Robin & Craig : Autumn Jewel tones

 My beautiful cousin, Robin married Craig last October and I was so honored to be able to design the flowers for their special day. Robin is an Edmonton- based wedding photographer  (view her work here), so she has seen her fair share of weddings! I love that she chose jewel tones for her fall affair, the deep colours are a welcome departure from the more popular soft tones.

While Robin and I came up with the concept for the flowers, Green Petal's lovely manager Sarah, executed them so beautifully (as my sweet babe was only two weeks old at this wedding!)

PS: Doesn't Fernie offer such an amazing photo backdrop in the fall? Photo Credit:  Kirsten Buyer .

- Carmen

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

2011 is looking bright!!

The shop was pretty busy today, so thought I would share some pics of a few that headed out the door.

Green button mums, solidago, buplerum, pale pink gerberas

Green button mums, eryngium, flame mini callas, mini daffodils

Yellow mums, purple freesia, pink snaps, solidago, and pink gerberas.

Orange tulips, eryngium, green button mums, seeded eucalyptus.

green mini hydrangea, pale pink gerberas, wax flower, tropical greens

Flowers leave some of their fragrance in the hand that bestows them.-  Chinese proverb

Beauty in the land of Blog: FRESH Photography

This morning I was doing one of my favorite things... wandering through the land of blogs (floral and photography blogs to be more specific). I love the creativity that is out there, and I especially love it when you find someone from your neck of the woods, doing amazing work! (I also love that I can excuse it as "research" for work!) Well today I stumbled across the FRESH Photography blog and kinda got real excited- so creative! I was pouring through it post by post and stumbled across a Fernie wedding she had done this summer- it was one of mine and one I was wishing I had better images of. Well here they are- LOvE & LoVE!!

FRESH Photography: Fernie Wedding Photography; jeff . naomi - sew fabulous

FRESH Photography: Fernie Wedding; jeff . naomi sew fab II

And I'll leave you with a photo, because really what is a posting with out a picture?! This one was donated as a door prize for a local fundraiser last month. Kinda nice to see something not red and green!!

FRESH Photography: Fernie Wedding Photography; jeff . naomi - sew fabulous

Christmas in a Flower Shop: Glitter & Sap : )

Well first Christmas done, and it was a success! Everyone seemed to be getting into the season ordering wreaths, centerpieces & hostess bouquets. I'm thankful for a few days off to relax and get ready to tackle 2011... bridal consults start in January!
Here are a few designs that went out our doors these past couple weeks:

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

I'm Back!!

Ok, now it really has been a long time. I don't have any good excuses, life just gets in the way. But I'm back and will be blogging through December and into the New Year. Fernie is no longer a summer paradise it has change into a Winter Wonderland and I am so thankful for my heated sidewalks!
With this winter wonderland comes the opening of the ski hill (Dec 4th) as well as staff Christmas Parties, my own Holiday Open House & The Good as Gold Gala in support of the Salvation Army. Here are some photos  from these events:

First is The Good as Gold Gala.

 The theme colors of the evening were black & gold. I brought in the black with ostrich feathers, black ti leaves & black willow euc. And the Gold by painting lily grass & poppy pods as well as spraying the arrangements with gold glitter (and obviously using the gold pot!)

I chose deep purples & reds to give it a "rich" feel. Using red mokara orchids, mini callas, & tulips. To add the purple I used the seeded euch & privet berry.

The next is from my Holiday Open House:

I wanted to do something Christmas-ey but unique to give people some ideas of stepping outside of what is typically done.

I used a mix of Christmas greens as well as artifical ferns with a bit of green sparkle. The flowers were protea, red mini callas, red roses, green roses, white dendrobium orchids, & green hypericum berries. I threw in a few pinecones as well.
The arrangement is set on a 2ft cylinder  vase which was filled with acrylic crystals lit up by submersible LED lights, halfway I threw in a few handfuls of cranberries to add some color.








And this final one was done by the newest member of our team, Sarah. I'm loving her style, it works well with what we are doing here at The Green Petal! If you are in the area, be sure to stop in and introduce yourself!

Happy Marmie Day

Marmie- it's what I call my mom. Why? Couldn't tell you, maybe I like having a name that only I call her... She's an amazing woman, and it just so happens that she LOVES flowers. So for the past few years it has worked out well, having her daughter work at a flower shop. But once I opened my own shop she started to get the "left over" flowers or the ones I didn't want to sell. Poor marmie. So I was determined to get her the "first choice" flower this mother's day. Here they be.... (though I had a few people try to buy them off me)

And here are a few others from the weekend.

Weddings... Fernie style.

Despite the dreary weather, yesterday was a great day. Local photographer Matt Kuhn and I spent the afternoon at several Fernie Landmarks with the lovely Carly getting some great photos. Matt had some great ideas and executed them beautifully! Here is a quick peek at some of the shots but head over to his blog to see the rest!

Model: Carly Tabor
Makeup by: Ava Gladwin
Jewelry: Autumn Sunflower

We're going to the movies! ! No duh!

The big event in Fernie this weekend is the premiere for the film Hot Tub Time Machine.  HTTM was filmed in Fernie, so a lot of the locals will be in it as extras. As you may have guessed it is about a group of friends that get into a hot tub which .... is  a time machine! A majority of the film is set in the 1980's, and I tried to keep this in mind as I designed an arrangement for the foyer of the theatre. (Though I did my best to stay away from carnations and babies breath!)

I decided to go with bright colours as they remind me of my hot pink ski jacket and my brother's fluorescent green ski suit with matching head band...

So I guess it's the eighties but edited and updated; I opted to keep the lines modern and clean.

It's difficult to see in the picture but I weighted the vase with rocks and then swirled hot pink, spring green & electric blue wire up the inside of the "tubular" vase to give it a bit more of that 80's feel. It's totally rad!

For the Calla it.... anyone?!? (tough crowd, tough crowd)

Well this week I ordered in the purple/chocolate callas to show a bride. I have to admit they've never been my favorite flower I lean more towards bright and funky (more like the pincushion protea that I paired with them). Despite that I may be coming around; this afternoon has been a bit of a "calla re-appreciation" time for me.

       Back to the original reason I brought them in... I had a bride looking for nice but economical center pieces. So we came up with a smaller version of the one below (though in a large cylinder vase).

I like how the everything becomes magnified under the water. And the contrast of the traditional calla and the wild willow works for me.