Drying Proteas

Drying Proteas

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Proteas are fabulous as dried flowers.  They have great sculptural qualities and they keep their structure well, not falling apart easily.  There are no real tricks to drying your proteas - you don't need to hang them upside down, although it doesn't hurt.  Just as long as they are dried without being too crowded, to make sure their shape remains intact, and to allow for airflow.  Some even keep their colour well.  

You can get fancy if you want to - the following are some ideas from Proteaflora, a major Protea nursery in Victoria.

Hanging

Pick the flowers in their prime, strip off the bottom leaves then tie about 5 of the flowers together in a tight bunch with a rubber band. Hang them, heads down in a dry, dark, airy spot for about two weeks.

In a Glycerin Solution

The glycerin keeps the plant material supple and helps it last longer. After cutting and stripping the foliage, place the stems in a glycerin solution as soon as you can. Use a mix of one third glycerin (available at your chemist) to two thirds water. The solution should be seven to fourteen cm deep. Don't put stems in water first, and if the stems have been cut for more than one hour, re-cut them before placing them in the glycerin solution. When tiny beads of glycerin appear on the leaves, take them out and hang them as described above.

The pink flowers pictured are Protea Pink Ice.  There are some others mixed in including Brunia Albiflora, (press the link to check out more of these) and some Leucadendron Argenteum.  I am also lucky enough to have a huge Banksia Grandis tree and the seed pods often come on long stems which make a great display.

So next time you have a bunch of proteas, think about drying them for longer lasting loveliness!!

Oh my Gucci!

Oh my Gucci!

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Sweet sangat, bila post sebegitu emo, ramai yang hantar message cakap "good luck! jangan stress". Sayang sangat dengan anda semua. To be honest, hidup dalam keadaan sangat tertekan sekarang, banyak perkara yang mesti diselesaikan dalam masa yang sangat singkat. Bila dicampak dengan kerja lepas kerja tanpa masa yang cukup, kita jadi semakin hilang fokus. Dengan tidur dua jam satu hari, bila hujung minggu yang dipenuhi test dan work completion, haruslah redha, sambil tangan didada.

Macamana pun so many things happened in this world disebalik kekusutan aku, contohnya:

• H&M di Malaysia I have never been so excited in this life, bila hari-hari kebosanan buka video-video di youtube, segerombolan manusia berkhemah depan H&M sempena koleksi Versace x H&M, dan Lanvin x H&M terus rasa nak camping depan Tesco untuk koleksi Tesco dan Melinda Looi. I can't wait days dimana semua anak muda akan bertawaf dekat H&M dan lapan juta manusia memakai baju yang sama di Pavilion. Oh yeah.
• Zara di Sunway Pyramid I love the concept of the shop, sekarang diasingkan lelaki dan perempuan serta golongan diantara. sangat sleek dan clean, tidak pedihkan mata bila memilih pakaian. Walaubagaimanapun pekerja di sana masih lagi agak sombong, haruslah feeling-feeling kerja Gucci, tak dapat jadi salesperson Gucci, dekat Zara pun jadilah feeling-feeling golongan ahli sunnah.
• Zalora Malaysia v ASOS tahniah dengan pengenalan konsep one stop center for fashion items. Cuma masalahnya Malaysia punya store pakaian agak limited, dengan pakaian yang tak ada taste of fashion, not even close to trend, haruslah pangkah sahaja bila buka pages dia. Tidak terkejut lagi beberapa minggu, akan tambah koleksi dari jenama pakaian Hari-hari dan juga Al-Ikhsan. 
• Kejatuhan zaman filem-filem wayang Bila sekarang pergi dekat wayang rasa seperti mati pucuk tanpa nafsu serakah, rasanya seperti industri filem dunia telah mencapai tahap tiada idea untuk filem, olehitu mulalah wujudnya filem-filem kelas ketiga seperti MIB3 dan sebagainya. Kerana konsep filem-filem masa kini yang ringkas dan independent haruslah hanya print sinopsis atas  pamphlet untuk tontonan umum. 

Oklah itu sahaja untuk kali ini.

Lovely Leuco's Part 2

Lovely Leuco's Part 2

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Sylvan Red is a variety of Leucadendron that we grow at Swallows Nest.  They are a well known variety and a popular cut flower.  They are similar to the Safari Sunset I first featured with a few exceptions.  They are a brighter red, as you can see, and they are finer, with almost a more pointy end to the leaves and flower bracts.  They are finer in the stem too, but they can still grow an incredible length - up to 1 mt. They really glow in the sunlight on the farm, but the smell is something I can't capture with a camera.  There is a faint sweetness to their perfume which makes picking them a real joy.  They are at their peak at the moment, but left unpicked will change colour in early winter and become multicoloured red and yellow, opening to reveal the pollen presenters inside.  

Wedding Flowers Defining Your Expectations

Wedding Flowers Defining Your Expectations

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The wedding flowers that decorate the church will go a long way toward setting the mood for your wedding. Done right, a selection of well placed wedding flowers can give your event the sense of joy, expectation, solemnity, or pageantry you and your intended anticipate for your wedding. Done poorly... well, your wedding flowers will set the wrong mood for your wedding at best. At worst, your wedding flowers will make it appear that your wedding happened in a tacky looking facility or several decades earlier (actually, it can get worse, but we won't talk about that - The point is to make sure we stay on the top of the scale with our wedding flowers, not the bottom).

The success of your wedding flower arrangements and decorations depends on your florist's attention to detail, sense of style, flair, expertise, and the connection that the two of you achieve. Don't assume that because a particular florist is highly respected you will get the wedding flower arrangement of your dreams. If there is no meeting of your minds, if you don't feel like they are grasping what you are trying to communicate about your wedding flowers, theme, or both, keep looking. In most cases your wedding flowers will be more to your liking with your second choice that fully understands the theme and mood you are trying to set than with the reputed best florist in the city who isn't listening or just isn't managing to understand what you want from your wedding flowers.

Finding the right wedding flower specialist is easy if you begin your search prepared and know what to look for and what to stay away from: Being prepared means doing some dreaming about your wedding flowers. Doodle. Search bridal magazines. Look at wedding flower schemes in books and dream. Go to bridal shows. Go to weddings, if you can get an invitation, and dream. Collect pictures of wedding flower arrangements that you think will fit into the theme that you want to design your wedding flowers around. In short, have a pretty clear idea of what you want in your wedding flowers before you ever start visiting florists and bring the pictures with you. This will help them understand your vision for your floral arrangement.

The second step is like the first: Don't even think of going to a florist without swatches of the material from your dress, the bridesmaid's dresses, and any other fabric that might affect the wedding color scheme (this is true of your cake decorator too). This is most especially true of your dress. White wedding dresses come in a wide variety of shades of white, so to ensure that the wedding flowers will properly accent your dress bring a swatch. A professional florist will know how to set it off so that the wedding flowers draw the attention to you in just the right way.

Once you have done your homework it is time to start actually looking for a florist to provide your wedding flowers. As in every other discipline, your first move should be to talk to people who have recently gotten married and get referrals from them. There is no shame in learning from the success and failures of others and doing so will generally save you a lot of grief. In the process, no doubt, you will discover that while most any florist can provide wedding flowers, some are more skilled, gifted, and experienced than others. Your goal is to identify these people and choose one of them to take the stress of your wedding flower needs off your hands.

Remember, wedding flowers work or don't work on the florist's attention to detail, creativity, and their ability to match your style. But part of their ability to perform depends on you communicating what you want and providing pictures and swatches. It's your wedding; make sure it goes right by taking the time to prepare before you go shopping for those wedding flowers.

Ink and Spindle

Ink and Spindle

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I'm a big instagram fan and recently, I came across a boutique fabric design company in Melbourne that have done a range of fabrics inspired by Leucadendrons. Of course, I just LOVE it, so I thought I'd share a few of their pictures.  

If you're interested, check out their blog at

 Ink and Spindle.

Wedding Flowers Cost Cutting - Top 5 Cheapest Flowers for Wedding Elegance

Wedding Flowers Cost Cutting - Top 5 Cheapest Flowers for Wedding Elegance

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Wedding flowers cost cutting is often a concern for brides-to-be who want floral elegance featured at their wedding but don’t know how to save without cutting flowers out of their special day. As a retired wedding florist, I can suggest that the first rule of cost cutting on wedding flowers is to select your main flowers carefully. You can also save money by ordering your flowers by post.

You require choose a flower which is going to look beautiful, I will coordinate with your theme or color system, I will give the beautiful flower but its smell is not strange and it can make you get headache on your special day. The flower will look so romantic and it is appropriate with your special wedding. Do you need extra cash for your own ideas? You can apply it for the best results by read more information about paydayfinanciallender, that will help you to get more cash on your pocket.

5. The Rose

Not the cheapest of the cheap flowers but definitely on the list due the rose's ultimate role as The quintessential flower of romance. This all-star in the world of weddings comes in most colors and even in bi-colored, stripped and tipped roses too. Though roses are commonly associated with strong fragrance, not every rose is scented and even those that are scented are not overpowering. All these reasons make roses the ideal choice as a wedding feature flower. Of course, in order for your roses to be as cost conscious as possible, choose popular long stem rose colors such as red, pink, white, yellow or orange (in that order) Also, choose simple hand tied rose bouquets for minimum labor and a modern look. If you want to save even more money, make your own wedding bouquets. It's not that complicated especially if you are following good step by step instructions written by a florist and if you are making hand held bouquets. If you decide to make your own boutonnieres and corsages, make sure to use sweetheart roses for a more elegant and long lasting look. On the same note, if ordering from your florist make sure she will use sweetheart roses for your body flowers.

4. The Gerbera

If gerbera daisies are your favorite flowers, you might want to choose this look for your wedding or for your special event. Inexpensive, cute, modern, easy and quick to work with, you will not have to worry about being able to achieve these simple bouquets in time if you decide to make them yourself. Gerberas come in a wide variety of colors and can therefore blend well with any color theme. Although you can easily choose hand-tied bouquets for the bride and the whole wedding party, you could also decide to have a more elaborate bouquet for the bride including a few gerberas or amongst other flowers while your bridesmaids could carry gerberas exclusively. You will have to provide a constant water source between the times when you or your girls will be holding the gerbera bouquets. This can be an advantage at your reception in the sense that if you provide elegant vases at the hall for them to place their bouquets in when they get there, these can also decorate and add style to your reception. For the boutonnieres and corsages, gerberas also come in the miniature versions although they are still approximately 4 inches in diameter; this is the ideal size for body flowers. Just one per lapel or wrist will suffice.

3. The Sunflower

Sunflowers are perfect for fall events and look beautiful with hypericum berries or other fall berries and foliage, Although sunflowers come in a few different colors besides yellow now, such as orange, brown and rust; going with yellow sunflowers ensures getting the healthiest and longest lasting budget flowers that will shine at your wedding. Sunflowers are perfectly suited for hand held bouquets. The bridesmaids could carry 3-5 sunflowers with fall foliage, berries and accents tied with a pretty bow, whereas the bride could carry a more elaborate bouquet featuring 5-7 sunflowers (any more would be too big) with 3-6 fall roses, berries and fall foliage, tied with a pretty bow. As for corsages and boutonnieres that will coordinate with a sunflower wedding...even the mini sunflowers are way too big for body flowers. Instead, I would suggest either mini yellow gerberas with the black center or novelty chrysanthemums, preferably with the black center as well.

2. The Carnation

Although carnations sometimes get a bad rap as being the cheapest undesirable flower, the truth is, carnations are long lasting, smell sweet without being overpowering and are easy to work with. For wedding elegance, I would suggest going with white or cream carnations if you want to use only carnations. If you prefer a mix of flowers, I would recommend combining carnations with daisies and poms for lovely mixed bouquets that won't cost much and will have that wildflower look but will last so much longer and won't wilt in the summer heat (as long as they have a source of water) Mini carnations are the perfect size for corsages and boutonnieres. One bloom with a bud is the ideal body flower when combined with a touch of foliage and perhaps a filler flower such as baby's breath.

1. Daisies and Poms

Often neglected out of weddings, I cannot imagine why. Poms are pretty, long lasting and come in many types and forms. Daisies and poms are available in white, cream, yellow, orange, pink, purple, lavender, orange and rust. They come in 3 varieties appropriate for weddings: button poms are like little flat balls atop a stem, flat poms look as the name implies and daisies which need no introduction. If you like the wildflower look, combine daisies with other types of forms in bouquet holders with greens and foliage. If you prefer a classier look, focus on flat and button mums. The bridesmaids could carry a round bouquet in a bouquet holder featuring poms, foliage and fillers while the bride could carry a cascading or round bouquet with poms, roses, foliage and fillers. The groom, groomsmen and parents could be wearing body flowers featuring similar types of mums, daisies, foliage and fillers. Be fore warned though that if some petals are pulled out of the main head of the flower, they will fall apart. Ultimately, daisies and poms will offer the best value and elegance for the lowest cost.