12 July 2012

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


14 comments:

Helene Orskaug said...

Stunning!! Pics to die for!! Just love it, love it, LOVE IT!!

Regards,
Helene

Frances said...

Congratulations to you on this new association with Jane Means. I think that she is very wise to connect with you and all your talent!

I so agree with you about statice. It is so very under-rated. All that you write about its value is so true. In the photos in this post, it give a certain depth of color that adds to the varied haberdashery hues.

Wonderful!

Now I must remind myself to look for some statice for my own little apartment.

xo

Unknown said...

Ingrid, I am sitting here waiting for my pack of ribbons to arrive, too. I love the way your ribbon choice lifts the flowers. Am looking forward to seeing how all the ribbon stylists use their ribbons, already have a notebook full of ideas. Looking forward to reading more from you :)

Jane Means said...

Love your ideas and photos Ingrid :)

Diana Studer said...

Is the stone not an opal? Love that deepest periwinkle blue ribbon, and the raspberry ...

Anthea said...

Such beautiful use of haberdashery (yes I love that word too)! My bundle of ribbons arrive this morning and I am so looking forward to making beautiful things and seeing how everyone else used them!

The stone on the brooch could be some kind of opal maybe? Very popular at that time andcomes in lots of variations of colour. Very difficult to photograph though...

abi said...

Lovely blog I love the colours, I'm a purple fan!

Anajá Schmitz said...

Olá, seu blog é lindo. QUE flores LINDAS. TEM MUITAS que eu não conheço.
Tenha um ótimo fim de semana.
Anajá Schmitz

september cottage said...

ovely colours ingrid!

i am a jane means fan too and always make a bee line for her stall (and have often wondered about her gift wrapping courses.....!)

have a great weekend! lousy weather - hope better where you are!!!

nicola

Unknown said...

Love your shots and your passion for haberdashery :))

Madelief said...

Beautiful combination of colours in this post Ingrid. A joy to look at!

Happy weekend,

Madelief x

Laila said...

*dregglar* Så underbara band! ♥ Jag använder band till mitt pysslande med papper (handgjorda kort/scrapbooking/presnter etc)
Så mycket fint Jane hade i sin affär. Grattis till dig som får vara med i bloggteamt! :-D

Anonymous said...

Wonderful to be a ribbon stylist with your lovely shots Ingrid! So nice to see Jane Packer's name mentioned again too-I had the pleasure of working with her on a shoot many years ago-lovely lady.
:-) caroline

Anonymous said...

So many times we underestimate the power which a ribbon dressing holds.And Ingrid just stressed this in the splendid pictures we just saw.

Good going!

send flowes

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