HAPPY SPRING! Here are some fun links ...

First, this amazing shop in San Francisco Bell'occhio

Favourite florists of the week - Christine Noelle's simple and stunning shop and Ariella Chezar

Pipo Doll makes these adorable cards

Eloise Corr Danch's video tutorial of giant paper poppy flowers

{spring banner by Pam - Happy to be creating}

Spring has finally arrived, I saw the first signs of it this weekend ... the crocuses are sprouting ... and lots of puddles, which were enjoyed by this little guy - he has the bumps, bruises and scrapes to show for finally being able to play and explore outdoors!

{photograph courtesy of Blair Marie}

I tried a craft project, found in this month's Martha Stewart magazine ... I improvised a little and used brightly coloured retro material to make these three pin on flowers ...

I added more work to my botany series, this time tulips ... Here are a few that I finished working on this evening ...

Love this Spring/Summer 2011 Marimekko fashion show at what looks to be a flower auction ...

Inspired by the work of Rebecca Thuss, Eloise Corr Danch, Sophie Cuvelier and Zoe Bradley ... I created these paper flowers ... First, I painted with water colour to create an uneven effect for the flowers, then I cut and pieced, looped and fastened parts of the flowers together ...

{visit here to see the entire set}

I love this project 'Hearts on Vivian' ... members of the community were invited to loop and tie yarn, creating these bright and colourful hearts on a rather drab chain link fence ...

{Hearts on Vivian - photographs courtesy of Outdoor Knit}

I also love this window display of miniature houses aglow for the little winter market...

{photograph courtesy of little winter market}

I am really excited that winter is drawing to an end, and we are getting the first glimpses of spring, time to get the spade out and plan the new garden ... my most favourite thing about springtime! Here is some gardening inspiration ...

Quirky garden blogs - gardening in heels and terri planty. Shown below are just a few of the unique ideas featured on their blogs ...

{San Francisco's Alamo Square Shoe Garden - photograph via Glue and Glitter}

{Flora Grubb Gardens}

{Set of three vintage garden markers by emerald + ella}

I love Brooklyn-based artist Eloise Corr Danch's paper flowers ... Especially her window display work, it's amazing!!!



Anthropologie's window displays are also inspiring, here is one created out of old plastic pop bottles, they cut and painted the bottles, repurposing them into hanging clusters of flowers ...

I read this great article in the New York Times ... more important is how this article gushes about floral designer Emily Thompson. I especially love how the article discusses the 'floral wars of Brooklyn' ...

"However unwittingly, she is also at the heart of what might be called the Brooklyn Flower Wars. In recent months, the borough has become known as a fertile lab for thoughtful, expressive floral design, thanks to Sprout Home, Blossom and Branch, Poppies and Posies, Kat Flower, CocoRosie and especially Saipua and Nicolette Camille, florists whose free-and-natural ethos is not dissimilar to Ms. Thompson’s."

How I admire all these ladies for their design and love of flowers and how I wish I could be in New York to witness all this floral frenzy!

Look at this photograph from the article, it looks more like an artist at work in her studio, I love that she is bringing her artistic background and studio nonchalance into the floral industry, it is an art form after all ...

Just some of my photographs made into 'antique' photographs ... {click on the image to view}

My most recent project is for a florist wanting to revamp their website, these are a few of the finished images ... Visit here to see more pictures ...