Petal & Pins

Tag: winter

June 20, 2017

Pink Skies & Shrimp Tails

winter sky

Winter skies are always beautiful in Hobart around dusk with pink hued clouds alluminated by the setting sun.

The aptly named flowering Shrimp Tail Salvia echos the colours of the evening sky and the leaves turn to patches of burgundy and green like an exotic camouflage print, perfect for the Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe.™

I once mistakenly picked this flower for a floral arrangement,  the strong scent becomes more intense inside and is not at all pleasant – definitely a flower to simply admire in the garden.

botanical couture by petal & pins

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August 31, 2016

Hellebore Happiness

hellebore flowers

petal & pins dress in progress

hellebore rufflesToday is the last day of winter in the southern hemisphere and I couldn’t let it pass without a post inspired by one of my favourite winter flowers!

Hellebores have become one of my favourite flowers to design with for my Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe and I couldn’t resist buying a new variety recently when purchasing some hedging plants to cover a side fence, so you can expect to see more of them appear in the petal & pins range of cards and prints!

If you love hellebores as much as I do and are on instagram I have started the hashtag #helleborehappiness and invite you to share your favourite photos.

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June 24, 2016

Unexpected Colours

vintage flower dress

We were sent a beautiful bouquet of flowers at the end of May and I put them in the hallway to enjoy in passing and to avoid the rapid decline that a vase of flowers can have in a room that is heated during winter.

I try to remember to change the water and snip stems regularly but sometimes it’s easy to forget in the bustle of life. I also like to let a vase linger past its prime – there is beauty in decaying flowers – shapes change and unexpected colours appear.

Ahead of the weekend I decided to empty that hallway vase and another, but not before turning the aged beauty they contained into a Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe dress.

In my Meet The Maker interview I spoke about my childhood ‘dress up box’ and my inspiration for this particular Garden Fairy’s dress was the idea of it coming out of such a box or an old suitcase – transformed with age and time into something quite different with a special beauty.

There are bergenias, lilies, proteas and gerberas in the mix, can you imagine it brand new!

floral decay 1
blue tinge

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June 6, 2016

Rainy Day Grey

vase elements

It’s been raining on and off all weekend and most of today – so its too wet for joining along with In A Vase On Monday.

Instead I decided to share this photo of some of the elements I used  in a previous Monday vase.

You can see their colourful versions in Berries & Birdcages.

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May 26, 2016

De Rigueur

flower glove

There has been a distinct chill in the air this week in Hobart so there is no mistaking winter is almost here. I’ve delayed walking the dog until late morning hoping for a little sunshine – but I’ve needed to be quick to catch it. A coat is now de rigueur and its time to bring out the gloves too!

4 Comments
August 21, 2015

Early Signs Of Spring

© Sandra Alcorn 2015

© Sandra Alcorn 2015

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August 10, 2015

A Lovely Reminder

If you joined me on ‘A Twilight Stroll’ you will have seen some of the blossom that is out at the moment in my neighbourhood.
blossom dress detail
The other day I created a blossom dress for my Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe from the first of our plum trees to flower.  I don’t harvest a lot of the fruit from this tree as it is a small variety of plum and the birds are quick to feast on them.

blossom dress bodice detail

In the past I’ve made a sweet chilli plum sauce, a rather laborious process I must confess, but a delicious result. Perhaps it’s the year to make the effort to do so again.

I do however always pick some branches of the blossom to bring inside. They don’t last long but are such a pretty thing to have in a vase – and a lovely reminder to savour life’s fleeting moments.

My great aunt passed on her secret of spraying blossom with hairspray to make it last a little longer. Practical tip or old wives tale who knows, but I like to believe it does work not least for the fond memories it conjures up of her!

With guests for dinner on Saturday night, naturally at least one of the many vases I filled featured blossom.

Our other plum is now flowering so I combined branches of the two. The one I created my garden fairy’s dress with has lovely deep reddish brown leaves and the softest of pink blossom and the other has light green leaves and a pure white blossom.

plum blossom

I put this arrangement in the bathroom (with a squirt of hairspray!) and I’m sharing it as my ‘In A Vase On Monday’ – started by Cathy from Rambling in the Garden she invites you to share what you gather from your garden each week.

By the time I photographed it this afternoon the warmth of being inside had unfurled most of the leaves…meanwhile outside one tree is a fairy floss like froth of blossom and the other just a sprinkling of blooms.

Is it any wonder they have inspired a Garden Fairy’s dress!

petal & pins plum blossom dress

8 Comments
July 29, 2015

A Twilight Stroll

It’s a pretty time of the year to walk around my neighbourhood with lots of  blossom trees flowering. Yesterday I took my camera with me so join me on a twilight stroll…

blossom treesblossom

blossom trees and wattle

twilight and blossomblossom in July

walking the dog

twilight strollBlossom in July

twilight in Hobart

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July 17, 2015

Subtle Shading

The japonica is just starting to flower in my garden and I picked a few sprays to put in a vase with the buds still closed.

japonica sprays

In the warmth inside they opened into lovely tones of cream and peachy pink instead of the usual bright colour that punctuates the bareness of my patchwork hedge in winter.

japonica flowers
The colours remind me of a hat that once belonged to my grandmother. I think the delicate layered feathers would have once been a more uniform tone but I like the subtle shading created by the passing of time.

vintage hat

That faded glamour also inspired me to create this dress for my Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe with the japonica flowers.

japonica flower dress

2 Comments
July 14, 2015

The Spider & the Snake

hellebore vasehellebores and cobra head lilybeaded spider & cobra head lilyI love the painterly petals of the crimson hellebores in my garden and they have provided inspiration for many a Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe dress.

The word I would use for the cobra head lilies though would be intrigued!

Moving to a house with an established garden unveils many surprises through the seasons and even over several years and the cobra head lilies were certainly one for me.

I had not come across them before and was slightly startled when I glimpsed one out of the corner of my eye when weeding one day.

I’ve added one to my hellebore posie with some cyclamen leaves in an old brass vase which is the ‘sister’ one to that which I used in my In A Corner post.

My beaded spider bought from the little craft shop on Magnetic Island seemed the perfect addition to the arrangement – the only kind of snakes and spiders I like to encounter!

 

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