It's Show-off Monday at Etsy Cottage

First I'd like to thank Marcella for hosting this get-together. I can't wait to see others projects and ideas! This is a great way to start off an otherwise mundane Monday.

I thought to kick off this Monday with a bit of a change of pace. You usually see my flowery stitches and fiber art, but today I'd like to show you what we create on a day to day basis at our floral design studio. As some of you know, and for those who don't, in every day life I am a Master Floral Designer. My family has owned A&J's Floral Boutique(R) in Cincinnati, Ohio since 1972. Over the years we have received national awards for our designs, service and quality in competitions and from wire services. We have also received numerous medals at the Cincinnati Flower Show, the only US flower show affiliated with the Royal Horticultural Society (Chelsea Flower Show) in England. We are very proud of achieving the Cincinnati Horticultural Society Gold Medal of Excellence for quality and design. At our shop we try to give clients more than they expect, whether it be in service or in designs. We have always mixed flowers with the unexpected to create one-of-a-kind designs. Be it for an everyday design or something special. We have filled bedpans for hospital designs, baby shoes for first grandchildren, we even used a whole switchboard system with flowers and foliages to create a permanent divider to be used on a half wall in a home for a retirement gift. Some of my Brown Gingham Creations are incorporated into our floral designs also. The totes I design are filled with hand-tied bouquets instead of being wrapped in just plain tissue. And, I also create custom wedding pillows for some of our brides using vintage textiles and flowers. One Monday I'll have to show those.
This is one of our exclusive designs, The A&J's Memories Box(C).
We use assorted botanicals....every day flowers to exotics..... design them in unique keepsake boxes and add accents that have meaning to the recipient. This particular order was a Sympathy Tribute for a Mother from her Son. She always had Hershey Kisses(R) in bowls in her nursing home room, which everyone would stop in for, and she loved pink roses. So, we took a satin floral motif shell, pearl, and sequin, mirrored keepsake box and filled it with fragrant pink long stem roses, snapdragons, and french carnations. We had to complete the design with babies breath for a lacy look, and, of course lots of Kisses paved at the bottom around the design.








We just loved the iridescent pinks of the shells and sequins that were brought out by the pink flowers.



This is a close-up of the paved french carnations and cluster of roses that are reflected in the mirror giving the almost 3' design even more dimension.















Each Memories Box and flower combo are different. No two are quite the same, and, they are done for any occasion. We even create them using the clients own vintage keepsakes like photos, teddy bears, figurines, hankies, jewelry,etc. Anything that has memories can go into the box and create tabletop or shelf vignettes. We use permanent botanicals, foliages, and dried flower as accents for those. They are our 'Treasures of the Past' Collection(C).

Well I hope you enjoyed seeing what I do in real life. I can truly say I love my work. Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you stop by again soon.
Melody