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 […]

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 […]

About 4 years ago photographer Ted Mishima and I talked about doing a photo shoot with botanical wings. Over the years the conversation came up many times, we imagined several concepts and gathered many pictures. A couple of years ago my friend Sheryl Tynes told me that she would love to collaborate on that idea. […]

A year ago the River Oaks Garden Club in Houston invited me to do a presentation on Woodlands & Botanical Couture and teach a jewelry workshop. I was very excited and honored to have this opportunity to share a lot of information with the members of this Garden Club -which dates back to 1927 and […]

selection of botanical jewelry made with spring flowers, textures and orchids

botanical dresses and jewelry made by students in workshop hosted by Brannan Street Wholesale Florist in San Francisco

 It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that for quite a while I have been somewhat obsessed with botanical dresses. Never mind that I do not wear dresses – I only love to create the botanical kind!  I’ve marveled at so many pictures on social media over the years and have often fantasized to design […]

Last spring I was contacted by Lauren Kimble, editor in chief of Fil Magazine. She was interested in documenting one of the workshops in the studio. Lauren attended a 3 day wedding workshop last June;  the article that she produced for last month’s edition is rich with photos and commentaries. ‘Fil Magazine is the 1st […]

Last month I went to Beijing for the 5th time to teach a 6 day woodland/botanical couture workshop, hosted by Cohim. As always the students were eager to learn new mechanics and techniques and they splendidly interpreted them in their designs. They experienced how curiosity is a driving force to look at flowers through different […]

When I taught a workshop at Cohim in China last month, the students made botanical dresses on the last day. A short video of their beautiful dresses posted on social media was very well received. Students have been requesting this class and I am excited to be able to offer it to you! I will […]