Usually I design the base of the headpieces with wire mesh; for this one I used an old hat that I had not worn in years, manipulated the shape a bit and covered it with palm net before decorating it with a variety of textures as well as with cymbidium orchids, ranunculus, strawflowers and leucodendron.

The base of the scarf was made with felt  and similar botanicals were used to embellish it.

I drilled a hole in eucalyptus seedpods and strung them on 12 gauge aluminum wire to create the base of a necklace;  a variety of seedpods, succulents and berries were perfect to design a botanical pendant.

Thank you Ted Mishima for the stunning pictures and Marie Dysart-Hill for the fabulous modeling!

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Artichokes are a favorite vegetable to design beautiful arrangements in! Follow this step-by-step to create your own.

Photos by Joni Shimabukuro, Theresa Bear, Rebekah Johnson and Ron Weeks

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These autumnal woodland centerpieces and wreath are tapestries of a plethora of textures. Striking pieces of wood and bark are decorated with a variety of colorful fall foliage, lots of seedpods and berries, mushrooms and a handful of seasonal flowers.

Beautiful photography by Theresa Bear

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Last month we ventured over to a fabulous goat farm in Hillsboro for a photo shoot with  Chelsea and dozens of goats and baby goats. What a fun party it was!

Thank you Theresa for the fun and beautiful pictures!

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What a fun surprise it was to be invited by NW Flower Fanatics to make a few masks for a segment of a tv show here in Portland! It was so much fun to design these!

Thank you Gwen for modeling and Theresa for the fabulous pictures!

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It had been on my mind for a while to do ‘covid’ masks – I altered the masks that I bought at the Mill End Store to get the right shape and had a lot of fun designing these. Two masks have a woodland theme – ziptying the piece of bark or wood to the frame did the trick. The pale yellow mask did not follow the criteria for a covid mask, but it was a fun shape to develop and you get to see Isis’s beautiful smile!

Thank you Ted Mishima for the great pictures.

And thank you Isis Morton for modeling the masks!

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Two years ago my photographer friend Theresa Bear suggested to do a photo shoot with Rojo The Llama. She had discovered a llama farm, Mtn Peaks Therapy Llamas and Alpacas, where Rojo and the other llamas and alpacas had been trained to be therapy animals; she approached the owner who enthusiastically agreed to do a photo shoot at the time – it was a fantastic experience.

In the last 2 years Theresa and I have done many botanical couture photo shoots. Earlier this year she came up with the idea to flower these therapy animals. Together with Gwen, who made some of the designs and styled all the shoots , we went to the farm to do 3 different photo shoots!

We soon will have the prints for sale through “BuyOlympia” and via “PaperandInkStudio”

So here we go!

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A couple of months ago I was invited  to be an educator for the Fleursociety Design Summit 2020!

I am over the moon excited to be teaching alongside such a powerful line up that includes so many florists that I really enjoy learning from.
We are going to be sharing some FUN and amazing knowledge over 6 DAYS!

We will be covering design topics involving foam-free mechanics, open form installations, elevated designs, suspended installations, tablescapes, romantic bouquets, and so much more. Basically, all the current knowledge and skills that are trending so that we can attract and book those dreamy clients!

GET YOUR TICKET NOW!

For the first time ever, this Summit is offered FREE.

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Earlier this week I wrote a post on how to design a fascinator with pipe cleaners. I wanted to elaborate on a method that allows to keep any design – with no water source, such as flower crowns, corsages, boutonniers, masks, headpieces, etc…- hydrated for 5 days or even longer.

Two years ago I attended a workshop taught by the magical German designer Gregor Lersch. We learned how to create a hydration chamber for designs that had no water source.

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Small fascinators are fun alternatives to flower crowns. There are many different ways that they can be designed. Recently I explored how to make the base with pipe cleaners.

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