Wednesday, 19 January 2011

Working Designer Wednesday: Magazines To Inspire

During the years I was running a floral design studio, I had very little extra time for learning and finding inspiration. Somehow my days seemed to be gobbled up with meetings, phone calls, paper work, designing and taking care of my family. I had to be selective with my time when it came to reading and hunting for ideas. You know how time can slip away from you when you get engrossed in surfing the web and reading magazines? In the blink of an eye…4 hours gone! I decided to buy just three magazine subscriptions to read on a regular basis…hoping it would be enough inspiration to keep me going, but not so much reading that I got overwhelmed. Here’s what I chose…

florist review mag cover Florists’ Review is a great trade magazine for keeping up with trends in the industry and getting advice on the business aspect of floral design. FR features new flower varieties and ads for suppliers. I also enjoyed reading about other florists and their shops. The ‘Fresh Flower’ page was my favorite. This page features a different flower each month with a picture of the flower and important information about the flower…origin, care, availability and vase life. I bought a separate binder for these pages and kept them in alphabetical order. Once the binder was full of these reference pages, I had a great resource for vital information that was quick and easy to use.

martha_stewart_weddings mag cover  Martha Stewart Weddings is essential for wedding trend watching…in my opinion. I was never disappointed with an issue of this magazine in all the years I subscribed. In fact, I was giddy with excitement every time I received a copy and read it cover to cover without missing a single page…even the advertisements were inspiring. Year after year, MSW inspired me. I kept every issue and referred to old issues time and time again. So classic…the florals rarely look outdated…even 5,6,7 years later. I no longer have a subscription, but you bet I pick it up while waiting in the grocery store line or having a cup of coffee at Barnes and Noble. It’s still exhilarating to read…

veranda cover This one may surprise you. Veranda has the most amazing floral arrangements and botanicals of any design magazine I’ve seen. Some of the arrangements are small and simple…on a bedside table or in a kitchen window. Others are large and extravagant…on a dining table or entry table. I found a steady stream of inspiration for wedding and event work among the pages of Veranda.

There you have it…I chose an instructional magazine geared toward floral designers, a trend-setting magazine geared toward brides and a home and garden design magazine geared toward chic homeowners…

Here are some other magazines worth checking out…

flower magazineFlower

bloom's worldBloom’s World

flower_arranger_magazineThe Flower Arranger

fusionFusion Flowers

FLORAL-DESIGN_07Floral Design

WeddingFlowers209101110Wedding Flowers…I had nearly every issue of this one, too…beautifully photographed and organized in color palettes…

bride and bloomThe Bride & Bloom…a beautiful  magazine full of inspiration…

fleur creatifFleur Creatif

Which magazines do you read? Do you subscribe to any magazines? Which magazine provides you with the most inspiration? I’m anxious to hear your recommendations!

Hope you have a great Wednesday…

Tuesday, 18 January 2011

Poppy Pizzazz

What’s not to love about poppies? The soft ruffles of the paper-thin petals…the subtle sorbet hues…the interesting pods…all parts are love-worthy!

6a00d83452476169e2013488df4913970c-450wi things are better with a parrott typepad

…love them with ranunculus…

image via Parrott Design Studio

bouquets_3-27-10_010 the designers' co-op

…with gloriosa lilies and viburnum…

image via The Designers’ Co-Op

DSC_0187 small stump blogspot

…and with hydrangeas and dahlias…

image via Studio Choo 

Love the pods almost as much as the blooms…see if you can spot the pods in these photos…

aisle-decorationwhite-peonies-and-texture-in-leaf-coneLeach-Botanical-Gardens-Françoise-Weeksimage via Francoise Weeks

DSC_2007 atelier joyaimage via Atelier Joya

edblog_0011 eyespy wedding photoimage via Eyespy Photography

kateosbornephotography-4608image via Kate Osborne Photography

picture-6 julie mikos photoimage via Julie Mikos Photography

tumblr_l9yqyqXWpj1qzhg33 floral occasionsimage via Floral Occasions

DSC_0058 edit and cropimage via Bliss Flower Studio

Looking at all these poppies makes me excited for spring…it’s usually the first flower to pop up in my garden after a long flowerless winter…

Happy Tuesday!

Monday, 17 January 2011

Bookoos of Boutonnieres

If you’re looking for boutonniere inspiration, you’re in the right place today!

isari flower studio2 image via Isari Flower Studio

59806_475499476494_659221494_6767849_5174517_n jesi haack weddings and jl designsimage via JL Designs and Jesi Haack Weddings

6a00d83452476169e20133f537653a970b-450wi  parrot studioimage via Parrott Design Studio

chryschris03 millie holloman photoimage via Millie Holloman Photography

DSC_0004 small stump blogspotimage via Studio Choo

dvbphoto253 harvey designsimage via Harvey Designs

fleurology boutimage via Fleurology

golfboutenniere orange girl photographsimage via Orange Girl Photographs

GrandChenier-0228 april flowersimage via April Flowers

hb30 sms photoimage via SMS Photography

peony and plum4image via Peony & Plum

img_4040 adrienne gunde photoimage via Adrienne Gunde Photography

k&s00481 flowerwildeventsimage via Flowerwild 

kateosbornephotography-0040image via Kate Osborne Photography

Ko_2010_651_copy kevin chin photoimage via Kevin Chin Photography

n81 pure 7 studiosimage via Pure 7 Studios

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ReefLongBeachWedding03 hazelnut photographyimage via Hazelnut Photography

santaynezwedding jose villa                  image via Jose Villa Photography

Screen-shot-2010-09-02-at-11.01.10-AM beautiful bloomsimage via Beautiful Blooms

sweet pea floral designimage via Sweet Pea Floral Design

whimsicalmalibuwedding2 JL Designsimage via JL Designs

SN29 millie hollomanimage via Millie Holloman Photography

peony and plum6image via Peony & Plum

73b fleurticaimage via Fleuretica

 

    Hope you see at least one boutonniere you like! Have one more for you…a “living” bout…just love it!

 

datura5  image via Datura

Hope you have a wonderful Monday! Thanks for starting the week with me here at the Brouhaha…

Friday, 14 January 2011

Which Bouquet?

The Dress…

watters bridal gown…the ‘Perth’ from Watters…an ivory, halter neckline, mermaid, floor-length gown…

The Bouquets…

Bouquet #1

6a010535ded4be970c0134863dfb7e970c-800wi  just bloomesimage via Just Bloomed

Bouquet #2

0173 genevieve leiper photoimage via Genevieve Leiper Photography 

Bouquet #3

500days_130 lauryl laneimage via Lauryl Lane

The majority of you chose the bright fun bouquet last week to go with the red dress…I loved the comment from Alicia at Bella Fiori…she said, “if we are going with color let's go all the way!”

Today, I tried to give you some soothing choices after the color jolt last week! Let me know what you think…which would you choose? Why?

Hope you have a fantastic weekend…especially Janice who will be visiting the Festival of Chocolate (yes, I’m  jealous) and Von who will be skiing in Korea! Meet you back here on Monday with more flowers…