Petal & Pins

Tag: hydrangeas

March 25, 2019

The Devil Is In The Detail

March 2019 In a Vase on Monday

I think autumn is one of my favourite months to join Cathy from Rambling In The Garden’s Monday blog post project In A Vase On Monday. 

There’s always an eclectic mix of colour and shapes to choose from in my garden at this time and the end result is often bolder and more considered in the way I put things together.

This morning I’ve chosen to use my glass vase that has a swirl of crimson around the top thinking it would pick up the colour of the crabapples growing in our hedge.

The ones I could reach to pick are a much more golden hue, and with a trio of pink roses I also picked  some mottled hydrangeas to tie it all together.

A stack of magazines was a practical solution as a makeshift plinth to raise the flowers for photographing but I thought the gorgeous rich image on the cover of Flowbulous magazine also created a beautiful backdrop!

I bought the magazine in Japan last year and it’s full of incredible photographs and flowers by Atsushi Taniguchi.

Flowbulous Magazine_

As I arranged my vase I began to realise I’d not picked nearly enough for such a wide necked vase and at that moment it started to pour with rain. My solution? the gum nuts sitting undercover on the verandah and some hydrangeas dried from last autumn in the palest of pink.

For Me By Dee print and vase of flowers

The gum nuts of course add a distinctive Australian touch to my vase so I decided to photograph it with Desmond the Tasmanian devil – a beautiful print from an original watercolour drawing by Melbourne artist Daniella Leo.

And that is what’s inspired this Monday’s blog post title!

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March 13, 2019

Autumn Vase

autumn hydrangeas, antique silver rose bowl and cookbook

autumn hydrangeas

 

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March 26, 2018

Flower Lamp

autumn style mantle by petal & pins

I’m joining Cathy from Rambling in the Garden for In A Vase On Monday albiet with one I arranged on Saturday night as it’s raining this morning.

It’s been raining on and off for the last four days – not that I’m complaining because the garden needs it and it’s the perfect excuse as the mornings get darker to pull the quilt up tighter and ignore the alarm clock for a few minutes more.

I love this time of year when summer gives way to autumn, it feels like life slows a little and reminds you to take a moment to just breathe and be still – which is funny really because as the days get shorter you would think it woud bring a sense of urgency that you have less time to do all that needs to be done!

The hydrangeas have just about finished for the season but their late season faded colours are a favourite of mine and I’ve been leaving them to dry in vases around the house.

On Saturday evening after a day of grey skies and rain I decided to add a bit of autumn style to the mantle piece by filling a large cylindrical glass vase with dried hydrangea heads intertwinded with fairy lights.

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Want to try making your own ‘Flower Lamp’ vase? This is what you’ll need.

  • glass vase or jar
  • dried hydrangeas
  • secateurs or scissors to remove the stems close to the flower heads
  •  fairy lights

I have used Down To The Woods battery operated LED string lights that are on malleable wire that can be twisted and scrunched. The small battery box can be neatly tucked out of sight behind the vase so you can easily turn it off and on when you want!

I love the soft cozy effect the twinkling vase creates and I’m now keen to try out the idea with autumn leaves.

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March 6, 2017

Coming & Going

autumn-vase-2017
autumn-vase
snow-berries-and-hydrangeas
pink-and-green-hydrangeas

And just like that summer is over…I feel like I missed it I’ve been so busy but I did get to go for a blissful swim in the ocean in Sydney before I flew to Los Angeles to attend a paper camp for small independent stationery designers.

Crossing the international dateline is a strange thing depending on which way you’re travelling, I lost a Tuesday on the way back and it was offically autumn when I arrived home.

I love after I’ve been away to wander in the garden and see what’s different from when I left – the apples now have their rosey tint, the dogwood leaves are turning russet and the hydrangea hues are fading.

Today I’m joining Cathy from Rambling in The Garden for In a Vase On Monday and while mine is showing the beginnings of autumn in my garden hers will be decidedly showing the delights of spring!

Cathy invites you to take a few minutes to pick something where you are (even if it involves a bit of foraging) and share by leaving a link to and from her weekly post.

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April 17, 2016

Gathered

vintage flower basket with hydrangeasAgnes the labradoodle with flower basket

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April 11, 2016

A Floral Gift

petal & pins hydrangea gown print

Sunday May the 9th is Mothers Day in Australia and a print from my Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe range would make a lovely gift.

Pictured is the Hydrangea Gown – Hydrangeas remind me of my grandmother, I remember watching  and learning from her what to do with the stems before putting them in a vase.

Nasturtium flowers are one I associate with my mother – I have designed and written about them previously in Slightly Defiant & Carefree .

My signed art prints are made with a high quality digital inkjet printer using fine cotton rag art paper and water based archival inks for beautiful long lasting images.

Available in A4 and A3 sizes from the petal & pins online shop (we ship worldwide) and  selected retailers .

In May you can also find me at the following design markets –

Sunday 1st May in Hobart at the market.

Friday to Sunday 6th, 7th & 8th May in Adelaide at Bowerbird Bazaar

Is there a flower that reminds you of your mother or grandmother?

 

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April 4, 2016

Pink Sticks & Pinking Shears

 

 

hydrangeas and autumn foliage

Yesterday I spent a productive afternoon bottling apples from my tree, it was a team effort with my friend Amanda and has started to be an Autumn tradition. Last year we had two vintage vacola units on the go, but this year the apples are early and not quite as plentiful.

We had a small branch of apples left over after filling the bottles which I decided to put to decorative use today for In A Vase On Monday.

My vacola preserver – passed down from my parents – is a wonderful shade of green and having it out made me think of my vintage ‘acorn’ vase. So the apples and vase were my starting point, along with some peony ‘sticks’ which last week I stripped of leaves to show off the lovely pinkness of them.

peony branches

This morning I gathered other foliage and flowers from the garden including hydrangeas, agapanthus seed heads, oak leaf hydrangea leaves, snowberries and a branch of chestnut leaves – I love how they look like they’ve been cut with pinking shears!
vintage vase
autumn 2016 flower arrangement from my garden
apples and oakleaf hydrangea leaves

'In A Vase On Monday' Autumn 2016

In the end I created two arrangements as the acorn vase didn’t seem to need the agapanthus or snowberries. I like how you can see the pink peony stems through the cut glass vase, and I couldn’t help but show off some of yesterdays effort!

preserved apples and autumn vase

In A Vase On Monday is hosted by Cathy – her garden is in the north east rural fringe of the West Midlands, UK – why not see what Spring delights she is starting to find and share something from your garden.

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January 19, 2016

Short & Sweet

hydrangea mannequin

I had  planned to write about something all together different – I’ve had a post half written and something new from my Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe to share for well over a week… best laid plans and all that.

So it is just going to be short and sweet – a bit like this dress I created this morning on the miniature dressmaker’s stand that usually sits on my workroom mantle piece.

 

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January 4, 2016

Imprint

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It’s a new year and I have a new vase, a Xmas present from Mr Petal & Pins!

It is by Tasmanian designer Sally Cassandra and features a striking imprint of lace that has been pressed into the surface and highlighted with black glaze.

It also has this interesting detail applied to the inside which makes it a striking object just on its own which is how I’ve been enjoying it displayed on the mantle piece since Xmas.

Yesterday we  did some pruning in the garden and with a few small branches of maple leaves too beautiful to just add to the compost pile I decided to create my first 2016 flower arrangement for In a Vase On Monday.

I picked hydrangeas and lavender growing by the front of the house, both are such a mass of blooms I will be able to have several vases full and still have a showy display outside. The last addition was a piece of trumpet vine – the flowers similar in colour to the hydrangea but a nice contrast in shape.

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In a Vase On Monday was started by Cathy from Rambling In The Garden as a weekly ritual of bringing something from the garden inside no matter what the season – why not join in for 2016 – post a link to yours in her comments section or add #inavaseonmonday to your instagram pics.

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April 13, 2015

A String Of Pearls

rowan tree berriesautumn hydrangeaOn a Sunday morning walk I came across a Rowan Tree. I didn’t know that was what it was at the time and needed to do a bit of sleuthing when I got home.

It was the pink tinged white berries that caught my eye. I immediately thought of them as perfect for strands of ‘pearls’ for my garden fairy and picked a few sprigs to bring home to play with.

Walking back down my path to the front door I passed the hydrangeas, they too are tinged pink and the russet tones they start to turn as they dry out with the onset of Autumn.

I decided to  combine them in a floral arrangement using my ikebana vase and included some cuttings from one of my plum trees.

ikebana flower arrangementikebana and velvetInspired by a  post on the blog pbm Garden for ‘In A Vase On Monday’ I twisted the plum stems into a knot, soaking them in hot water to soften them up beforehand.

plum knotIt’s a while since I’ve used this vase – it requires such a different approach to flower arrangement so I experimented with several ideas and I think this one is my favourite.

ikebana arrangemnet twodetailAnd then I got a needle and thread to string some garden pearls.
rowan berry pearls‘In a Vase  on Monday’ was started by Cathy. She invites you to join her challenge to find something from the garden to put in a vase each week – what ever the season. So why not get inspired and share your vase arrangement in the comment section of her blog Rambling In The Garden.

 

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