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Playing with Flowers

Flower arranging is a real art. I had the pleasure of playing with flowers whilst in Minneapolis.

Gorgeous Dahlias & a Flower Workshop I Finding Silver Pennies

This post is part of a series that I will be writing about the few days I spent at Wagner’s InSPRAYtional Design Challenge. I was invited by Wagner to try out some of their tools but also was taken on a magical mystery tour for the senses lead by my friend and mentor Matthew Mead. It was wonderful. I’ll share more about the Design Challenge in a later post.

Today I want to talk about flowers.

The first stop on our trip was Spruce. The space was so amazing. I drooled over the painted brick, the Barn Light Electric fixtures and the large windows. The building used to be a factory and had so much charm.

Spruce in Minneapolis I Finding Silver Pennies

The owners made the work benches and I loved them. Aren’t they cool?

We actually arrived slightly early. Debbie Dion Hayes from My Patch of Blue Sky and I shared a ride from the airport. We snapped a few photos before everyone arrived. She captured this one of me.

Flower Arranging Workshop I Finding Silver Pennies

I think I could have spent ALL DAY here. Or maybe even a week.

Succulents, Vintage Galvanized Table and Painted Brick Wall I Finding Silver Pennies

Succulents, Vintage Galvanized Table, Painted Brick Wall I Finding Silver Pennies

I wanted to take that galvanized table home with me and all those pretty succulents.

Flower Workshop with lots of beautiful blooms I Finding Silver Pennies

 

 

Dried Flowers I Finding Silver PenniesThe studio was strewn with flowers everywhere.

I snapped this one of Debbie before everyone arrived.

Debbie Dion Hayes at a Floral Workshop with Wagner I Finding Silver Pennies

Our workshop was lead by Christine of Foxglove Market. She specializes in intentionally sourced arrangements from small farms and gardens.

Christine of Floxglove Market leads a fun hand tied bouquet workshop I Finding Silver Pennies

The flowers we worked with were all organic and freshly picked. They’d just come out of the fields and this is probably the last harvest for this year as it was snowing while we were there. The flowers from our workshop came from Duluth Flower Farm, Gullywash Gardens and Minnesota Flower Farm.

We talked a lot about organic and in season. Christine shared with us that the average grocery store bouquet travels around 2,000 miles and encounters up to 127 chemicals before entering your home. Isn’t that crazy? She also told us she doesn’t use the flower foam because it contains formaldehyde. I had no idea!

She specializes in hand tied bouquest for weddings and parties. She always uses what’s in season which I thought was refreshing.

In the above photo she’s sharing how to start off your hand tied bouquet. When working with flowers you want to use a few to get the form, then add larger blooms. Christine makes it look so easy but I found it quite hard to hold so many stems in my hand. The idea is to weave the stems together so they don’t move and the flowers create a sculpture, even when put in a vase they stay in place.

Foxglove Market Flower Workshop I Finding Silver Pennies

After a brief demonstration it was time to get to work. We could pick any flowers we wanted.

Wagner InSPRAYtional - Flower Arranging lead by Christine of Foxglove Market I Finding Silver Pennies
Photo Via Wagner

The flowers were all so beautiful.

Pretty Organic Flowers I Finding Silver Pennies

Rich pinks, pale greens, lovely reds. It was so hard to choose…

Deep and Rich Dahlias I Finding Silver Pennies

Glorious dahlias in colors I’d never seen before at home.

Having Fun Arranging Flowers I Finding Silver Pennies

I, of course, was drawn to more muted and pale colors. Eucalyptus, pale dahlias.

Pale Pink Dahlias I Finding Silver Pennies

This is what I came up with.

Soft and Simple Flowers I Finding Silver Pennies

We were instructed that we’d use our hand tied bouquets in our room challenge and we’d also need to pick out a paint color too. It is hard to pick a color when you don’t know what your painting. I chose Calligraphy by Behr. It is a dark charcoal with blue undertones. I was inspired by the dark wall in the flower studio and thought things would pop against a similar color.

Starting our first day in Minneapolsis surrounded by flowers was the best gift. I wish you guys could have smelled the studio. It was heavenly. Everyone’s arrangements were unique and different and beautiful. We were all so happy surrounded by the beauty of flowers.

“A flower does not think about competing with the other flowers around it, it just blooms.”

Here we all are blooming thanks to Christine!

Wagner InSPRAYtional Event - the team with flowers I Finding Silver Pennies
Photo Via Wagner

A huge thank you to Christine, Matthew and Wagner for bringing us together for such a beautiful day of inspiration. We also stopped by and did a collage workshop with Stargirl Art and enjoyed a tour and tasting at Tattersall Distillery. I found the process so interesting and inspiring.

I’ll be sharing more of this trip and the InSPRAYtional Design Challenge in a later post.

 

 

 

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Jessica | Petal + Ply
6 years ago

Looks like so much fun Danielle!! You did a great job with your arrangement. Such a pretty flower selection.