November & December - Wreaths, wreaths & more wreaths

I have had to combine the last two months of the year, simply because I don’t really know what happened to November. There was a lot of rain, I recall that much and I definitely did some trench digging - nestling armies of narcissi, tulip and allium bulbs deep into the earth, hoping that they will stay safe and happy until the Spring……. but everything else about the last few weeks has been wreath-centric. With wreath workshops planned in my new studio in mid December - a studio that still looked like an abandoned loft conversion until very recently - the pressure was on to transform it into the creative space that it was always destined to be. Plus I had agreed to run workshops for the school’s PTA as a fund raiser. We had sold out the tickets pretty quickly and suddenly foraging and gathering enough foliage and trimmings for up to fifty eager Workshoppers was a daunting reality. So, late nights spent drying orange slices, pre-tying velvet bows and prepping buckets and buckets of spruce, flowering ivy, variegated holly, pittosporum, cedar, hebe, hydrangea and so much more were rewarded with knowing that forty three doors around the village are now graced by beautiful, natural and unique wreaths and a fantastic sum was raised for the school as well.

A little Christmas Market held at Thorne Manor, saw more wreaths being sold along with some of my glass vintage-inspired decorations. Note to self: Wreaths take awhile to make, remember that next year!

With about three mins to spare, my Studio was finished and ready to welcome eight intrepid (yes, of all the things I thought might prevent the workshops going ahead, snow was not one I had considered) Workshoppers. A lovely, relaxing time was had by all, creating beautiful and completely unique wreaths. Everyone surprised themselves with their own creations and I felt such pride in enabling them to create them.

So now my thoughts return to those little armies of Spring bulbs deep under the frozen ground….please grow big and strong and burst into the new year with vibrant colour so that I can invite everyone back to the studio for more floral workshops.

Happy Christmas Everyone!