!                                                                                                        

CUTE!

AWWWWWWW!

BEAUTIFUL!

BE MINE !                  

My tribute arrangement to my Dad  was supposed to be a conversation piece. I hope he thought it was funny! It's a real duck my boss gave me from his warehouse. Dried hydrangea from flower troughs, some feathers, beautiful antique gold ribbon and some artificial deer antlers, since my Dad was a hunter and fisherman. When he got older he just liked to watch the animals from the window, he had a great appreciation for them later in his life. It just goes to show you can put many personal items together and create wonderful, sentimental gifts.

This arrangement is shown later on and I explain how I came to create it. This is made fresh,  You can see the strange type of broccoli there in the center. When you see this picture in a later post it's over a year old.

The rustic look. That wreath is actually a artificial Christmas wreath that in the right space can be left out year round. Covered in dried materials like pods, pine cones, branches etc. Raffia and birds with houses and of course a touch of feathers. This all ties in with the mini pine trees underneath and old gas can, fishing items. Also a small silk on mantle is very versatile.

Rectangular baskets are great to also fill empty spaces. I have one on my fridge because I don't want food ending up there ! This arrangement is filled with lots of mixed greens, all kinda muted sage colored Ivy. Mixed grasses and cat tails and a few silk flowers. It functions well in many spaces. I had it all over the last house I lived in. NOTE : silks get dusty everyone knows that, the muted greens tend to hide the dust  longer if it's up high somewhere and you just haven't had time to get to it.

It was hard to get a good picture of this. I always loved this piece and never found a spot for it. It has moved 3 times with me, still nowhere to put it. It's designed in a white metal almost square container that tapers super thin at the bottom, flat back and hangs from a handle. Filled with lots of wild things such as ornamental grasses ( my favorite ) tulips, cat tails willow, grape ivy and dried/ preserved mushrooms.

The swag. I'm not much of a fan of them anymore but I do have one in my home, I just have it somewhere I don't have to see it. It's good for filler in a blank spot. This one is a artificial grapevine base. Kinda neat because it won't get brittle and break off in spots. Lightly designed with a touch of sage ribbon and olive / taupe and pink tipped roses. Oh yeah and a hint of hydrangea. Anyone who loves the swag..... I can make ya one  !

Believe it or not, this is all made of real materials well minus the bird. Yes it looks a little ragged but it just goes to show you that you can let flowers and foliage preserve itself. This piece is currently on my dresser, it is a piece I made when my Dad passed away Christmas 2009. Yes I made all the flower arrangements which was an honor, I may have been seeing a doctor to get through that time in my life but it was so important for me to make all the family work. I have to say it was probably some of my best work ever. This arrangement has so many items, I will get a better picture in later.Its full of pine, pepper berry, eucalyptus, cedar, pine cones, holly, magnolia leaves, oregonia, juniper berry and this type of broccoli I purchased at a high end market, which lasted forever. Anyway ill talk more about these pieces later.

This wreath is made of grapevine, perfect size for the door. Also has hydrangea, silk eucalyptus, berries and roses. Can you tell I like hydrangea ?

Eucalyptus wreath. Start with a base of eucalyptus and add on! You can buy the wreath at any craft store or if you know what your doing just build your own. There beautiful when finished because they have a nice thickness to them. This one I made years ago has hydrangea, beaded berries, frosted berry stems and more loose eucalyptus. I usually use every part of the stem including the leaves.

silks.... Arrangements come in many styles, a good designer can take the worst of them and make a beautiful piece in the end result. I love and appreciate nature. Alot of my silks show this side of me, whether it be organic, tropical or woodsy and wildflower looking. My goal with silk stems is to place them in a way they show movement, depth and look as natural / real as possible. This wreath I have had a while, has pheasants, pods, hydrangea, runuculas and lots of feathers. I adore feathers.

The powder room, which I think should be one of the most interesting rooms in the home. I know you can only do so much with some. I didn't renovate but I sure took a risk with color on this one. It had the name dungeon in the paint color, after I bought 3 different gallons in different colors I fell in Love with the DUNGEON. Added an old looking antique mirror, which was so thick we didn't know if it would fit in the space allowed. No I didn't measure I just had to have it. My feather lamp has been a favorite and used in many rooms. I finished this room off with a bamboo tortoise shade, leather shower curtain and rug, which I was told looked like tobacco. This room reminds me of an island retreat powder room.

Combining old with new. The wing back chair I just brought upstairs, was given to me from my boss a few years ago. It was used in a wedding I helped with at the Ritz Carlton. I really like this chair but never thought about adding it to my current furniture. The table to the right was my Dads and  It was old with water marks, I painted it and used a rubber stamp to embellish it in a dark chocolate color. Now the chair on the other side is very contemporary, kinda like what you in vision at a psychiatrist appointment. So I guess I will leave the chairs until I get bored and go back to the basement or another room and grab something to change it up.

Last years Christmas tree.... and yes its artificial.I love it, it's so department store looking!! Huge ornaments and a white faux fur tree skirt. My retro Santa and my tropical silk in the back round I made years ago at a shop in Rochester, very well known shop I might add. Hint hint... I won't name any names. The little tables to the right I sanded and worked on for hours to make them look shabby chic, cream with sage tops that look distressed and peeling.  

Foliage comes in many shapes, sizes and colors. They can sometimes make the arrangement. many times a client will just purchase foliage. pay attention to what truly stands out about a leaf, each one is so unique. Tropical plants make up two-thirds of the world's flora . Leaves can grow directly out of the ground or off a stem or flower such as bird of paradise or antherium which is the heart shaped tropical flower we know so well. often you can run your fingers along the veins to soften them/ make more pliable and get them to work with your flowers not against them. Most rain forest leaves are smooth and waxy, but there are also feathery types. I just love foliage sometimes more than flowers. some shown in picture Ti leaves and leaves from a corn plant.

A simple clear glass four inch cube is just so delightful, clean and oh sooooo popular right now, especially in all white/cream and greens. A low tight mound is what people are used to as Martha Stewart style, well it has evolved in a big way ! These arrangements are perfect for centerpieces because there short enough not to get in the way of dinner conversation, also new babies, great size for a hospital gift and easy to transfer home ! and of course the office, just the right size for the desk. They can be made up in all colors and variations of flowers. They can be made with a fancy leaf wrapped inside covering stems or the water and stems showing. As shown hydrangea, hypericum, spray roses, lilies, star of bethlehem. 

FAITH HILL Teleflora collection

Im just starting my blog so its quite empty, I discovered something today that started a big stir at the shop I work at. I went to the shelf to grab the Silvertone vase to make my first FAITH HILL COLLECTION from TELEFLORA and discovered the gold tag on the bottom was covering an old gold tag  which had Teleflora 2008 Mothers day 100th anniversary on it. Im not kidding ! When we called Teleflora they brushed it off and said just remove the old sticker, but it does not come off. I wonder if Faith Hill knows the collection she created with Teleflora is really an old vase that the company could not unload,  it infuriates me that they do things like this, i mean the new sticker was not even on straight  to cover the old sticker. All you florists out there check your inventory and call Teleflora.