Beautiful New Artwork for Logo, Website, & Stationary!

Is your business in need of some creative branding? Why not add some pizazz to your stationary, letterhead, or email? The designing talents of Lisa Conner, owner of Luv 2 Create is just what you are looking for. Lisa was able to take the beautiful art work that was designed for my new logo & website, created by Mind of the Muse, and she designed not 1 but 4 different options to choose from. They were all lovely, which made my choice very difficult.

Above you can see the new White Iris Designs logo/website front page, that Mind of the Muse recently designed for me. The artistic talents of owner/designer, Pansy Van Meter, made this a wonderful experience. She was very attentive to all the details & implemented my ideas along with many of her own to capture the image I wanted to represent me & my company, the essence of White Iris Designs.

Below the logo design, is the lovely banner that was created by Lisa. I love how she used pieces of the logo design and made this banner not a copy, but a beautiful complimentary piece.
Lisa's company also offers to put your designs on such items as; tee shirts, mugs, hats,etc. I plan to add some of these items in the future.

Thank you to both companies & the creative ladies behind them for giving me exactly what I was looking for...something I am truly proud of!!
Both of these ladies & I are members of iEmporium, a wonderful network that brings business merchants & shoppers together. Check out iEmporium for these businesses and many others.

Floral Designs for Inspired Fire's 6th Anniversary!

Friday evening my friend, Sharon Owens, of Inspired Fire Glass Gallery held her 6th Anniversary celebration. Sharon has about 4 to 6 open houses a year in which she showcases no only her work, but the work of her students and other renowned glass artist from around the world.

White Iris Designs has been providing floral designs for these events for quite some time. The celebration on Friday night, was a very special one, not only for Sharon, but for my flower shop too. This time when her guest asked me where my shop was located I could proudly smile and tell them that I would soon be located in their town. Always before, our designs were very highly praised but the guest were disappointed when they were told that my shop was not local. Now that we are moving the flower shop to our new location, the guest's reactions were of great anticipation & excitement. This was music to my ears!!

Above are the designs that we provided for this very special evening.

You may click on the photos to get a better view....while you have them enlarged take a peek at some of the glass pieces in the photos, as well as, some of the beautiful art on the walls of other local artists.

You may visit Inspired Fire at http://inspiredfire.com

A Time For Change.....The Move Begins

As White Iris Designs begins it's 8th year in business, I have decided it is time for change.

I have found myself becoming bored, uninspired & in need of a larger audience in which to offer my designs, both floral & jewelry. The small town I am currently located is a quaint little place & use to have much potential, but over the past few years a couple of the small factories there have closed down which has had a trickle down affect on some of the smaller business in the downtown area where I am located. Many of those have also closed and more are closing at the end of this summer. In addition to these factors, there is a bypass highway being developed to route the traffic completely around our town, which can only further the hardships of small town business.

After about a year of weighing out all of my options, I chose to move my shop to a larger city rather than close it down. The city that I have chosen is a college town, home to Purdue University, in West Lafayette, IN. It is a fast growing community with a very diverse demographic of potential new customers.

Our floral designs will continue to remain artistic, colorful, and unique, all of which I hope will be a fresh & exciting for the residence of this new place we will call home. All of our jewelry designs will be available in our new location as well as our gift items.

This is the first in a series of blogs that I plan to post so you may follow White Iris Designs on this exciting journey. This is going to be a huge undertaking but I am hopeful for wonderful results & great success. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as this new beginning gets underway.

Here are a few photos of the shop's interior & the front door of our current location...next post will have the before photos of the new shop's interior & exterior.

Dendrobium Orchids....A Real Show Stopper!

Every week I take a bouquet of fresh flowers to the chiropractic office where my husband works & this is the one they received today. Each week it is a challenge for me to find something that is not only longer lasting but it has to be unique.

I just love how this one turned out & thought I'd share it with you.

Purple Dendrobium Orchids, Lavender Misty Blue & Lily Grass....Stunning! Most of my customers are very pleasantly surprised when they find out that orchids for the most part are a very long lasting fresh flower. They can be kind of pricey, anywhere from $4.00 to $6.00 a stem and up. But for the WOW factor and the vase life you get from them...what a wonderful investment for a gift or for yourself.

They come in a variety of colors, such as white, citrus green, lavender, purple, pink, and sometimes variegated.

You may click on the photos to enlarge them for a closer look...ENJOY!!!

Gerbera Daisies Take Their Place in Wedding Designs

Saturday I completed another bride's dream wedding with her chosen floral designs.
This bride wanted a very simple design, she chose gerbera daisies in 3 shades of pinkish peach, that complimented the chocolate brown bridesmaid's dresses.

As you can see from the photos above, this wedding was pretty straight forward, hand held style bouquets with ribbon wrapped stems of gerbera daisies with seeded eucalyptus greenery. In the bridal bouquet, we added pinkish peach hypericum berries. The Maid of Honor's bouquet was a smaller version of the bride's minus the berries & each of the 3 bridesmaids carried a bouquet of gerbera daisies each one using a single shade of pink.

The groom's boutioneere was a pink mini gerbera daisy with the hypericum berries,& the rest of the boutioneeres were hypericum berries & greenery. (Those are not pictured here)

Although not considered a traditional wedding flower, the gerbera daisy has become one of the most popular flowers that I sell, and is fast becoming a very popular wedding flower. I would not consider using it if you are trying to achieve a romantic, elegant look. It lends itself well to the more casual & fun theme of a wedding.

Gerbera daisies come in a large array of colors and are also available in a miniture version. Using them in wedding design can be tricky if they are not used in a style of bouquet that can remain in a water source, as they will rapidly wilt, especially in the heat of the summer. When wanting to use them in corsages & boutioneeres, your florist should wait to complete those designs until the latest possible time, to avoid the risk of wilting.

Graduation Saturday...From Canoe to Kayak!

As you know I love the out of doors & enjoy sharing my experiences with you in my blog and with my photos. I have found some of the most inexpensive, relaxing & beautiful days have been spent on the Wildcat Creek near our home. We have been on several canoe trips this summer which have all resulted in fun, fish and great photos. And NO tip overs!!

This past Saturday, my husband felt that I was ready to graduate from the 2 man canoe, to the 1 woman kayak. Against my better judgment, I agree to the challenge and prayed I had not lost my mind...........and now I must confess.....I loved it!!

We put in the creek above the dam and paddled up the creek ...then floated and fished our way back toward the dam. The entire trip was about 5 hours but worth every minute. Today, I will honestly say that kayaking is much more of a workout than canoing, as my arms and lower back keep reminding me!

Now I think I might know what I am getting for Christmas,... my very own kayak!!

Here are a few photos from our trip.