Class 8: Water Based Design

Class 8 focused on the importance of properly conditioning your flowers. A lot of time and effort goes into conditioning each flower before it is ready to be used in a design.

Up til now all the arrangements we've done in class have been foam-based in some sort of non-transparent container. Tonight we made a basic water-based design. As you can probably tell from a lot of my "re-do's" once I get the class assignment home, I personally much prefer a water-based design to a foam based design.

Class 7: Would you like a spot of tea?

Today was somewhat of a review class.
We had the option of making 1 of 4 arrangements in a little teacup.

The 4 options included: the inverted T, the L shape, a diagonal mound, or a triangle mound.

I went for the triangle.

After looking at the triangle mound for a couple of days, I decided to shrink it down to a more petite style which I think nicely complements the tiny teacup.

Class 6: This thing is BIG!

Today we made an arrangement known as an 'Open Mound'. This arrangement was HUGE! You can imagine my challenges in trying to get this one home from class!

This type of arrangement can be used in large lobby areas, or if placed on a pedistal with a fancier container, this type of arrangement could be used as a high centerpiece or alter arrangement for a wedding.

We did use a lot of the same basic flowers that we've been using, such as carnations, mini carnations, and poms. We also used some new flowers tonight: liatris, fiji, and larkspur.

Liatris

Fiji

Larkspur

Class 5 - Bridal Bouquets and More

Class 5 walked through making a foam-style bridal bouquet, as opposed to the more common hand-tied style. This bouquet is known as a cascade bouquet. This type of bouquet is commonly seen made out of flowing phalaenopsis and cybidium orchids, similar to the picture below.

(Source: www.angelflowers.biz)

The one we made was made out of mums, carnations and orchids.

We also made a basic boutonniere and corsage with pink carnations.

Class #4 - L is for LOVE

We focused on another linear design this class: the L. Since it's almost Valentine's Day, we made an L shape arrangement, and tonight, L is for Love; hence the plastic Valentine's Day heart stuck in there.

Call me traditional, but I'm still holding out for some roses on Valentine's Day!

Class #3 - The Inverted T

Class #3 focused on another linear design called the inverted T. The design is supposed to look more or less like an upside-down T. I'm personally not a big fan of the "wings" sticking out the top and the sides, but I guess I can see the T so I think I accomplished what we were going for. It's a learning experience!

I decided after a day of looking at the over-sized upside-down T that I was done with it and ready to make it into something a little more me...

I put this on my nightstand because I read that bright colored flowers help you wake up in the morning! I should be jumping out of bed next week!

Class #2 - Low and Long

Tonight we made a similar arrangement to last week's class; however this was a low and long shape rather than a round sphere. I went with spring colors tonight even though it's still very much winter!

Again, you can see the before and after the ride on the T to get home.