A few months  ago I asked Andre, who has welded several structures for me, if he could weld a a spiral on a stand. I loved the results! The spiral was elevated about a foot from a round base and I had fun making a couple of woodland designs with it.

Andre very kindly altered the base when I mentioned that  I was interested in using the spiral as part of a botanical headpiece. Last Sunday we did a photo shoot – Kari modeled the headpiece beautifully; many thanks to Ted  for the pictures!

When I re-discovered this wooden ‘accordeon-like’ cage, I first thought of using it as a base for a skirt, but when I placed it on my shoulders, I liked that idea better. After securing a wreath base to it, I decorated it with digitalis, asclepia, succulents, blackberries, spider plant, hebe, sedum, seedpods of nigella, physalis and poppies, …Defoliated stems with tendrils of passion vine, add some whimsy to the wooden cage.
Photos: Theresa Bear
Model: Azelle Chang

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Last month, my friend Jen gifted me some beautiful flowers from her farm. It was a perfect opportunity to design a new mask/headpiece with these treasures.

My favorite in the bouquet she brought is the eccremocarpus vine ( or Chilean glory vine). This vine, with the exquisite orange tubular flowers, lacy foliage and the tiniest tendrils grows up to 8-10′.  The one in my garden has darker orange flowers and seems quite happy  in the driveway, which faces west, but with its roots in the shade.  The trellis it grows on is only 5′ tall, so I weave the stems back and forth.  I planted it in rich, well drained soil and make sure to keep it well watered. It had been flowering  since June and will bloom continuously until the fall. And I am happy to say that it overwinters well in Portland’s climate.

Photos: Theresa Bear

Model: Azelle Chang

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Last week I had the opportunity to freelance for Morgan Moylan  with Westqueenstudio in Hillsborough, NC. We spent 4 days designing a plethora of jewelry and scarves, masks, bowties , fascinators and umbrellas for an rsvp_events photo booth at a corporate party in Raleigh,NC. Any time that we get creative license to design, we have the best time!

Many thanks to Stacy and Ava for modeling and much gratitude to Maggie Gaster for doing an impromptu photoshoot of all our creations before the event.

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Always so much fun to explore new ideas! A couple of years ago I discovered sheets of cork at an art supply store – I had no idea how to use them, until a few months ago, when I discovered that ripped pieces were the perfect way to cover fans that I had secured to the base of a headpiece.

Hot glue is such a versatile way to design any base of wearables – this scarf was decorated with a selection of pansies from my garden. And as always, hellebores are a favorite to decorate any design!

I used foam core to design a swirling back necklace, and had fun decorating the long braid of Azelle.

Thank you Theresa Bear for the magical pictures and Azelle for modeling so perfectly for this photo shoot at Studio Northwest

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It was such a treat to return to the studio of Morgan Moylan this month to teach another workshop in her fabulous space!

We had such a wonderful time foraging in the amazing garden of her friend and we  picked a plethora of flowers at the beautiful farm of Lisa Joyner. Her husband very kindly gave us a bunch of cedar stumps that we used as a base to design on the second day.

Another fabulous group of ladies who created so much beauty! We learned many mechanics and made woodland frames, decorated all the unique cedar stumps, designed purses and made arrangements in fruits and veggies.

Many thanks to Negin Naseri for the beautiful pictures!

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It was such an honor to be invited to do a botanical fashion show at Art in Bloom at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston earlier this month!

Many, many thanks to my friend Sheryl Tynes who designed tirelessly with me to make all the jewelry for the 8 models.

We so appreciated all the support from the volunteers in particular Carla Morey, who organized everything as well as anyone could ask for.

We were very grateful to work in the best workroom ever: the museum in Boston has a super well stocked space, which includes a walk in cooler. The  flower selection that we bought from the Flower Market in Boston and the Flower Reserve in Providence,RI was fantastic.

Thank you Beth, for capturing all these beautiful photos of this very special event!

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I am excited to announce that this coming Thursday we will launch a new set of tutorials on Structural Woodlands.

Last year I started a wonderful collaboration with André who has been welding smaller and larger structures for some of my woodland designs. It has opened a whole new world of design and I have enjoyed so much exploring it all!

Aware that not everyone knows a welder who can create structures, I decided to figure out how to design similar stands with tools that we all have available: dowels, wood glue, pieces of wood etc… If you are interested in designing on a larger scale or vertically, you will find lots of information in this new set of tutorials.

These designs can be made with textures only, so that no water source is required; for the first and third designs I camouflaged a few water tubes to provide a water source for the flowers and foliage.

Thank you Theresa Bear for the gorgeous pictures!

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A couple of weeks ago Annette Gomez hosted a 2 day workshop in her wonderful studio in Carlsbad. We harvested a bunch of treasures in her parents garden and her own and bought some beautiful flowers and textures at Mayesh. Earlier that week I had shipped a box of bark and mosses, foraged on the property of my friend Linda here in Portland.

A very enthusiastic group of students attended and created beautiful woodland centerpiece, framed woodlands, jewelry and small hairpieces.

We all appreciated the wonderful food that had been prepared by Lauren: delicious breakfast treats, lunch and the best cookies for an afternoon snack.

Many thanks to Suzanne, who documented the workshop perfectly during the 2 days that she spent with us all.

And much gratitude to Annette, who took care of every possible detail to make the workshop a memorable experience for everyone!

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A while back, I came up with a different way to design the framed woodlands. A layer of moss is hot glued on and a variety of textures (seedpods, tillandsias, succulents, dehydrated mushrooms,…) create a small landscape. The flowers, maidenhair ferns and other botanicals that require a water source are inserted in small water tubes, which are covered with moss or paper thin bark. It is important to use flowers with thin stems to avoid much water displacement. The flowers can be replaced when needed. I like to design these frames, so that they look great with or without the flowers. Sometimes (in the first and last picture) I incorporate 2″ plants; the plastic pot is covered with moss. These little orchids are a great choice as they will bloom for several weeks.

The frames can be hung outdoors or inside and you will be able to enjoy them for a long time.

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