It was the 7th time that I taught at Cohim last month. It was a small group this time, only 4 students, and the unusual part about it was that they all were fluent in English! First time that my lovely translator Liz didn’t have to be a go-between.

The greatly talented ladies were from Russia, Indonesia and Hong Kong. As always it was a true delight to witness what they all created!

Here is a sample of the gorgeous designs that they made during those 6 days.

Beautiful imaged from one of the photographers at Cohim,

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Here is a selection of designs that I made for demos for a woodland workshop last summer.

Many thanks to Gwen Severson for the great pictures!

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A few weeks ago my photographer friend Theresa Bear asked me to collaborate for a photo shoot at Heim Bakery. She just had discovered this fabulous new shop, on Sandy and Fremont in NE Portland, OR. Owner Jennifer who trained in Europe opened this gem last summer.

Models: Jennifer Splitzko and Jeri Casey

Make-up and hair: Katerina Tiley

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Last this summer I had the honor to do the designs for the annual fundraiser for Literary Arts  at the Portland Art Museum. I was so delighted that they invited me again! How to incorporate something that was related to books was once more an interesting and fun process. And when clients give you complete creative license, it makes it even better!

Thank you Theresa Bear for the beautiful photography!

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Last year I taught a 3 day workshop in  Sweden. In the fall  Minna Mercke organized a wonderful workshop ( and was also the photographer) at the sublime flower/plant shop Gullvivans  in Lidingo near Stockholm. One of the students, Thordis  was from Iceland and she told me that she wanted to host a workshop this year. What a great experience it was this last September!

The workshop took place in at the agricultural university in Hveragerdi – about 1.5 hour south of Reykjavik. It is a geothermal area, hence there are a lot of greenhouses in the area which thrive on the inexpensive geothermal energy.

A huge thank you to Gudrun and Thordis for organizing a great workshop and to Minna for documenting it all.

Students were fabulous and super creative – check out for yourself!

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Curly pieces of bark: I love incorporating them in so many designs!

Woodland headpiece decorated with digiplexus, succulents, money plant, wire fern, seedpods of allium, acer and shrimp plant; dichlostemma, smoke bush, carpinas, boronia, mini strawberry plants,…

Photos: Ted Mishima

Model: Myranda Reese

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Yesterday we did a super fun photo shoot. Ted Mishima favors doing shoots near old industrial buildings. Sisters Azelle and Delphine Chang were our fabulous models. They also are fabulous ballerinas and after the shoot they did a fun short dance while wearing the botanical headpieces – Great idea Ted!

For Azelle’s hat I used half of an 8″ pillow from Syndicate Sales and wove midillino sticks from Oasis through it to create a larger surface. It was perfect timing to harvest a lot of the elderberries from the tree in the garden – this is an absolute favorite texture, with or without the berries – I love the delicate detail that it adds to any design! The hat was decorated with coxcomb, clematis, ageratum, scabiosa, salvia, hydrangeas, blackberries, blueberries, ceropegia, asclepia pods, amaranth is, elderberries, astrantia, mini carnations, lisianthus, and snippets of ferns of @premiumgreensaustralia

Inspired by the picture of a splendid fashion hat, I was bound and determined to figure out the mechanics for this mask/ headpiece. The mask is decorated with seedpods of queen Anne’s lace and the top of the white mink protea were perfect for the eye lashes. The headpiece was decorated with dozens and dozens of deconstructed mini phalaenopsis orchids from @orchidaceaeinc and for the back I used hydrangeas and small succulents from the garden. The elderberries and tendrils from the passion vines that I grow added the perfect whimsy.

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Recently I received the pictures that were taken during the 6 day workshop at Cohim in Beijing. Students made purses, headpieces, shoes, jewelry and botanical dresses as well as woodland centerpieces and bouquets, wreaths and framed designs. On the last day they worked in teams and created gorgeous woodland circular archways.

As always, the students were stellar and created stunning designs.

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To make this purse I used a ‘pillow’. This new design mechanic was brought to light by Holly Chapple and is manufactured by Syndicate Sales. The pillow comes in several sizes and has so many applications: it will make it a lot easier to make arrangements in shallow vases, it is a great base for headpieces, shoulder corsages, small parasols etc… The best part about using it to make a handbag, is that the purse is not only decorative, it can hold a small wallet, keys, a phone and small make-up items. It is a game changer!

Photos and video: Gwen Severson

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When Holly Chapple announced that she would host Gregor Lersch at Hope Flower Farm for the 4th time in May and that this time she also would invite guest teachers Hitomi Gilliam, Susan McCleary, Alison Ellis and me, I was beyond thrilled to be part of this event and to have the opportunity to study with Gregor Lersch again. The focus of the workshop was botanical couture for the floral couture fashion show, which benefited two pediatric cancer charities ‘Along Comes Hope‘ and ‘Team Mathias‘. Models in the fashion show were cancer survivors, ranging in age from 4 to 70.

An international group of designers attended the workshop and created an amazing array of custom flower couture. Creativity abounded and the fashion show was an incredible and emotional experience.

Heartfelt gratitude to Holly for organizing this wonderful workshop and fashion show.

Many thanks to Sarah Collier for the fantastic photos.

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