A couple of months ago I started to play with the idea to secure a piece of wood outside a container. I wanted to use a taller container( than I usually use) that would hold plenty of water. For this project I covered the vase with paper thin bark, then adhered an interesting piece of wood on the outside, decorated it and added botanicals that needed a water source inside the vase.

More details for this type of projects are explained in our brand new set of videos that will be launched later this month.

Thank you Theresa Bear for the gorgeous pictures!

Last month I was invited to teach a botanical Jewelry Workshop For the Garden Club of Virginia Symposium 2022 in Richmond. We foraged so many treasures in the woods at the property of Maria Reed the previous day. The workshop took place in the barn on her property. As always, the students created fabulous designs!

Thank you Susan Lendormon for the beautiful pictures of the workshop!

Early in the fall, I like to gather some wonderful bark from a eucalyptus tree in the neighborhood. This variety sheds it’s bark in a long curly fashion and it is perfect to create a base for a square woodland wreath with it. Typically I decorate it with seedpods, succulents, cacti etc,…all these great elements that don’t require a water source. It is definitely an option to add a few flowers in water tubes, to add some vibrant color to it, as you will see in the second design,

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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