Earlier this month I made some fun pocket boutonniers for prom. The blossoms of foxglove were so perfect for this bright one. Deconstructed pincushion protea, succulents, green woodland strawberries, some lichen and sweetpea tendrils added lots of detail

On April 2nd, we celebrated the book launch of “Wonder of the Woodlands – the Art of Seeing and Creating with Nature”. Jessica and Aaron Grimmer hosted this special event at their fabulous restaurant High Noon in Portland.

Writing a book takes a village and I could not have asked for a better team; my deepest appreciation goes to many who made this book possible:

Theresa Bear, who not only took the exquisite photos, but also spent endless hours finding the perfect locations and directed the photo shoots impeccably. Her energy is magical!

Jen Rich and Gwen Severson who helped brainstorm the details of every shoot and styled each one perfectly.

Julie Michaels, who instinctively understood my love of Nature and wrote the stories and descriptions so eloquently for each chapter.

Leslie Jonath, my agent, who was so helpful and supportive throughout the 3.5 year process and who connected all the dots so well.

The team of Clarkson Potter Publishing, especially to editor Deanne Katz for the thoughtful guidance and stewardship – and to Mia Johnson for her beautiful designs.

And a heartfelt thank you to so many friends for their unfailing support and to those who gathered special textures for many of the designs.

Last month, Alison Ellis hosted a great workshop at her favorite venue, The Round Barn, in Waitsfield,VT. Hitomi Gilliam taught her simple approach to structural techniques for bouquets and installations, Alison Ellis and Phebe Higgins taught business strategies, from website tips to the power of social media. I shared mechanics on how to make framed woodland designs and botanical fascinators. We could not have done it without the fabulous support of Lori Bley of The Hidden Daisy and Sarah Jo of Creative Muse. Many students had traveled from far away to attend this informative and fun workshop. Many thanks to photographer Isora Lithgow for the beautiful pictures. And we could not have had better accommodations and food at the Round Barn.

Inspired by a floral design inside a wide metal circle, I connected two 14″ wreath frames with chickenwire to create an 8″ wide circular base, which I covered with paper thin birch bark and woodshavings.

The heavy, very dense piece of wood was the base for the woodland scape, as well as those fabulous grey shelf mushrooms. The structure was was decorated with fungi, tillandsias, dhydrated ferns, calathea leaves, begonia leaves and mushrooms, succulents, cacti, lichen, moss, huckleberry branches, turkey tails, seedpods of poppies, nigella, nicandra and sweetpeas.

This piece also can be hung on the wall as a 3d wreath!

In December my friend Paige Witte hosted a Botanical Jewelry Workshop at her AirBnb @3rdstreetretreat in Newberg, OR. It was a delight to gather with talented students in such a lovely space. They had an opportunity to design necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings using an array of textures, succulents and flowers.

Photos by Paige Witte

A few weeks ago a friend gifted me 2 stunning matte black vases and several grapevine branches. One of the vases is about 18″tall with a 4″square opening and has a hole on three sides towards the top. It was designed to design ikebana arrangements. I was able to secure 3 of the grapevine branches and decorated them with a selection of textures.

Last March Taylor Fisher, a designer in Pennsylvania inquired if I would offer a botanical couture workshop in the studio. I asked her what she wanted to learn and the answer was: botanical headpieces and wearables, including botanical dresses.

What a great group we had! Kathy and Clare joined us from Louisiana, Deb flew up from California, Kelley drove down from Washington and Sonia had a very short commute from her home in Portland.

As the dresses are so time consuming to make, they teamed up and came up with these amazing gowns!

And take a close look at the fantastic headpieces!

Last September photographer Abigayle Tarsches gathered a fabulous group of creatives for a photo shoot at Beast Daylight Studio. What a great experience this was! Thank you Artells Magazine for featuring the story!

Many thanks to everyone who was involved!

Wardrobe stylist: Geneva Mellison

MUAH: Katherine Sealy with Event Cosmetics

Models: Hayle Rose and Medina Gedi

Photo Assistant: Jayme Fay

Last summer my friend Theresa found 3 large wooden window frames that had been discarded. She brought them to my studio saying that I probably would figure out what to do with them. It took a while, but had a great time designing these simple structures!

For this one, I sawed the top off and secured it to one side to avoid symmetry. A copper grid was secured to support the the foxgloves. I covered the sides with moss, so the bamboo could be glued on more easily. A beautiful piece of wood that I had stored for a very long time was perfect for the base. I cut some windy branches from my wisteria. The love-in-a-puff, dehydrated mushrooms, green cherry tomatoes, snake grass and ferns added some whimsy.

Thank you Theresa for the fabulous pictures and Feli for modeling at the crack of dawn!

Teaching at a flower farm is the best experience! Many thanks to Tom Knecht and Sarah Daken who hosted a 2 day woodland/botanical workshop at their fabulous flower farm Grateful Gardeners in Poolesville, MD late September. All the flowers and textures were harvested on the farm and adjacent woods. The attendees also got a great tour of the flower farm, including the large aquaponics greenhouse. A great experience was had by all!

Many thanks to Tom for the pictures.