Bring on Spring:)

Until the past few weeks, it's been cold, dreary and colorless so I decided to register for a floral design class at my local community college to break up the monotony. I've always thought that would be an interesting career path to take if I hadn't become a graphic designer:)

The class is so much fun and I get to bring home all the arrangements I create. All the texture and variety in the flowers is starting to wake up my muse. I can see some paintings coming out of this experience. Anyway, here are a few photos of what I done so far.

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One the first pieces assigned was a centerpiece display. I learned how to "green in" the base and then build the framework by using the first flowers inserted to determine the width, length and height of the arrangement.

I also learned about creating texture using different shaped flowers like the Daisy Mum with it's long skinny petals paired with a Carnation's tight ball shape. Baby's Breath and Seeded Eucalyptus added more texture as well.

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Another assignment was to arrange the greenery into a grid to aid in the  placement of the flowers in a vase. This one was a little tough. Every time I inserted a new stem it moved the whole bunch out of place. It is a neat way to keep the flowers in place without using the florist foam. The flowers used in this arrangement were Mini Carnations, Alstroemeria, Fuji Mums and Caspia.

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This was a fun project -- build a topiary out of Alstromeria stems and arrange some Daisy Mums and Salidago into a base to hold the stem. Our instructor also showed us a wrap and twist technique to use for the ribbon.

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And the latest assignment was to design a basket arrangement. The instructor only showed the class how to wrap the handle with Myrtle stems and then it was up to each individual to arrange the rest of the flowers which included Tulips, Mini Carnations and Salidago. I really enjoyed this and even though basket arrangements aren't the "in" thing I can see doing more of these and maybe doing them in mini baskets or other shaped containers.