Two lovely emails !

Last week I received two lovely emails from two lovely customers. Neither of them were solicited, and both of them made me very proud.

The first was from a bride, "Ms M", who got married at the Abbotsford Convent on an extremely horribly wet day. The ceremony was supposed to be held in the garden in the rotunda, but just as I was leaving to go there, car all loaded with peonies, lilies and roses, and garlands and tulle, I received a phone call saying that the ceremony was now going to take place at the Convent still, but on a site I'd never seen. In fact, I had 30 minutes to do whatever I could before the guests started arriving, then Ms M's wedding would take place, then we had 30 minutes to take the decorations down again before the next re-located wedding was to take place in the same space.

Somewhere in between all that, we had to deliver the table decorations to the reception venue, which, fortunately was a mere stone's throw up the road.

(You might be able to tell that I am re-living the stress of the day just writing about it ! The personal flowers were fluffy white peonies which I had nurtured for days).

We managed, but it was very stressful. I haven't yet mentioned the fact that when we arrived, the Saturday Farmer's Market was just finishing up, so there was no parking, lots of wet people scurrying, a zillion children, and us, trying to find the spot for a wedding !

So, you can perhaps understand why, two days later, I was so happy to receive Ms M's delightful email and equally delightful photos, especially as I thought she'd be honeymooning on an exotic desert island:

Hi Denise I just wanted to send you a very BIG THANK YOU for our wedding flowers! We absolutely loved the bouquets, so many people commented on them! And thank you so much for adjusting your plans for flowers at the rotunda to the courtyard! It looked very beautiful! Also loved our centerpieces!! Lets just say everything was perfect! Attached are a couple of pictures from the day! :) I will highly recommend you to family and friends!

Thanks again, M












The second one was from a young lady in Hobart, Tasmania, who wanted to surprise her little sister with a wrist corsage for her formal.

I was a little worried about how it would travel in an Express Post Overnight Box, but as I was gently packing it, I felt reasonably confident that it would arrive safely. Whether or not it would arrive in time was another matter. I wanted to leave posting it as late as possible, as the Singapore orchids in the corsage would be fully wired. Her email tells the story...

The timing was perfect and it was beautiful. My sister loved it and was proud to be the only girl with one!!! I have attached some pictures of her wearing it. Gee she was beautiful!!!

Now, doesn't that make your heart sing !

Buttons and More

Over the past few weeks, I have been participating in an on-line course in button-making !

Why ? You may well ask.

I came across the wonderfully inspiring blog site of Karen Ruane, acclaimed textile artist, where she mentioned that she was about to launch a course called 'Buttons and More'.

On her blog site, I read about embroidery and what a fundamental, very historical and creative activity embroidery is. From the earliest times, once a fabric had been woven, it was decorated. I have always enjoyed sewing and dressmaking, and, having learned about 3 stitches when I was at primary school (first item was a hot water bottle cover with a sleeping cap embroidered on it), I decided to brush up on my stitches.

This was my first button attempt - well, the first one that I have gone public with !


You can see the beautiful buttons and toggles made by the other 30 or so course participants from all over the world on Flickr.

People's Choice Award

Well, I didn't win the big prize of $500 worth of goods from Apack, but I AM up for the People's Choice Award: I'm one of 8.

If you go to this link, you can vote for whomsoever you choose ! There are some lovely designs there. If you are short of time, just head to D - Calypso, and click on the button next to the name.

Voting closes on November 25 at 5pm .

Big congratulations to the winner, Annette of FlowerFusion in Queensland. You can see her design here.

My First Competition

Earlier this month, I decided that I would try my hand at competitions. Not quite sure why, as I'm not really a competitive type, but I thought I'd have a go.

I entered one where I had to use one of 3 products from a supplier called Apack, the sponsors of the competition, and selected a heart-shaped 'posy-holder' made out of sisal. Usually, the florist would icorporate a posy of flowers in the centre.


The one in the photo is pink, but I used a red one, because the theme of the competition was celebrating a 40th Wedding Anniversary, or vow renewal, and the traditional stone for 40 years is a ruby.

I decided to make a table arrangement, and to put either a candle or a bottle of champagne in the centre.


I covered the heart shape with flowers that included roses, ranunculas, bottlebrush, sedum, rose hips and buds, Singapore and oncidium orchids, and various little leaves.


It certainly looked very romantic. Imagine the delighted surprise of a woman being led to a table for two in a chic restaurant, to discover this thoughtful gift awaiting her ! Of course, you don't have to wait for a 40th anniversary: red+ heart+ candle + flowers= romance. What about Valentine's Day !

The competition closed on October 14, and will be judged from photos on-line. You can look at the other entries at /www.flowergoss.com/forum/thread/apack-flowergoss-online-cup-competition-2011-upload-photo-to-win-500-apack-voucher#2810

Once the winner has been announced, there will be a "People's Choice" award. I'll keep you posted !

Ombre

The word ombre means 'shade', and with fabrics the effect is obtained (in this white to navy dress, for example) by dipping the fabric in dye for increasing amounts of time, so that the one piece of fabric has a whole range of colour hue, from pale to dark, or vice versa. You could also use different pieces of cloth, leaving each one in the dye pot for progressively longer periods of time, so that the colour intensifies with each dipping.
Flowers can also be selected and arranged this way, as in the pink table centre from Martha Stewart Weddings.
You would probably obtain the best effect by using many different types of flowers so that the colour range can be more nuanced.

I'll never forget, however, the impression of the way that the same flowers are graded by colour at the flower market at Covent Garden. Here in Melbourne, we don't have the luxury of such a range.

Imbolc: ask for inspiration.

I can't believe that the last 'celebration' was autumn... and now we're nearly through winter ! Today in Melbourne, you could be forgiven for thinking that it is high summer . It's 22 deg. celsius outside !

This conveniently brings me to my thoughts of the week....

On August 1, here in the southern hemisphere, the celebration of Imbolc took place...Imbolc, the festival of early spring, when the earth begins to stir... when signs of life are apparent to those who care to take notice... when the goddess returns. (Note: when I first planned my flower shop, I wanted to call it 'Persephone', but I thought it would be too hard having to spell it all the time ! I must say 'Calypso' isn't that much easier. See website www.calypsoflowers.com.au for origin).

This is a time to choose what you really want to do this year, to think about this, and to make preparations whilst the pace of life is still winter-slow and you don't have to rush into things.

In the northern hemisphere, where the festival takes place on February 1, the special flower which symbolises the new almost-beginning is the snowdrop. I remember the joy of finding them as a child in England. I'm not sure what the Australian equivalent would be ?

In my garden, with the last few days which have been so mild, my sweet pea seedlings (grown from seed) have shot up 2 inches, my lettuce seedlings are almost ready to nibble, and the mint is re-establishing its dominance in the mint corner. The oranges are still growing - we try one every week to see if they are sweet enough to eat. (This week, they are sweeter than lemons, but still not yet ready).


At work, I am starting to talk to brides about their spring weddings, and I have started to collate ideas for table centres and bouquets, everything from peonies to forest glades !

This was an experiment for a table centre combining a silver birch log with a bowl of flowers. I just used the flowers that I had available, but it would be beautiful with ....well, with just about anything , really!

Back to my spring planning...

Celebrating autumn

I was recently given a beautiful book which has rapidly become my favourite. It's by Liza Dalby, and is called EAST WIND MELTS THE ICE. Inside cover says: "... a unique record of nature. In this beautiful journal Liza Dalby writes about the passing seasons, gardening (eastern and western), Japanese customs and a life lived between two cultures." (She's American).

She has also written a book on the kimono (I've got the book on order !), and writes dreamily about the colour combinations. For example:

"... for ladies of the Heian court, maples had another aspect as well. Among all the numerous layered color combinations of robes worn throughout the year, the most flamboyant were the momiji (maples) ensembles that came into season at the end of autumn. In these fashions, a six-robe set was layered so that each robe showed a sliver of colour at throat and sleeve.


... A set of colors named 'Green Maples' arrayed layers of acquamarine, deep yellow, pale yellow, gold, pink and maroon.



The most riotous of all was 'Mixed Maples', in which each robe also had a lining of a different color. The top aquamarine robe had a pink lining, then came a pale blue with a pink lining. Next was a dark gold with a pale gold lining, worn over an amber robe with a pale yellow lining. Underneath everything was a pink robe with a pale yellow lining. I would love to have seen this outfit. It would only be rivaled by the maples turning colour now in northern California."(P211)

Yesterday I went to my favourite gardens, CLOUDEHILL in the Dandenong hills. Had I written those words, I could have written: "It would only be rivalled by the hydrangea turning colour now in Melbourne ."

Moving news !

I've been a bit quiet on the blogging front over the past couple of months, but let me assure you that my life has not been at all quiet !

After having been in the same cute little shop for 6 years, and in another just a few doors away for about 6 years before that, I decided that I really, really had to make a change. Last November, I started to advertise for a new tenant to take on my lease, and in February I finally found one. That was the good news. The tricky thing was that I then had to find somewhere to move to ... in ONE month !

I had a Plan B and a Plan C, but I still wanted a Plan A. The day after the deal with the new tenants was negotiated, I remembered that I had long had the idea of setting up a shared studio workspace - ideally with a couple of other florists and/or designers. I'd tried to do it, a few years ago, but then the GFC happened, and everyone (including me) got a bit scared. Anyhow...

In less than 24 hours I found, on the first website I looked at, someone who was looking for a creative someone to share a converted factory with a company of architects and an IT person. I went to look at the space after work, and got very excited ! My Plan A !

So, here I am, all moved in and more or less set up, with more time to spend on designing floral arrangements, and on working with my customers.

This has confirmed the fact that I should always have confidence in my ideas, and follow them through, no matter how risky they may at first seem .

I don't remember where I found the photos, but I think it was through the Velvet & Linen blog.

6 things you should think about....

I often receive phone calls from women who have just become engaged, and are wondering how soon they should consult with a florist. Whereas I am always happy to talk about flowers, I can be most helpful if you already have this information:

1. The style and colour of your dress.
2. The number of attendants and the style and colour of their dresses.
3. The other members of the party (parents etc.) who will wear or carry flowers.
4. The location and time of the wedding and the reception .
5. Your vision and/or concept for the wedding event (will it be casual, formal or themed ?)
6. The floral styles that you like. If you are unsure, we have many magazines to help you choose, and there are thousands of websites that you can look at - of course, I hope that you start with mine: www.calypsoflowers.com.au !

Here is a flowers checklist to consider:

Bride, bridesmaids, flowergirls
Groom, groomsmen, best man, page boys
Mothers of the bride and groom
Fathers of the bride and groom
Specials members of the family (brothers & sisters etc)
Grandparents
Guests
Throwaway bouquet
Flowers for the ceremony and the reception
'Thank you' bouquets
Petal confetti.

Please send me an email - or a comment - if I can help you further.