Ribbon Details on a Bridal Bouquet

We had a lovely and talented DIY bride (more posts to follow).....

She scored a lot of good stuff on Etsy.

and had this whimsical -romantic vibe.

The bouquet was beautiful (more posts to follow).
And we wanted the ribbon wrap to be equally as stunning. I always think of the wrap as the haute couture portion of the flowers. It's a detail meant mostly for the wearer.


When she finished making the bouquet, Julianne said, "Let's use buttons on the wrap."

And lucky for us we could pop right over to our neighbor at Pewter Rabbit Antiques and peruse their multiple button jars. 40 cents later and with a lot of fine fingerwork from Julianne.....

She used dupioni silk, grosgrain, and satin ribbon and finished the ends off with plummy brown rayon trimming.

Perfectly imperfect.

Indian Textile Wall Hanging

Remember these colorful wall hangings? We've had them in the front window for awhile. I always thought they would look great in a child's room. I was thrilled to sell one a few Saturdays ago to a lovely customer from Sisters.

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But I was even more thrilled when she sent me these photos of the textile hanging in her house. She originally hung it between her kitchen and what she called her "plant room."

Really Fun.

Changed the whole shape of the archway.....


But it finally ended up in her studio where she teaches people how to teach art to children (and other great classes). Way to dress up a pretty simple sliding glass door. Find out more about taking classes here at Annie Painter's studio. And send us photos of what your Passionflower finds look like in your home.

Autumn Greetings from the Depths of the Earth

It's rained a few times here in Eugene. That means there's mushrooms to be found in the yard. Here's a few. And yes they really do grow in large circles sometimes referred to as fairy rings.

And mushrooms mean I get to make spore prints. Here's what I do: (the basics are very, very easy)

Bring the mushroom into the house, gently remove the stalk and place the mushroom face down on a piece of paper. Wait anywhere from 6 to 12 hours and watch what happens. Note- I've never tried this with store bought ones but I have noticed, the younger the mushroom, the more spores you'll get.

Here's two different mushrooms that were loaded with spores and I got a couple of prints from each one.

Sometimes you get lucky. Here's a pretty good print.

But pressing the zoom button is what fascinates me the most.

Like fingerprints and snowflakes, no two spore prints are the same.

The spores are fragile and ephemeral. You could blow them away.

How mysterious and strange and beautiful is the world we live in?

Field Trip - The Florist Wholesale House

I went to Portland yesterday on a hunting, gathering expedition. Here's the big warehouse you first walk into.

It is here that I can lust after various tools of the trade.

Plus there's a whole section devoted to local growers.


Always something seasonal.

More beauties to lust after.

These big yummy yummies are grown in Tillamook.

Hanging Red Amaranth. Also called Love Lies Bleeding.

Looks like big underwater creatures to me.

And every once in a while there's something I've never seen before -

Like this cardboard box full of wierd and strange fruits.

Apparently they're some kind of wild cucumber (?).

Stunningly beautiful. Hunter Gatherer Happiness.

More Mail - Italian Paper

Julianne's mother sent me this beautiful thank you note for a book I lent her.

It had that beautiful Italian gilt paper feel....this one had a homegrown touch to it.

Sure enough she bought it on a recent trip to Italy. I would stay on the lookout for beautiful paper were I traveling to Italy.

Dogs Shopping at Passionflower

You know you're in trouble when you start posing shots for your blog.

But how could we resist?

So happy together. - Sitting on the jewelry case.

A more pensive moment.

Passionflower is a dog friendly store. Your well behaved pets are always welcome. Stay tuned for more Dogs of Passionflower.

What I Got for My Birthday

Here's something special.

It was my birthday right after I got back from New York.

The cake consisted of this uber tasty marzipan tart from Hideaway Bakery and long skinny red candles.
Here is my staff all looking pretty pleased with themselves.



They are perhaps going to jump up and surprise me and sing?

They know how much I will like this set of 6 salts they are giving me.

Why do I have such a thing for miniatures?

Lustreware on the inside, three little gold feet and painted with forget-me-nots.

I love them.

The Packaging that all our Lovely Product Comes Wrapped In

Becky has taught me to see the beauty in packaging materials - She pretty much has first dibs on any any of it that she wants. Here's some examples from a typical day in the receiving room at Passionflower: the beautiful

and the not so beautiful.

Although these guys get an "A" for effort. These are plastic bags full of plant based cellulose peanuts. No more loose peanuts flying around and if you don't want to reuse them, you can "dispose" of them by getting them wet and they disintegrate.

Getting Ready for the Parade

Every year my staff & I decorate our bikes and dress up and participate in the Eugene Celebration Parade. We consider it our civic duty. I have yet to master riding a bicycle, waving to the crowds, and taking photos all at the same time, so I have only these pre parade photos....of us getting ready.

Here's the back of my bicycle. Our "theme" this year was tribal...... I put this Santos figure on the rack on the back of the bike. Decorated her with brown raffia, green amaranth, coconut palm fibre, and clear duct tape. She's beautiful, no?
Becky says I get the immunity necklace for the week. Seriously, would you buy flowers from this woman?

I'd definitely buy flowers from this woman. Tara wearing a mask she made from some ancient faux water lily leaves she found in the basement.

Here's Tara & Lindsey moments before their parade debut -like night & day.

I love this photo of the two of them.

Heading off on a cloudy morning to
pursue our mission - making the world a more beautiful place.

It was a great parade and we thank each and every one of you who came out.

Our New Pine Cone Hill Showroom at Passionflower

Truth be told, we have this funky and fun space in our upstairs balcony that has become a catch all. Think stereo equipment, sale items, lunchroom, & shipping all rolled into one.

Our first ever bedding sale became a great inspiration to revamp the space.

So last week we had at it....I wish I had some before pictures. It was really fun.

We mined the downstairs and set up bedding vignettes.

Asian chair, duvet cover, & a beautiful moth orchid.

More variations on a theme. And below we were trying to find the perfect print to go with the little twin bed....

So that's just a peek at our new upstairs space.....Becky has to keep telling me that we're going to keep it simple and streamlined. And I think we will. It's refreshing & relaxing.