pike place market Archives - Braiden Blossoms

Braiden Blossoms Website Week Thirty-Three: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers in a Row Painted in Waterlogue

The Bouquet-a-Week Project: Week Thirty-Three

October 2, 2018September 11, 2018 by braidenblossoms, posted in Dahlias, Dried Flowers, Floral Arrangements, Flower Arrangements, Ikebana, Pike Place Market Flowers, Sunflower, Waterlogue

For Week Thirty-Three of the Bouquet-a-Week Project, I returned to the Pike Place Market and chose the bountiful bouquet myself, versus having my darling husband pick one out.

Because it had been several weeks, I went a bit crazy, spending my entire budget of $20 on a SPECTACULAR mosaic of periwinkle, deep purple, and pristine white flowers. Here is the big bouquet in all its raw glory.

Braiden Blossoms Website Week Thirty-Three: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers — Week Thirty-Three: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers

And here it is “painted” using the Natural Mode of the Waterlogue app.

Braiden Blossoms Website Week Thirty-Three: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers Painted in Waterlogue — Week Thirty-Three: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers Painted in Waterlogue

I couldn’t resist laying out the individual flowers, placed together by type and color, to see just how many I had to play with during Week Thirty-Three. Here they are!

Braiden Blossoms Website Week Thirty-Three: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers in a Row — Week Thirty-Three: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers in a Row

And these are the same flowers “painted” in Waterlogue.

Because of the sheer number of dramatic blossoms I had to work with, I was able to create four major bouquets for Week Thirty-Three. Here is the first one and interesting to note that the “greenery” this week is actually curly kale. You might say this is an edible arrangement–ha!

Braiden Blossoms Website Week Thirty-Three: Periwinkle Blue and Purple Flowers Over Blue Stones in a Tall Rectangular Vase — Week Thirty-Three: Periwinkle Blue and Purple Flowers Over Blue Stones in a Tall Rectangular Vase

I fell in love with what I call pom-pom dahlias and felt they would look the most impressive in my Ikebana Vase from Design Within Reach. Backlighting in pink ups the drama.

Braiden Blossoms Website Week Thirty-Three: Pink Dahlias in an Ikebana Vase — Week Thirty-Three: Pink Dahlias in an Ikebana Vase

My mother’s beloved cranberry-glass vase, a family heirloom, deserved the biggest dahlia, a magnificent white beauty tinged with pink.

Braiden Blossoms Website Week Thirty-Three: A Half-Dozen Dahlias in a Tall Cranberry-Glass Vase — Week Thirty-Three: A Half-Dozen Dahlias in a Tall Cranberry-Glass Vase

More curly kale and the white dahlias, with just a touch of pink, fill this beautiful bulbous crystal vase to the max. I used a Perfect Arrangers stainless-steel “frog” in the bottom of the vase to hold the stems just how I wanted them to appear.

Braiden Blossoms Website Week Thirty-Three: White Dahlias and Curly Kale in a Bulbous Crystal Vase — Week Thirty-Three: White Dahlias and Curly Kale in a Bulbous Crystal Vase

Another big-boy dahlia and a single pom-pom dahlia, when paired with pussy-willow stems in my favorite Asian-inspired celadon vase, really “sing.”

Braiden Blossoms Website Week Thirty-Three: Dahlias and Pussy Willows in Celadon Vase — Week Thirty-Three: Dahlias and Pussy Willows in Celadon Vase

A single pom-pom dahlia and pussy-willow stalk look stupendous in my pink Buddha vase.

Braiden Blossoms Website Week Thirty-Three: Single Pom-Pom Dahlia and Pussy Willow in Pink Buddha Vase — Week Thirty-Three: Single Pom-Pom Dahlia and Pussy Willow in Pink Buddha Vase

Shooting Week Thirty-Three’s trio of small bouquets becomes even more dramatic than usual when “painted” using the Waterlogue app’s Bold Mode.

Braiden Blossoms Website Week Thirty-Three: Dahlias and a Sunflower in Three Small Vases — Week Thirty-Three: Dahlias and a Sunflower in Three Small Vases

I thought it would be instructive during Week Thirty-Three to show just how much of this bouquet was made up of dried pink and purple flowers as filler. This is one clever way that the flower farmers at the Pike Place Market manage to make their bouquets appear so full and also sell them at such reasonable prices.

Braiden Blossoms Website Week Thirty-Three: Brown Bag and Dried Flowers — Week Thirty-Three: Brown Bag and Dried Flowers

As mentioned in Week Twenty-Five of the Bouquet-a-Week Project, I sometimes end up making “extra” bouquets mid-week when the blossoms begin to fade and I rearrange the surviving ones using new vases and decorative fillers.

Week Thirty-Three “extra” bouquets included three interesting bouquets. The first shows a bunch of the smaller dahlias (“babies”) clustered together in a pretty rose-embossed vase that I don’t use nearly enough. It originally held an FTD bouquet I sent to my mother-in-law and that I inherited when she passed away.

To help the flowers stay upright and not flop against the lip the vase, I used a round kenzan (a.k.a, a “spiky frog”) that is used in the Japanese art of ikebana. I bought the kenzan at the Seattle Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival but they are widely available online if you want to purchase one.

Braiden Blossoms Website Week Thirty-Three: Miscellaneous Leftover Blossoms in a Rose Vase — Week Thirty-Three: Miscellaneous Leftover Blossoms in a Rose Vase

A second “extra” arrangement is presented in my tall, baby-blue vase which makes any flower assortment look impressive.

Braiden Blossoms Website Week Thirty-Three: Extra Blue and Purple Flowers in Tall Blue Vase — Week Thirty-Three: Extra Blue and Purple Flowers in Tall Blue Vase

Finally, more “baby” dahlias and some of the dried purple flowers fill my pink Buddha vase to good effect.

Braiden Blossoms Website Week Thirty-Three: Leftover Purple Flowers in Pink Buddha Vase — Week Thirty-Three: Leftover Purple Flowers in Pink Buddha Vase

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty-Two: A Trio of Peonies in Glass Vases in Pink Light

The Bouquet-a-Week Project: Week Thirty-Two

September 25, 2018September 18, 2018 by braidenblossoms, posted in Dahlias, Floral Arrangements, Flower Arrangements, Ikebana, Peonies, Pike Place Market Flowers, Waterlogue

I bought my Week Thirty-Two flowers of the Bouquet-a-Week Project from Erlinda, the talented floral designer at Flower Garden in the Pike Place Market.

Because I still had some leftover blossoms from Week Thirty-One, I chose my own flowers for Week Thirty-Two versus opting for a premade bouquet.

The chosen blossoms included six peonies ranging from white to pale pink to deep crimson. There were even four “babies” attached to the bigger flowers. “Babies” are what I call unopened, lolly-pop-sized peonies. They are so fun to watch unfurl.

I also got two BIG yellow dahlias. Once again, I was delighted to discover there was a “baby” attached to one of the stems.

Here are the beautiful blossoms fresh from the Pike Place Market.

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty-Two: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers — Week Thirty-Two: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers

And here are the flowers “painted” in the amazing Waterlogue app.

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty-Two: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers Painted in Waterlogue — Week Thirty-Two: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers Painted in Waterlogue

A deep-crimson and pale-pink peony partnered perfectly in my glossy purple jellybean vase.

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty-Two: A Pair of Peonies in a Jellybean Vase — Week Thirty-Two: A Pair of Peonies in a Jellybean Vase

Later in the week, after the peonies had faded, I replaced them with one of the fuzzy yellow dahlias, bear grass, and a trio of pussy-willow stems.

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty-Two: Single Yellow Dahlia, Bear Grass, and Pussy-Willow Trio — Week Thirty-Two: Single Yellow Dahlia, Bear Grass, and Pussy-Willow Trio

The single white peony looks starkly beautiful over multicolored marbles in a clear-glass vase.

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty-Two: A Single Peony With Multicolor Marbles — Week Thirty-Two: A Single Peony With Multicolor Marbles

This is a new “vase,” which actually started life as a soap dispenser in our kitchen. You never know where an unusual and useful vessel will be found! A crimson peony and its “baby,” along with a few pieces of greenery, are stunning.

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty-Two: Deep Pink Peonies in Silver Spiral Vase — Week Thirty-Two: Deep Pink Peonies in Silver Spiral Vase

The “baby” peonies look so happy in three small vases backlighted with natural-colored light.

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty-Two: A Trio of Vases in Natural Light — Week Thirty-Two: A Trio of Vases in Natural Light

Just for fun, here is the same grouping backlighted in green. . .

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty-Two: A Trio of Peonies in Glass Vases in Green Light — Week Thirty-Two: A Trio of Peonies in Glass Vases in Green Light

Then, pink. . .

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty-Two: Trio of Small Vases in Pink Light — Week Thirty-Two: Trio of Small Vases in Pink Light

And finally, my favorite Buddha vases flank the same central vase with the pink backlight. Festive!

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty-One: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers in a Row

The Bouquet-a-Week Project: Week Thirty-One

September 18, 2018August 28, 2018 by braidenblossoms, posted in Asian Lilies, Dahlias, Floral Arrangements, Flower Arrangements, Ikebana, Pike Place Market Flowers, Waterlogue, Zinnias

Sweet Spencer brought home the fresh Pike Place Market flowers for Week Thirty-One of the Bouquet-a-Week Project and I marveled at their diversity of varieties and colors.

Pictured below in all their glory are deep-purple gladiolas, yellow and crimson dahlias, a single pale-yellow Asian lily, three giant sunflowers (!), and more than half a dozen zinnias, a flower that I hadn’t yet worked with during this summer season. And there were almost as many dried purple flowers as fresh ones.

Glorious, all!

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty-One: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers — Week Thirty-One: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers

And here are the fresh Pike Place Market flowers “painted” in the Waterlogue app.

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty-One: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers Painted in Waterlogue — Week Thirty-One: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers Painted in Waterlogue

There were so many gorgeous blossoms to play with during Week Thirty-One, I couldn’t resist laying them out in a long row along our granite dining-room counter.

And then “painting” them in the Vibrant mode of Waterlogue.

What’s more dramatic than the color combo of dark purple and bright yellow, rather like a clergyman’s robe?

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty-One: Two Sunflowers and Three Purple Gladiolas in a Clear Rectangular Vase — Week Thirty-One: Two Sunflowers and Three Purple Gladiolas in a Clear Rectangular Vase

The zinnias snapped to attention when I arranged them over colorful marbles in a clear round vase.

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty-One: Petunias and Colorful Marbles — Week Thirty-One: Petunias and Colorful Marbles

The single yellow lily and some of the dried purple flowers look splendid in my favorite tall pale-blue vase.

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty-One: Single Yellow Lily in a Tall Blue Vase — Week Thirty-One: Single Yellow Lily in a Tall Blue Vase

More dried purple flowers and one of the sunflowers play happily together in a bulbous white-and-blue-striped vase. I think I was channeling Vincent Van Gogh when I created this bouquet!

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty-One: Single Yellow Sunflower and Purple Flowers in a Striped Vase à la Van Gogh — Week Thirty-One: Single Yellow Sunflower and Purple Flowers in a Striped Vase à la Van Gogh

A single yellow dahlia and dried purple flowers rise gracefully in a shapely blue-glass vase.

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty-One: Single Yellow Dahlia and Dried Purple Flowers in a Blue Vase — Week Thirty-One: Single Yellow Dahlia and Dried Purple Flowers in a Blue Vase

One of the crimson dahlias and more dried purple flowers form an Ikebana-inspired design in my blue Buddha vase.

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty-One: Single Red Dahlia and Dried Purple Flowers — Week Thirty-One: Single Red Dahlia and Dried Purple Flowers

This striking trio of dahlias and dried purple flowers are the perfect way to conclude the line-up for Week Thirty-One of the Bouquet-a-Week Project.

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty-One: Three Small Bouquets — Week Thirty-One: Three Small Bouquets

By mid-week, several of the dahlias had died, so I rearranged two new bouquets. I call these “extras” and they bring me just as much joy as the original week’s bouquets.

Here is the first one and you may notice that the sunflower’s petals are drastically shortened from the original bloom. That’s because I went a little wild with the shears as I cut away the brown tips. Oh, well. The sunflower’s big eye looks even more dramatic this way!

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty-One: Shaved Sunflower and Petunias — Week Thirty-One: Shaved Sunflower and Petunias

And here is a “normal” (unshaven) sunflower with a backdrop of deep-purple gladiolas and a single crimson petunia for a dramatic note.

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty One: Sunflower, Purple Gladiolas, and Single Red Petunia in Purple Ceramic Vase — Week Thirty One: Sunflower, Purple Gladiolas, and Single Red Petunia in Purple Ceramic Vase

Here is the same arrangement photographed in dramatic evening light.

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty-One: Dramatic Sunflower at Night — Week Thirty-One: Dramatic Sunflower at Night

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers Painted in Waterlogue

The Bouquet-a-Week Project: Week Thirty

September 11, 2018August 29, 2018 by braidenblossoms, posted in Asian Lilies, Floral Arrangements, Flower Arrangements, Ikebana, Peonies, Pike Place Market Flowers, Waterlogue

The Pike Place Market flowers for Week Thirty of the Bouquet-a-Week Project were more formal in feeling than past arrangements because I was expecting some important company that week and wanted to impress.

Nothing beats white Asian lilies and gladiolas along with an outlier–a single pink peony. Not sure how that got in there, but I was glad it did.

Here are the fresh Pike Place Market flowers in all their glory.

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers — Week Thirty: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers

And here they are “painted” using the Waterlogue app.

I took two of the white lilies and two of the gladiolas and arranged them corner-to-corner in a tall rectangular glass vase over smooth black-matte stones. A green backlight offered a dramatic touch.

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty: White Lilies and Gladiolas in a Clear Rectangular Vase — Week Thirty: White Lilies and Gladiolas in a Clear Rectangular Vase

This arrangement of blossoming lilies and a majestic gladiola was so tall, I had to photograph it in a different setting, which proved a fortuitous experiment!

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty: White Lilies and One Gladiola in a Black Vase — Week Thirty: White Lilies and One Gladiola in a Black Vase

The single pink peony really projects my favorite ikebana vibe when paired with bear grass and a trio of pussy willow stems in my favorite glossy purple jellybean vase.

Braiden Blossoms Week Thirty: Single Pink Peony, Pussy Willows, and Bear Grass in a Purple Vase — Week Thirty: Single Pink Peony, Pussy Willows, and Bear Grass in a Purple Vase

Our company enjoyed the imposing arrangements, which lasted for well over a week as I cut off the dying lily blooms one by one until they faded altogether.

Braiden Blossoms Week Twenty-Nine: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers Painted in Waterlogue

The Bouquet-a-Week Project: Week Twenty-Nine

September 4, 2018August 27, 2018 by braidenblossoms, posted in Dried Flowers, Floral Arrangements, Flower Arrangements, Peonies, Pike Place Market Flowers, Snap Dragons, Waterlogue

The Pike Place Market bouquet for Week Twenty-Nine of the Bouquet-a-Week Project came from one of my favorite long-time flower farmers called Flower Garden.

Erlinda is Flower Garden’s friendly floral designer. This week she created a beauty that included a half dozen pink peonies (several with “babies,” i.e., smaller blooms), white snap dragons, and white and pink golden arrow. A plethora of dried pink and purple flowers served as filler.

Here are the fresh Pike Place Market flowers still wrapped in white butcher paper.

Braiden Blossoms Week Twenty-Nine: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers — Week Twenty-Nine: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers

And here they are “painted” using the amazing Waterlogue app.

Instead of creating a lot of smaller bouquets, I went for broke and arranged all of the fresh flowers, minus the dried flowers, in a bulbous black vase.

Braiden Blossoms Week Twenty-Nine: Bounteous Bouquet in Bulbous Vase — Week Twenty-Nine: Bounteous Bouquet in Bulbous Vase

And here are the dried flowers arranged on their own. They are mighty pretty as well!

Braiden Blossoms Week Twenty-Nine: Dried Pink and Purple Flowers in Black Lacquer Vase — Week Twenty-Nine: Dried Pink and Purple Flowers in Black Lacquer Vase

Braiden Blossoms Week Twenty-Eight: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers Painted in Waterlogue Bold Mode

The Bouquet-a-Week Project: Week Twenty-Eight

August 28, 2018August 20, 2018 by braidenblossoms, posted in Floral Arrangements, Flower Arrangements, Pike Place Market Flowers, Waterlogue

It was a happy day when David, a dear friend from high school whom I hadn’t seen in 44 years (!), came to Seattle on business in early August. We agreed to meet for a glass of wine at our condo in downtown Seattle, followed by dinner at a popular restaurant nearby. Barbara, another friend from high-school days, and her husband, also happened to be in town. So with my hubby, Spencer, it was a lively party of five.

Those of you with an appreciation for good food and wine may know David from his luscious blog, Cocoa and Lavender, or from his wine posts at Provence WineZine.

He’s also active on Facebook and Instagram, places where we originally rekindled our friendship.

David was the first to arrive, and when I met him at the door, he surprised me with a Pike Place Market bouquet.

“This is like bringing coals to Newcastle,” he admitted as he presented his prize. We hugged, and it was as if 44 years melted away in an instant.

“They’re in water,” he explained, “so you don’t have to do anything with them right now.”

I nodded, found a pretty vase, and placed the bouquet in water for safekeeping.

After a lively dinner over rivers of Rosé that encouraged rambling reminisces of our high-school days, I returned to the beautiful bouquet. As I cleaned and recut the stems, I mulled over how best to arrange it since I wanted to make David proud.

I had already decorated the condo with a plethora of Pike Place Market flowers in honor of David’s and Barbara’s visit (“coals to Newcastle”), so horizontal space was at a premium. Instead of creating half a dozen smaller bouquets, I decided to opt for one large one. I realize this goes against the underlying principle of the Bouquet-a-Week Project, but every once and a while you can break the rules.

Here are David’s raw, rearranged Pike Place Market flowers from Week Twenty-Eight.

Braiden Blossoms Week Twenty-Eight: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers — Week Twenty-Eight: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers

And here are four different versions of the fresh flowers “painted” using the Waterlogue app.

This is Waterlogue’s “Natural” mode, which (as the name implies) does the least amount of manipulation to the image.

Braiden Blossoms Week Twenty-Eight: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers Painted in Waterlogue Natural Mode — Week Twenty-Eight: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers Painted in Waterlogue Natural Mode

“Vibrant” mode amps up the colors just a bit.

Braiden Blossoms Week Twenty-Eight Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers Painted in Waterlogue Vibrant Mode — Week Twenty-Eight Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers Painted in Waterlogue Vibrant Mode

Things get crazy in the “Bold” mode of Waterlogue. It is often among my favorite looks.

“Color Bloom” adds subtle white highlights, which creates another interesting effect.

Braiden Blossoms Week Twenty-Eight: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers Painted in Waterlogue Color Bloom Mode — Week Twenty-Eight: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers Painted in Waterlogue Color Bloom Mode

I was curious to see what David would think about the way I had rearranged his bouquet and which of the Waterlogue versions he would like best.

He said it was a toss-up between the Bold and Color Bloom versions. But he particularly liked the Bold version because of the vivid green blossom in the back of the bouquet and the splashes of green from random leaves in the front.

Barbara was more decisive, with a solid vote for the Color Bloom version.

Which bouquet do you like the best? Which one speaks to your soul?

Week Twenty-Six: Three Small Bouquets in Dreamy Light

The Bouquet-a-Week Project: Week Twenty-Six

August 14, 2018August 9, 2018 by braidenblossoms, posted in Asian Lilies, Dahlias, Floral Arrangements, Flower Arrangements, Golden Arrow, Kangaroo Paw, Pike Place Market Flowers, Waterlogue

Week Twenty-Six in the Bouquet-a-Week Project brought a welcome change of pace because our long-time housekeepers surprised me with a dozen, deep-maroon dahlias. The flowers came freshly picked from the head housekeeper (and owner of the agency’s) garden near Fife.

The dahlias were delivered in a classic clear glass vase, the kind you get from the florist. I didn’t have the presence of mind to snap a photo, but here is the sort of vase I mean, painted using the Waterlogue app.

Bouquet-a-Week Project Week Twenty-Six: Classic Clear-Glass Vase — Week Twenty-Six: Classic Clear-Glass Vase

It was a pretty vase, but since I already had several like it, I let the housekeepers take theirs home and chose one from my collection instead.

Here is the first bouquet I created, which the way-too-kind ladies ooh-ed and aah-ed over. It reminds me of a nosegay and the kangaroo paw adds needed height.

Week Twenty-Six: Dark-Maroon Dahlias and Kangaroo Paw in Tall Clear Cylinder

Just for fun, after the housekeepers left, I transplanted the fistful of flowers into this antique cranberry-glass decanter. It looks beautiful backlighted in red and framed by a few sprigs of kangaroo paw and greenery.

Week Twenty-Six: Maroon Dahlias and Kangaroo Paw in Ruby Decanter

The decanter used to sit proudly on the cocktail trolley in the dining room of our family home in suburban Philadelphia. During fancy dinner parties my parents used to throw, my father made a big deal about serving after-dinner Port (which he called “a nightcap”) from the heirloom decanter.

Here are the four small bouquets of Week Twenty-Six, which also included some left over flowers from the Bouquet-a-Week Project, Week Twenty-Five.

Week Twenty-Six: Four Small Bouquet Medley

I love this threesome of small bouquets as well.

I also had some Asian lilies and a kangaroo-paw sprig left over from the prior week, and arranged them in a clear-glass cylinder over smooth, ebony stones to dramatic effect.

Week Twenty-Six: Yellow Lilies and Kangaroo Paw in Tall Clear Cylinder

It’s amazing how a simple Champagne flute serves as the perfect vessel for a handful of Golden Arrow, stems carefully arranged in a criss-cross pattern.

Week Twenty-Six: Lacy White Flowers in Champagne Flute

A single cheerful sunflower and some purple dried flowers from Week Twenty-Five (more long-lived leftovers) take on the look of a Van Gogh painting when placed in my favorite blue Buddha vase. Warm summer sunlight!

Week Twenty-Six: Vincent Van Gogh Sunflower in Blue Vase

Week Twenty-Five: Yellow Lilies, Gladiola, Sunflower, and Kangaroo Paw in Glossy Black Vase

The Bouquet-a-Week Project: Week Twenty-Five

August 7, 2018August 2, 2018 by braidenblossoms, posted in Asian Lilies, Floral Arrangements, Flower Arrangements, Golden Arrow, Kangaroo Paw, Pike Place Market Flowers, Waterlogue

The Bouquet-a-Week Project kicked off with a stupendous array of flowers in Week Twenty-Five. I was drawn to this beauty by the graceful lime gladiola, spiky kangaroo paws, single sunflower with its fuzzy brown eyeball, and yellow Asian lilies. Pale-pink peonies and white golden arrow formed a pleasing framework around the major blossoms.

Here is the bouquet fresh from the Pike Place Market.

Bouquet-a-Week Project Week Twenty-Five: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers — Week Twenty-Five: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers

And here is the Week Twenty-Five fresh bouquet “painted” using the Waterlogue app.

Bouquet-a-Week Project Week Twenty-Five: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers Painted in Waterlogue — Week Twenty-Five: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers Painted in Waterlogue

As I always do, I unfurled the fresh flowers from their white wrapping paper and divided the flowers into a loose pile. Then I cut the stems and stripped them of any small leaves that remained. Next I “arranged” the flowers in a glossy-black, bell-shaped vase filled with water that would hydrate the blossoms until I could create the smaller individual bouquets.

Here is that shot “painted” in Waterlogue. I liked it so much, I was tempted to call it a day, but that would defeat the purpose of the Bouquet-a-Week Project, which is to buy a fresh Pike Place Market bouquet or single blossoms for less that $20 per week, then design smaller arrangements.

Bouquet-a-Week Project Week Twenty-Five: Yellow Lilies, Gladiola, Sunflower, and Kangaroo Paw in Glossy Black Vase — Week Twenty-Five: Yellow Lilies, Gladiola, Sunflower, and Kangaroo Paw in Glossy Black Vase

The first major bouquet of Week Twenty-Five means a lot because of the cranberry-colored, cut-glass vase, which is a family heirloom. There used to be two of them and the pair sat on either side of our mantel in the house where I grew up in suburban Philadelphia.

Unfortunately, one got crushed when my parents moved from the family home in Pennsylvania to their retirement house in Austin, Texas. After my parents died, I inherited it.

For years, it has sat in our bookshelves looking forlorn and, frankly, rather forgotten. But, thanks to the Bouquet-a-Week Project, I pulled it down (very carefully!), dusted it off, and graced it with the gladiola, peonies, and kangaroo paw.

I imagined my mother looking down and smiling at her industrious daughter’s clever re-use of her beloved mantle-piece “objet d’art,” as she used to call it. She was an amazing woman, and you can read more about her (specifically, the words I spoke at her memorial) on the Five More Minutes With website.

Bouquet-a-Week Project Week Twenty-Five: White Peonies, Lime Gladiola, and Kangaroo Paw in Tall Ruby Vase — Week Twenty-Five: White Peonies, Lime Gladiola, and Kangaroo Paw in Tall Ruby Vase

My favorite robin’s-egg-blue narrow vase is well suited to the yellow irises and another sprig of kangaroo paw. Majestic!

Bouquet-a-Week Project Week Twenty-Five: Yellow Lilies and Kangaroo Paw in Swooping Pale-Blue Vase — Week Twenty-Five: Yellow Lilies and Kangaroo Paw in Swooping Pale-Blue Vase

More yellow lilies and kangaroo paw form a fitting foil in an Asian-inspired vase with a double opening.

Bouquet-a-Week Project Week Twenty-Five: Yellow Lilies and Kangaroo Paw in Tall Matte-Black Vase — Week Twenty-Five: Yellow Lilies and Kangaroo Paw in Tall Matte-Black Vase

A few days later, the peonies had faded so I took the remaining blossoms and created two “extra” bouquets. Taking this shot at night under a neon-pink back light using the “Bold” setting in the Waterlogue app resulted in this dramatic shot.

Bouquet-a-Week Project Week Twenty-Five: Yellow Lilies and Kangaroo Paws in Violet Ceramic Vase — Week Twenty-Five: Yellow Lilies and Kangaroo Paws in Violet Ceramic Vase

A small arrangement looks winsome in my pink Buddha vase.

Bouquet-a-Week Project Week Twenty-Five: Tangled Flowers and Scarlet Iris in Pink Buddha Vase — Week Twenty-Five: Tangled Flowers and Scarlet Iris in Pink Buddha Vase

The Bouquet-a-Week Project: Week Twenty-Four

July 31, 2018July 20, 2018 by braidenblossoms, posted in Asian Lilies, Floral Arrangements, Flower Arrangements, Ikebana, Kangaroo Paw, Pike Place Market Flowers, Sweet Peas, Waterlogue

My sweet husband brought home the Week Twenty-Four bouquet and it was a bounteous beauty, bursting with several different types of blossoms that I hadn’t worked with much before. These included a vivid blue hydrangea, one huge scarlet dahlia, and three daisies with fuzzy faces that seemed to smile at me from the perimeters of the bouquet. Here are the fresh flowers from the Pike Place Market for the Bouquet-a-Week Project, Week Twenty-Four, which cost $15.

Week Twenty-Four: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers

And here are the fresh Pike Place Market flowers “painted” using the amazing Waterlogue app.

Week Twenty-Four: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers Painted in Waterlogue

The gorgeous glob of pink Stargazer lilies caught my eye first, and I knew they would pair dramatically with a single sprig of kangaroo paw.

Week Twenty-Four: Pink Lilies and Kangaroo Paw

Next I made a grab for all the purple-and-yellow irises and the single crimson lily. I like the way the lacy shapes of the irises contrast with the strong horizontal lines of the vase.

Week Twenty-Four: Purple Irises and Single Crimson Lily in Striped Vase

What to do with the single hydrangea? I thought my Asian-inspired celadon vase would form the perfect foil for such a singular bloom, especially when paired with pink sweet peas, two of the pink petunias, purple flowers, and a single spear of bear grass.

Week Twenty-Four: Dramatic Blossoms in Celadon Asian Vase

Here’s another design using a pink lily and a huge sunflower (left over from a prior bouquet) in my swooping robin’s-egg-blue vase, my ode to Vincent Van Gogh.

Week Twenty Four: Single Lily and Sunflower Ode to Van Gogh

Sweet peas, that single crimson dahlia, and more purple flowers for contrast look fetching in a pink Buddha vase backlighted in fuchsia.

Week Twenty Four: Pretty in Pink Flowers and Vase

There rather droopy snapdragons and lively purple flowers look jaunty in a squatty, clear-emerald vase backlighted in green.

Week Twenty Four: Purple Snapdragons in a Green Glass Vase

Those ruffly daisies look happy in the Week Twenty-Four three-small-bouquets Waterlogue “painting.”

The Bouquet-a-Week Project: Week Twenty-Three

July 24, 2018July 12, 2018 by braidenblossoms, posted in Asian Lilies, Flower Arrangements, Ikebana, Kangaroo Paw, Pike Place Market Flowers, Sweet Peas, Waterlogue

The Week Twenty-Three Bouquet was a lively mix that included a gorgeous sunflower, purple irises, kangaroo paws, and even a pink iris or two. Here are the flowers fresh from the Pike Place Market.

Week Twenty-Three: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers

And here is the same bouquet “painted” using the Waterlogue app.

Week Twenty-Three: Fresh Pike Place Market Flowers in Waterlogue

As I always do, I released the blossoms from their white butcher-paper wrapper, unwound the bouquet’s rubberband-bound plastic bags and moist newspaper, and placed the flowers back on the stretched-out butcher paper. I made sure the stems were cleared of small leaves and recut the ends, then stuck all the flowers in this shiny black vase so I could figure out exactly what I had.

I snapped a photo because I was so taken with the result of this impromptu bouquet. Glorious!

Week Twenty-Three: Major Bouquet in Dramatic Black Glossy Vase

But I knew that I didn’t want to use all of the Week Twenty-Three flowers in one arrangement. So (rather sadly) began to design individual bouquets. Here is the first one of those.

Week Twenty-Three: Kangaroo Paw and Sweet Peas in Clear Vase

The second one is an ode to the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh. BRIGHT COLORS!

Week Twenty-Three: Vincent Van Gogh Tribute

My favorite colors came into play in the arrangement below, which includes a single intoxicatingly fragrant Stargazer Lily (rife with blossoms that I could hardly wait to watch bloom over the coming days), and selected greenery to create a fluffy frame.

Week Twenty-Three: Single Pink Lily in Lilac Ceramic Vase

The “Bold” setting of the Waterlogue app created this dramatic version of the same vase with only the greenery from the Week Twenty-Three bouquet.

Week Twenty-Three: Greenery Alone in a Lilac Ceramic Vase

My favorite small blue-glass vase forms a fitting contrast when planted with red sweet peas and purple flowers.

Week Twenty-Three: Red Sweet Peas in a Blue Vase

I love the romantic way the red and purple flowers drape in the two small bouquets below.

And here are the small bouquets from Week Twenty-Three. These miniature arrangements decorate the twin vanities in our bathroom and one sits next to the television in the bedroom.