Flowers for a June Wedding

Sometimes I play a little game: pretend I'm  doing a wedding only using flowers from the backyard.

Here's my take on a late June wedding:  sweet woodruff (which has just the faintest hint of a vanilla scent), unripe cherries, and vinca leaves for the groom's boutonniere.  And for the bride, maybe snow pea vines, green ferns, mock orange, and  the last of the white foxglove. 

Our Favorite Silk Scarf

Just loving the feel of silk against my skin these days. 

Beautiful Johnny Was scarves....always in stock at Passionflower.

Becky says, "Instant outfit"....:)

An Unexpected Surprise

And heres' another fun perk of going through computer files of old photos - I see photos of things I never took because some of the shots are coming off the store camera which the whole staff uses. 

Love, love, loved these shots of our porcelain egg containers which we like to use for flower arrangements. This would fall under the basic rubric of letting your kitchen goods do double duty as flower vases and containers.    Muffin tins could be fun to use as well.

Can't really quite tell you how delighted I was to see this photo.  It just makes me happy.

What to Do with All those Photos

The nice computer man came to help me work through some glitches on my laptop.  He somewhat incredulously pointed out to me that I had 15,000 photos in My Pictures.  Without missing a beat, and whipping out my handy calculator, I figured that I had only averaged a mere 15 photos a day in the three years I have owned a camera.  Barely an infatuation, let alone an obssession.  Nonetheless, it did occur to me I might want to do a little cleaning up of my photo library. Hence I am going through old photos and finding some things I had forgotten about.  Like the little prayer flag above that I made in Jill Cardinal's class at Oregon Art Supply. 

Or this fun shot of a John Robshaw textile in the window of ABC Carpet & Home.

Stay tuned for more random shots from my photo archives.  And any thoughts on organizing photos greatly appreciated - because, in truth, despite the mildness of my obsession, I'm kind of drowning here.

Great Jewelry for Graduation Gifts

 If you are looking for a gift of jewelry say for graduation, or for one of your bridesmaids, or another celebratory or meaningful occassion, it really doesn't get any better than a piece of Pyrrha jewelry.

                
                       We have a great selection at Passionflower right now with lots of new pieces.
               

 

   

And here's a link   to a sweet interview with the founders of Pyrrha should you like to know more about this jewelry line which has proved an enduring best seller because, well, because people know really truly beautiful things when they see them.  It has been a pleasure to see the ways in which so many folks have claimed these pieces and gave them their own very personal meanings. 

And should you wish to get a feeling for how they make these beautiful pendants

check out this great video -



Germination

A thought for a cloudy morning from our selection of inspirational postcards....

Which Way

So much to do, so little time.....not in an overly pressed for time, slightly frantic type A kind of way, but in finding inspiration at every turn kind of way.....I want to garden, and hike, and do art and yoga, and cook and read, and make great birthday cards for my friends, and clean my closet (yes I really am inspired to clean my closet) and finish the passionflower website (more on that later) and have an amazing store, and all that has just not left too much time for blogging.  And now I'm off to a weekend in the woods with no internet access. Scary!   

Passionflower's Pop Up Shop

What exactly is a pop up shop you might ask?  Well in my more cynical moments I might tell you that it is the retail side of corporate America co-opting the small independent , or in a more mellow moment I might say it's a great opportunity for a small independent to gain exposure to a wider audience.  And then I read about something where a restaurant gives a small independent florist the opportunity to set up a little shop on a holiday - say like Valentine's and it just seems so win -win for everyone.  It's fair to conclude I got all fired up when I saw pictures from this pop up shop by Brooklyn based florist Ariel Dearie.  And I thought, "Let's do that!".

Now it's true, I already have a flower shop....I don't need to do a pop up....but I really liked the idea of putting a table out on the street and creating something small and simple (and beautiful and uplifting) as part of our downtown cityscape.  And I love the "here today, gone tomorrow" nature of the whole proposition.

 

  So an idea was born, and Sarah made this fabbie sign (first photo above) and now she's going to run with it and we're going to have a little pop up every Friday in June (weather dependent).  Some days it might be DIY body flowers, or things we gathered from our gardens in milk bottle and mason jars or well you'll just have to wait and see.  This is the kind of thing that just gets my energy up - so happy.

All photos from Passionflower but Sarah made the sign with a page from NY based photographer  Deitmar Busse's great book Flower Power

In the Deep Woods Follow Me

One of my goals this year is to spend more time out in  nature..I mean we live so close to it here in Eugene ..So, I've been to Alsea Falls a couple of times and Mt Pisquah and out to Coyote Spencer Wetlands, a piece of land recently purchased by Mckenzie River Trust.  And, you know, the more time you spend outside, the more wonderful things you experience.  It's just the law of averages.  I've seen purple butterflies and a hummingbird's nest already this year plus tons of beautiful wildflowers....all of which has re-awakened the amateur naturalist in me..... 

I have been geeking out with plant I.D

  Like this is the year I'm really going to learn my ferns. So far I'm pretty confident about sword, licorice, deer, & maidenhair. And I'm learning the difference between bracken and lady ferns. (Isn't that just a great name, "lady fern"? Don't you just love her already?)  Stay tuned for more dispatches from the world of ferns.
And click here to find out more about McKenzie River Trust and their  conservation work.

Prom Season

Here's a fun little boutonniere we made with a parrot feather, eryngium, and a funny little allium whose name I can't remember....I thought the blue pins added a fun touch... I really like doing tiny hand work....it's a kind of god is in the details moment.

Birds of a Feather

 We had a customer who raised birds and she used to bring us all these amazing feathers.....(come to think of it we've had a few customers who brought us feathers, one woman had a flock of wild turkeys and always brought these crazy big beautiful turkey feathers)

 They'd come all packed together and I would cherry pick and high grade and divide the feathers  into little packets for various uses..... every time she came in , my heart would skip a beat waiting to see what she brought us.  And then she moved out of town .....

And I notice I miss her feathers, especially around now when we find ourselves doing lots of work for proms....But I am grateful for all the awesome customers we've had over the years who have brought us so many fun things to play with.

Some thoughts on the Weather

OMG, we have been having some beautiful, world class weather these last few days here in the Pacific Northwest. It is as if we are being rewarded for all those grey, rainy days which we have totally forgotten about as we are reveling in getting our vitamin D,  evening bike rides, and outdoor dining. I have turned off the heat and cleaned off the deck....houseplant liberation is not far behind. And to be clear, these are not the bright, piercingly blue skies of a gorgeous day on the east coast, or the deep warmth of a tropical Mexican sun but rather the every leaf and every blade of green grass is at total attention singing some harmonic hosanna of thanks for the glorious world we find ourselves in. It's that good. Which perhaps might inspire you to come down to Passionflower and check out all our new spring and summer clothing in the upstairs annex and find yourself something as wonderful as the weather. Dare I say it, summer is really on it's way. (P.S. Sorry for the little adfomercial at the end, but I think I sequed into that in a fairly charming manner.)

photo courtesy one of our great vendors Bryn Walker - handmade clothing from Berkeley Ca.

Sunny Days are Here Again

I've been back from Mexico for a little over a month now.....and it's funny how traveling stays with you....and what things stay with you and what things you forget.....which is why I have become a fan of keeping a travel journal (for the things you forget).....and how pictures can have a way of shaping your experience and what you remember...and since it is such an over the top beautiful sunny day here in Eugene, it reminded me of Mexico and I wanted to share this collage.   Click here to go to our Art Trips to Mexico blog and get the tiniest taste of what we did.

Put a Bird on It

I am really loving these giclee prints on wood by California artist Matt Adrian.....They're arresting.  They make the eye stop.

 They are small but they pack a whole lot of punch.  One customer made a wall of them in her bedroom.

He  paints the bird on a solid sort of moody atmospheric ground.

It's like having our own little aviary at Passionflower.  And, for the record, in case you haven't noticed, I am a fan of putting a bird on it.