ISFA Spring Conference 2014

It's that time of year again--spring conference with Illinois State Florists' Association.  

This year, welcome to the jungle!

 

A Thank You Photo Note to ISFA

Dear ISFA,

 I just returned from Hitomi's class at Nature's Creative Edge in Michigan.   Thank you so much for the 2013 McKinley Educational Grant that funded my tuition and travel.  It was a fantastic experience and I'd love to share a few scenes from the class with you.

Hitomi brought lots of inspiration from internationally acclaimed architects which was all new information to me. Frank Lloyd Wright--yes, I'm familiar with the Dana Thomas House and can recognize his influence.  But Serra, Gehry, Calatrava, Gaudi, Liebeskind, Piano, Reynolds. . . who are all these people?!?  Amazing artists who have created amazing buildings.

This was my first experience assisting on such a large installation.  Each participant was asked to make 15 solid, strong armatures and then they were all incorporated together.  The tin sheets were recycled from a local newspaper print.  The fire engine red and silver lit up in the afternoon sunshine.  

The woods were absolutely beautiful.  Nature and man-made designs. . . such a contrast.

  

Here Hitomi is sharing direction for this portion of the design where it was to taper down to a point. Carnations were to be placed throughout the red-painted structure, massed more heavily at the top, gradually decreasing down into individuals blossoms and petals at the bottom, and then uplighted with a spot.

The moss panels were fabulous.  (I think my garden might need one or two of these too!)  Red anthurium were to be placed on the inside of the panels, so that glimpses of the flowers would be viewed from outside and to invite closer inspection of the inside of the structure.

Can't wait to see pictures of the final design with lighting at night!

Overall, this was a great learning experience with theoretical discussion and practical application of line, color, texture and contrast, space and form, balance, asymmetry, scale and proportion, dominance, movement, mechanics. . .  All in the midst of a beautiful setting with great people.  I can't thank you enough for the opportunity.

From the woods,

Kynda

PS--So many other individuals to thank too!  Hitomi for her commitment to inspiring us all to create, Bob Friese for welcoming us into his home, James Lutcke for the year-round work that he does for this event, the Michigan Floral Association, and all the AIFD designers who attend from all over the country to make this fundraiser a not-to-be missed event. 

I can't wait to go back next year! 

 

ISFA Spring Conference 2013

By John Hosek.   Lots of wire work, lots of bling . . . 

 

Definitely want to make one of these!

. . . Bling, Bling, Bling . . .

See You In September

A HuGe thank you to Illinois State Florist Association for the Bill McKinley Education Grant.   I was thrilled when you called my name!  Hitomi and Bob Friese--I'll see you in Fruitport this September :)

Pick Me Up At Four Thirty

So today was a better day.  Everyday is a better day when flowers are involved.  I have to work on this swan though.  His wings are way too big for the rest of him.  The best part of a hands-on class is going home and fixing everything that went wrong the first time ;)

Thank you to Mark, the best husband in the whole world, for the curb service!

How Sick Was I?

So sick  that I missed Gregor Lersch's class that I've been looking forward to for months!  Never dreamed I'd be able to take a class with him.  And here he is just down the street and I'm too sick to go. 

See that bucket in the middle front table?  That was supposed to be my spot.  Yes, I am feeling pretty sorry for myself!  I know it's not really all that big of a deal if you look at the big scheme of things.  I'm not dying (but I was starting to wonder at one point).  Everyone I love is safe and sound.  I'm not homeless.  I have a good job and the best husband in the whole world (who went out, even tho he feels like s#*t too, to get  my favorite drug of choice, Coca-Cola).

But still, this was a bummer.  Hoping tomorrow is better.  There's still two days of flower convention left to see!

Table Flowers

 

As my mom says, it's good to feel happy again.  Jeff was discharged from the hospital today and they stopped off at Potbelly's on the way home.  He has some work ahead to build up his strength and to give his lungs time to heal.  We are so thankful thankful.  For those of you who have been praying for us, we appreciate it so much. 

Here are pictures from the tablescape competition at the conference last weekend.  The designs were awesome.  Loved the roping of hyacinth florets in the shot above. 

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So many pretty ones.  There was a three way tie for first place.  Has that ever happened before?

Beautiful design by Amy, who was my first flower school teacher and  now my friend and mentor.  Mark went to the banquet with me and it was a lovely dinner sitting at such a beautiful table with the good company of Amy and her husband Jeff.  

These two tied for first place, along with this design over on the Petals & Co blog. 

So after a flower-filled weekend at the ISFA conference and a week in Michigan with Jeff & PJ & my mom, tomorrow is back to a regular routine at work.  Of course, I'm going to take some flowers :)

Sunday Report

Hitomi closed the show this afternoon, and her designs were fabulous.  Afterwards, they were sold as a fundraiser for the association.  I almost got into a fight with a woman over another design.  Me, ready to fight. . .   I did not want to give that little guy up!  But in the end, I let her have it.  Only because she said she had already paid for it and because I figured if I did have to hit her, I probably wouldn't get to enjoy the design anyway.

And then I found this one.  I love it.  And I didn't have to fight anyone for it :)

Jeff is better!  Off the vent today.  We are so thankful.    Tomorrow I'm on the train to spend a few days with him and my mom and my sister.  It's been a good day.

Hitomi Class

Hitomi showed me how to do this!  It was a really good class with such an inspiring woman.  My friend and mentor Amy said the only down side to the class was it didn't last long enough.

 

Our Jeff Powers has made some progress over the last couple of days.  It is very slow going and he is still very sick, but we are so so so thankful.      Please keep praying with us for his recovery. 

Spring Corsages

 

I took a corsage class at the state conference.  Neither of these look anything like the ones we did in class! But still, I had fun with them.  Love that new flat wire that's in the above picture.  And the green one below was made for St. Paddy's Day.  Did you ever go to school without any green way back then?  I remember getting pinched, so I really try to remember the green even after all these years :)

Rocking to the Beat Floral Design Trends 2011

Bill Harper put on a great show!  He was so nice in the workroom and his designs were awesome.  Loved the apples, the yarn, the  strings of hypericum. 

 

Natural garden of yellow runuculus, pussy willow, and bear grass. 

Time to go to the produce section of the grocery to get some orange orange orange!



















The pink nerine bouquet was spectacular.














This is  what happens after a show--everybody goes up to get a closer look and take pictures.  There's Des from Petals & Co in the yellow and black dress.   We had such a good time.

J Schwanke at the Friday night Rockin' Weddings show.  He's always entertaining and inspiring.  I love his how-to-arrange-flowers videos, also known as jtv, on ubloom.

Katie Selmi helped J make designs for his show and this is one of my favorites.  Love the photo cube that was available for pictures.  Today is the last day of the conference.  Thank you so much to ISFA for such a great show!

Let It Rock ISFA 2011

It's that time of year again!  Illinois State Florists' Association Spring Conference, just a couple of miles from Canada Garden.  I had a great time helping  yesterday.  Loved hanging out with Michelle, her mom Gail, Frankie, Adam.   Yes, it was lots of work--stuffing gift bags, breaking down boxes, sweeping, lifting, bending.  (Gail and I decided it was great training for all the gardening we'll soon be doing.)  The flowers are luscious--every box that we opened was filled with gorgeous stems--hellebores, clematis, hanging helaconia,  RoSeS, orchids, gerbs, lysemachia, amaranthus. . . And over the next few days, all those stems will be used to make fabulous art.  Watch for more pictures from this flower-filled weekend.  Can you tell I'm a happy girl??   :)

ISFA Tablescape Competition

This was my favorite entry in the tablescape competition, by designer Jane Lindley of True Colors.  So much detail--the tablecloth was covered with leaves, the placemats were woven foliages, and I loved her galax roses.   Beautiful!

Flowers At Work

These were flowers for the office last week, made in one of the hands-on classes at the conference.   I'm working on a  presentation for social work month about the impact of flowers in the workplace.   I'll tell you more about that soon!

Friday Flowers

Tropical Connection

Phil Rulloda is one of the most famous floral designers in the world.  And here he was, in Springfield, with us on Saturday night!  Every single piece was incredible.Did I mention that every single design was incredible?  Awesome?  Breath-taking.This was the closing design, with the Christ-on-the-cross woven into the palm fan.  It was so beautiful, I cried.Here's Phil with his assistant Phan.  It was a gorgeous show.  Thank you to them.  And thank you ISFA.