August 2011
4 posts
Michi B Wedding
OMG. omg. As I think I’ve mentioned, my good friend Lizz (aka buttsie) is getting married in September. I am SO happy for her and I know she and her amazing boo, Adam, will be in love foreva eva.
Not to be all “me, me, me, me” about it, but this is a big deal for me because she is the first of my close friends to get hitched.
It’s also a big deal because Lizz has...
Pinterest
I recently discovered this great site that helps you keep track of inspiring images you come across as you’re surfing around the web. I’m just getting started so my boards are a little thin, but you can follow me and/or start your own account here:
http://pinterest.com/
Search for my email: caitlinjeanhamilton [at] gmail [dot] com
Happy pinning, kids.
Flower Identification A-Z
My latest class at with the NY Botanical Garden was Flower Identification from A-Z. After two three-hour classes, I know pretty much everything about everything. Far too much to share here, so the below is just a sampling.
First of all, the instructor was super fun as you can probably tell:
Here he’s holding Bupleurum and gushing about how much he loves the color. Also, the booklet at...
July 2011
9 posts
Haters Gonna Hate
Disclaimer: I’m a lover not a hater.*
*Usually.
But today, I’m hating. On mustaches.
I’m not gonna lie, I have pictures of me and a friend doing the fingerstache thing (where you draw a little mustache on the inside of your index finger and hold it up to your lip) and we thought we were hilarious. We actually were pretty hilarious.
At one point in the famous “night of...
Back in the Saddle Again
It feels like a gazillion lifetimes since I’ve updated this blog. I let the man get to me. I decided to forsake my dream of becoming a florist for a job that will let me live comfortably. I’m a sell out. A phony. For shame.
But, I’m back. I’m always telling people, “do what you feel” (if you don’t know this already, I’m kinda sorta into all that...
December 2010
1 post
3 tags
Essential Floral Techniques
Last Tuesday was my final session of Essential Floral Techniques and, honestly, it was disappointing. The topic of the class was packaging, which basically meant wrapping arrangements in tissue paper and cellophane. Zzzzzzzzzz. Oh! Sorry, dozed off there for a sec. But we’re back! Boring topic aside, the class was actually action packed, complete with a bloody accident and a snappy country...
November 2010
10 posts
4 tags
Baby's First Bridal Shower
Again, this event was for Kendra, hosted by my mom at her little house in Claremont (what, what!). These flowers were primarily my doing, design and execution, and I think they turned out alright. I was going for a casual, romantic feel, using a mix of pink flowers placed in a melange of glass and milk glass vases. I also made about a bazillion paper flowers for the napkin rings, which people...
4 tags
Baby's First Wedding
Kendra, my mom’s best friend’s daughter, got married in August and she asked my mom and I to do the flowers. And being the lovely, obliging people we are, we of course accepted. To tell the truth, this was really my mom’s gig and I was but her lowly floral assistant. I also point out that this was my mom’s project because she, in cooperation with the bride and the mother of...
4 tags
Ribbons and Bows, Bitches!
I literally just got home from my all day ribbons and bows intensive and I can’t wait to share my work with the world! Not that it’s that great or anything. It’s not. Don’t get your hopes up. But I just had so much fun today that I want to instantly re-live it through my blog. (A blog that apparently my mom doesn’t even read. Jerk. See if she gets a Mother’s Day...
4 tags
The Tea Tin Trend
I’m constantly looking for interesting vases and containers for my burgeoning collection. Containers are so important in flower arranging. Size, shape, color and style are key elements in making a cohesive, appealing arrangement. Flowers in the wrong shape vase can look sloppy and disproportionate but flowers in the right container can take on fresh, unexpected twist. Tea tin arrangements...
4 tags
Floral Class #2: Wiring and Taping
I have a confession to make. It’s shameful but please try not to judge. My mom and I have been making boutonnieres without wiring and taping them! Gasp. I know. I know what you’re thinking—“what amateurs! Who do these broads think they are trying to pass themselves off as ‘freelance florists’?”—but in our defense, the boutonnieres always looked...
1 tag
Branching Out
I’ve been so focused on weddings lately, all weddings all the time. I even had a dream about a friend’s wedding a few nights ago and she’s not even engaged. It has to stop. So I’m branching out with a post featuring arrangements with branches. Get it??
2 tags
Wildflower Wedding
An old friend from DC recently popped back in my life with some questions about flowers for her upcoming nuptials. She said that she’s going for a wildflower look which got me thinking about what that exactly means. Some key words come to me when thinking about wildflowers: eclectic, natural, rustic, light hearted, etc. But how to translate this feel into flowers? I did some image hunting...
4 tags
My First Floral Arranging Class!
Apologies to my loyal fan(s) out there for the lag time between posts. I just finished my exit exam for school which was a major time suck. Plus, I was on my death bed for the past week with the worst cold of my life. But now that I’m healthy and so close to being completely done with school, I’m ready to dedicate my life, mind, body and soul, to flowers. And the big news is I’ve...
2 tags
Update: Paper Flower Wedding
Big news: The bride from the paper flower wedding, a.k.a. my first post, has a DIY tutorial on 100 Layer Cake for the oversized centerpieces. AND the best part is, they don’t seem impossible to recreate. Get to work, kids! P.S. Big thanks to my amazing friend Lizz (getting married next summer!) who alerted me to these posts and turned me on to 100 Layer Cake, my new favsie blog where I...
2 tags
Boutonnieres, Part I
Boutonnieres, or ‘bouteniers’ as I’ve been spelling it for most of my life, are tricky business. They’re typically small, which makes them difficult to work with; they have to blend with the setting and capture the wearers special persona; and I’ve encountered many men who think that they’re too girly. Welcome to 2010, boys. No, not even. Boutonnieres are a...
October 2010
7 posts
3 tags
Billy Balls, teehee
Like succulents, yellow billy balls are a huge trend at the moment. Aside from their silly, silly name, billy balls have a very whimsical-yet-modern aesthetic. Billy ball bouquet! Billy balls AND succulents in a funky alternative container?? Trend meets trend meets trend. I love the hand-tied bouquet in a vase look. Adorable boutenierNot exactly billy balls, but billy ball inspired. Another...
3 tags
The problem of calling yourself a florist
The term florist is so limiting and one that I’m not entirely keen on attaching to myself. I can’t be boxed in by labels. Plus, people hear ‘florist’ and a variety of images come to mind, largely ones that don’t capture the art behind the craft or acknowledge the working with flowers as a craft at all. But what are my options? ‘Floral designer’ is too...
4 tags
Martha Stewart Weddings: 50 Great Wedding Bouquets...
I feel about Martha Stewart the way I do about Michael Jackson. Total creep, undeniable genius. Exhibit A: 50 Great Wedding Bouquets from Ms. Stewart, the queen of, well, everything. Some of my favorites below.
4 tags
Succulents. So hot right now.
I have always loved succulents. I think it’s their textures, colors and the nostalgia of my grandfather’s succulent garden that draws me to them. I have the cutest little guy on my windowsill that I bought at Trader Joe’s more than a year ago and it’s still alive—a testament to succulents’ fortitude and moxie. In short, I think they’re the bomb. And, it...
4 tags
Ribbon Flowers? Yes, please.
All of the below were pulled from Maihar Design. Links to their Etsy shop and maihrdesign.com. I would wear these everyday. Flower ‘wand’ as a sleek alternative to the nosegay. The pillow is a little trite, but the flower is so sweet!Perfect for flower girls of all ages.
7 tags
Bouquets of Beauty and Bounty (aka. I heart...
Lovely eucalyptus leaves. Pops of purples. Delicate, yet decadent. (succulents strike again!) Flirty foliage. Surprising succulents. Moss much? Love. Lavender. Wild and wonderful. Wiggly whites. Bushes of babies-breath. Utterly unusual
2 tags
Paper Flower Wedding
Alice in Wonderland-esque wedding punctuated with oversized realistic crepe flowers and colorful homemade paper flowers. From 100 Layer Cake. Giant bouquet Giant centerpieces Smaller bunches make for fanciful accents on the cakes table
