Wedding Bouquets Recreated in Paper

I had two commissions to re-create a wedding bouquet in paper last week and they couldn’t be more different.

The first was from a tropical island ceremony almost 10 years ago. While the bouquet itself was quite simple—about 20 tightly-packed calla lilies with just a few large leaves—each bloom needed to be hand-colored and blended to mimic the original bouquet. I’m just in love with how they turned out, and so was the client!

 The second project was inspired by a more traditional bridal bouquet featuring white, cream and very pale blush with dark foliage. The variety of flowers, along with the pop of pale mint and lavender imbue the classic arrangement with a bit of whimsy and wildness.

While the original bouquet was quite large, including more than 20 blooms along with the lush foliage, the client decided a smaller version would be better for her home.

My favorite blooms are these sweet ombré roses, with a cream base and hand-colored yellow glow at the center, fading to blush pink toward the outer edges.

Want a forever version of your own bouquet? Send me a photo for a quote!

Paper Flowers in Seattle

I’m super excited to announce that Seattleites can find my paper flowers in not one but two local shops! Lucca Great Finds, a gorgeous shop in the Ballard neighborhood, picked a beautiful selection of delicate pastel Icelandic Poppies and foliage to complete the bouquet. Pick up one of their beautiful vessels and you’ve got a great gift or perfect addition to your own home!

Farther south, you’ll find the uber trendy Paper Hammer. They picked up a veritable garden of paper flowers: multicolor zinnias, anemones, roses, poppies and more. Definitely worth the few few blocks’ walk from Pike Place Market!

Paper Flower Workshops

Sorry for being MIA, so much traveling this spring, and a death in the family added another trip home earlier in March. In better news, I am elated as I’ve just returned from teaching my first paper flower class!

A friend of mine from high school is the special events coordinator at the Milwaukee Art Museum and she reached out a few months ago to see if I would be interested in teaching a workshop during their Art in Bloom event. The workshop sold out! So over the last few weeks, I pulled together all my supplies and made hundreds of flower kits and then met 34 lovely ladies in Milwaukee on a rainy Saturday morning.

The class went really well (although I think I’ll limit future workshops to 25 people)—everyone had a lovely time and left with a poppy and anemone and supplies for a few more. I left exhausted and thrilled—turns out I love to teach! I’ll be offering classes in Wisconsin and other cities I’ll be traveling to throughout the year, but if you’re a shop owner or just someone who wants to get a handful of friends together and host a party yourself, get in touch!

Happy 2017!

You guys, I’m such a bad blogger! Between holiday travels and some big exciting projects, I haven’t had much time to write, but this rainy morning seems the perfect opportunity.

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First things first, if you’re here trying to find out more about the Kindness is Everything, I’ve licensed the design to the Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health and you can shop for signs, shirts and more here. Follow our Kindness is Everything facebook page for updates and to connect with people across the nation that identified with the movement that began as a simple sign.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about above, check out my original post for the back story. Hundreds of emails and thousands of orders later, we’ve raised more than $7,000 for the ACLU with our Midwest sign distribution, and dozens of other groups across the country have raised even more! There were three of us managing all the requests and etsy page (completely pro bono of course) and it just got to be too much, so we started seeking a nonprofit with the capability to sell branded merchandise. Two of us had worked with WAWH previously, were familiar the good work the organization was doing in Wisconsin and nationally and thought it was the perfect fit (plus we knew the executive director would make the most of the opportunity!). It’s been really exciting to have something I made “go viral” and more importantly, to be able to connect with like-minded people across the world.

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I also took a step toward expanding the flower arm of 622 press in December. I offered my first flower making class in December! We ended up having to cancel it, but now that I’ve got the instruction booklets and material kits made—I even hosted a practice class with friends!—I’ve totally got the bug. I’m talking with a few venues in different cities about 2017 classes, so stay tuned! (And if you’re interested in having me teach a class in your area, get in touch, I’m available to travel!)

Speaking of flowers, I felt like they were starting to take over my Instagram feed, so I started a second account completely devoted to paper flowers. Follow here!

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I also had quite a few engaged couples get in touch before the holidays for save the dates and invitations. I can’t share any of those until after the big day of course, but here’s a lovely piece I received in late fall—nothing better than getting your own work in the mail! I’m so excited to work on more wedding invitations in 2017—get in touch if you’re planning your nuptials!