Funeral Work

I have quite a few more pictures than just this, however, they are all floppy paper form. Meaning I'm going to have to spend a whole lot of time getting to know the scanner! I've been procrastinating this task because it means that I have to stay cooped up in our extra bedroom at a desk... That's so not my style! I enjoy my couch! Anyway, I'll get to it eventually!

This design was for a friends moms funeral. Her mom loved flowers and gardening so when she saw a similar picture in a book, she knew it would be appropriate for celebrating her mother's life. I then recreated it with her desired colors and flowers and added some gardening tools. To this day, this is probably one of my most favorite designs. I took 4-5" clay pots and broke them into pieces that molded to the wreath and made it appear like the flowers were spilling from them. It was so earthy and natural, I just loved it! I also took sand paper to the pots to give them an aged look. Another feature that added to the arrangement, something I didn't plan on but absolutely loved, was that the pots soaked up water from the foam like someone had just watered their garden! Ahh, I just love the organic-ness of it! I wish I could do it all over again!

This easel arrangement was also done for a funeral, but I can't remember for who or when. I do remember it was for a man though! Probably a farmer, it had millet, cat tails, some other wheat-like stalks, alstromeria, sunflowers, spider mums, liatris, rusty-red roses, bells of Ireland... I like doing the rustic look thing, and I get to do it a lot... We have lots of farm land around here!

Well, that's all for now! Little by little I will get all my pictures on here! Till then... I hope you keep checking on this and enjoy what you see! If anyone out there has any pictures of work I've done (anything from vase arrangements, corsage/boutonnieres, weddings, funerals, etc...) for them please send them to me via email... socalilily@gmail.com. I'd love to post them! Thanks a ton!

My New Blog

Here it is! Another blog that I probably won't be good at updating! But, like my other one, I am sure gonna try!
This blog is dedicated to my profession as a Floral Designer. I love what I do and am very passionate about it. I love it when I can be creative and design unique arrangements for my customers.
I am currently managing the floral department at Lee's Marketplace, a grocery store in Smithfield Utah. We are a full-service floral shop- meaning we do everything that a regular shop does: Weddings, Funerals, Dance designs(corsages & boutonnieres), Everyday arrangements, Balloons, Gifty Items, Fruit/Gift Baskets, Planter baskets and Blooming plants, etc... Being in a grocery store has it's ups and downs. Some ups: We order flowers from some of the same places that most of our competitors do, so we have the same quality and cost. Also, being in a large store, we have the benefit of not having to mark up our prices as much as our competitors (which our customers love- especially in our current economy) because we have the support of the high grossing departments like grocery, meat, produce, etc... Another upside is that we get a whole lot of traffic through the store so we get a lot of people stopping to look, which gets a lot of impulse buyers! One downside is that, being in a grocery store, people don't expect us to do the big stuff, like funerals and weddings! So we get to work hard to get our name out there! Word of mouth is one good way to get business. We have some great customers that are probably our best form of advertising! And word travels fast in small towns so we do get quite a bit of business through our clients. We still have to factor in a few other forms of advertising: We work all the Bridal Faires, we advertise in the local Wedding Directories, we have our own brochures, newspaper ads, etc... All in all, I like where I work. I have fun and I love the variety that our store gets! Keeps life interesting!
There you have it! Floral Designing is a big part of my life right now.
So, my plan for this blog is to display pictures and comments about my designs. I hope you all will enjoy it! But before I get too into this, there's one thing still looming... I can't think of a good blog name (besides the temporary one, BD Designs). I need one that could possibly carry over to a future shop/business name! I need suggestions... something clever, cute, catchy, fun. You know the drill!! So before I spend time posting pictures, I need help working on a name! Please help... no name, no pictures!! Incentive?! I sure hope so! ;-)
* These might be helpful in conjuring up some clever names... I like monkeys, orchids, the color green (the apple/kiwi/lime shades), lilies, the ocean and anything relating to it- esp. starfish, hydrangeas, palm trees, lilacs, jasmine (not from Aladdin, the plant/flower), etc... Put your thinking caps on my friends!! I hope to hear from you soon! Thanks!