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 !

Rainy Day Wedding

Torrential rain had been forecast for the day of Rebecca's wedding. And torrential it was !

It was about a 45 minute drive into the country, to Yering Station winery, and on the freeway we were barely able to see the car in front of us. Poor things ! At least they had the option of having the ceremony totally undercover in a renovated barn.






The team were still setting the tables for the reception when we had finished our part, and so I don't have a photo of the finished tables, but I'm told they looked fantastic, with her hand- embroidered lavender bags, place names tied to linen serviettes with a sprig of lavender and raffia, and little vases of dried lavender too.

I do have photos of the rain (!), of the finished candles, and of her L..O..V..E.. mugs, filled with 'country bunches' in the theme colours of lavender and white, which were to grace the bar.

I'm told that once everyone had arrived and was inside, everyone had a great time. Can't wait to see her photos !

Rebecca's Candles

Earlier this year, I was approached by Rebecca to do the flowers for her wedding. I had done her sister's flowers a couple of years ago, and I was thrilled to be asked again. Rebecca's theme was lavender, and the wedding was to be held at a winery, so she wanted to incorporate those country elements in the design. Can you believe that she was hand embroidering 22 lavender bags - using no less than 3 shades of purple - to give to the female guests? It didn't take much to work out that she had a very keen eye for detail !!

I made a sample candle decoration. The candle was 20cm high, and had a woven structure around it, like a very small tray, upon which we could place the elements that she wanted: lavender, lichen-covered twigs, freesias (which would feature in her posy), grapes, and anything else that might take our fancy.

The sample one had Singapore orchids, grapes and lavender.

To make it I heated on the stove, short pieces of wire which I then embedded into the candle. Note: use pliers, the wire gets a bit hot. You need to have an odd number - there were 17 'spokes' in mine.

Then I wound long pieces of raffia under and over the spokes to the required radius of the base. I had found some purpley-grey cake stands onto which I was going to place the finished article, and they were about 20cm in diameter. I roughly joined the raffia pieces with a knot and left the ends loose, so that later I could tie the flowers and twigs to the base. I also didn't want it to look too sleek.

When it was wide enough, I tied the various bits and pieces on to the base, and then trimmed the ends. I finished the ends of the wire by slipping on a lavender bead, and then bending over the end of the wire to avoid any unfortunate finger piercings and subsequent tetanus shots at the reception.

The major change from Mark I candle was to use a taller cake stand, and make the raffia base at the bottom of the candle, rather than a couple of centimetres from the bottom.

I was really pleased with the result, and thought that it would make a great Christmas decoration, especially with some sparkly ribbon, or red raffia wound through. If you use the raffia base that is a bit higher, i.e Mark I, you could place the candle in a shallow bowl, and then poke real flowers through the base, so that they can drink water from the bowl.

Good idea ? I have to say that the original idea came from Master floral designer, Gregor Lersch, in his book "Floral Craftmanship", and I thank him for it.

Urban Waste...not !

There's nothing that can stop me in my tracks as quickly as a kerbside collection of green 'waste', waiting to be picked up by the local council ! I can spot a sawn-up silver birch, bundled-up bamboo or trussed-up twigs a mile off, and if I can lift them and/or squeeze them into the back of the mighty little Peugot, in they go ! Nature's bounty !

Recently in my neighbourhood, I found a tangle of branches from an unidentifiable tree, each of which branch, on its own, was worthy of rescue, being of a fantastic wind-blown shape. They were all rather large though, and would have needed to be displayed in a warehouse-sized room.

I have broken these branches down into smaller pieces and used them in several ways, and I've still got heaps left !

One became a sort of nest above branches of silver birch (from another street collection), which had been screwed upright on to a wooden plank for stability. Originally these branches had candles on them, and were used to decorate a table at Christmas. This time, I affixed water tubes to them and put stunning violet Vanda orchid blooms in each one.

I was also able to make little hand-tied bundles of twiglets, which I could then jam in to a favourite rectangular ceramic vase, and use to support these beautiful deep-sea-blue anemones. This tricky technique also works really well to support tulips in a wide-mouthed vase.

Then, finally, I tied little twiglets on to 2 metal candle holders which have been waiting for years to be used in an interesting way.

Just another example of what is one person's trash, is another's treasure.