I was thrilled to have the opportunity to teach another 4 day workshop at Wild Rice Retreat in Bayfield,WI last month. Just like last year, it truly was a memorable experience! This modern retreat destination is located on Lake Superior in the middle of the woods. The Scandinavian modern lodging accommodations are stellar and every day we savored healthy locally sourced meals.

A layer of moss was hot glued on a wooden frame and I created a small woodland scape using a variety of textures: a wooden piece, bark, seedpods, tillandsias, succulents, shelf mushrooms, abaca paper… The maidenhair ferns require a water source; they were inserted in a small water tube, which was covered with moss. They can be replaced when needed. If you would like to add some flowers too, it is important to use flowers with thin stems to avoid much water displacement in a water tube. A 2″ plant of birds nest fern was covered with paper thin bark.The beautiful shelf mushrooms were harvested in the woods in Bayfield, when I was teaching a workshop there last month.

Thank you Jason Hill for inviting me to design a dozen woodland headpieces! Here are a few for a photo shoot that we did in March at Studio Northwest.

Many thanks to to the fabulous models Jonny and Lexi

Earlier this month I was invited by the Garden Club of Cleveland to do a presentation and teach a woodland and botanical jewelry workshop. What a fabulous experience it was! I arrived on Sunday morning and we spent the day foraging in a couple of gardens and on the woodland property of Cece, one of the garden club members. Did we ever find treasures!

The students designed quite the selection of woodland centerpieces and magnificent jewelry!

Thank you Deb for this wonderful opportunity to teach at your wonderful garden club!

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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