I've Been a Bad Blogger!

I've been keeping the ol' Facebook current and my blog posts are just slipping! So for my loyal followers, two for the price of one!

First, gorgeous professional pictures by Cosey Photography. Their gorgeous daughter Acacia was the model. I spaced that she was such a little thing and the bouquet was huge! Our handsome "groom" wore a gigantic boutonniere as well.

Second, more gorgeous professional pictures from Kimberly Jarman. Angie and Luke's wedding took place about a year ago at the Farm at South Mountain. It's a rustic venue but the flowers were sleek and modern, and my loyal readers--you get to see them first!

A Wedding at the Zoo

Elizabeth and Ken had a fun wedding at the Phoenix Zoo. They chose Ruby's House, dedicated to the memory of Ruby the Elephant.

Ruby was a Phoenix staple. She was famous worldwide for her ability to paint picture-she was beloved in Phoenix and we all mourned when she died giving birth (at over 20 years old!).

Even though the wedding featured lots of purple flowers, Elizabeth and Ken were open to succulents. I used them in his boutonniere and on the arch swag, which contained my special nod to Ruby--Elephant's Food. A fun succulent.

Elizabeth's bouquet featured deep purple stock, white and lavender lisianthus, lavender freesia and seeded eucalyptus greenery.

Ken's boutonniere featured a large succulent, a cymbidium orchid, and lavender freesia for color.

Another Surprise!

We discovered this afternoon that we were published in another wedding publication!

Jeanine and Noah's May 2009 wedding was featured in the January/February issue of the Wedding Chronicle. You may have picked one up for free at the bridal show in January.

The photos were courtesy of Cosey Photography--they even used one of our bouquets for their advertisement in the Chronicle.

You can read the article and see our really fun succulent bouquets here:

http://www.butterflypetals.com/pdf/WeddingChronicle2010.pdf

There are also some nice shots of the groom, their super cute doggy, some centerpieces and more! It was a really fun event and I'm excited to have more print exposure!

My Arts and Flowers Piece

I know I kept it from you but I really felt you had to see my design in person. Not only mine--all the awesome 50+ designs throughout the museum.

My piece of art was "Mrs. Koch and Her Children." It's a Victorian painting of a mother and her two daughters. I chose the painting because I loved how Mrs. Koch looks like she really loves her girls. So many family portraits are stiff and formal. Mrs. Koch's dress is frou frou and over-the-top. While it was probably the fashion in Victorian times I had to laugh. She probably wore that get up to do everyday chores--the laundry, dishes, taking care of her daughters--I'm lucky if I get a shower, let alone get my makeup and hair done!

But that's another point too--she's put together but not quite "perfect." Her hair is a little messy. Her cheeks are flushed as if she just barely wrangled her girls in time for the painting. One daughter has her dress up over her knees and the other is missing shoes (they sit, cute and detailed right under her little bare feet).

I decided to capture Mrs. Koch's gown for my flower piece. I hope I did her proud!

I tried to stay true to the dress-I wanted a fitted bodice and full skirt. I used white roses, white hydrangea, and Million Star baby's breath for the skirt. I created a little waist sash with lily grass and a little side detail using white peonies. We wanted the piece to appear as though the painting had come to life. My dad and husband built a frame for the base and we trimmed it with decorative molding similar to the frame on the painting.

The bodice was my favorite part. We used silver tree, a plant native to South Africa. It has a naturally blue/green appearance and it was the perfect compliment to the sea-foam color of Mrs. Koch's dress. We glued the leaves on by hand. My husband wove lily grass into a corset similar to the one on the painting. I wasn't patient enough for this task and I think he did a great job! :) The dress in the painting doesn't have detail on the shoulders but I wanted a pop of color somewhere so I added little shoulder details with ti leaf loops and cymbidium orchids.

I wanted the piece to be 3D so I added a little train to the back of the dress using lots of Million Star baby's breath and white hydrangea.

I hope you like it as much I liked creating it! I am so pleased with how it turned out. Ironically mine was not the only dress or bust made of flowers. There were five! Which was crazy! Somehow we were all thinking on the same wave length. None of us collaborated before hand and the museum league told us this was the first year anyone made a single dress out of flowers--let alone five! :) It was great fun to see how each designer chose to represent fashion through flowers.

Showing Off..Again! :)

So this post is actually two-fold.

First I get to show off my little man again. Second, I get to show off the work of my favorite photographer, Elyse Hall.

I love all my photographers but Elyse is the one I go to for all my family pictures. I love her candid style and she's sweet as can be.

She is of course an awesome wedding photographer as well. I have some of her professional shots of my work and if my lovely husband ever gets around to my website (*uh hem, hint hint honey!*), I plan on having several galleries showing off her work!

Until then, enjoy these candid newborn photos! Elyse was sweet enough to loan us her house--a great source of natural light and some really fun props!

This Just In!

I was featured in Arizona Weddings Magazine and didn't even know it!

Just about a year ago I designed fun succulent bouquets for a desert-themed event at Different Pointe of View.

The talented photographer was Priddy Photo and we are actually planning a feature gallery on our website showcasing the fun pink and green event.

Well I was tickled to find Rachel's pictures of my flowers throughout the February issue of Arizona Weddings!

Here we are on pages 38-39:

And on page 32, where our pomander leads the section "75 Ways to Make Your Wedding Unique":

And my favorite, a nice spread with credit on pages 230-231. The wedding is the second in the section entitled "Arizona Weddings' Style Spotlight" Oh, how I love having a spotlight on our work!

Thanks to Rachel Priddy for the awesome shots--this is why we love our photographers; they make our work magazine ready!

Want to See My Arts and Flowers Exhibit?

(image from Arizona Foothills Magazine)

I have pictures. Beautiful, full-color pictures of my lovely arrangement in the museum....can you see them? Nope!

You can't see my lovely arrangement unless you come to Arts and Flowers this weekend at the Phoenix Art Museum!

Remember, admission tomorrow is absolutely free from 6 p.m to closing. I'll be there from 6-9 p.m. to discuss my arrangement and just generally schmooze with museum patrons.

Come on by so you can see the lovely piece in person! I'll give you some directions though--I'm upstairs in the Steele Gallery. I'm situated among gorgeous oil paintings and, my favorite part of the museum, the dollhouse miniatures.

See you there!

The Day Has Finally Arrived!!!

A few months ago, I mentioned my participation in the Phoenix Art Museum's Arts and Flowers.

I've been looking forward to this since last year.

Now it's right around the corner and we're so excited to participate and show off our piece.

Arts and Flowers is this coming weekend! March 7-9. If you come on Friday night, admission to the museum is FREE.

Due to copyright, I can't post a picture of my chosen work of art here, however I can tell you about it!

The painting hangs upstairs in the Steele Gallery. It's entitled "Mrs. Koch and Her Children."

I can't wait for you to see the fun way I bring this painting to life through flowers! Stop by and say hello.

I'll be there Friday night from 6-9 p.m. Remember, because it's First Friday, admission to Arts and Flowers is FREE on Friday night.

A Vintage Wedding at the Biltmore

Dasia and Scott wanted a vintage Hollywood feel for their September wedding at the Biltmore. The setting, with its Frank Lloyd Wright 1930s architecture was the perfect venue and backdrop for the ostrich feather-trimmed bouquet and towering calla lily centerpieces.

Below are some awesome flower shots courtesy of Simply Knot Photography.

For more awesome pictures from this event, visit our Facebook fan page!

Our Shiny New Badge!

Our Wedding Wire Bride's Choice badge is here! Again, I can't thank my brides enough! It's your candid feedback which makes this possible. We have the best brides in town and I look forward to the 2010 Spring wedding season!

So without further ado...

Showing Off..Something Other Than My Flower Work!

So some of my clients new I was headed to the hospital this week but a lot of folks didn't even know we were expecting a new addition to our family! :) Zane Curtis Johnson entered the world Friday January 22nd via C-section.

He's a tiny guy...only 4 lbs 9 ounces but he and I are doing great. We get to go home and back to weddings (have one on Saturday) tomorrow.

Here are some pics of our little one. Enjoy! To all my current and potential clients--thank you so much for your patience as we go from a family of three to a family of four!

Wedding Wire Bride's Choice 2010

We won our second Bride's Choice award from Wedding Wire!

Thank you so much for your allowing us to be a part of your big day!

Hopefully we'll have a shiny new badge to show off in our next update!

It's Time To Vote

The lovely Ms. Mary Sandy who's shot some great pictures for us, sent me the link today to vote for Arizona Bride Magazine Best of 2010.

It's time to vote for your favorite wedding vendors! I've voted for my favorite photographers, venues, caterers and more.

And yes, florist is a category. :)

New Year, New Flower-Filled Photography!

Happy 2010! It's a very exciting year for Butterfly Petals. We turn 5 in April! It's been a ride and I can't wait to see what the new year has in store.

Over the Christmas holidays I met an awesome photographer and provided a bouquet for a fun photo shoot in Flagstaff.

So hooray for a new flower photo relationship with Jenna Catherine Photography!

I've been spying on her blog and I love some of the artistic lens treatments she uses--very vintage.

I saw a picture of the model's dress before the shoot and knew she was a redhead. I pretty much had creative freedom for the rest. The dress had a very vintage feel so I used a lot of feathers and some dangling charms featuring locks and keys.

The colors were a lot of fun for winter--lots of jewel tones. I used anemones and two shades of lavender roses. A little winter pine brought out the season. Look--snow!!!

I love, love, love the pictures Jenna took!

Check out more on our Facebook fan page!

So enjoy and Happy New Year!