Happy New Year

This Autumn I started Emma Davies' wonderful photography course so that I could improve the pictures I take of flowers. The course is on-line and you can either do it for free, or add in some cost, like the workbook included in the image above. I am trying to be more thoughtful about some of the photos I take. I was trying to capture some of the elements of Christmas wreath-making in this picture. I ran two wreath-making workshops in December this year. Here are some of the participants from the first one:

I caught a few people at work in the second workshop. Notice the glass of wine already at hand!

And here they are with their finished wreaths.

I made two wreaths for myself. I hung one inside and one on an outer door - just look what a difference the light makes.

I didn`t run a table centre workshop this year, so I missed getting a delivery of Christmas flowers. This meant I was driven to buy last-minute flowers from the supermarket. Most of them were very disappointing - nasty bunches full of glitter and dye, and lots of nearly dead flowers. I liked Sainsbury's offering best and I bought a couple of mixed bunches - they were in jewel-like colours and included roses, chrysanthemums, gerberas and the odd bit of foliage. I added foliage from the garden - choisya, ivy, holly, sarcaccoca(with brilliant black berries) and rosemary. I used pewter vases for everything and was pretty pleased with the results:

So...as we approach Twelfth Night and the end of the Christmas festivities I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year and thank you for all your interest and support during 2017. I am looking forward to sharing new ideas with you for things to do with flowers in 2018.
With very best wishes, Liz