Fall into Christmas (behind the scenes from the design program)

On Tuesday October 25th and Wednesday, October 26th Heather had the opportunity to design with Tim Farrell AIFD, PFCI, AAF from Farrell's Florist, Drexel Hill, Pa.  Tim came as the Education Specialist for Teleflora's Penn Jersey Unit holiday design program.

We created seasonal fall and Christmas arrangements.  It was exciting to design with other local florists.  We were able to share ideas and critique one another's work.  This way we are able to grow in our knowledge and design skills.  In the following piece Heather Towne (Penn Jersey Unit President) used a monochromatic color scheme in lime green and the techniques of shadowing and framing.  Shadowing is depicted in the anthurium on the left and the bells of Ireland on the right.  This means that two identical flowers create a heavier visual weight when one mimics the other's line and placement.  The "framing" occurs around the empty space in the middle which creates visual interest.

In the next floral design Heather used the Teleflora Glitter and Shine Bouquet.  The lid of the candy dish is hanging "Cindy Lou Who" style from a branch of cedar wrapped in lime green wire.  The white roses draw your eyes down to the center of the arrangement and tie in the white from the glittery lid and the white glitter accents on the red ornament bowl.  Feathers are added as accents in red. A fun way to change the original design.

The final arrangement was designed for the registration table for the Penn Jersey Unit.  It incorporates red ginger, steel grass, lime green cymbidiums and red ornaments.  Again Heather chose a Teleflora Christmas keepsake piece to showcase the design.  The steel grass encircles the design with lime green beaded wire.

Even though we feel it is way to early to be playing Christmas songs on the radio.  It was fun to begin exploring different techniques and texture combinations for the upcoming holiday.  Although, with the snow they are predicting for this weekend, it may seem as though winter is on its way!!

Hitomi Gilliam at Dillon's Floral Open House

Sunday September 14th, Kelly and Heather traveled to Dillon's Floral Corporation in Bloomsburg, Pa for their 34th Annual Open House. Part of their open house is to feature a well known designer and educator in the floral industry. Hitomi Gilliam, AIFD was the Educator for the day. She shared for 5 1/2 hours in three segments encouraging the floral industry to set themselves apart from the mass marketer and grocery stores. Hitomi is currently an educator, coach, designer, event planner, creative director and a driving force in the floral industry. She also won the prestigious AIFD (American Institute of Floral Design) Design Influence Award - she is only 1 of 5 who have received this award. The photo to the right is a picture of Hitomi (left) and Kelly Buck (right) on the stage at the design show.

Her designs were inspirational taking their cues from the fall and winter seasons. Natural color schemes and solid color blocking is setting the trend in the fall with accents of orange. For the Christmas and winter season lime green is making its way into the lime light! The color creates a wonderful contrast with the traditional red and adds lightness to the deep greens of pines and fir foliage that is popular from December to January. On the left is a close up picture of a garland that she created for a mantle.

The arrangement by Hitomi Gilliam in the picture at the right is a large 4 foot piece in red and gold designed in a 6" ceramic container. It was created in silk to be offered in the silent auction later in the afternoon. The leaves and berries sparkled with glitter under the lights. The armature was formed from tall gold stems with the berries and branches intertwined and tied into place for stability.

We were able to browse Dillon's floral and supply departments and purchase new products as well as ate a delicious lunch in their working greenhouse filled with tropical and blooming plants. A friend in the floral industry who recently moved to the Pocono Lake area (not far from Dillon's) joined us at lunch. The employees at Dillon's were helpful and offered us suggestions throughout the day.

Although Dillon's was a 2 1/2 hour drive from Fairless Hills - it was well worth the trip. We were not the only crazy florist traveling on a Sunday, there were over 200 florists from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Maryland. This will be something to visit again next year. The more design shows and floral educators we can learn from the further we can strive with our design skills and talents.