A Bunch of Flowers for the Summer

A frothy purple and lavender flower arrangement for the summer. This time it is a different Statice or Limonium as it is also called. The common name is Sea lavender but there are many different Statice and Limoniums so it can be a bit confusing. This one has a much smaller and more delicate flower. I have mixed in deep purple stock flowers that gives the arrangement a bit of a punch.

The easiest way to make the arrangement is to first arrange the Statice in your hand - to get a fairly even overall arrangement. Cut the stems all the same length and put them in the container. Strip most leaves off the stems of the Stock and slide them in where ever you like. The Statice has flowers in every direction so you can cut the stems of the Stock a bit longer to have them stick out of the frothy Statice, making them a more dominate feature. You can also do what I have done and that is to cut the Statice stems a bit shorter and just have them poking through the more gentle colour of the Statice.   

A few small stems went in a much smaller container. It sits on top of three little pieces of Japanese papers in pink and purple, two are tissue paper and the top one is an origami paper. They are all from the Japanese Paper Place. 

A pile of old books with a pretty ribbon tied around them adds to the charm. The sage gingham ribbon comes from Jane Means ribbon company 

The smaller container is an old vintage coffee measure.
It has a small handle and it says 1 DL on the front. It is very cute holding a small arrangement of flowers.

Some beautiful and very old books. The book on the bottom is a leather bound edition of Divine Comedy written by the Italian poet Dante in the 1300's. The others are beautifully faded books of poems. Will I ever read them? I don't know - right now they are just beautiful objects or props.

It is summer and time for some holiday. I am taking a break from blogging.

I hope you are all having a wonderful summer and I will see you back here soon.

Happy Summer Holiday!

xoxo Ingrid 

Flowers and Ribbons

What is it with ribbons, spools of thread, buttons, fabrics and general haberdashery that is so appealing to some of us? Well, even when I was a little girl I was fascinated by mother-of-pearl buttons, colourful silk threads and satin ribbons.

   

Many years later my love for flowers and gardening began and I now have the pleasure and enjoyment in combining the two.

The Statice flowers are from my local farmers market. It is one of those flowers that has not been very popular for a while. The late Jane Packer writes about the flowers in her last book At Home With Flowers. "Statice is a flower that all but disappeared from smart florists due to a its frumpy, old-ladyish image. However, it is becoming popular all over again, due to its longevity and huge range of colours. Statice is low-maintenance and dries well."

I agree with her - Statice comes in lovely colours and lasts for absolutely ages! You can also hang them upside down and dry them and they will last even longer.

The ribbons comes from Jane Means ribbon company. The three ribbons are some of her grosgrain stitched ribbons. From this month I very happy and delighted to be part of her Ribbon Stylist Blogger Team.

I have had the pleasure of meeting Jane on a few occasions. I always visit her stall at the Country Living Fairs in London and I would always come away with lots of her lovely ribbons. The next Country Living Fair is in November 2012. 

I have also attended one of her Gift Wrapping Courses. She will teach you how to nicely wrap a bottle of wine, a box of chocolate or a football! As well as making lovely bows.

Ever since I started blogging in 2009 I have often used ribbons in my posts. It has just become part of the styling that I do for my blog posts. Combining lovely flowers with colourful haberdashery - I love that word -  adding some old vintage and like here some folded up tissue paper and spools of cotton threads. 

Lovely purples - one of my favourite colours!

This is an old vintage brooch that I found at a London antique market many years ago. It is Art Nouveau and from around 1900. The purple stone is a bit of a mystery - I have never been able to find out what it is. Does anybody have any suggestions?   

Have a lovely colourful day!

See you soon.

xoxo Ingrid

Pink Sweet Peas, Pink Fabrics and a Tiara

A basket full of pretty pink treasures. Pink sweet peas flowers, a vintage jug with a wide pink stripe, all kinds of different pink fabrics and some tissue paper.

Sweet peas really are irresistible - don't you think? 

Sweet peas are quite fragile so when you arrange them a few flowers are likely to fall off the stems or sometimes the flower is too far down the stem to fit the container and you have to remove it. Don't throw them away! Instead put them in a pretty bowl filled with just a little bit of water. They look very pretty and lasts for many days.

The pink watering can is brand new and bought at a DIY store. The painting with flowers is vintage and inherited. The pink and green floral bowl is also vintage and bought at an antique fair about twenty years ago. Before I bought it it had obviously been in an "accident" - there are about four long cracks all glued together and some small missing bits are filled in with a different material. I know you must be wondering why I bought it in the first place. Well, I fell in love with it and being the slightly crazy person that I am I actually paid money for it - cracks and all!

   

Starting from the back of the basket there is a vintage handwoven little table cloth in three different pink colours, next is some pink tissue paper and then a small piece of new floral fabric. The white vintage fabric with light pink roses is a very pretty serving apron with a pocket, then a new table mat hand woven from cut rags last is a little floral handkerchief and another small piece of new floral fabric.

The pièce de résistance is the tiara that I found in a box not so long ago. It is a tiara that I have had since I was a little girl and I had totally forgotten that I even had it. Our daughter came to visit the other day she spotted the tiara and asked where it came from and how long I had had it. When I told her she gave me a stern look and asked me why I had denied her wearing a tiara as a little girl! Bad mother!!

  

Have a wonderful day and never deny anybody wearing a tiara!!

xoxo Ingrid