Comedy Bouquet

This past weekend my god-sister, Micaela, performed at the Sacramento Comedy Spot.  I made her a little bouquet because, really, I think that women should be given bouquets more often in life outside of their weddings!  I'm getting a lot better at getting the classic "bouquet shape."  They are my favorite to practice!  I picked up the flowers at Trader Joe's and I was really happy with what I found: reddish-pink alstromeria, pink mums with green centers, pink spray roses, and GORGEOUS pink and green tulips.  Let me just say that my car smelled amazing on the way to Sacramento.

I also had fun with some green and pink-tinged ribbon that I found at Michael's.  I added a little star with beads for Micaela to remind her that she need not be nervous because she was gonna kick butt anyway!

Here is a front view.

And here for size comparion next to me in my loud red shirt.

I also got to visit my grandfather and his wife so I brought along a little arrangement to give them with what was left over after the bouquet.  I really liked the shape that I ended up with.

Again, I couldn't help but inhale deeply on the way to the show.

Sacramento Weekend Farmer's Market

It's been a really long time since I had the chance outside of class to do some arranging on my own, and I've got to say that I really needed it.  My confidence has been low and it really helped to sit down in the comfort of my own home and just enjoy the process.  I traveled up to Sacramento to the X Street farmer's market and grabbed some purple amaranthus, green and purple-tinged hydrangea, white dahlias, and calendula flowers (which looked like a flat marigold to me, and the Internet tells me that it is indeed a type of marigold!).  I got a badly-needed visit with my God-sister, made her a quick arrangement, had lunch, shivered on the way back with the AC on full blast for the flowers, and commenced the arranging.
In my last (and final!?) flower class, I really grappled with enjoying anything that I made.  I also realized that I really shy away from arrangements with any type of, well, height.  Whenever I tried making taller or wider arrangements, the end result looked unfinished and like it was full of holes.  To say the least, I felt like crap every time I left class.  I decided to try to start fresh on my own, get some flowers that jumped out at me (and oh, the hydrangeas always do), and have a day of enjoyable arranging.  I decided to work on small, grouped pieces.  I'm comfortable with smaller arrangements, and heck, I can get really confident at these and work up from there.
I borrowed mason jars from my Mom and used a cube vase I had from past weekend arranging.  I'm happy to say that I enjoyed myself.  I'm working back up my confidence, and hopefully my skills.

And here are some single views.

I'm in love with the dahlia in this one.

The amaranthus to the right is bugging me, but for the sake of progress, here we go!

The following is my favorite.  I really like the combination of dahlias with the amaranthus and hydrangea.  It's a combination that I'll have to remember.

 

I'm sorry, I can't help it.

All in all, it was a lovely day.  $21 dollars spent for flowers--I got 5 small arrangments, plus the 1 that I made Micaela out of it.  I'd say that's pretty good.  It was all worth it to have a good flower experience that was calming and enjoyable.  Here's to enjoyable practice, practice, practice.

Wedding Lab Madness

One day a few weeks ago, an acquaintance of Carol's came knocking at Carol's front door asking for some help with her daughter's wedding flowers.  Carol replied that she no longer did weddings, but she had a whole class of students who would jump at the chance to do a wedding--and so tonight about 15 people crammed into our floral classroom and proceeded to arrange like crazy.  There were 30 large centerpieces, all of the personal flowers, plus pomanders and more.  All together 400 people are going to be attending this wedding on Saturday.  To say the least, I think we were all surprised at what a huge event it turned out to be!  There were roses, calla lilies, hydrangea, bells of ireland, gyp, leatherleaf, gladiolus, waxflower, heather, hypericum, amaranthus, snapdragons, larkspur, and oh my god the list goes on.  It smelled amazing in that room, though it was hot with all of us designing our brains away. 
Carol assigned me to the bridesmaid's bouquets, and to be honest, I was petrified.  I was definitely slow at first, but I picked up momentum and got some greatly appreciated help from another classmate.  I loved how they turned out and I wish I could see them on the big day.  The bride herself along with bridesmaids and family members helped out--and they were extremely lovely people.  I know the wedding will be gorgeous and perfect.  And so now, here follows a crazy amount of pictures.  Darn the iPhone for taking blurry pictures, it does not do the flowers justice. 

Two of the bridesmaids' bouquets.  Let me tell you, they smelled amazing.

Like the fancy beakers we used to hold the bouquets up?

Had enough of these?  Okay, let's go on to all of the other gorgeous arrangements done by my other classmates and the bridal party.

Blurry boutonnieres and corsages done by two very talented classmates.

I really especially loved the groom's boutonniere.  Look at that detail.

One of the many centerpieces.  I love the colors.

More centerpieces!

And the Bride's bouquet...with Crowning Glory.

Birdseye view of the Bride's bouquet, minus the Crowning Glory spray this time.

The Bride's toss bouquet.  The Bride said it was just too cute to have to toss!

Another gorgeous centerpiece.

And lastly, a fraction of the centerpieces lined up in the back lab storeroom. Holy moly!
All in all, it was an amazing night and though I felt like I definitely was too slow I know that practice makes perfect and I'll get there.  Here's to lots more practice.  Thank you, thank you to all of the family for letting us do your flowers.

Grandma's Birthday

My Grandma turns 81 tomorrow and this past weekend my Mom and I went to visit her.  I brought her a little fall basket and we all had lunch, watched the Giants clinch the National League West (Woooooo!), and spent some very much needed time together.  I love my Grandma very much.  Happy birthday, Grandma.

Floral Design Class: Basket Arrangements

Our last Fundamentals of Floral Design class was this week and we topped it off with basket arrangements. I found some gorgeous fall-colored flowers at Trader Joe's and then realized at school that most of them were on their way out--but oh well! This class was frustrating for me.  I learned that my design style tends to be focused on very small, bunched designs, whereas basket designs are apparently supposed to be a little more free and flowing.  My first basket is exactly how I like it, albeit I could have worked on my color placement a little more.

I love tight, petite little designs.  That's why I enjoyed the biedermeier arrangement so much.  I also felt like I needed to keep my design small due to the shape of my basket.  It's very fat at the bottom and I felt like if I made it too tall it would look silly.  Plus, heck, if this arrangement has a way to pick it up, I want to keep from covering up that handle!  I ended up cutting my stems way too short in the middle of the design, so I lost my shape and the basket just ended up looking a little "pregnant," as Carol calls it.  Had I cut the stems in the middle longer, I could have kept up my circular shape. 

I guess what bothered me the most was that I genuinely liked what I had created, but not too many others did. and some were irritated by it.  So I went home and tried to will myself into creating a fuller design.  Though my flowers were near death, I do think my second attempt turned out well.  I like both styles and I've just got to work more at not keeping to my small, petite little design box.

I had a few flowers left over and a coworker asked if I could bring a little tussy-mussy for her daughter, whose birthday was the day prior.

I wish I had more of the reddish-brown mums left!  But it was still sweet and small, the way I like it!

Trip to the Oakland Flower Market

I braved the roads to go the Oakland Flower Market yesterday and I'm very glad that I went.  I wondered down aisles of ribbons, baskets, vases, foam, and did I say ribbon, because they have a lot of ribbon!  Their flower selection was good, but I was really excited about their greens and foliage because there were so many different types I had never seen before.  I picked up some gorgeous smelling (Patrick claims that they smell like fruity pebbles) yellow freesia and some panicum.  I had never seen panicum before and I exclaimed several times as I was unwrapping it and playing with it that I'm in love with it.  I learned as I arranged the freesia that freesia is a very temperamental flower that has windy stems that don't like to cooperate.  Lesson learned!  They do not like bud vases.  But I still think that the freesia looks really nice with the panicum.

And one more view as it sits next to my hand-tied bouquet from class...

Floral Design Class: Hand-tied Bouquet

This week we got to practice some more bouquet making and we got to bring our own flowers in.  I found these at Trader Joe's and I'm pretty happy with them because it's been a few days now and the flowers still look alive and lovely. 




We had the closing ceremony for our Secret Pal exchange at work, so I had a little left over to make my gift recipient a little tussy-mussy.

Currently Obsessed With: Montbretia

Ever since our Fundamentals class last Thursday when Carol showed us the abundance of flowers she bought for some arrangements she was doing for her husband's work, I have been thinking about the montbretia that she showed us.  Maybe it's just my yearning for fall and the way that the colors of montbretia just completely bring to my mind falling leaves and pumpkins, but I am in love with this flower right now. 

I'm going to the Oakland Flower Market in the next few weeks and I'm hoping to run into some of these...and then quickly buy them.  I love their shape and did I say how much I love their colors?


I'm hoping to put some arrangements together for my Dad for an open house he is going to be showing for some family friends.  If I can get some, I definitely will create designs around these gorgeous flowers.

Weekend Farmer's Market: Ean Helps Out

We watched my boyfriend's five year old nephew, Ean, this weekend.  Patrick had work early Sunday so me and Ean trekked out to the farmer's market and he helped me pick out some flowers to give to Patrick's Dad's girlfriend.  It was a very good day!

Floral Design Class: Boutonniere and Corsage

In our Fundamentals of Flower Design class this week, we got to practice our boutonniere and corsage skills.  The one direction from Carol was, "Do something different.  And try to use this ugly pink floral tape someone gave me."  I was down for the challenge.

I've got to practice my wire wrapping skills.  My squiggle looks kind of silly on the corsage.  Here's another look on a different surface.

I enjoyed class and embraced trying something new.