An Evening Forage

"Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them" ~ A.A Milne

Lately on my dog walks I have caught myself closely inspecting all the different types of greenery, wild weeds, and blooming Lilacs lining the well beaten paths of Fernie. I have become completely enamored by the lush greenery sprawling throughout our beautiful valley, and yesterday I decided it was time to bring the outdoors in!

With my coffee & baileys in hand and the pup in tow I headed out into the forest to forage a bit of that sought after greenery that I have been longing to have in my home.

Now there are a few ground rules when it comes to foraging; always ask your neighbors for permission and remember many parks don't even allow foraging. So don't just ride around town robbing your neighbors of their carefully nurtured blooms and try to stay away from public parks and paths where removing the natural landscape will be damaging.

I was pleasantly surprised by the generosity of my neighbors, letting me cut those gorgeous Lilacs that would become the focal point of my arrangement. I've always had a deep appreciation for nature and I'm sure my love for flower arranging started early on. As a little girl I was endlessly constructing daisy crowns, braiding grass and pulling up "weeds" to give to my mother as a bouquet. Now, as an adult I am continually fascinated by Mother Natures abundant offerings. 

Once I had collected my "found flowers" and greenery I headed indoors just as it started to rain and got to work on my table arrangement. The weight of the Lilacs created that flowing organic look I'm drawn to, and all the different types of greenery I collected added texture and helped with the flow of the arrangement.

It was a great evening to say the least, it is always a delight to be in nature and connect with the earth. I now challenge you to get out there and make something of your own, everything is blooming this time of year, especially those Lilacs.

Remember, only pick what you will use and ALWAYS ask your neighbors for permission!

Sarah

Jeni & Eric 2012

" The best thing to hold onto in life is each other." -Audrey Hepburn 

  

 My lovely roommate Jeni married Eric this past September. It was a beautiful outdoor ceremony at the base of Fernie Alpine Resort, where they both work & play.
Jeni wanted purple and earthy, here is what we came up. A bouquet of freesia, lisianthis, hypericum, alstromeria, eryngium, lotus pods, surrounded by a collar of curly willow.

 

Jeni had a piece of her family tartan which we used for the handle. I loved this, we usually use silk, lace, etc. but this just finished off the rustic mountain look so nicely, plus it was a nod to her heritage.

Congratulations Jeni & Eric!

Come here often?

Sorry I've been absent as of late. I could blame it on my recent move, and life being busy. But the truth is summer has finally arrived in our little town ( I know- August?!). And as crazy as it sounds the idea of sitting in a hot room with my Mac book's battery warming my legs is not as appealing when it is almost 30 degrees outside as it was in the cool winter/spring months (November- July here in Fernie).

Now that my excuses have been made here are a couple arrangements that went to loving homes this week.

Miss You:  White button mums, scabiosa pods, eryngium, hypericum, pitt

Thinking of You: Green button mums, blushing bride, lavender scabiosa, pitt, tree fern

PS- although I'm not posting as much- I've always got the blog on my mind : ) I've got some pretty exciting stuff planned for the near future. ooohhhh.... keep checking back! I'm so excited to share them!!

Warming up to PB...

Happiness held is the seed; Happiness shared is the flower.
John Harrigan

 

 

 My shipment of Permanent Botanicals (fancy florist speak for artificial flowers) arrived today. Now those of you who know me, know I have pretty strong feelings towards these... mostly negative. I love fresh cut flowers- there really is no replacing them in my eyes. They are living (sometimes even still growing), smell amazing and so varied. Each stem is just a bit different than the next, none of these cookie cutter stems you get with "permanent botanicals" ( I like to say that with a snobby voice). And no, fresh cut  don't last forever and I think that is part of the beauty of them- or at least that accentuates and perhaps helps one appreciate their beauty.

: )  All that to say... these past couple weeks I received two requests for PB arrangements, so I  brought them in and I made them up today here we are...


A woman had received an arrangement from us in memory of her husband, she really loved it and asked if I could recreate it in PB.  The picture below is the PB version and you can see the picture of the original in there too!

This second one is for a woman who really wanted something to put on an antique chair she bought for her porch. She brought in a card, with a painting of an arrangement on a chair that she really liked. I did my best to replicate it!

I was pleasantly surprised with how they turned out. I know PB aren't THAT awful, and they definitely have there place. I'm slowly warming up to the PB... we will see : )

I'll leave you with a couple fresh arrangements from this last week... since you had to listen to my ranting : )

This first was for a wedding anniversary this past weekend. Dahlias, eryngium, tulips, magnolia tips, and yellow Asiatic Lilies.

And finally this little cutie was made up for the cooler.  Burgundy Cymbidium Orchids & white spray roses.

Calla & Freesia Wedding: Cindy

I love you not because of who you are, 
but because of who I am when I am with you.
~ Roy Croft

This was the second wedding this past weekend. Cindy's bouquet was solid Red Mini Callas with a collar of lily grass loops. Simply Stunning.

 She wanted a bit of contrast for the bridesmaids, so they each carried a posy of Red mini callas with white freesia scattered throughout.

Mother's Day Part I

Well we are in the middle of the Mother's Day Craziness. But I can't seem to sleep, so I thought I would post a few pictures from the shop today! Enjoy! (I've included a few quotes that make me think of my own mum!)
 These pics are a kinda shameful (Iphone). Especially since I've just bought a nice camera- which I bought to use for my blog! I've resolved to put some time into learning to use my real camera... I'll do my best : )

If the whole world were put into one scale, and my mother in the other, the whole world would kick the beam. 

~Lord Langdale (Henry Bickersteth)

Grown don't mean nothing to a mother.  A child is a child.  They get bigger, older, but grown?  What's that suppose to mean?  In my heart it don't mean a thing.  ~Toni Morrison

 

Sweater, n.:  garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly.  ~Ambrose Bierce

 

If you have a mom, there is nowhere you are likely to go where a prayer has not already been.  ~Robert Brault

ILLUME: I wish you guys could smell these candles- they are AMAZING!!!

Winter Wonderland Wedding : Behind the Scenes

Ok, so obviously I'm excited to share this wedding! I've been up since 7 working on this wedding got home, put on my sweats and could probably sleep for a few hours, but all I want to do is post some pictures. What a great day/week. We had two staff working full time on this wedding this week and it turned out amazing! I cannot wait for the professional photos (so I'm posting my iphone pics). Here is a behind-the-scenes look at the prep for this wedding!
 

This was the cooler earlier this week: 150 hydrangea, over 300 tulips, & 85 garden roses (plus a few others!)

The wedding was at Island Lake Lodge. At this time of year the only way to get up there is in a Cat.  It took one and a half of these to transport all the flowers up to the Lodge!

 

Some pics of the flowers in the cat.

The Chipper Captain...

Another in the Cat shot.

Winter Wonderland up at Island Lake Lodge.

Fireplace in the ceremony room- loved it!

Not the best photo- but gives you an idea of how much garland there was.

A close-up of the garland. Hydrangea, tulips, garden roses, & pine cones.

On each chair there was a small bottle of bubbles & a little box of tissue.

The Guest Favor. "Fire Pit Kit" All the fixings to make smores.

Grooms Bout

Sneak-peak at the Bride's Bouquet.

There will definitely be more pics (of better quality) to come in a few weeks!  I'm off to nap!! : )

Brave Brides & True Friends

Once again I was looking through my photos to see if I had missed blogging any of them. Well I found a few! I realized I've never posted the pictures of weddings I did before I owned The Green Petal.

Before opening my shop I worked for a shop in Cranbrook ( MJ's Floral). I learned a lot and requested friday/saturday shifts because I wanted to gain experience with wedding design. After a few years doing this I received a call from my dear friend Lisa, asking me if I would be willing to do the flowers for her wedding. I was super excited and a bit scared but very quickly agreed to do them! Well 2008/2009 were a busy couple of years, as many of my friends decided to get married. I was honored that they trusted me enough to do the flowers, let alone give me as much freedom as they did! I owe a lot to these girls, it was during these weddings I learned the "other half" of wedding work,  ORGANIZATION! Often working alone (though sometimes aided by willing friends), and having up to 6 bridesmaids and 18 button holes I definitely honed my time management skills! I also discovered the importance of flexibility in design- especially when it comes to weddings (hmmm... I think I will do a whole separate blog on that!).

In the end I really just wanted to say thanks to these lovely ladies for trusting me with their important day & encouraging me in following my passion! Love you!

Lisa & Joel 

(Camponi Photography)

Carrie & Ben

(Camponi Photography)

Jolene & Keegan

Rachel & Mark

(Camponi Photography)

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival. ~ C.S. Lewis 

Loving Memory

This arrangement was made to honor a loving Daughter/Mother. I was asked to make something that would arc over the Box Urn & Photo (obviously the ones in the pic were just from my shop to get the scale). They wanted it to have a feel of an Angel Arc.  I hope it captures what they were wanting.

Those we love don't go away,
They walk beside us every day,
Unseen, unheard, but always near,
Still loved, still missed and very dear.