Today I felt like sharing how to make a floral cake- like arrangement. My students really enjoyed themselves while making it yesterday, And I was anxcious to make one myself too. 

Here is the material list you need: 

• leaves which can dry in nicely. Like Eucalypthus, Buxus, Gaultheria shallon
• Gypsophila or other small flowers
• a Rose or CHrysanthemum, Germini, Ranunculus
• piece of floral foam in a round shape (you can also cut it out of a block) mine was about 8 cm weide
• piece of plastic
• rubberband
• needles, 
• scissor
• knife
• ribbons
• beads

First you get the floral foam wet, so the flowers will last longer. Then take a piece of plastic and cover the bottom and sides. By using rubberband/ elastic it will stay around the foam. 

Cut off the plastic  which comes above the foam. It is not nice to see that.

Then rip off the leaves form the stem. Eucalylthus can be easily ripped off when you move your hand upwards. when you have leaves with stems then prepare the leaves by cutting off the stems.

Add a leaf heigher as the edge and fasten it with a needle. The next one will be overlapping. Finish the row, make sure you use the same seized leaves and the top is evenly heigh. 

Then  add row 2

row 3,

row 4

row 5 and 6 till you are done....

now time to cover the foam from the top. I used Gypsophilla as it will dry in too. Make sure you use enoug as when flowers dry they will shrink and it is not good when you can see the foam then. I cut them very short  so it hides the foam easily. 

In the middle I added a Rose, you can also use other flowers , it is up to you. 

now the decoration part: I added ribbons and as I was alone and the knot kept slipping I fastened it with a needle too. Added a bead to it and small beads in the Gypsophila and around the bottom row. 

Hope you will enjoy making it yourself ! 

bloemen, cake, flowers, taartje Hide

Every day I drive to my work in Heerlen I admire all the colors of the leaves from the trees. Each time a new season starts I first need to adjust but then I believe it is the best thing to happen. Do you know that feeling too ?

Yesterday I sorted some leaves out  from the Cotinus coggria : Royal Purple" I couldn't resist doing so.... What do you think?

I made a "feston/ guirlande with the students too. This is my finished example, made with findings out of nature.

How to make one :

Start with adding a longer stem from ironwire to the berries and all which has a short stem. After these preparations you take a piece of rope (as long as you want) Adjust the wire to the rope and take a few leaves and berries etc place them around the rope and  fasten them with the ironwire, leaving the wire attachted, take some new materials you want to adjust to the rope. 

Covering the previous adjusted leaves and wire. It will be like a roofs tiles.... continue this for as long as you want the piece to be. At the end just fasten the wire off to itself and made a knot in the rope. Cover the last part of the wire and stems with a ribbon or wool or whatever you like.

In case you hang it ouside it will not stay longer fresh as inside.

Enjoy Autumn!!

autumn, colors, fall, herst, leaves Hide

I just picked some flowers in my garden. Only 5 more weeks and our summervacation starts for our students, my own kids and me. I can tell I am counting the weeks

So much work still to be done before it is vacation time.  Next week we will have a flower exhibition  works made by our students, at our school : Our students will show bridal bouquets, Corsages, Table flower arrangements, presentation of “their” shop, etc.

CITAVERDE College Heerlen , Heldevierlaan 12  te Heerlen.

you are most welcome from 18-121 h.

A simple fresh picked bunch of flowers from my own garden

expositie Hide

Nature

One of my colleagues took some branches along which are a piece of art I think.

Ever seen this ? It is called Euonymus phellomanus  or Kardinaalshoed  in Dutch.

First collected as seed from China in 1894, Euonymus phellomanus has small inconspicuous flowers in spring, followed by vivid lipstick-pink fruit in autumn, which split to reveal conspicuous orange seeds.
Another notable feature is the corky, winged stems which are particularly eye-catching once the leaves fall in in winter. Euonymus phellomanus will fruit reliably as a single, specimen plant even when quite young. A superb, ornamental garden plant!

The structures are amazing don’t you think?

My pictures don’t do justice to it, but hope you will get the idea

in a huge vase with only one Rose decorated with some felt made by one of my students.

and I found  a picture with leaves and blooms on the Internet

Euonymus Hide

After having this high fever I went back to work, not completely feeling 100 % myself , but ok. When I came home last Monday I got a message 2 people called me  and asking me if I was able to make a funeral flower piece.  Two funerals in one week…  wow.. As I really love making flower arrangements I said yes.

So Thursday I started with making all these flower arrangements and just when the first one was finished I got a call: The grandmother of my Husband died that morning.. She was 92 yrs old.  I was so touched and upset I couldn’t  continue working at the arrangements for one or 2 hours..  I also offered to make the funeral piece for grandma, but they didn’t want me to make it ……

begrafenis, grafstuk, kiststukken Hide