Monday 22 June 2009

Thursday 18th June

Even More Flower Arranging

All the usual stuff was going on today, Jamie off to school, Mike at work and Binnie is doing very well, still watching her carefully so she doesn't do too much. She is a runner and jumper and that is not the best thing for her at the moment, we don't want her damaging her stitches.


I still have a house full of flowers so I've made some more flower arrangements today, I will get all of these flowers into arrangements before they go over, I will, I will, I will! And I would like my kitchen back!

A very simple one to start with, 3 gerbera all the same height in identical candlesticks (Ikea). I've also used the crystal accents (water retaining gel) for added interest in the base, I added a little bit of steel grass, as I just had some there! This one has been Mike's favourite so far, typical, and I just threw this one together!


This one was me trying to be clever, we have this lovely pewter statue/ornament and I wondered what would it look like with some lilies poking through the holes, well I guess you pays your money, so to speak. I really like it and to be honest it hasn't photographed very well, but sort of Ikebana (ish) and modern. and very easy to do with 3 flowers and a bit of ivy and conifer. I think it lost something, because there were so many other flowers around, standing on its own it may have had more impact.



This arrangement was supposed to be me interpreting an arrangement, sounds better than copying (!) I had seen but, I didn't have the right flowers apart from the sunflowers and I didn't have the right vase, so this is my interpretation of that arrangement. I've used sunflowers, carnations, carthamus, hazel, ivy, fatsia, and I've covered the floral foam in laurel leaves so it didn't show through the glass vase, in that sense it was an experiment/challenge and practice (hopefully).



For my next arrangement, the gerbera are starting to go, so I just popped them and a few carnations into some foliage I had left over from another arrangement, I am now running very short of foliage. I daren't say to Mike I need to get some foliage as the flower budget has been well and truly spent this week! I'd had my favourite rose line arrangement in this pot previously, I have found as long as I have kept the oasis wet and haven't prodded too much at the oasis (ie I've got the flower in the correct position first time) I can usually re-use oasis at least twice, I've sometimes managed 3 or 4 times, which does spread the flower budget!

Sadly our garden is pretty small and is aimed at keeping a young child happy and having somewhere we can sit, eat, BBQ and read. As the soil in MK is pretty poor we were constantly battling against it flooding in winter when it became like a bog and we couldn't step foot on it, not nice when two dogs were running around on it too and bringing the mud back in, or it drying solid in summer and having huge cracks. So we decided to have a contemporary garden with no grass and only pots and baskets, which is not much use to a flower arranger!


Below is what I call an Odyssey arrangement (a "Use It Up and Wear It Out"!!! (sorry!)), and other than a few bits I have kept back for another arrangement tomorrow, this is the last few bits and I sort of just bunged it all in. This one along with the round one got sent over to Mike's Mum.

And finally, an old fashioned looking arrangement with lilies, alstro, chrysanthemum, carnations and peony. It should be a triangle, but it has almost made it! I am beginning not to like these lilies as they are SO strongly scented, they are a bit overpowering.


Ciao

Sue

XX
Reading challenge 2/16 - currently reading T is for Trespass by Sue Grafton
SLYMI - 1/52 (with all this flower arranging am I ever going to get scrapbooking again?)

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