Design consultation jobs in the bag

I have a couple interior design projects I'd like to post. I'm just waiting for SarahB to finally give me pics from her house- but I'll cut her a little slack since she's currently living in Germany (not the place where I helped her do her house though.) And I'm debating posting my work on another project because it'd mean getting permission from a former coworker I haven't spoken to in over 3 years. (She really hurt my feel bads!)There are a couple others that I need to gather the before and after pictures so you can truly be impressed with my skills, or the taste of the person I was helping.

Shannon's Flowers

I mentioned previously that I had a little wedding this past weekend. It was a very simple, small flower order. A last minute wedding reception- no centerpieces, 4 boutonnieres, 4 child size wrist corsages, 4 traditional corsages, and maybe a bouquet if things weren't too expensive. What?!?!?!? What kind of bride gets everyone else flowers but none for herself? The same kind that goes to pick up her own cake in pajama pants an hour before the reception- that's what kind! I priced it right apparently because not only did she go with a bouquet but decided to switch out one of the wrist corsages for a pomander (later she added a second one to the order). Yay me- I got to learn how to make 'kissing balls' (and they turned out super duper cute)! She didn't care about what flowers I used but she wanted gold and burgundy as her colors, it was a fall themed reception, and her fiance informed he loves roses and requested I use them as much as possible.

Now, one thing I learned about photographing burgundy flowers is this- I have the gift of making them look red instead of burgundy. Hey- I never claimed to be a professional photographer.



And here's a sweet little hand to model one of the wrist corsages.


Good news kids- wrist corsages can be made using good ol' fancy schmancy slap bracelets! They are small enough to fit a toddler's wrist and comfortable enough for my adult sized wrist. Now that's versatility!

I love the fall leaves (they're real) tucked in at the collar of her bouquet.

Art & Soup, SLC

I mentioned previously that I have been working with a local hospice program's fundraising event called Art & Soup. I'll be the first to admit that some years have turned out better than others. My background is interior design not flowers so there's been a lot to learn in a brief amount of time. I've had to work within the confines of a tight budget every year- and a lot of areas to cover on said budget. The first year, I was the assistant but the day of the function I became the lead since the friend that got me started with A&S moved the night before. One year, I was requested to recycle as much stuff in storage as possible from previous years functions. That one was a scary hodge podge verging on disaster. It's been fun though and overall, I'm proud of what I've done and how the events have turned out.

I recommend attending this event; the art is great and the sampling of food is even better! Look for it late March- early April 2011. I'll keep you posted.

Here are some pictures from past events...

2010: Recently, Modern Display has begun working with A&S to create the Memorial area. I still do the flowers, but they created the backdrop showcasing the key artpiece of the year as well as the names of those included in the memorial. I think this year's turned out beautifully. (Last years wasn't bad either but alas I have zero pictures of it.)




2008: I am bummed about this particular year's event for a couple reasons. First, the flower supplier got my order wrong so I went over budget by quite a bit trying to make it work last minute. Second and most importantly, because it actually looked fantastic and this is pretty much the only crummy picture I got of it before my camera battery died. You can't tell that it looked great- $50 cameras just don't cut it! I had my sweet crew of helpers spray branches black and we strung chandelier bling from them until we ran out, and then we had to string up some of the faux ice from the high boy tables to finish the last few trees that we kept far from the spotlight. The color scheme for this was red, white and black with silver and crystal accents because it was an anniversary milestone year for CNS, an anniversary event for A&S, and was the last black tie dinner before changing over to an artist reception.


2007: The debacle year of recycling. The staff pulled from storage birdcages, peacock feathers, tall skinny vases, and low bowls, and asked me to please try to figure out how to keep costs down by using those items. They had selected a painting that had a lot of red, orange and yellow along with a hint of purple and turquoise in it as their key art piece- I drew my color palette from that (and have every year since.) I don't care for most of it personally, but I love how the flowers in the ice sculpture turned out! Sorry for the fuzzy birdcage picture. Maybe I should apologize for all the centerpieces but I will say this- the flowers inside the hideous birdcages were gorgeous!


Planning has already begun for next years event, and I know it'll be even better than last years. I'm telling you, each year I learn more and do a better job. Plus my little crew- Mary and Vince- are amazing at following my lead, reading my drawings, and copying me. Thanks to them for all of their help- I'd be a complete disaster without them at A&S.

I just had to add this

I like to pretend I am a skilled photographer. I'm not, but I have a vivid imagination. However, in this case I'm quite proud of thes images I captured of these flowers.

Fall flowers and weddings

I have another wedding coming up next weekend. It's very small and simple. It's a fall themed wedding on a tight budget, and again I'm only doing flowers- this time for the head party only. Shannon's colors are burgundy and yellow.

Speaking of fall, I want to do centerpieces for the holidays, and I think it'd be all kinds of crazy fun to do a Halloween party for someone. Help a sista out folks, and give me an opportunity to play, err...ummm....I mean work and make some floral and party magic happen!

Whitney's Wedding

Ok kids- if you could have seen Whitney's dress you would be smitten just as I am! It was gorgeous! It had a very vintage, golden screen elegance to it, and looked like it could have belonged to her Grandmother but it was brand new. I wish I had a picture of it but I doubt a photo would do it justice.

Whitney has to be the most easy-going, laid-back bride ever! She had a playful design style- she wanted a country chic meets casual vintage elegance. Sounds impossible but not really. The one thing that she requested was to have feathers in the flowers because she had bird themed accessories to add to her outdoor afternoon reception. Her color palette was Burgundy, Tiffany Blue, and Chocolate Brown. I regret to say that her specific feather request could not be brought to fruition- I searched for weeks and could not find one source in Utah or the US that had bleached peacock feathers, and I couldn't bear to spend $40 on a dozen feathers and another $20 to have them shipped here. She didn't mind though and the alternative that I offered worked out well. As I said, she was incredibly easy-going!


The other boutonnieres.


The mother's corsages.


I had so much fun putting together this buffet piece.


Some of the centerpieces....


Thank you Whitney for letting me help with your flowers! The day was gorgeous, you were beautiful, and you and Brian are just too cute together! He's more smitten with you than I am with your dress, and that's pretty darn smitten. Congratulations to the two of you!

A Toddler's Simple Backyard Teaparty

My niece just turned 3. Despite my sister being sick, we decided that the little princess should have a tea party in the backyard with her family. She loves pink and purple, Barbies, tea parties, having her nails painted, putting on lips (lipstick, lip gloss, lip balm, butter), bouncing on the tramp, anything Dora and Diego, riding her scooter, and bossing her older brothers. She's a prissy little hellion! Instead of going all out and throwing a huge party for her like we did her brother the week before (unfortunately every picture had a child in it and I won't post pictures of kids without parental consent if I absolutely have to post a picture with them in it- so, no pictures of the huge party) we opted to keep it very small, very casual, and super simple.

I took my niece to the flower shop and let her pick out her flowers- she chose lime green button mums, purple statice, white carnations, bright pink roses, and yellow daisy poms. We found the pails on clearance and will reuse them later in Barbie pink room. In the meantime, they were great as centerpieces. My sister loves the shabby chic style for girls and so for the tea party we borrowed from that and used some great calicos I'd collected over the years and topped the large table with a lime green wool crepe scrap I had, and the small table with a napkin.

The menu was very simple- apricot thumb print cookies, lemon tea cookies, and chocolate filled wafers, egg salad finger sandwiches and cucumber finger sandwiches, strawberries and vanilla devonshire cream, and freshly made lemonade. This by far is not the fanciest party ever, but there is a very happy 3 year old still talking about her flowers and her tea party, and that is all that matters!

Carson's flowers in the making

Sometimes the work in progress and seeing the individual elements of the design is as interesting to see as the finished product.



Dahlia- large, surprisingly delicate, striking, and a definite statement piece. The buds are great for adding visual interest to arrangements


I don't really know what this is but I know it is not the Black Eyed Susan I ordered.




Almost all of the flowers used in the centerpieces laid out in a row


One of the centers in progress....but look at that dahlia off to the side!


The finished centerpiece


Look how happy those flowers are, even in awful late night flourescent lighting!

Carson's Wedding

I met with the bride and groom-Carson and Robert, at This Is the Place Park to discuss what she was looking for and to see the venue she had chosen. She had ideas for her flowers and the look she wanted- country, rustic, simple- kind of an old-fashioned country garden wedding party. Her wedding colors were sunny yellow, white, and brown. She wanted sunflowers and daisies, mason jars, and a just gathered from the garden look to the arrangements. She showed me a sample invitation she loved and I helped help customize one for her and Robert in a similar style.

She wanted wrist corsages for her bridesmaids and I suggested ribbon corsages, covered with Daisies and Black Eyed Susans, to be tied around their wrists. They turned out fabulously! What made it better? Her bridesmaids vintage dresses- the corsages complemented the classic feminine style perfectly! Carson wanted to tie in her color scheme to the mom corsages and originally wanted sunflowers for them as well but I suggested a fabulous alternative- Dahlias. I made simple corsages of a single dahlia and a small cluster of Billy Balls tied with a gorgeous chocolate brown satin ribbon.

Now for the bad news... I forgot to grab pictures of the bride's bouquet, the Mom's amazing corsages, the bridesmaid wrist corsages, and the groom's boutonniere. The mother of the bride promised to send me pictures of them and if she acutally sends them, I'll post them. In the meantime, enjoy looking at the pictures of centerpieces and the reception site. The other pictures will soon be on here too!

Most of the centerpieces were in mason jars but a few were in metal pails. We wrapped the chairbacks and newel posts on the porch with organza ribbon and tied sunflowers to them. The bride's mother provided the fabulous window with the bride and groom's name written across the glass pane.


The simple buttercream cake called for a hint of flowers.