8 April 2011

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 ...

4 April 2011

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 ...

3 April 2011

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





1 April 2011

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 ...



22 March 2011

It is amazing how simple joys in life undo small nuances! Leo is starting to talk, saying B words like baby, ba-ooon (balloon), boool (ball), and this evening while he was eating a banana, he screamed out b-nana!!! These moments overjoy me and become memories I will treasure ...

Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose. {from the television show The Wonder Years}

12 March 2011

Inspiration: origami paper crafts ...

I spent a good portion of yesterday evening folding colourful paper into origami hearts. I know it's a little late for Valentine's day, but I thought it would make for cute garland if I strung them, or perhaps incorporate them into wedding favours or decorations ... a little premature, but if I can get it done early I might as well!

{image courtesy of Paper Source}

Paper Source's How-to: recycled origami hearts offers some great ideas. Click here for their tutorial.

Some of my next origami projects ... These are all how-to videos, if you want to give them a try ...

Cherry Blossom Ku-Kusudama
Kusudama Flor
Flores de revista
Cherry Blossom Plate
Origami pouch {part 1} Origami pouch {part 2}

If you care to read the article I wrote for UPPERCASE magazine, Issue 8, you can find it here.

6 March 2011

This is Limbo brings art to the public, in the streets of Tel Aviv and worldwide ...

{Bless this Mess}

His art makes use of so many different techniques - sticking, cutting, sewing, painting, the precious link to the location, and interaction between the imaginary and the world.

My favourite sets are: 3-D Instillations and 3-D 2-D and Post Winter Lanterns

This is what he says about his Post Winter Lanterns ...

"before the winter over here started i handmade a series of about 200 lanterns out of paper, and lit the images stencilled on them with candles lighting them up: www.flickr.com/photos/thisislimbo/sets/7 2157600304155485/. but as the rain got more and more frequent, i thought i would postpone it until the weather was more sympathetic. now that it is, i thought about trying to make it a little more developed and the attached pics are what came out of it. all the brighter spaces are the candlelight shining through rice paper applied to a cut-out hole in the cardboard."

{Like Pigeons in the Rain}

"what i like about the lanterns is that it deals with the frail temporary aspect of putting up art in street. if i take the best case scenario (that nobody takes the piece after a short while and there are no extreme winds or rain) then the longest life span of these pieces will be that of the candles, which is probably just a few hours. therefore, when someone runs into it on the street they know that it was placed there not so long ago and they, by coincidence, got there in the small time frame that the piece was "active", hopefully giving them the feeling that it was placed there especially for them, and maybe guiding them, following them home and subtly lighting up their way."

Some more from This is Limbo ...

{To Retreat (Treading Through the Discarded Leftovers)}

{Bound Like Broken Birds (We All Go Down Together)}

{Feebled (With Humbled Hearts but Unable Limbs)}

{Confessing Currents}

{Know Hope - A Minor Bottle Rocket Set Out To a Minor Place}

5 March 2011

Inspiration: the sleepy sweetness of the hellebores - I love the nodding cup shape of the hellebores which begs to be looked at more closely. The natural beauty and antique colours of these flowers lend themselves as the ideal flower for vintage or loose garden arrangements and bouquets ...

I brought home a wine colour hellebore and took a few photos of this beauty ...


I scanned the hellebore as well, another for my botany set ...

2 March 2011

Cold days are dreary, but can be creatively productive ... I painted at home this morning ...


This is why I love my job - We had a bit of a lull at work yesterday morning, so we made these cute mini-signs for display in the shop, mostly props to handwriting genius Lauren ...

Some tulips in bold colours sitting on our front counter, which made the cold day a lot brighter and spring seem a little nearer ...

26 February 2011

Inspiration: Spring is nearly here, and some deeper thoughts on flowers ...

A beautiful spring colour palette from studio choo ...

"When you are are buying flowers, what exactly are you buying?" This is a beautifully haunting video. I reminds me of how privileged I am to work with flowers, but saddened by the industry itself ... It is always nice to see small glimpses of floral farms and the real people who grow this faceless commodity. It is imperative that we acknowledge and learn to celebrate the seasons and what comes with these seasons, the imperfections and natural characteristics of flowers, and the people, sometimes generations of families, who pour their heart and soul into growing them ...






{video via floret flower farm}

23 February 2011

A sneak peek from my photoshoot yesterday. I am working with a flower shop to help develop their new website ... This is just one photograph of many ...


I am amazed by the work of Irene Suchocki, Montreal-based freelance photographer. I especially love her photographs of Paris ... Here are some of her photographs ... Enjoy!





{photographs courtesy of Irene Suchocki}

22 February 2011

Inspiration: outlandish floral headpieces

{image via WHORANGE}

I created these fanciful images of women with floral and nature-inspired headpieces ... I call them 'posies' ... Shown below is one of my 'posies' ...

So, I was amused when I saw these creations in real life, however 'costumey', they are fun ... Grandiflora, an Australian florist created these floral head pieces ...


{image via Vogue magazine}

Amira Fritz takes this theme even further ... These pseudo-fashion photographs are in strange contexts, and made even odder with funeral-esque floral arrangements taking the place of the model's head ...


Fritz's photographs remind me of this work I did in collaboration with a friend years ago ... Here is one of the photographs from the photoshoot we did together ...


21 February 2011

Inspiration: paper + fabric craftiness and groupings of collections ...

I am excited to be designing a window instillation this coming week. We are making it spring-themed and over the top - with bicycle and basket, floral-inspired garlands, and sprouting flowers ... Pictures to come soon ...

For inspiration, I am loving this handmade flower installation by Ashley Meaders, in which she used both fabric and paper to create the hanging centrepiece for a ceremony. Also, these heart pillows she made for use as props for a wedding shoot are adorable ...



Crafty lady and graphic designer by day and night Debee Campos collaborated to make these pretty cards (one is shown below). More cards along with her beautiful photography can be seen on her blog ...


Loving these interior shots of Liza Giles' home, especially the groupings of collections in every room! She is senior stylist for the Designers Guild London ...





{photographs via decor8}