Last Monday I posted the last in my series of flower arranging videos. If you missed any you can see them here.
Today I am starting a new series called Floral Fusion.
I am starting off with featuring a tulip flower arrangement as well as a few other things as inspiration for Easter.
**********
Tulips - what a fantastic flower to use at this time of year - it's available to most people, it comes in an array of colours and it's cheap to buy from for example the farmers' markets or the supermarket. While growing up in Sweden I always associated Easter with certain things. We always ate a lot of eggs and I don't mean the chocolate kind! I don't remember any Easter-egg hunts in the garden - it was probably too cold up there in the north.
Pussy willow branches were always brought into the house every year, put in a large vase and the branches would be decorated with brightly coloured chicken feathers and painted eggs.
As my mother got older she developed a fondness for china chickens of every size and shape and she would bring them out every Easter to decorate her hall table.
**********
You can also easily grow tulips yourself by planting the bulbs in the autumn - either straight in the ground or in pots.
To make an arrangement all you need to do is to remove any of the lower leaves that will end up below the water level and any that are damaged or bruised. Trim the ends at an angle and put them in a vase with plenty of water as tulips are thirsty flowers and remember - they continue to grow in the vase and that is why they tend to bend and flop over the sides of the vase. If you don't like that look just trim a bit extra off the ends to allow for the extra growth.
**********
The vase I have used is a "vintage" black Pueblo pottery vase from New Mexico. Many years ago over Easter I did a road-trip with my husband and his parents through New Mexico. I bought a piece of beautiful pottery from the Zuni Indian reservation. We visited the Ranchos de Taos, an adobe church that was built between 1772 and 1816. It was made famous by the photographer Ansel Adams and the painter Georgia O'Keeffe, who said that she thought that it was one of the most beautiful buildings left in the United States by the early Spaniards. We also spent time in Santa Fe where I bought this piece of black pottery and you can see some more examples here of black Pueblo pottery.
**********
The two little white vintage eggcups are from Sweden and they have a very minimal but bright yellow stripe at the top. They have very graceful shape but are often too small for the eggs you can buy today.I love this kind of old-fashioned eggcups and they certainly remind me of my childhood in Sweden. 
**********
Pussy willow, or Salix as it's called in Latin, has a long been traditional to bring into the house and churches for decoration over the Easter holiday. I am not sure where the tradition of decorating with brightly coloured feathers comes from.
**********
The fabric that I have used as a base is from The Village Haberdashery in North West London and it's called Spots in Leaf from the Oh Deer! fabric collection designed by the Japanese Momo for Moda Fabrics. It has graphic off white dots on a bright green background. What an amazing fabric for spring!
As inspiration I have also used a catalogue from Waitrose an upmarket UK supermarket. This is their Spring Harvest 2013 catalogue - that you get for free when you order on-line. The three images inspired me and made me think of Easter in Sweden.
**********
Here are some of my mother's china chickens that I have kept for sentimental reasons.
Fun and kitsch or just plain awful? I love to hear what you think of them.
**********
Here I have combined the purple tulips with some very short stems of pussy willow.
**********
Thanks for visiting and I love to here what you think of the chickens!
Till next time - soon!
xoxo Ingrid