Sunday, June 29, 2008

Wedding flowers

Last week my manager at the flower shop got married. After a lot of thinking about the wedding flowers we came up with the flowers in the above photos. There are so many lovely flowers at this time of year so we decided on plain cream jugs full of our favourite flowers. there were ten jugs, peonies, daisies, scabious, four different rose's, acamila mollis, lizzyanthus, larkspur and great scented stocks. I also made replica cakes out of pink wet foam. I cut out the shapes and with the spare pieces rubbed the cake shapes to give a better finish. Using china grass and strips of aspriditra leaves I fixed them around the sides of the cakes using a pearl headed pin for decoration and to secure the strips. We had some little felt flower shapes I placed them on a few of the cake and with a pearl pin through a small flower head secured them in. I added pearl pins and different flower heads arranging them tastefully. They went down a treat and far as I know no body tried to eat them, but i had stuck them down just in case.

The brides bouquet was a simple hand tie of peonies with little sprays of acamilla mollis.

I also had another wedding that weekend, she is a regular customer to the shop and chose lovely cream rose's. She is a glitzy person and wanted dimonties in her bouquet, I put pearls in the centre of the rose and dimonties onto the bear grass around the edge of the bouquet.

This was the arrangement I made for the top table at the reception. On the guest tables she chose tall white vases with white roses and grasses with pearls threaded on.

Posted by Bob :: 7:18 pm :: 2 Comments:

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Sunday, June 22, 2008

not a good week

Popular wedding flowers

An arrangement for the top table at a wedding

The bride's bouquet and grooms button hole

Today has been so windy I had to take some wedding flowers to a couple getting married and to the hotel. They were to big pedestal arrangements so Fallon came along to carry them for me, I was afraid the wind would damage them. Its not been a very good week really. My boss at work got married on Friday Bobs birthday, I have been under great pressure as I was expected to go to the evening reception but it was also my husbands birthday. Robert would not come to the wedding as he dose not really know the couple or anybody else there. I didn't feel so bad when mum and dad were going to come on Friday for the weekend but mum was not well and couldn't come so Robert spent it alone. So today I'm on my own because Roberts gone to see his mum from last night, but as i had the flowers to deliver i couldn't go.

In the week I went to church to plant out some summer bedding plants, we have had to build a ramp for wheelchair access and there was an island in the middle so last year i planted some shrubs and to our surprise none of them were pinched. Spoke to soon, the colorful bedding plants must have been an attraction because when I went to church this morning the large red leaf evergreen shrub has gone just a hole, I hope who ever took it enjoys it and looks after it.

The other really sad thing to happen this week is, if you read my blog a few weeks ago I mentioned the lovely fuchsia Robert brought to the garden a standard that he has been growing for a few years it must be 8foot height there is a photo of it. Well it was windy one day last week and it toppled over but we said it was best to leave it as it would fall again and could do more damage, well the shed door was not locked properly and wind got behind it and it spent the day swinging backwards and forwards shredding all the branches of the plant. When we discovered what it had been doing we stood it up and every branch from one side has broken off and more, there are less than a third of its branches left a sorry state. When you put the terrible things in the world that are happening its seems trivial but when you have spent years growing and shaping things its sad hopefully it will come again next year.

Its been another busy week in the shop, I'm on my own next week and no day off and I'm hoping the delivery man will be able to work as he couldn't last week. Iv been doing jobs in the house today painted some light shades to match the new walls i painted last week. I'm excited as next Sunday our new sofa's are coming so I want to get the carpets cleaned and the room ready.

An arrangment I made this week in the shop

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Sunday, June 15, 2008

My shop

Sorry if you have been looking in and nothing changed for a week or so but last weekend was good weather for a change and Robert was away so had a lazy time in the garden relaxing, then on the Monday my day off my friends came over and we started to decorate the sitting room which ended up lasting all week, its always a bigger job than you think. We are at long last having a new sofa so I wanted to get the room painted before it arrives. My friend Doug made me a new fire surround a few weeks before (you will have seen it on Bob's blog) and this needed several coats of paint. Its all done now for a few more years I hope. I'm having quite a change and going minimalistic but feel sad and guilty about not putting back out all the things iv treasured all these years, and what do you do sell them give them away or put in a box and store them for ever we still have stuff in boxes from when we moved three years ago. Some things were from aunties, gifts and things iv made, it makes me feel guilty when some people have nothing and I'm worried what to do with extra things. I have a box stored away with baby stuff, first shoes, dress etc will Fallon want them when I'm gone! Ell enough of this one to something more interesting I hope.

Below are some photo's of the shop where I work. At this time of the year we sell a lot of bedding plants, hanging baskets, tubs and perennials for the garden. We sell plants in winter also but nothing like the amount for the summer months. We have four large shelved trolleys full of plants (not shown in the photo's) we have to take them in every day and takes me about half an hour to set it all back out again every morning. The sun is at the front of the shop all day so a lot of watering is needed late afternoon. Our shop is opposite a lovely lake surrounded by trees and loads of duck's and birds. They have boats on the water in the summer holidays, and the council have been given a grant to do some alterations to try to make flower beds better boats, Victorian lights and a part time warden to patrol the park. It is a pleasant out look but can be noisy with the traffic as we have the door open all the time.

At the time of taking this photo there isn't a to much out side but I never have the camera when it's looking stunning.

This was our window display in march for Mothers day

Inside the shop one of the displays

Apart from flowers we sell a lot of gifts, I think if we only sold flowers we would not survive. A lot has to do with supermarkets selling flowers and people have busy lives so pick up a bunch in the supermarket so they don't have to go to another shop. So we have to make things the supermarkets can't. I like to experiment making different arrangements, some times they don't sell but people comment and then some come a few weeks later and say they would like something like the one i had made. Florist also sell different flowers to the big shops, iv never seen a bird of Paradise or an anthorum for sale. It is up to us florist to make flowers exciting and we have regular customers who no they can get something different.Silk flowers are very popular in our area and we are well known for making some great arrangements. When i first started working there I loathed making them and really worried over it but if its what people want and we can make a sale then I'm happy to make them. People are making there houses more modern nowadays and my designs can be made to fit the rooms in the colours they want. Browns mixed with blue, green, red and orange seem to be the in colours at the moment, we have up to as many as 15 in the shop at one time. The customer's can bring in there own vases if they have something they really like and i will arrange the colours and design for them. The photos below are of just a few i have made.

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The last class

This is the design from the 8th and the last week of the night class that I've been teaching at the shop where I work. After the shop closes on a Thursday I have been clearing the shop and putting out tables for the ladies to work on. They have all enjoyed it and want to do another session, but this will have to be later in the year maybe September. I had seen this design in a magazine and used some of the techniques to make my own design. We wove some steel grass through leaves of aspradista then shaped it into the wet foam at different heights. Two allium one tall and one short, three green large headed chysanths at different heights and covered the foam with some Gallax leaves. It looks a simple style but very effective and the weaving gave it some added interest.

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Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Some work from the shop

I hope this blog is not to upsetting but I wanted to show you some of the varied work we do in the shop. Sometimes I get upset especially if the client is crying I think tears are catching. More people nowadays are asking for family flowers only, and asking for people to donate to a charity. I think this is an excellent idea although bad for business.

sometimes in the shop we are asked to make some strange things. Mostly when there is a funeral as there was last week. The photo above was a shooting star and the family also had us make a bingo card. It was for an older lady who loved a game of bingo and didn't really like flowers it turned out well and they were all pleased.

A domino

A microphone

Burger and chips

The letters are very popular, mum, Nana, and people's names

It is very upsetting when its a baby or small child.

This was difficult to make it took us all day.

This arrangement is what most people have on the coffin top

This photo is not that clear but its a watch that was asked for us to copy, I think it's an expensive make with diamonds. It was 5foot tall when we had finished it.

Posted by Bob :: 7:07 pm :: 1 Comments:

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Sunday, June 01, 2008

Rain stopped gardening

As this my second blog for to day it can mean only one thing its raining, but dose give me a chance to share some of the good things that have happened this week. As you may know Tommy is Roberts dog but occasionally he's mine. Like on a Saturday and Sunday. All people have a tale to tell about their pet and how talented they are and I want to tell you about Tom. Every week day at around the same time Robert takes Tom out, doesn't want to Know me only wags his tail for Rob. However Sat, and Sun, Rob has a lie in, when i come out of the bath room there is Tom fussing me like I'm his best mate. Sat I'm up for work and Sunday maybe a little later I'm up for church but its before Robert. He knows I'm taking Scampi (Fallon's dog) out so he will come to.

When Rob takes him out he gets his coller brings it to him, then his shoes, lead and Tippys (our old dog)lead. I must have taken a long time to get dressed this morning so he got his coller and brought it up to the bedroom. When I asked him to get my shoes he got one of Roberts, so I showed him mine and he then got mine I didn't have to tell him twice. He's stick mad there is quite a collection by the gate of those he brings home, and on our walk he always finds the biggest ones which i stand on to snap in half I give him the smallest half to which he drops and gets the longer piece. Scampi being a shorter dog lags behind and if I have to call her more than twice your voice gets harsher Tom know and runs up to her barking in her ear as if to say come on.

At night around 9ish I take all three out for their last run. If iv been watching TV I turn it off and before I get to the living door Tom has heard from up stairs in Rob's room and has flew down the stairs waiting at the front door. He seem to be listening to all that goes on, if the word,out, walk, who's that is spoken just in normal conversation hes up looking all pleased. Rob has put a ball with a rope and attached it to the handle of the dog food cupboard and he has learnt how to pull it open, I can see the day we come home and three fat exhorted dogs are flat out unable to move because he's opened the door and they have eaten all the dog biscuit and food. But he seems to know he can only do it if we aer there. There are many more thing to tell about him and indeed the other two have their own tales to tell but I want to tell and show you the nice things Rob has done for me this week.

When I came home from work this lovely standard fuchsia was in the garden, Robert has grown and trained this into this shape.

He also made me this planter using three terracotta pots of different sizes and stacking then and planting them up.

It was raining today but have taken some photo's of the garden to show you at what stage the plants are growing. Its a very small garden but I try to grow a good variety of plants and flowers but can't let them get to big and take over. As a flower arranger I would like to grow more shrubs to use in arrangements but I like flowers so the shrubs are kept to a minimum. It wasn't particularly a hard winter but I seam to have lost some perennials, but some fuchsia plants that weren't lifted last year have survived and are growing. I purchased some Dahlia's a year back the stall holder assured me they didn't need lifting but they perished. It must be certain variety's because some from last year are just coming through. It must be better to lift them as Rob has some in flower already that he lifted mine are about two inches. This early time in the garden the flowers seem to be blue's and pinks and as the year goes on it turns to the yellow tones. The garden looks very green, I must be in fashion with Chelsea.

Taken from my bed room window

One of the many different varieties of poppies in the garden at the moment. Although a bit late iv sown a collection of salad leaves in terracotta pots and will if i remember do so again in a few weeks, they are cut and come again. The rain seam's have stopped and Rob has given me 200 bedding plants so I'm going to try and plant them if its not to wet. Hope you have enjoyed a look in my small garden.

Posted by Bob :: 3:29 pm :: 2 Comments:

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Week 7 from the night class

These photo's are of week 7 of the class I'm teaching in the shop on Thursday's nights. I did not take a photo of the design that I had done so these are from three of the lady's that com to the class. The style is called the Continental style. Using a long tray with wet foam the flower's were placed in groups of two or three horizontally, some left tall, short and in between. Garden plant material played a large part of this design, this was filled in after the flowers were in position. The arrangements looked like mini country gardens.

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