Florist News

actually it was Mrs. Meier...death by off-target dart..really messy...dart entered the..never mind...
The dart club ordered a tribute-no dart board-its gonna be a vibrator...apparently Mrs. Meier was a spunky old fart. (Mr. Meier is coming in this afternoon..wonder what he'll order)

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~success is a lousy teacher...it seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose~

Perhaps someting similar to the phallic ornament in A Clockwork Orange would be appropriate

Thanks for the FEW donations guys ....... you lot are sooooooooo tight.
I have earnt enough to carry on for a bit but all donations will be gratefully received.
Apologies for the distraction

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jennifleurs.co.uk
Your Colchester Florist

Adding the flowers

Grading the flower heads in to sizes really makes a difference. The dart board is a good example of this and you will see in the finished design how I used all the small heads where needed. I hate to see wasted buds left on the stem and consequently seeing them go in the bin! Give them their day .... they’re lovely and it saves you loads of MONEY. I much prefer the finish you get from using the smallest heads in the most exposed based parts of the design. I always use the ugly fat heads round the edge and under any hidden areas, not only do you not notice them but it gives you good coverage where you need it.

If a design has a dark colour I try to sort that bit out first, it takes longer to cover (I only ever use the Oasis spray paints) and it’s easier if you can get it done first. For these sorts of designs I always base close to the board, the details get destorted if you raise it up.
Once all the sections that need to be spray painted that colour are based I give it all a lovely hair cut! This is another shock horror element I’ve been questioned about. I will guarantee that trimming the petals does not affect the lasting quality of the flower. Use a nice sharp, clean pair of scissors ....... they do not feel a thing ...... nor do they keel over and die!
This usually leaves a bit of a mess which is easier hoovered off than it is blown all over the workroom.

Take your design to a well ventilated area ..... out side if you can. Lots of thin coats are better than a soaking. Leave each coat 5 or 10 minutes before you apply the next. Shades and tones can be achieved by giving it a darker or lighter undercoat which is useful if an exact colour is important to the design. Experiment before you start. Giving a red design an undercoat of burgundy will give you a much deeper finish.
Hold the spray can 8 to 10 inches away when you’re spraying and wear latex gloves if you care about your hands.

Attached Images

	white.jpg (60.9 KB, 46 views)
	trimmed.jpg (79.0 KB, 44 views)
	clean.jpg (67.0 KB, 51 views)
	black.jpg (49.5 KB, 51 views)

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jennifleurs.co.uk
Your Colchester Florist

Thanks! thanks! thanks!
more! more! more!

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www.twiggys-florist.com

Filling in the section

With any “picture” type tributes you need to plan which bit to do next. I thought it would be easier in the case of the dart board to do all the creamy/white bits next, the green and red bits were so small that it was easier to colour them off the board than masking off each section.

When placing one sections flowers up to another you will achieve a much neater result if you trim the petals as necessary. With a design like this were I need a lot of heads with a straight edge it cuts the time it takes if you trim yourself a pile of straight edges before you begin. The close up pic shows how extreme this needs to be at the right angled bits.

Attached Images

	right angle.jpg (72.9 KB, 42 views)
	filling.jpg (95.7 KB, 48 views)

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jennifleurs.co.uk
Your Colchester Florist

This is brill!!!!!
even though i did my training at college, and have been a florist for a little while now (6 yrs) there are some things you never get shown, and until you actually do them (thrown in at the deep end!) you have no idea where to start.
Keep up the good work!

p.s. - i have donated

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Treen you have revitalised me. If you can believe this my assistant actually told me that marking out was a "college thing" and a "waste of time". Needless to say her freestyle designs are (well in my case were) absolutely terrible.

With the help of your tutorials I am looking forward to presenting bigger and better designs - as you may have seen I seem to have become the focus of the unusual - mince pies, fishing rods on a stool, garden shed - and I have only been open 6 months! Your tutorials will certainly be of help and I will be printing them out to play with in any spare time I get - I consider it a real investment, even if I make the items on a small scale just to get the idea, at least customers coming in will see what we are capable of in our shop! Again many thanks.

PS Yes donation on the way!

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If we had been meant to eat all our greens all our teeth would have been in the front

The smaller details

This is where size grading all your flower heads as you cut them comes in handy. I chose all the tiny buds (no waste with this one) and coloured them before putting them in place. Try to give them fine coats and let them dry in between ... this stops them becoming sticky and hard to handle. Latex gloves are a good thing to have around to stop you ending up with multi coloured hands!
When the coloured buds are dry you can pop them in the coded sections.

Attached Images

	green.jpg (89.5 KB, 37 views)
	red.jpg (62.0 KB, 37 views)
	red green.jpg (68.4 KB, 51 views)

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jennifleurs.co.uk
Your Colchester Florist

Thank you. You make it look so easy

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