New Blog: Northern Bloom

A bridal bouquet I made for a styled shoot I did with

Heather of HMN Photography and Alora of Alora Rachelle Photography. 

Hi friends!  I'm super excited to tell you about my brand new blog today!  I've been feeling like Cupcakes & Confetti has been needing a change for quite a while now.  This little blog has changed so much since I started over a year ago.  My sister isn't part of the blog, so it has become my space and I'm sure you've noticed that I've been posting more and more about floral design.  Don't get me wrong I still love a great party.  The reality is that I don't plan a party every week that I can post, but with flowers I can create a design every week that I can post.  I like being able to create my own original content and it has become a natural but unexpected transition into flowers that I've walked into.  So this is where the road has led me, I'll now be blogging over at my new blog - Northern Bloom, where I'll be talking about flowers of course along with an occasional celebration here and there.  I hope you continue to follow me and my journey over at Northern Bloom.

Farm Fresh Floral Arrangement Part II

Hey everyone!  So here's the second part of my farm fresh floral arrangement post.  As I mentioned earlier, I purchased some celosia along with some other beauties from Reinhardt Blooms at a local farmer's market.  Today, I'm showing you what I created with the celosia.  This flower is so amazing for fall arrangements.  I love it's shape and softness.  I also adore the purplish hue of the leaves, so I left the leaves on to allow them to show through.  Along with the celosia I added some dahlias from my sister-in-law's garden and some Japanese maple branches and sedum from my own garden.    

    

 

Farm Fresh Floral Arrangement Part I

Hey Friends!  Over Labor Day weekend I went to a local farmers' market and picked up some fabulous fresh flowers grown by the amazing Reinhardt Blooms and I also had the pleasure of meeting their floral designer, Katie.  Reinhardt Blooms is a 30 plus acre flower farm here in Michigan that has been run by five generations. Pretty amazing, right? They grow and sell flowers and also offer floral design services for weddings and events.  You must check out their site and blog to see pics.  It's absolutely dreamy.  Katie uses ingredients from their farm for her gorgeous and dramatic, garden style designs.  It's a style I'm trying to master.  I love garden style floral arrangements and the way it allows the natural beauty and shape of blooms to show through the design. 

I purchased scabiosa pods, celosia and cosmos to create two different floral arrangements.  I'm sharing this one with you today.  Stay tuned for the second one next week.  It's not as spectacular as Katie's designs, but I hope with some hard work and practice, that I'll get there.  I used three ingredients all grown at local farms in this arrangement.  The cosmos and scabiosa pods are from Reinhardt Blooms and the beautiful peach colored dahlias are from farm owned by a family friend.  I love the sunny, happy feeling of the arrangement and I hope you do too.  Have a wonderful week friends!  

      

   

A Peach Filled Weekend

This weekend is Labor Day weekend here in the states.  It's summer's last hooray for many of us.  It's one last camping trip or barbecue before the crisp cool air of autumn touches us and the school year begins. For me, I'll be celebrating my weekend at the Peach Festival.  I grew up in a little town, where my parents still live and like many small American towns, there's an annual festival filled with carnival rides and parades.  My family spends the weekend at my parents' house and we take my daughters to the daily activities in town and we all have our fill of peach everything.  I'm planning on buying some fresh peaches from one of the many local orchards to make a peach blueberry cobbler for dessert.  So, that's how I'll be spending my weekend.  How will you be spending yours?   

 

 

Hydrangea Garland

 

Have you noticed that I've been posting more on flowers lately?  I've been reading a lot on floral arranging and practicing techniques along the way.  This blog has now become a flower journal for me too and I hope you don't mind.  One of the books I'm currently reading is by Jane Packer, and this is my version of a hydrangea garland she created.  She displayed it as a dramatic centerpiece like I did here.  Along with the main ingredient and hosta leaves from my sister-in-law's garden, I also included golden rod foraged from a field.  Some of the hydrangea blooms are past their prime, but since I was just experimenting, I wasn't worried about how perfect the flowers were.  Although, I do like the way the flowers blossom into a bright pink and then turn into a lovely shade of green and blush.