Tulips and Ranunculus

"No winter lasts forever; no spring skips

 its turn"

                                        ~Hal Borland~

I came across this quote the other day and thought,

 "Boy, I hope that's true."  February has made me wonder

 but, this quote got me thinking about the reality of the
 situation.  Spring really will come...eventually.  

What better way to think about spring than to look
at a bright and cheery floral bouquet?

 So, I went out and purchased two bunches of flowers from Trader Joe's, one of yellow tulips and one of mixed ranunculus.  Tulips, of course, are the quintessential spring flower and ranunculus are always beautiful! 

I found this square vase in my collection of containers and
 thought the turquoise would could go nicely with the pink and yellow flowers, very springlike.  The raised silver cake plate 
was great for displaying.

Don't you just love the tissue paper look of ranunculus?  I chose this bunch because I thought the color combination in each bloom was very interesting.  I love the white flower with the purple tingled edges, as well as, the green blossom with the very light tinge of pink.  Actually all the flower blooms are unique to themselves.  Together, they make a lovely bouquet.

I already feel the change of weather in the air! 

Winter Break

I decided to take a little break this week from posting because it just seemed like a good time to do that.  It's school vacation week, we keep getting storm after storm and I am somewhat out of inspiration after Valentine's Day.   I have some ideas brewing, however, and will happily share them next week.

The above picture is the view of my side yard.  This photo was taken BEFORE the last batch of snowstorms. The snow is now up to the top of the beginning of the roof of the little dollhouse.  All this snow is getting to be a bit much.  

Even the deer are getting sick of it!

Sorry for the little respite from my blog.  I'm simply recharging the batteries.  I hope you understand.

Enjoy your weekend!

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is the final installment of my Valentine's Sampler 2015.  I'm playing around with my handmade place card holders/Valentine ornaments in this post, using them in different ways.  I made them to be used as place card holders but then realized they could be used as Valentine decorations, as well.

 I hope you've enjoyed the Valentine "season" I've been sharing with you through my sampler.  Now that it's here, I wish you a Happy Valentine's Day!  Hope you have a wonderful day!

 If you would like anymore information about my Valentine place card holders/Valentine ornaments, just click onto the SHOP button above and it will send you to my Etsy shop.

Here's a reminder of some of the photos from the Sampler.

Enjoy!

Heart-Shaped Floral Arrangement

Still continuing with my Valentine Sampler theme... today I am going to share my heart-shape floral design and the steps it took to make it with you.  I've been wanting to do this kind of arrangement for a long time now.  Originally, I was going to use only carnations in a very formal pattern but, decided against it when I held this variety of blossoms together in the store.  I thought the arrangement would end up looking more lush and interesting if I added the mums to it. 

As you may know, it has been snowing like crazy here in the Northeast, making it almost impossible to get to the flower market.  I've had to rely on my local grocery store yet again.  Thankfully, it will be Valentine's Day soon and the stock is plentiful.  I chose two different kinds of carnations; one variegated mini carnation with  pinkish  edges and the other a regular sized red carnation, along with red dyed chrysanthemums.

I had been saving this heart-shaped cake tin for sometime just for this very purpose.  It made for an easy form to follow to get the heart shape I was looking for.

Next fill the tin with water soaked oasis.  I cut the block lengthwise down the middle to get the correct depth for the tin.  Then, I continued filling in the form by cutting different oasis pieces to fit.

I finally remembered to take photos during the arranging process. :)  As you can see, I started filling in the shape at the top left corner with the three kinds of flowers, no particular pattern.  You can really play around with this.  If you like uniformity you could go around the outline of the shape with one kind of blossom and fill the center with another.  You can really do anything you'd like.  For me,  I liked the "devil may care" feel of the arrangement.  As I said, having no particular pattern added texture to the whole arrangement I thought.  (I apologize for the old kitchen towel under the floral heart.  I put it there to hold the arrangement in place and to protect my counter top.  You might want to do something like this as well.)

I continued filling in the oasis with flowers and made sure there was a point at the bottom tip to create the point of the heart.  

So there you have it, the finished product!  Isn't it pretty?  I really loved how it turned out with all the different textures and red hues.  It's amazing how simple flowers such as carnations and mums can produce such an extraordinary effect! 

It was enjoyable playing around with different Valentine embellishments to create a centerpiece with the heart-shaped arrangement.  I've been moving it around my house trying to find just the right place for it. Very colorful and fun!

This is a very easy and fun kind of arrangement to make.  Find a container in any shape you would like to try and fill it in with flowers.  You could do this for St. Patrick's Day or Easter if you are able to find the right container.  Specialty cake pans work well for this too. 

Two more days to Valentine's Day! 

Valentine Sampler Print

As I  continue my Valentine Sampler, I wanted to share a photo of this handmade print with you.  It was created by my daughter while attending college and majoring in Art and Early Education.  I have always loved the prints she gave me at that time and this one reminded me of star-crossed lovers.  You know, like Romeo and Juliet.  I just thought this print was so beautiful and so embodies the feeling of love that I had to include it in my Valentine Sampler montage.

Since I was reminded of Romeo and Juliet, I thought a Shakespearean quote would be appropriate.  I looked for a quote from the play but could not find one I liked.  I ended up finding this passage from Hamlet.  I hope you enjoy it.  It seemed to be optimistic and joyful, which appealed to me more than tragic love...of course!

Here goes...

"Doubt thou the stars are fire;

Doubt that the sun doth move;

Doubt truth to be a liar;

But never doubt I love."

                                                William Shakespeare-Hamlet

I hope you don't mind my departure from floral design and entertaining.  [I did include dried hydrangeas from my garden in the first photo, however:)]   I think a little love and pride for my daughter comes through in all of this too~~

Valentine Sampler Continued

It is yet another snowy day in Massachusetts and although I am trying to be positive about the winter and to focus on love and Valentine's Day, I have to admit I am starting to get some cabin fever!

To take away the blues, here is  another Valentine photo for my evolving Valentine sampler.

"If I had a flower for every time I thought of you...I could walk through my garden forever."

~Alfred Tennyson~

Flowers always lift my spirits~~any time of year!

I'll try to keep focusing on love and...Spring!

Starting a Valentine Sampler

Since it is the dead of winter and Valentine's Day is only a little over a week away, I thought I would share a valentine photo vignette everyday or so, along with a quote about LOVE, before the big day.  Winter can be so long.  Why not focus on something as beautiful as love?

"So, I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you."
~Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist