So again, the story begins with bouquets, when the gerberas' stems are at their longest:
Remember, a week ago or so I posted a story about the life of a bunch of roses which ended up in the hands of a practicing florist, i.e. me ;-) And I've used them till the maxiumum of their potential!! Today, I have for your a similar photo-story, this time about a pink gerbera. So again, the story begins with bouquets, when the gerberas' stems are at their longest: And them we continue with slightly shorter stems... ...and even shorter, perfect for wedding bouquets in a florist's microphone... ... and finally ends with simple table decorations :-)
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Poland is not exactly the Tulip Country - although apparently we are the 4th biggest producer of these flowers in the world - so when we organise a tulip exhibition, it's not a grand-size one. Still, the III Annual Tulip Exhibition which takes place this weekend in the Orangerie building of the Wilanow Palace is a good place to visit for all tulip lovers. Since these are indeed my favourite flowers, I certainly couldn't have missed it. The long exhibition building is scattered with glass vases overflowing with tulips of all colours, types, shapes and sizes. It's certainly a pleasure to watch, although the fact that it's extremely dark outside and the few windows do not provide much light (especially that it's cloudy and gloomy outside) made me grind my teeth in frustration - conditions for taking pictures: worse than bad... But since I got to look at hundred of tulips, I'm not going to complain here - let's just say that I'm far from happy with the photos below, but it's the best I could do under the circumstances. At least I have some sort of souvenir from the event and a few photos for you, to post on my blog. By the way - the tulips on the photo on the right are called "Happy Generation" and were my absolute favourite ;-) And which do you like the most? So it seems that this year I will be sacrificing almost every second weekend for some intensive florist work – I have started yet another floristry course, this time a professional one at an internationally recognised school called Szkoła Florystyczna Małgorzaty Niskiej. It’ll take over a year and will finish with a major exam, but right now I’ve just started.
This past weekend we had our first workshops – both Saturday and Sunday, 10 hours each day! I must say I’m pretty tired today, but there’s no way I’m going to complain. We’ve focused on the basic techniques of bouquet arranging, and covered some really interesting ideas on how to make supporting constructions for more out-of-the-ordinary ones. Here is one of the bouquets I’ve made, and when I say made, it includes preparing the entire nest-like construction from scratch (i.e. from a single wire). It’s still far from perfect, but I liked it a lot! A perfect hello to Spring, which seems to have made its first appearance this year this past weekend ;-) If you've visited my blog before, you know that I'm a florist-in-learning. So today I'm going to tell you a story of a bunch of pink roses, which I've got my hands on, and how I've used them over and over again, to practice as much as possible... I guess your average rose - once it's cut - usually ends up in one arrangement or bouquet, and there it stays till the end of it life... Well, my roses have a much more intensive and exciting existence ;-) Obviously, such a rose will first ge used in a boquet with other flowers, since at the begining its stem is the longest. So step 1 is a bouquet such as this: Once I'm satisfied with practicing bouquet-binding, step 2 for my pink rose is to shed its leaves while still keepeing the stem long, and to be used in a graphical arrangement - such as this: Step 3 - shorter bouquets, with unusual shapes, such as e.g. an arch-shaped one: Step 4 - the stem gets shortened, and my rose gets to pose for photographs in a number of average-sized arrangements, in various containers: Step 5 - the by-now-slightly-tired rose gets even shorter, and acts as a focal point in a number of tiny arrangements: Step 6 - and yes, there is a step 6, since cutting off almost the entire stem is not the final step in this story of rose-reduction - my rose must shed its petals, which are perfect for a variety of interesting projects - such us these original wedding arrangements: And that's how interesting a life of a rose can be in the hands of an aspiring florist ;-)
Yes, it can! If it's served like this:
(well, obviously, some of these are not really possible to re-create at home, unless you have a whole cupboard full elegant dinnerware in all shapes and sizes and an unlimited budget, but even just looking at them gives a kick! I've found them at: www.southernliving.com ) And since I seem to be on the roll when it comes to the topic of winter wedding bouquets, here is yet another one. This time I went for strong colours and bold form, as if to defy the sleepy winter atmosphere. Still, all the flowers used in it are available this time of the year. The arch-shape is a classic one, even though surprisingly many brides-to-be have not heard about it. I guess it's because all the wedding flowers catalogues nowadays are filled with complex, often futuristic and one-of-a-kind creations, which are always great to admire - the way art is - but not really ideal for a lot of brides. Anyway, the arch form is perfect e.g. for 20's style dresses or any dress with an empire-line, so if that's what you have in mind for your Big Day - this style will suit it really well. Today I'm introducing slide-shows to my blog - yet another great way of presenting photos. I've started with compiling a short presentation "the best of my flower arrangements - Autumn and Winter." Lots of details and close-ups in there, but I like it this way, and I've chosen my favourite pieces from last October, November and December - hence tha apples, chrysanthemums and Christmas accents. It's a very good proof that even though this cold and dreary part of the year isn't exactly well-known from its abundance of flowers, you can still make some creative pieces if you use your imagination ;-) The winter is on but surprisingly that doesn't mean that the wedding time is off. True, maybe more couples say the sacramental "yes" during the spring and summer months, but there's still quite a few weddings taking place this time of the year.
One of the challenges facing February brides would be a rather limited choice of flowers available, but with what today's floristry can offer, it's hardy a problem anymore. So you can either go for splashy colours which, in a way, defy the winter time, or you can use the winter aura as your floral theme - with white colours, snow-like textures, shimmering pearls, fluffy feathers etc. If you like the second option, I have an idea for you - a feather-wrapped creation from carnations, hypericum and pearls. I must say I really enjoyed making it, even though I usually don't go for feathers in other areas of life. Like it? Something or somebody out there does have a rather ironic sense of humour, since on the day I proclaimed the beginning of Spring on my blog, winter has come back.
It's been snowing ever since, and the temperature has dropped drastically... But I'm being persistent in my defiance, and a huge part of it is that I started another Floristry course this past weekend – this one a year-long, professional one. I guess this means that you can expect quite a few flower-related posts in the upcoming months :-) And since working with flowers is a great way to remind yourself that Spring is indeed just around the corner, here is another idea for an interesting, natural-looking table arrangement – I’ve used a woven nest-like wicker container for it. Feeling the inspiration? :-) Since by today the tulips were already starting to look a bit tired, I decided to shorten them and re-make part of my floral material into a slightly smaller composition. The result is this sunny-looking, asymmetrical arrangement - and at the same time, the 7th possibility of what you can do at home with a bunch of tulips and some accompanying flowers and greenery. Thus is my challenge completed, even though I still have some tulips left to work with - and I'm planning to split them into several smaller arrangements, in order to enjoy them longer - which I recommend to you, too :-)
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August 2012
AuthorA fiery red head, a writer and a photographer in love with beautiful design and all things creative |