Bouquets to Art: Part 2

This morning I met the team at the de Young Museum to put together our design.  We were all a bit worried about how it would turn out, but were very pleased with the end result.  Here are some pictures of the process:

This is the mask that was the inspiration for the design.  After throwing around several ideas, we decided on creating a circular structure sitting on top of a bowl with a pave design in the bowl.

Our fearless leader, Diana, attaching the glass bowl covered in magnolia leaves to the stand.

Jenny and Kim preparing the floral materials.  We had orange cymbidium orchids, green leucadendron, orange pincushion proteas, and red anthuriums.

Diana, Angela and Brenda making sure the container was nice and secure since the floor was slanted.

We attached the circle structure to the base by using tent spikes and pushing it in foam.  The circles are made out of curly willow (outer ring) and chicken wire covered with galax leaves (inner circle).

Diana showed us how to start the pave design in the bowl.  We all took turns working on the piece.

Almost finished!  

For a finishing touch, we put anthuriums in groupings around the circle structure and added woven flax leaves, created by Emma, to add line and interest.  We also added a monkey tail fern to the center of the inner circle to mimic the holes in the mask.  

Here is the finished piece next to our inspiration.  What do you think?

A full length shot of  the finished piece

A close up of the front of the pave design.

Since you couldn't really see the pincushions from the front, I took a side view.  Its a nice little surprise in the back when you look closer.

Thanks to a great team we pulled off an incredible design.  We are all really happy with how it turned out.  I hope you all get a chance to go and check out the rest of the exhibit.  There are some really cool pieces there.  Next weekend I will be going back and taking more pictures, but until then, here's a little teaser:

What type of flowers should you get?

Here's a fun infograph on what type of flowers you should get someone for Valentines Day!  Remember to order your flowers early!

Valentines Day Tips

With Valentines Day (or Singles Awareness Day) coming up quickly, I thought I'd share a few tips on how to save money on the outrageous prices of flowers:

Order your bouquets early.  It will help your local florist out who in turn will help you out by lowering the price.

Don't buy red roses.  Roses are not in season and are ridiculously expensive.  You will probably get better quality roses that will last longer if you buy bouquets in colors other than the traditional red.  Check out my blog tomorrow morning for a list of alternative flowers and there special romantic meanings.

Ask for domestically grown flowers.  Anything that needs to be imported will have a higher price.  This will mean that your roses will have a smaller head, but they will last longer and cost a lot less.

If you are in the Redwood City area on Valentines Day or the day before, come and order your flowers from Redwood City Florist.  I will be at the shop helping them out on the 13th and 14th!

Flower of the Month: February

The February birth flower is the violet.  Used for culinary and medicinal purposes as well as a potted plant, the violet symbolizes faithfulness, humility and chastity.

According to this site, there were a few different meanings depending on the color of the violet.  If it was violet it would mean "I'll always be true".  If it was a cream or white violet, it would mean "Lets take a chance".

Violets are primarily a potted plant.  If I was asked to put violets into a design, I'd probably do a vegetative garden design with cut flowers and potted plants.  Similar to this design:

New Semester = New challenges

Last week was the beginning of the spring semester and the final semester of floral design courses at College of San Mateo.  Lots will be happening in the coming months including a Bridal Fair put on by the students and a grand finale party.

For our first design, we took bear grass and weaved the grass into a ring.  Then we took tulips and created either a bouquet or put the piece in a small container.  I added some Oasis Diamond Wire for some sparkle and this is what I came up with:

A little note on tulips:  they are funny flowers that keep growing even after they are cut.  If you ask for tulips in an arrangement, be aware that they typically last 3-5 days and if they are in a warm area they are likely to die sooner.  If you want a long lasting bouquet to send to people, don't ask for tulips!  However, in the Language of Flowers, tulips are very romantic flowers.  Here's a list of tulip colors and what they mean:

Pink Tulips- Caring

Purple Tulips- Royalty

Red Tulips- A declaration of love

White Tulips- Forgiveness

Yellow Tulips- Hopelessly in love

Coming soon:  Tired of giving or receiving red roses for Valentines day?  I am doing research on flowers and their meanings so you can order flowers with a message for your loved one!  Keep checking back for that entry!

More talent at College of San Mateo

Last night was the final for the more advanced class.  Our task was to find some sort of inspirational piece like a poem, a piece of art, a song or an object and translate that into a floral design.

My piece was inspired by this design by Paula Pryke:

The container that I had wasn't tall enough when I tried it out the night before, so I did something a little different.  I also used glass balls instead of the glass test tubes in the design, and instead of lisianthus, I used mini cymbidium orchids.   I also used white anthuriums as a focal point.  I call it "Winter Wonderland"

There are tiny floral lights inside each of the balls covered in a fake snow that I got at a local florist shop.  To add a bit of sparkle, I put beaded oasis wire, and set the entire design on a mirrored container and then set that on a round mirror (the mirror broke in transit which is why it doesn't look round).

Here are the rest of the designs from the night.  I will try to remember what the inspiration was, but there were a lot.

The song Merry Christmas, Darling was the inspiration for the design below.  

The next few pieces were holiday inspired pieces

The design below was based on the branch that the designer found at a farmers market.  The branch cost her $3!!

This pave design was based on the techniques of Gregor Lersch

The designer of this piece was inspired by a poem about music

The story behind this one is the loss of the designers brother-in-law.  A very beautiful waterfall with tropical flowers since he loved Hawaii.

The design below was created by my friend Brenda.  She loves working with thick sticks and she wanted a centerpiece for her table.  She is a fantastic designer and I've learned a lot from her.

This design was based on a designers piece at the 2011 Symposium.  

The designer of this is from Ireland and having a candle in the window is a Christmas tradition that dates back to Henry VIII.  

This fun design is inspired by the creators horse.  He loves apples so she incorporated apples into the design and that is one of his old shoes.

This designers friend asked her to create a holiday piece for her cabin in Tahoe.  

This design is called "Over the Water and Through the Woods"  from the top view, you can tell, but there is red dogwood that is in an arch shape and it had clear stones under it for the river.  Very cute.

Another design that was inspired by 2011 Symposium.  The frame is made out of corner bead which is used by construction companies when they are doing stucco work.  This is another friend of mine who has helped me multiple times on events.  She is awesome!

The advanced class has some amazing talent as well as amazing teachers.  Its a shame that the College decided to cancel this amazing program so they could build a parking lot.  

Hope you enjoyed these designs! 

Talented Students at College of San Mateo

The end of the 2011 Fall Semester is here, and I wanted to share a few of the designs my fellow students in Monday nights "beginning" class created for our final exam.  Half the students in this class have not ever taken a floral design class before.  The others, like me, have had several classes over the past few years.  See if you can tell the beginners from the more advanced designs:

And this was my final design using red roses, green hydrangea, holly branches and wired rose petals draped across the design.