Your Presence is Requested....

White Iris Designs opens in our new location, Wednesday, Oct. 1st at 9 AM and we request the honor of your presence to share in this grand occasion.
I have posted a few photos of some of the vignettes that we have displayed, more will be posted later this week!

Thank you to all of my family & friends who have supported me with prayer, kind words, manual labor & encouragement, without you this could not have been possible. I would especially like to thank Val, my designer, for all of her extra help, even though she about broke me with her 110 1/2 hours she put in the last 2 weeks!! She was a doll!

Thank you to my sis, you have kept me on course, listened to my rants, encouraged me when I was exhausted, but mostly you were just there whenever I needed you. If not in person always in spirit! I am grateful for a wonderful friend like you, love ya!xo

How Many Men Does it Take....

Finally...the essential part of my business has been moved! So just how many men does it take to move a flower cooler...well for this flower lady that would be 4!
After finding out how many thousands of dollars it would cost me to replace my cooler, I opted to hire professionals who were licensed, bonded & insured.
Here are a few photos I took, much to the dismay of the men moving it. I told them they were for my blog, just for fun....they accused me of taking them for insurance purposes...LOL
As you can see from the last photo (in the corner)...it has arrived safely to it's new home...no insurance photos needed!!

New Autumn Jewelry Designs

Here are a few new designs for the fall season.

I love this time of the year with all of the earthy warm colors & textures. As you can see I am also still hooked on copper. I just love the warmth & richness it gives to my jewelry designs. The color of copper plays nicely off the autumn colors in the beads I am using as well as a fall wardrobe.

The double stranded pearl necklace is another in the series of Vintage Button Designs...this one is champagne & mocha colored pearls with vintage copper glass buttons.

I have also been using hand dyed silk ribbons in some pieces. The necklace in the middle is a coconut shell hoop with a charm of various complimentary beads, including a rectangular carnelian bead. The coconut shell hoop & charm are attached to a sage green hand dyed silk ribbon that can be tied behind your neck at various lengths to suit your outfit.

I also love the look of the mocha & champagne pearls with copper in the charm necklace at the bottom. This is definitely not your Grandmother's pearl necklace!

Faux Finish "Masterpiece"

As you know I have been working diligently on the counter tops in my new flower shop. A while back I posted the beginning stages of this project with the promise to share with you the finished "masterpiece".

As it turned out getting the look I was wanting was a bit more difficult than this faux painter was prepared for. I had hoped for a copper patina finish..or verdigris..but as you can see from the photos, it is not exactly what I achieved. But I can say, that after many hours of time & several coats paint, glaze & metal flakes, using many different painting methods, the look I finally reached is pretty good. I like it and I think it plays well with the rest of the cabinetry in the shop. It is definitely a much warmer look than that of the pickled finish I started with.

The photos are in the order of the different layers of painting methods I applied.
I would love for you all to see it in person, as I find it difficult to photograph it as it truly appears.

Memorial Tributes....Make it Personal!

Have you ever found yourself in need of sending some sort of memorial tribute and not really knowing what to ask your florist for? Many of my customers rely on me to guide them through the process of choosing what type of design they wish to send.

At White Iris Designs we love to personalize sympathy or memorial tributes. Design them using things that reflects who this person was or what they loved. We also like to use keepsakes along with fresh flowers so that after the flowers are gone the family members have something nice to keep.

This memorial bouquet was designed for the service of Wayne Lambert, the man who worked for my husband, his father & his grandfather, on our family farm, for over 35 years. I used a vintage basket with Gerbera Daisies, Lilies, Alostromeria, Roses, Italian Ruscus, Millet, Field Corn & Wheat. This was the bouquet that we sent from our family to honor Wayne's life & his many years of loyal, dedicated service to our family. He was very quiet & gentle, yet strong as an ox. We called him our gentle giant. We will miss him dearly.

The next time you need to order for a memorial service, try to send something a bit different that speaks about the person you are honoring. The family will appreciate the extra thought.

As a florist, I have a huge problem with other florists who use funeral services as a way to "clean out the cooler" ridding themselves of old flowers when making their bouquets. This is the final tribute to this person & I feel I should give them my best. I enjoy the challenge of creating unique displays for my customers to send for their loved ones & friends.

Your designs are your best source of advertising, why not put your best work out there. You are advertising to a lot of people in a short period of time.

iEmporium's Childhood Cancer Awareness & Research Auction

Above is the bracelet I have donated for the iEmporium Auction for Childhood Cancer Awareness & Research.

Kim's Wish Bracelet

This cuff style bracelet is designed using sterling silver beads, lamp work glass, ceramic beads & fine silver over ceramic beads on sterling wire. It is accented with hand wrapped sterling tube beads & is finished with a hand made swan style closure.

This is being donated in honor of a family friend's daughter who battled cancer when she was 2 years old. We just recently discovered that she is now fighting congestive heart failure due to the weakening of her heart that occurred during her treatments over 18 years ago. Praying for her complete recovery ...again!

Please visit iEmporium and place your bids. There is a wonderful array of unique items up for auction.

Here are the guidelines for bidding:

This auction is open to members and the public. If you don't already have a membership with us, you will need to sign up for an account. Approval will be made immediately and you will be able to bid immediately. All bids will be made under each forum entry. You will use the "Reply to This" box and leave your bid. You can bid as many times as you want as long as you bid the appropriate increment.

1. All items will have a starting bid amount based on their retail value. IF YOU ARE THE FIRST BIDDER ON AN ITEM, YOU MUST BID THE STARTING BID!

2. There will be a set bid increment on each item also based on the retail amount.

3. You MUST bid the minimum bid increment to have a eligible bid.

4. Bids that do not meet the minimum bid increment will be deleted.

5. On some items there will be a Guaranteed Bid Price. If someone bids this amount, they automatically win that item.

6. Winners have 72 hours from the time they are notified by email to pay their winning bid. If 72 hours lapses without payment, the next highest bid will be declared the winner.

If you have ANY questions about bidding, please ask Melissa before placing a bid. All proceeds from this auction will go to benefit Childhood Cancer Awareness & Research. Thank you to all who have contributed and to all that bid!

Mason's Photo Shoot for Senior Pictures

A couple of weeks ago I took my youngest son, Mason to have his senior pictures taken. He had a clear idea as to what he wanted & it became my job to scout out the perfect photographer. This was a decision that took me alomst 6 months...I know a bit obsessive. But as you can see from just a few of the over 300 shots April, of Pure Photography, took of him, it was well worth the wait.

I thought I'd share with you my shots of her photographing him & then the finished photo that she got. In addition to those, I have included a couple of the other shots that I just loved. One is the silhouette shot of him in the river with his duck & geese decoys. The other one is of him walking away on the banks of the river with decoys in hand.

I love how she captured HIM...all of these shots are totally Mason's personality. He is an avid outdoors man & wanted this type of shot to be included.

The shot of him in black & white goofing for the camera...was the second shot of the day. It was taken while she was testing the lighting. Never one to be shy or boring...he took full opportunity to ham it up for the camera during these test shots. We now have over 100 pictures to choose from & each one is great. How am I ever to make up my mind?

Each photo can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Please visit April, our talented photographer's, website & blog at:

pure-photography.net
pure-photography.typepad.com

New Flower Shop...1st Project

Storage and cabinetry is very important in a flower shop, and my new shop came with just that. As you can see from the photo, there are 2 rather large storage cabinets with lots of counter top area. But as you can also see from the photo, they were rather boring, blending into the cream walls. Since they are the first thing you see when you walk in, I needed to make them a focal point of the shop. Lots of paint and as I quickly found out, patience, were needed!

When trying to decide what to do with them, I decided to pull my paint colors from the new art work designed for me by Mind of the Muse. So for the last week I have been painting the bottom portion and applying a faux finishing the cabinet tops. I choose the warm brown color for the bottoms & then a Mediterranean Blue for the top. In the photo you can see those colors applied with a copper trim. But it was not what I envisioned, the top was way to stark & flat looking. So plan B has begun. With much research on the internet & many conversations with a very dear artist friend, who has many years of faux painting experience, I have faux painted the tops to replicate copper patina. Verdigris (Greek Green) as it is also known. The photos of the verdigris finish are NOT posted here. You will have to wait for those!!

The first attempt failed, as my paint was way too thick & required glaze to make the paint more pliable & a bit more translucent. During this process many layers of color have been applied. Copper, Dark Green, Minty Green, & then a mixture of mostly glaze with a bit of the copper paint washed over the top.

Today I am applying an Amber tinted Shellac to the tops to continue the aged look, for added depth, & for protection. After that has cured, I am going to add a couple coats of an Acrylic sealant to further protect from the moisture it will see from the day to day work in a flower shop.

Photos of the completed project will be posted probably by the end of the week.
Fingers Crossed!!