Wreaths wreaths wreaths

What a great 4 weeks of workshops!! From a small group at a craft sale to 50 people at a golf course , every workshop had its own personality. But regardless of location, we always started out with a toast.

Photo cred Felicity Siemens Photography

We did 13 classes and had approximately 400 participants. We also sold kits for people to take and make in the comfort of their home.

Part of the class includes bow making. Everyone has to take a breath before this step as it doesn’t come easy! Students are welcome to bring their own accessories in or we had some fresh berries for sale as well. It makes everyone’s wreath so unique.

I am so grateful for regulars who come out every year as well as folks who are up for trying something new. Happy holidays!

Wag ball 2019

I was invited to decorate gallery 4 for the https://www.wag.ca Winnipeg art gallery ball this October.

It featured the north end photographs of local artist John Paskievich. Funnily enough, one of the men in the photos was my dad’s childhood friend.

I really wanted to keep the neutral tones of the room while adding some warmth. I enlisted my artist friends Penny and Wade Kovacs to help with the vessels.

They found this light fixture at a thrift shop and thought of the frames that are found in old school film strips. They took it apart to form the vases for each table.

I went with a brown and rust color palette and incorporated the prairie looking pampas grass stems for height. A pleasure to work with the gallery again ‘

Mike and Nancy’s wedding

I’m a little late in sharing, but this year’s brides are making me think of one of my favourite weddings last summer.

I had the pleasure of working with a lovely couple on a hanging installation at www.cielosgarden.com . We used driftwood and attached chicken wire to secure the soft tone football mums and funky greens and eryngium. I loved her flower selection. Of quicksand roses, ruscus and lisianthus. It was a pleasure working with this couple who are beautiful inside and out!

Beer and Botany

What a great ride it has been so far! I had been doing workshops for a while in my store, but it was two years ago when the www.downtownwinnipegbiz.com allowed me to use their pop up space to do a plant workshop and www.rudyseatanddrink.com brought the beer that was the beginning of the workshop series.We had a great time and shortly after that got busy with our wreath workshop series. By the time the new year started I was thinking about how much fun it was and if I could reach out to some different local restaurants and they would be open to having me.

There has been all sizes of classes, a mix of ages, women and men and a lot of beer! I would love to continue on by offering new projects and places as well as keep up the relationships I have built with my awesome students and venues.

www.downtownwinnipegbiz.com

www.theforks.com

www.acrosstheboardcafe.com

www.littlegoat.ca

Celebrate the mom in your life

Sunday may 8th,2016 is Mother’s day and there are many great options for any type of mother. 

A garden bright mix of sunflowers and peonies or a painted vase of all tulips are excellent options. 

For the plant loving woman, this retro macrame air plant hanger or succulent terrarium are unique and easy to care for.

For the woman who wants to support local winnipeggers how about coal and canary candles, pottery by Nancy Blokland and a card from kodiakmilly? 

Office heroes

Administrative assistants week is coming up April 25-29. We have so many cute little somethings to say thanks.

 
Cut bouquets wrapped in a variety of Colors are great for the person that gets flowers regularly so probably has a vase at work.

   
 
Little bowls can hold a flower inside or a flower and a card coming out of the top. This is a great idea for the super busy worker who doesn’t have time to find a vase. It’s also very easy to refill with a single flower from time to time.

  
There are so many fun options for the plant lover out there. A tropical in a crisp white pot or terrarium or an air plant in a pear vase are all relatively easy to care for. 

More Easter fun

   Looking for some non traditional centerpiece ideas? Collect an egg carton, dyed eggs and shells and get creative! These shells with soil and seeds can be planted right into the garden in spring.  

  There are so many classic spring options out there as well. Tulips in a variety of colours, lilies, Gerberas and funky fillers are aways a good choice.  

 One last bit of fun. Place your carrot stems skinny side down in your vase. Use a plastic dish with foam to create your arrangement and fasten on top with some glue dots. This one is perfect for some silly stories with the kids about Peter Rabbit searching for his missing carrots😄

  

Easter and beyond

This cylinder is a great way to trim some tulips that you have had for a couple days that may be getting fragile. They will keep their form and shape in this for several more days than if they were loose coming out the top of your vase.

What to do with all that leftover candy so its not right at your fingertips? Use a small jar that sits nicely in a large bowl and fill the outside with your candy.  Make sure when you add water to the small jar inside you don’t spill water over into the candy.  Water and sugar do not mix!

Have some extra dye from your Easter egg coloring kit?  Find a vase that you won’t mind if the dye tints it a bit and fill with water/color to desired shade.  I recommend using complimentary shades of colors of flowers so that the dye doesn’t bleed into the flowers.  (stay away from white blooms)

Green on green is a great example of the use of dye and flowers.  This bouquet includes long lasting spider mums, berries and kale.

Plant frames and such

 

There are so many interesting new ways to display plants!  This frame has a lined shelf so you could plant right into it.  You could leave them in their pots too and add accessories such as pine cones, moss and bark.

 

I went to http://www.shelmerdine.com and picked up these cute air plants!  They use their root systems to attach themsleves to trees or rocks and absorb moisture and nutrients through their leaves.  They need to have bright light but not direct sun.  Once a week, place your plants in a bowl of water to hydrate.  Can be done longer or more often depending on how dry the environment is.

 

 

Succulents come in all shapes and sizes and look super cute in this mason jar.  They love bright light.  Allow soil to dry thoroughly between waterings.

Plants are a great gift that keep on giving.  They are also an excellent way to treat yourself and enjoy their many health benefits.  They have the physical benefits of absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen,  and the mental benefits of bringing nature indoors especially during the winter months.