A few weeks ago I posted pictures of a woodland mask, flower crown and bow tie that I had made for a commercial for Oregon Bride Magazine. The video announced their annual bridal show Urban Unveiled  that took place earlier this month at Montgomery Park. It was thrilling that the magazine hired me to do woodland masks, headpieces and jewelry for their fashion show. I look forward to receiving their pictures, so I can post them in the near future. Before going to the event, photographer friends and 2 models did a photo shoot at the fabulous event place Tendue, located on SE 11th and Division.

Rings, earrings and bracelets designed by Gwendolyn Severson

Headpieces and necklaces designed by Françoise Weeks

Thank you @grovfor who provided all the fabulous bark.

A heartfelt thank you to you all for participating. The results are fabulous!

Photos: Gwendolyn Severson (@botanicallyinspired) and Alba Betancourt

Model: Sarah Meyer

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Photographer Elisa Cicinelli documented so beautifully  the 2 day botanical couture workshop, hosted by Barbara Colvin! Here are some images of the demos that I made ahead of time as well as some of the teaching in action.

Thank you Elisa!

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Last spring, when Barbara Colvin attended a wedding workshop hosted by Brannan Street in San Francisco, she invited me to teach a 2 day botanical couture workshop at her gorgeous property in the wine country.

After buying an incredible selection of seasonal flowers and textures at the Flower Mart we arrived at her beautiful home in the wine country and started to prep and set up for the classes in her spacious barn. Barbara was the most generous hostess and she spoiled all of us with delicious lunches. I have so much appreciation for her generous spirit and for the opportunity to share a lot of mechanics, as well as how to look at botanical materials through different eyes, with her friends. It was a delight to observe them all create gorgeous botanical jewelry, purses, shoes and headpieces.

Elisa Cicinelli  documented the atmosphere of the workshop and the exquisite designs in a magical way. Merci!

And as always I very much appreciated the generous  sponsorship from oasis.

Special thanks to Mindy Rosenberg  for all your delightful help.

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The Bloom Project provides fresh floral bouquets to hospice and palliative care patients on a weekly basis. This non profit organization was started by Heidi Berkman 10 years ago.

Their annual fundraiser at the Multnomah Athletic Club last week was attended by over 300 people attend and the event was a great success.

‘Bouquets of the Heart’ became part of the Bloom Project’s fundraiser last year: several months ago the board of BP selected 5 artists and floral designers. Each one of the 5 artists  was paired up with a florist and we interpreted their beautiful painting or photograph or sculpture with floral presentations. Debra Prinzing was the emcee.

Many thanks to Gwen Severson (@botanicallyinspired) for the photos.

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The day after the presentations I taught 2 workshops;  the students made gorgeous and unique woodland centerpieces and a botanical necklaces. 

Thank you to the photographer at Koehler & Dramm for capturing these great images!

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It was such an honor to be invited by Koehler&Dramm  in Minneapolis to present 3 programs at their annual Fall&Winter Design Show a few weeks ago.

Much gratitude to all of you who helped preparing all the detailed designs: Carra Otten, Jamie Spellerberg (@wilderlandfloral),  Lynne Tischler, Gary Lenneman, Rhoda Paurus and Jessica Leopold.

A huge thank you also to Jessica for being super helpful the months leading up to the show and during my stay in Minneapolis; you were a true gem!

Here are images of  some of the designs we created for 2 days to get ready for the presentations; thank you so much to the photographer at Koehler&Dramm who captured the designs beautifully! We designed bouquets and botanical couture as well as woodland designs for fall and winter. What a treat to have access to an incredible selection of flowers and textures. It was like being a kid in a candy shop when walking around in the huge supply department to pick out any containers or pieces of wood that struck my fancy!

Thank you Jessica  for the testimonial:

“My company signed on Françoise to be the featured designer for one of the largest design shows in our year. With around 250 people in attendance, Françoise didn’t miss a beat, explaining the actual “how-to” of her designs—something that our attendees crave. She took time to explain how she constructed each piece and even had different examples of “stages” of a design to better show the actual process. She was open to our requests for fall and winter designs and she was very flexible with product availability and specific elements that we wanted her to focus on throughout the show. Aside from that, she is just a downright delight to be around. Her personality is so warm and welcoming, you absolutely feel at ease with her—so down to earth and relatable! She also taught two hands-on Botanical Couture classes that we offered to our customers and all 40 seats sold out the day we posted the workshops! We have had such remarkable feedback from her time here—our customers absolutely loved her designs, found the inspiring and relatable, and very unique. Françoise is a true gem.”

Jessica Leopold AIFD, Design Manager, Koehler and Dramm Wholesale Florist, Minneapolis, MN

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Last week The Literary Arts held their annual fundraiser at the Portland Art Museum. A silent auction took place in the Sunken Ballroom and dinner for nearly 400 guests was in the Kridel Ballroom.

Combining the feel of the beautiful Northwest with Literary Arts was an interesting project but I thoroughly enjoyed it! As I could not find small books to my liking I crafted some to incorporate in the larger pieces.

The inspiration to make the tree came from a great project that Belgian designer Sébastien Dossin (@sebastien_artisanfleuriste) made at the famous Belgian flower show Fleuramour last September.

Many thanks to Gwen Severson (@botanicallyinspired) for the beautiful pictures and @grovfor for all the fabulous bark!

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Thank you Heather Matheny for inviting me last month to design a botanical mask, flower crown and bow tie for a commercial to promote Oregon Bride’s Magazine ‘Urban Unveiled 2017‘.

Many thanks to Stephanie Jarstad for the fabulous pictures!

What a great team we worked with:

Video: Moving Pictures

Gowns: Anna’s Bridal Boutique

Hair and Make Up: M’chel Bauxal-Gleason

Models: Allison Cook, Grayson Elmer and Layla Matheny

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A friend suggested that I would make a headpiece with black feathers and chocolate/burgundy flowers. Fortunately we didn’t have any frost yet, so I found plenty of dahlias, chocolate cosmos, hypericum and pokeweed from local growers.  I supplemented them with kangaroo paws, callas, roses,  and dark succulents…

Photographer Ted Mishima contacted model Heather Irish Collins – what a perfect model she was! We did some photos in the studio and then headed to the Mock Crest House in North Portland- the perfect ‘haunted’ house for this Halloween outfit!

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It was such an honor to be invited to teach 3 botanical jewelry workshop at the annual AIFD Symposium in Seattle.  It was thrilling that the workshops sold out! As I wanted my friend Gwen to capture the pictures, I made these 2 necklaces and bracelet at home. The next day I hopped on the train and had a leisurely ride to Seattle.

Attending Symposium was a very interesting experience; it was great to meet so many people and watch several of the fabulous programs that were presented.

Thank you Gwendolyn Severson (@botanicallyinspired) for the beautiful images!

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