Flower arranging

With luck and some trepidation I am returning to work. I think I have managed to secure a Montessori teaching job and will be returning after half term. With this in mind, I have decided that the final two weeks of the children being off school will be spent doing as many of the things I love doing as possible and learning new things too. So, with a glorious autumnal morning under my belt, I drove over to Bay Tree Cottage for a morning of Halloween and Harvest flower arranging (or floristry). 

I have NEVER, repeat, NEVER done this before and, to be honest, I think it moves me into serious WI or Margo Leadbetter categories than good old Barbara and her wellies (that's where I like to think I am anyway!) 

I was a touch nervous about going. My history of flowers and arranging is firmly embedded in the ... you buy a bunch and they're arranged in the packet, so if you're careful, you can lift them out and dump them in a vase as is and the original arrangement is barely disturbed (such a heathen!)

How wrong was I? 

Not a Margo, not even a Stepford Wife in sight (phew!) and, although I left my wellies by my back door, I wouldn't have been out of place wearing them!

This is Janet

 Janet is a florist

 She does fantastic things with flowers and pumpkins (actually any receptacle really!)

 She's rather good isn't she? This is my note taking by the way. I didn't write a thing - why would you 'write' about the flowers...all the notes you need are in the beauty of the arrangement!

This is the finished piece - isn't is wow! Look at all those colours and textures. The whole intensity of the piece, blows me away.

Okay, so the picture on the right is my starting pile!

and our pumpkins...

Starting off....

Noticing the bits that got missed!

Tweaking

  Ta Da!

So it's not quite as good as Janet's but I am thrilled with it and am going to shop for more pumpkins and other things tonight so I can make another one tomorrow!

This was all the group's efforts up for their photo shoot. I'm back left as you look at it.

Aren't they fantastic?

It was a great day, really worth the money as you'd not buy this arrangement in the shops for the course fee and now I have a skill I can reuse with a bit of oasis and some floristry wire, I will NEVER buy and dump again! Ever!