Three windows and a funeral

Another crazy few weeks in the attic. No days are ever the same, that is why I absolutely love what I do.

As well as my ‘Just Because Blooms’ going out, (Some lovely messages) I also done my first funeral tribute for a woman who loved the wildness of the lakes. A lovely gentleman found me online and asked me to make something up to compliment the family flowers, he was unable to attend the service. The brief was ‘A pretty tribute, with a hint of the wildness of the landscape and totally sustainable’.

So, I made a heart shaped wreath out of birch branches and decorated it with flowers, foliage, ivy, grasses and lichen. All made totally green so that it will just decay naturally.

He was so pleased with what I had done and I received the loveliest message back.

Hi Jacqueline I just wanted to send you a note to say how pleased I was with the beautiful heart you made for ***** funeral. From two short emails you managed to capture exactly what I wanted. Thanks again, if ****** was watching I know she would approve.

He knew I was just venturing out into the natural flowers for funeral’s so he was more than happy for me to share the photos I took.

I also became an associate member of the Association of green funeral directors, which I am very proud of.

From funerals to weddings.

Weddings are back and buttonholes, flower crowns, combs, hoops, corsages, hairbands, cake décor and bouquets fresh and dried have been going out.

Some of the dried went to ceremonies abroad.

Flower crowns have also been popular for first holy communions, I have made them up to be simple and elegant in a combination of fresh and dry. The fresh will dry naturally making it a perfect keepsake for a special day.

When I made my first holy communion it was the first time, I ever received a bouquet of flowers. It was off my lovely nanna and I never forgot how delighted I was to be given them I felt really special. They meant more to me than any other gift I received. I have always been flower mad.

From flowers to window displays

I was approached by Mandy the lovely Manageress of Solo Beauty to come up with a Jubilee inspired window display for both their Whitehaven and Workington branches to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee.

As with other window displays, I sent in my mood board of ideas to see if any appealed. Mandy liked the union jack idea painted on the window, a bit sort of punk looking, not too perfect, however she also wanted something in the middle. I put forward the queen’s head in silhouette and the display was decided on. However, there was a caveat with Workington windows that the local council had stipulated the colour purple should be in the display.

First to decorate was the Whitehaven salon, navigating the beautiful pendant lights in the window was a bit awkward but I managed, I would have been mortified if I had damaged one of them. As well as the big window I painted red white and blue queens’ heads along the top half of the window. The side windows I added a small union jack and staggered the queens head, I used a mixture of colours making it look a bit less uniform.

Overall, I was pretty chuffed with the final display as was my lovely client. And the cherry on the cake came from Solo’s interior designer Amelia Wilson who sent me a lovely message and posted on her Facebook page how cool the windows were. Double chufty pants.

Next was Workington. The windows were even bigger, a lot wider than Whitehaven. And I had to incorporate purple, the purple paint I had purchased just didn’t go with the red so I mixed up my own red and purple so they toned better together. Again, the queens head finished off the design. Here I had to navigate one of the roller blinds as the pull cord came off in my hands. I am sure it can be fixed. 😳

I was really nervous what people would think of the windows but as I was decorating, I got some lovely thumbs up from passers-by and one lady even offered me some advice telling me all I needed was some plastic flags to hang outside 😊bless her.

The next window to do was for Seven Hairdressing back in Whitehaven for the lovely Bethany. Bethany wanted painted bunting and a gold crown. So together one Sunday morning we got cracking together.

It was a lovely joint effort and it was nice to work together bouncing ideas as we went. Also, the lovely gingerbread straight out of the oven brought along by Bethany’s Mam was most welcome.

One thing I have learned is that I cannot help but get covered in paint and taking photos of window displays are really hard 😆

I hope everyone has a great time celebrating the Jubilee.