The cover of Martha Stewart Living magazine caught my eye at the newsagent. It was the March issue - I know - we are bit behind here in the UK! Anyway, I was happy to see that they had an article about flower arranging called Short and Sweet - How to Get Big Impact from Tiny Blooms.
The feature is styled by Tanya Graff and Stephen Orr and has beautiful photographs by Kana Okada. Six delightful pages of floral beauty. Well, what it did was to inspire me to make an "Short and Sweet" arrangement.
But my pink and purple arrangement almost didn't happen. I didn't have any pink and purple flowers at home. I had not been to the flower market and my local farmers' markets does not have a very large selection of flowers as it has been exceptionally cold and the season is much later then usual.
The hunt for pink and purple flowers started! Let me tell you it was not easy as it was also Easter holiday weekend, a long four day holiday here in the UK. My wonderful local florist was closed, the flower stall had no flowers in the colours I needed or more to be exact wanted.
Another florist had "nothing", nor did the next one, we were now several miles from home and my kind and patient husband was now getting fed up as he needed to make a phone call to the US. My saving grace was the Chinese green grocer across from the last "nothing" florist!
So the flowers I got in the end was some pink and purple Ranunculus and some pink waxflowers.
Ranunculus is a favourite flower but the petals tend to mark quite easily and the stems can rot quickly. Keep the water level low in the vase to prevent rotting and handle the flowers gently. If the blooms starts to droop - cut the stems short and put in a low vase.
Waxflowers are sometimes best bought in full bloom as the buds might not open once cut. A few flowers might also drop off when handled.
I used two purple glass vases, a medium sized and a very small bud vase. They both have a lot of interesting texture, on the big one the texture is in the glass and on the small one has a textured surface. The big one is bought in Sweden the other one was a present from my sweet daughter.
The pretty floral fabric is called Toy Box II by Sara Morgan for Blue Hill Fabrics.
The ribbons are from Jane Means collection - purple stitched grosgrain in two widths .
The little miniature cushion is an Art Nouveau pincushion with an embroidered silk flower on a black background.
The ethnic necklace was a present from my dear mother-in-law and the brooch is from the Art Nouveau era made of pewter and a large purple stone.
As a little DIY craft project I covered three tags with three different washi tapes. I covered one side of the tag with strips of tape and I carefully matched up the pattern so it looks like one whole piece - but it's also fun to be as creative as you like. You can do both sides with tape or just one like I did, it's also very easy to write your message with a pen on top of the tape as its made from paper. I used Jane Means narrow purple ribbon instead of string.
Thanks for the visit!
Till next time - soon!
xoxo Ingrid
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