Summer of Love

Its all been hectic in the attic since my last blog.

Proms, windows, weddings, teacher gifts, festivals etc. as well as the my other flower deliveries its all been happening. Absolutely loving it though.

Proms the lovely local schools proms have been going on. Corsages and buttonholes have been the most requested items. Lots of variations have been going out, we have had neutrals, blues, blush pink and even one which was all black, which actually looked really fab. And one which contained peacock feathers which was so unique and quirky.

Some of the parents sent me photos which I absolutely loved seeing. The girls all absolutely stunning in their evening gowns and the young men sharp and dapper in their suits.

The end of July and the Jubilee window displays came down and a summer themed festival window went up for Solo Beauty in Whitehaven. We discussed a few ideas and decided as it was festival season we would go for a hippy, summer of love, boho vibe. But we also made a subtle hint to the war in Ukraine with a ban the bomb sign and placard's saying Give Please a Chance.

The ban the bomb sign was the first to make, made from a child's hula hoop and padded out to make bigger. I literally glued hundreds of dried flower heads, feathers, lichen and dried berries to it. Oh my word what a job. The number of glue sticks I went through was unreal. Two days it took me making the sign alone. What a labour of love and lots of burnt fingers. Luckily it was great weather so I done this outside.

The sign was decorated, inside outside, front and back to ensure it looked good to both the passer by and the clients in the waiting room.

Next it was the placards, initially I had the 'Give Peace a Chance' on a pole as if is was used for demonstrating, but when I actually done the installation it didn't look right so I removed the pole.

Can you see the Ukraine flag colours? 💛💙

And again x 💙💛

These two signs were glued together so that they looked good from inside and outside the window.

Finally it was the flowers and I wanted them to be bold and psychedelic. Palms, grasses, seed heads and flower heads were sprayed in an array of colours. Everything has to be on a big scale with these windows as they are massive, so my dried allium seed heads and large dried hydrangea heads were perfect.

Next I added some large windmills to complete the look.

The day of the install. My partner and I loaded the van. I wish I had took a photograph. That was a mission in itself. The ban the bomb sign had to be strapped to the inside of the back door so it wouldn't get damaged. The van looked as though a bag of skittles has burst inside, it was psychedelic alright 🤣we went down one evening after the salon closed.

We managed most of it but unfortunately it was so hot the hooks that I had brought to hang a couple of things just would not stick, so we came back the next morning with some nails and a hammer.

Finally I added some acid green material to the sill and we were done. I should have taken more photos but I wanted to leave before the customers started to arrive.

So what have I learnt this month? You can't have enough glue sticks, spray paint and jam jars.

But most importantly I have the best customers ever. Thank you all so much for ordering your flowers, whatever the occasion through me, good times, sad times, emotional times, celebration times, farewell times. I appreciate every one of them and I really do put my heart into everything I make, no matter how big or how small x