If I could give all of my flower designer friends a present, the present would be Francoise.  The 3 day session that I am participating in is a wedding workshop. This workshop starts each morning with a planned discussion. Francoise touches upon everything from buying and ordering flowers, all the way up to loading the van. Once the note taking is finished and the discussion time is over, Francoise begins her demonstrations.  Since I know a thing or two about weddings, Francoise worried that I might be bored at her class. Ha, that was not even remotely possible, Francoise has more tricks up her sleeve than anyone in the industry. Because of this remarkable class, I now know those tricks to. I am growing so much from this experience as a designer, as a teacher, and as a wedding expert.

Thankfully my mind is racing with countless new design possibilities. Because of Francoise I now have the knowledge or the ability to build them. The engineering behind even her very simple structures is wizardry. Time with Francoise is so magical that you feel as if you are under a spell, honestly it’s really like that.  She is so captivating and enthralling  that you find yourself nearly in a coma of contentment, then suddenly you realize several hours have passed. When you awaken from the spell you are a better designer.  I promise you Francoise really is magical.

My first design of the day was this artichoke creation. Super fun and surprisingly easy because Francoise has a secret trick!!

Next I created a color blocked centerpiece, I began with all yellow flowers, that graduated to hot pink, and then a gathering of  orange. Small succulents and filler flowers were used to blend the colors together.  I also added in some of Francoise’s rustic wood carvings.

Later in the day we created botanical purses. I will try and take some more pictures for you tomorrow my camera is unfortunately acting up.

Now I must get to bed because I need to be up and going by 5:45 am. We are headed to the flower market!!!