Pinterest interest.

A few months ago, I was introduced by a fellow florist to Pinterest.

It took a little while to get used to the idea of 'stealing' other people's finds - I know how thrilled it is when you finally find exactly what you are looking for on the net. But then I worked out that if 'people' - read 'me' - didn't want to have their treasures taken, they didn't have to put them up there for all the world to see, and steal.

Now, I think it is just fantastic, and a great tool for my work.

For those who might not know how it works, the principle is the same as cutting out pictures and sorting them into folders or pinning them onto a corkboard. You know - ideas for the garden if only you had one, clothes you'd like to make if only you could sew, houses you'd like to live in if only you lived in (insert favourite city). So, once you have joined up, you can search for all these things and many more, and just 'pin' them onto your board/s. Others can search for them too, and then pin them on to their boards. And they do. Very quickly !

I recently need to show a bride to be some ideas for floral decorations for church pews. I was able to find several examples from other weddings, and when she came in, I could quickly and easily show them to her.

Today I discovered the beautiful work of a Belgian-born florist living in the USA, whose name is Francoise Weeks. Her style of work is one that I am constantly trying to develop myself, and her attention to beautiful detail is outstanding.




I do make sure that I always acknowledge and give the provenance of the photo wherever possible, and hope that others do the same to my photos. These are all from her website (see below).

If you haven't looked at it before, go to Pinterest immediately.
My user name is calyflo.
Find out more about this lovely lady here.



Note to self: learn how to better position the photos, and find out where the cedilla is on the keyboard !

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 !