Floristry Guide Free Online Floristry Course

Materials Required

A small or medium sized oasis heart shape, if possible get one with a Naylor base, this is a hard polyeurathene great for sticking pins into!! The alternative is a plastic dish type base which Ive had to use here and is fine except that you cant dig the pins into anything solid when attaching ribbon edging.

You need a small 'le bump' oasis product, its a small bump of oasis in a plastic cage for strength and has a screw in bottom - this is required to make the 'spray' of flowers for the heart.

Basing. This is double chrysant and is widely available. Most commonly used is white but you can get yellow and pink if you so wished. Buy it before you need to use it to allow the flowers to open to their full potential as this will allow the basing to look full and luxurious instead of trying to fill gaps between unopened buddy flowers. Also its more economical too. It will depend on the size of heart you are using as to how much you need, a full stem of basing will produce an area of about 3"x3" roughly, bunches are sometimes in 5 stems occsionally in 10s so check first.

You need ribbon, floristry waterproof ribbon is best. Stapler to make the ribbon edge pleats, and foliage and of course flowers for the spray.

To begin the ribbon edge, leave a piece of ribbon at least 3 inches long before you begin, you'll need this for the point of the heart, you'll see later. Keep the pleats uniform in size only 2.5cm 1" is the best neatest look, it will take some practise but basically you are folding -but not creasing- inwards half pleat width then from the other end half a pleat width and stapling the folds so you have a kind of bulbous pleat on the 'good side' and 2 stapled pleats at the back, see these pictures to try and see what I mean, its very difficult writing it instead of showing it.

Champfer a smooth the edges of the heart, dont wet it yet!! And pin the ribbon in an upward way as in picture 2 using german pins or clothesmakers pins, make sure the wrong side is facing you, when flowers are put in it will hold the ribbon down showing the 'good' side.Keep checking the length and at the end leave a 3" end of ribbon again for the point.

Once it is all pinned on and secure pull the two ends together to fold underneath and staple giving a nice point to the ribbon.Cut at an angle towards the heart from the front ribbon edge to finish.



Ive shown the position of 'le bump' first before showing how to screw it into the heart, it should be left, top but not too close to the edge.
Next thing to do is the basing. Make sure the flowers have had a nice long drink before using, cut the stems short only about 1-1.5 " long and with nice sharp 45' angle cut ends for neat firm insertion into the foam. Begin with a row around the outside, hold back the ribbon and insert the flower heads so the petals overlap slightly and hold the ribbon back, use straight 90' angles so the heads are flat upward facing, smaller of the heads to the edge on the first row. There should be no gaps, ie no oasis showing at all, if there is then remove the head and move it closer but try not to replace too often or there will be a loose fit. Then keep working in rows completely filling the heart with flower heads.

Im now using soft ruscus to form the shape of the spray which will be the floral decoration in 'le bump' you can see from the height of the basing that it is important to use a raised bump of oasis to make the spray sit properly on the heart.

Gradually complete the shape for the spray, bring smaller shorter pieces of foliage towards the middle, the spray should be no more than a third the size of the whole shape.

Red roses and wax flower have now been added to the spray design, bringing one rose down low pointing towards the point of the heart to accentuate the shape.

As a final touch of flourish, place a single rose with some foliage and wax flower on the other side connected by three strands of beargrass to highlight the place where the card will be placed, this is known as a 'card flower' and just adds that touch of class.

Two different versions shown as the one madfe for this tutorial has come out a bit dark. Hopefully this has shed some light on how a based heart funeral tribute is made. Ive also made these based with roses for valentine's day but obviously that works out quite expensive but it does show that these type of designs are not only for funerals. Happy Basing !!!

For floristry sundries, oasis, tapes, ribbon etc please visit my ebay store- the store is called E-Jay Trading, introduce yourself as coming from my blog for a free sample of a product with your order.

So whats all this Halloween malarky then? Most people assume it to be an American import but they could not be more wrong. Halloween is far far older than the New World to claim its heritage there. America can claim the pumpkin symbol as a replacement for our traditional swede and turnip which were hollowed out and used to hold burning animal fat rags to illuminate the dark. All Hallows' Eve is the twilight of the floral year. The opening of the Celtic year was celebrated during All Hallows' Eve and it was called Samhain. A forgotten festival. Ceremonial bonfires were lit at this time, now incorporated a few days later to fit in with Guy Fawkes night.

Remember the part of the prayer 'Hallowed be thy name?' the word Hallowed meant respected and revered. At Samhain/All Hallows' Eve it was thought that at midnight the veil betwen the living domain and the world inhabited by our ancestors was at its thinnest and therefore spirits of the departed could be contacted better on this evening than at any other. Why would they want to do that? Well apart from the fact that thousands of people do exactly that regularly in church on a Sunday morning is beside the point. Dont forget that in those days people were not perhaps around long enough to be able to pass on their wisdom and experience to more than one maybe two generations so with the lack of 'agony aunts' in magazines, much older relatives to ask advice from and social workers, people would try and ask questions of the dead. Ask for guidance. Ask for comfort. Pay their respects too. They would light fires and gather in the forest. Nothing sinister about that, in those days 3/4 of Britain was forest. They would hollow out turnips and swede and light their way to the bonfire gathering where they would hope the spirits would come and answer their questions about what must have been a much more puzzling world than we know now.

Christians thinking this was stupid at best and evil at worst would silently follow to see what they were doing. Were they summoning demons as the church authorities said? We'll give em demons they thought, so they would make horrific masks and cloak themselves in black so they could dash in and out of the shadows frightening the pagans. So once again, a fairly understandable innocent tradition was warped and twisted to turn followers away from it.

Apples then, where do they fit in? There were a few customs involving apples which would take place at the Halloween party. Apples were bobbed for in wooden tubs or suspended from twine hung between branches, for blind folded party goers to try and bite. These rituals were remnants of the celebrations in Autumn of the ancient Roman Pagans associated with Pomona, Roman goddess of fruit trees who was one of the divinities of Autumn. The British Isles and elsewhere in the northern hemisphere had many traditions, some very localised others the same all over. The witch was German pagan origin, the wise oldest woman of a village who was the best at boiling medicinal herbs, yes, probably in a cauldron, it was a common cooking utensil.

Young unmarried girls would have fun with the tradition of looking for the face of their future husband to be reflecting back at them from a bowl of still water if she gazed in it at midnight holding a lantern in one hand and an apple in the other.

Anyway, instead of rubbishing Halloween and ignoring the little ghosts knocking on the door for sweets, take a moment to raise a glass to your ancestors at midnight, its a time to respect them and thank them for the fact that you're here.

Flower arrangements in a hollowed pumpkin look fantastic on party nights!!!

Just a suggestion - nice pot to put your halloween treets in? On Auction now!! E-Jay Trading ebay shop. Where the customer is ALWAYS right!

THE NATURAL LOOK

I have a 'thing' about funeral flowers in cellophane. I hate it. One reason is that although a wrapped gift bouquet can look classy, I think when there are a lot of big blobs of cellophane bundles all piled up it looks tacky and resembles a pile of rubbish, but mainly its because the cellophane is often stapled or taped all over and the result is a bag of condensation with a bow. What a waste to have spent money on a funeral tribute which has almost certainly cost at least £25 often more, and not be able to see any of the flowers? Beats me. It suits a lot of florists to do this or suggest this item because its relatively easy to make and it saves time actually asking the customer what they would like instead. Sorry to the majority of florists but you know who you are!! Production line floristry sucks.

So when you ask for funeral flowers next time ask them to make a natural tied sheaf with a raffia bow. It looks classy, no steam up because there's no cellophane and you can see what you've paid for.
If they start to ask around the staff to see if anyone knows what it is or how to make one go elsewhere.

Raffia is great for using in the summer, obviously in winter or rainy days the floristry waterproof ribbon will look better but at the moment raffia looks nice and natural, complimenting a tied group of white lillies or a mixture of flowers, simple and elegant.

You need to pull a big handful of raffia off its skein and give a good shake to let any short pieces fall out,pull it through the hands to help form a fairly smooth length to work with for making a bow.

Form one loop, grip together then form another loop, tie the middle with a piece of string for the centre of the bow then wind several strands of raffia around the string and knot at the back, leave the ends so you can tie it later.

Dont worry that it looks scruffy it will look great, just smooth the bow ends and trim but not too short, about the length of the loops is the minimum.

This has been constructed in exactly the same way as in the Hand Tied Workshop except that the back is kept flat and something fairly rigid should be used not floppy so that it forms a backbone. I used a couple of desert palm leaves at the back of this one. The front lower part of the design has large folded (but not creased) Aspidistra leaves to add visual weight at the focal point at the front, this is where the bow will go.
When tying on a bow of any material, always tie to the back then bring the ends to the front tie under the bow then bring the ends up to the bow top under the loops and knot there, under the centre at the front so the knot is hidden. Another pet hate is a big knot and cut ends at the back of a tied item, it looks unprofessional, little neat details are important.

Ooops sorry about a bit of my foot in that one! If anyone has difficulty sourcing the items needed to make anything on this blog you can buy from me - just ask and I'll upload it to the shop. Ive been asked to put an email for this purpose so here it is.
Sometimes there are crazy price auctions too, there are now in fact go have a look!

sales@e-jaytrading.com

ME

Say hello if you visit!! Would love to know you've dropped by, makes it worthwhile.

How much we take for granted

The experience of colour, and the effect it can have, as either a pleasureable experience, or an irritating experience, seems to us to be a modern idea. That dentists and hospitals tend to prefer a pale green wash to their walls doesnt mean it was on special offer at Wickes - no, its a science that has been explored for a very long time. Isaac Newton is acclaimed to have divided up the spectrum in 1666 and ever since scientists have been fascinated with the way light receptors, (eyes to you and I), send signals to the brain of pleasure and irritation-calmness and aggravation. Strangely enough they found some scientific links between the ancient connections between for instance, Mars Red and War. Its all to do with wavelengths and the brain's reaction to the stimulus of the information it receives.

Ok I know this is a floristry blog!! However, floral art gives us perfect examples of nature's own colour code. What am I on about you may well ask. Under ultra-violet light petals show distinctive tracks of colour leading the bee or other winged creature, deep into its middle as a signal, drawing it inside for pollen to get the chance to adhere to its fluttering membranes and in turn, be dusted into the next as it follows another flower's secret signpost.

All art studies take colour very seriously, colour harmonies, colour schemes and colour combinations. If you have actually painted the colour wheel in the previous workshop or have one from an interior home furnishing store somewhere, then get it and the following will be clearer.

Looking at a section from outer full spectrum strength ie BLUE down the layers we see BLUE plus white, BLUE plus grey and BLUE plus black - or PASTEL BLUE - AIRFORCE BLUE - NAVY BLUE. Look around your home and you will see many instances where you have chosed a MONOCHROMATIC (tints,shades and tones all relating to one colour)colour scheme, bedlinen, cushions, curtains etc. Your eyes know that this 'works'. So thats what MONOCHROMATIC means, there are others.

COMPLIMENTARY - opposites on the wheel, ie RED/GREEN ORANGE/BLUE etc
these are the exact opposite 'light wise' and it applies down through the segment ie PEACH and DUCK EGG BLUE instead of full strength orange/blue. Ringing any bells here??? Anyone looking at their lounge colours and seeing anything complimentary about their room? Anyway it works too, the brain likes that.

ANALOGOUS - up to 4 colours next to each other, so ie BLUE BLUEVIOLET
VIOLET and REDVIOLET, they work too, from the edge to the middle of those sections any combination is harmonious.

SPLIT COMPLIMENTARY - pick 2 colour directly opposite and then move one segment right and one left so we are now looking at for instance YELLOW BLUEVIOLET and REDVIOLET. Yet another colour harmony for you to consider - there are more but for now thats enough to provoke enough thought about what tie you choose next!!

A website on here explains it all with colour and I advise anyone who's interest has been aroused, to take a quick look.

Im just too good to you lot.

http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/color3.html#opponent

I used a mango and lilac theme for my e-bay shop logo.
Who has any idea what colour harmony that is?