What a Wonderful Night!

 Oh, gosh. What a night. I was a little nervous that the rain might discourage folks from coming out for the opening, but thankfully it didn't. So many friends were there -- many I hadn't seen in years. I met lots of new folks, too.

The shop buzzed all evening and many who stopped by left with a bouquet in hand.

And not only did we sell an awful lot of flowers, it seems that many new opportunities will stem from this event. I'll tell you all about that as things unfurl!

As fun as it all was preparing for this event, I'm ready to give my hands and fingers a break -- it's been a hard month of making! In that time I crafted over 300 blooms, hand cut over 5000 petals and leaves,  used over a half-mile of floral tape and so many rolls and folds of crepe paper.

I did a lot of experimenting during this stretch, too, and came up with some new flowers and techniques. I tried making jumbo blooms for the first time and I'm looking forward to exploring more with that in the future.

Thank you to all who came out and supported me and contributed to a wonderful event.  Thank you to Christopher who helped with the installation! I appreciate your great eye and ladder-climbing skills!  And most of all, thank you to Nisha and Amir for hosting the event and giving me this wonderful opportunity to showcase my work in your beautiful store.  It was such an extreme pleasure and an honor, too.

I took hundreds of photos of the installation and here are a few of my favorites. If you would like to see more, please visit THIS album on Flickr.

April Showers Bring Paper Flowers

About a month ago I met up with Nisha, one of my dear friends from my fresh flower days, to talk about having a paper flower show in her lovely garden-inspired boutique, NICHEoutside.

She participates in the 2nd Thursday Capitol Hill Art Walk and each month invites a different artist to show their work in her space.   

I left our meeting feeling so inspired and excited but also a little intimidated by the task of creating enough new work to fill a whole shop in barely a month's time.  

I dashed home, dove in, made a list of all the things I wanted to make, made a few sketches, did a quick survey of the supplies I had on hand, and then ordered many rolls and folds of crepe paper from my favorite suppliers.  Everyone shipped quick, and soon I had all of the materials gathered for the show. 

I have a nice room designated for making things and started this paper flower project there, but soon  I outgrew the room and moved everything onto my giant dining room table. I've been sitting there ever since, crafting every minute I can spare.  On one end of the table, my completed work has been accumulating.  On the other end, you'll find me, scissors, scraps, and a coffee cup. 

 I've done a lot of experimenting during this time and have tried some new paper-dying techniques and varieties of flowers. I've found some fun new colors to work with, I've tapped into my precious stash of vintage crepe paper.  I've made hundreds of blooms --  and they'll soon fill vessels and hang in the airspace of NICHEoutside. The shop will be lush and full!  

I'm excited to share all of this at NICHEoutside this week and grateful for this opportunity to collaborate with Nisha!

So, if you're in the Seattle area, please stop by! 

Here are the details:

Faux Flora at NICHEoutside

1424 11th Ave 

Capitol Hill

Seattle, Washington

Thursday, May 11th 5 - 8 PM

It's part of the Capitol Hill Art Walk, so make an evening of it, and please visit some of the amazing art on display all over the Hill.

Here's a glimpse at some of the things I've been making for the show!

If you're not available to come by Thursday for the big event, the display will remain up through the weekend, so stop please stop by during NICHEoutside business hours on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday to view it.

To learn more, please visit the NICHEoutside's event page on Facebook. And if you're planning on stopping by, please RSVP if you can!

I hope to see you there!