Some of the demo pieces that I made for the workshop in Detroit, hosted by Susan McLeary last October.

woodland bouquet

underside of woodland bouquet

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Last October, Susan McLeary with Passionflower hosted a 2 day wedding/botanical couture workshop in Detroit. Here are some images of the fabulous designs that the students made.

A huge thank you to Abby Rose Photo , models Nia Bellona and Chaune’Rael-Whitsitt and to the hair and make up team Imagine Three Beauty Studio

design: Janine Sauter

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The next 3 days at Cohim students learned techniques to make woodland  bouquets, centerpieces, wreaths and log arrangements as well as botanical headpieces. Once again, their designs were fantastic.

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Last Sunday was another fabulous collaboration with Ted Mishima! Model extraordinaire Heather Irish Collins joined us.

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After the p0wer point presentation on Day 2 at Cohim, we focused on botanical shoes and fans.

Again, the students were super creative! Check out for yourselves!

photos courtesy Cohim

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photo Kim Thomas

Monday & Tuesday, August 1 & 2, 2016,
9AM to 4PM each day

Hosted by Kim Thomas, owner, grower and designer at
Flower Blossom Farm

Located in Ghent, New York – see map

Wedding Workshop

Please bring your own tools, i.e. clippers, scissors, wire cutters and knives.

A professional photographer will document the workshop as well as everyone’s designs.

Loshinsky Catering will serve a light breakfast and lunch both
days and on Monday evening August 1st there will be a scrumptious farm to table dinner!

photo Françoise Weeks

I am very excited to announce that Kim Thomas, owner, grower and designer at Flower Blossom Farm is hosting a 2 day workshop at her gorgeous farm in upstate NY. You will design with dozens of varieties of her flowers, foliages and textures.
This workshop offers practical, hands-on experience that will further develop your own skills and increase your confidence to explore outside the box. You will create new designs with strong emphasis on the commercial and saleable value of the designs.

photo Katie Collins

Monday, August 1 – Cascading Bridal Bouquets, Wrist Corsages, Hairpieces and Botanical Jewelry

Join us to learn how to create gorgeous romantic cascading hand-tied bouquets using the most beautiful flowers and textures freshly harvested from Kim’s farm. In the afternoon we will explore chic, wearable floral jewelry. Your brides will love botanical rings, earrings, necklaces and bracelets as alternatives to the traditional pin-on corsages. You’ll also learn how to create extended flower combs and delicate wrist corsages.

photo Joni Shimabukuro

Tuesday, August 2 – Woodland Centerpieces

For Françoise, the Woodlands sprouted from a childhood memory that took a life of its own. Using foliage, bark, berries, seedpods, twigs, mushrooms, herbs and flowers, we’ll explore how to make a variety of centerpieces. In the afternoon you will create your own containers using bark and branches. You will hone your artistic talents and will be encouraged to listen to your own intuition and further your own vision.

photo Ted Mishima

to RSVP or for more information

Workshop Info
Françoise Weeks
francoiseweeks.com
francoise@francoiseweeks.com
503-236-5829

Lodging Info
Kim Thomas
Flower Blossom Farm
967 Cty Rt 9
Ghent, NY 12075
518-567-9266
email contact

It was such a thrill when last year in July  I was invited  by Cohim – a design school in Beijing – to teach a 6 day botanical couture/woodland workshop in September 2015. Not in my wildest dreams had I ever imagined that I would have the opportunity to go to the Far East to share my passion with other designers. From the get go, my friend Jo Jarvis was on board. Preparations were much more extensive than for any other workshop, as lots of the materials that I needed were not available over there. I was very grateful that Jo created a fantastic power point for each day – a request that we got less than a week before we left.

The experience at Cohim was absolutely incredible. Judy- -a fantastic translator – helped made this teaching experience go so very smoothly;  the language barrier never was an issue.  She was constantly at our side to make communication with the students seamless. They were a real delight and were super creative. At the end of each day Chris came by to take pictures of their work.

The flower market offered an extensive selection of flowers, textures, succulents and house plants and as you will see in the pictures in the next few blog posts, the students designed the most fantastic purses, shoes, headpieces, jewelry and woodland with all those botanical treasures.

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Last Sunday Ted Mishima  and I teamed up again to do a photo shoot. Model Kari Renée brought an impressive ward robe – and I loved her work!

Lots of seasonal textures and some flowers covered this parasol – Many of them were sponsored by Rose Hill Flower Farm. Thank you Elizabeth for your wonderful gift!

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The wedding that I did 10 days ago was all about orchids – as I had a few stems left over , I made some botanical jewelry and added some pokeweed berries and elderberries for textural accents. This was such a fun project and I learned a lot!

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Selection of designs for the demos during the workshop at Filoli last June.

pocket boutonnier

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