The David Jones Flower Show 2013 -The Enchanted Florence

Every year in September, David Jones in Sydney puts on a spectacular floral show on the ground floor of its Elizabeth St store. This year was inspired by the gorgeous designs of Australian artist Florence Broadhurst.

Each of the DJ's windows are part of the display. Each one was themed with a quote from Florence and was based on one of her many designs.
Love these two window displays which caught the designer stores (Prada and Gucci) across the road in the reflections.

"People with taste will find me"
Florence Broadhurst. The Australian womens weekly, August 25th 1965.

Over 300,000  flowers are used in these displays which come from growers all over the country. Some of the flowers include Vanda Orchids, Phalaenopsis Orchids, Gymea Lilies, Zinnias.

A giant canopy of flowers lead to the escalators. Potions of the displays were lit up to enhance the vibrant colours as a reflection of Broadhurst's vivid designs.

"You've got to have something to do at a party. It's no good just standing around" Florence Broadhurst on why she provided guests with easels and paints so they could draw her at one of her own Soirees.

Large pots and urns were filled with flowers and greenery and placed up high above the usual display counters. This gave great height to the designs - which is a great tip if you are ever trying to decorate a large room or event!

Hope you enjoyed the pics! There are more on my facebook page as well as pics from previous DJ's shows. And if you missed out this year, make sure you make the visit next September!

Bride Guide 1: Designing your Wedding Flowers

Trying to organise a wedding can be one of the most stressful things you'll ever have to do, so finding the right people to help you along the way is essential. With so many ideas available to us these days on sites such as Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook (I could go on and on...) the choices are endless. Sometime all these ideas tend to overwhelm us. Over a series of blogs, I'm going to give you some hints and tips for deciding on your flowers and decorations and hopefully help you to get at least one thing checked off the list of  "to do's".

Why are flowers so important?

Most people will have a favourite flower or colour in mind when it first comes to thinking about wedding flowers, but there are a lot more things to consider to complete the look for your special day. You may not have given much thought to what you would like for your flowers but if you've ever had a look at anyone's photos from their big day, you may have noticed what an integral part they play. It's not just about the bouquet you hold, but about creating an entire theme and feeling for you and your guests to enjoy and remember for years to come.

Flowers sneak their way into so many of your photos so make sure you think about how they will tie into your theme, style or vision.

Your Wedding Dress vs the Bouquet. 

Your wedding dress is probably the most expensive and important dress you will ever buy. We spend hours deciding what jewellery, hairstyle and shoes you are going to accent it with, but the one you may have forgotten is that lovely posy of flowers you are holding in front of the dress for most of the day. You also pay a lot of money for your photographer to get those special shots - look at any wedding photo shoot and you'll realise just how much attention the flowers get. So here are some things to think about so your dress doesn't get lost in all the action!

• The size of your Bouquet. Think about the size of your dress. Is it a large puffy princess number, or is sleek and chic more your style? Generally, fuller skirted dresses can cope with a larger bouquet, whilst dresses with a sleeker line tend to look better with a medium to small bouquet in a simple arrangement. 

Beautiful Bride Sally's dress was slim fitting to the mid thigh and then flared out with a fishtail finish. I created the bouquet to be quite full to balance the dress, yet all the detailing and embellishment  is still clearly visible.

• The colour of the flowers against your dress. In older times brides usually wore white, but today's bride has moved to include shades of ivory and champagne with the latest runways seeing pastels becoming more popular. Often the Bride chooses flowers to match her gown such as white flowers with a white dress, but this can sometimes be the wrong option. The flowers can get washed out in the photography and you can end up feeling jealous of the bridesmaids' contrast of vivid colours. Having a matching colour is totally do-able, just speak to your florist to discuss other options to make your matching flowers 'pop' which include using foliage, ribbons,or embellishments to customise your bouquet. Of course your can also opt to mix a few other colours amongst your flowers or go for a completely contrasting look with something bright and bold.

Jessica's Bridesmaids wore a delicious deep plum, so she chose this range of spectacular colours to contrast. 

• Embellishments. Any accents such as Pearl beading down the handle, Diamante buckles and brooches and cascading ribbons (just to name a few) should tie in with your dress. For example - If your bodice is beaded with diamantes, then it is usually best to stick with diamante embellishments for your bouquet. And whilst embellishments can help to create a something to remember, don't forget the beauty of nature - the flowers should remain the main focus of the bouquet.

These pics are actually from my wedding! I went with a vintage style theme and had eveything embellished with diamantes, so chose to keep the flowers ( ivory roses and white and green stock) traditional and simple.
Photos with thanks to Rasha Photography.

Next Blog:
Next time I'll continue my hints and tips for Wedding flowers with a post on "Meeting with your Wedding Florist". Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss out!

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Upstyle your scarf for winter!

So I admit it - I am a scarf hoarder.
I love scarves of all shapes and sizes when the cool winter weather arrives and I have a huge stash of them hiding in my cupboard. So this winter instead of buying a new scarf to add to my ever growing pile, I decided to 'upstyle' an old one, and thought I'd show you how I did it.

I used a plain cream coloured pashmina style scarf. I decided it didn't hang long enough after I'd wrapped it around my neck a couple of times, so the following instructions show how I created extra length in the front, and extra layers around my neck.( If you choose not to do this step and leave your scarf at the length it is, then jump ahead to Step 7 for the embellishing part.)

Trim the tassels. Cut in half lengthwise and sew trimmed ends together.

Step 1: Trim off the tassels from one end of the scarf.

Step 2: Cut the scarf in half lengthwise from the tasseled end right down to the the end you just rimmed the tassels from.

Step 3: Lay the two pieces on top of each other and match up the ends that had the tassels removed. Sew these together to make one long scarf.

Iron french seam flat and sew in place. Finish side with a rolled hem.

Step 4: Finish by making this a french seam. ie. Trim the seam allowance, then fold to enclose the trimmed edge and sew together.

Step 5: Iron the french seam flat and then sew the loose side down to make a flat join.

Step 6:Finish the side of the scarf with a small rolled seam.


You now have a new super long scarf ready for embellishment!

Choose whatever embellishments you would like. Pin and sew these to the scarf.

Step7: I chose some satin ribon an broderie anglaise to embellish the ends of my scarf. layer the embellishments in the order you want them, then pin them into place. Other suggestions are different widths of ribbon, blocks of satin or a pretty patterned material to contrast or even rows of sequins/beads for a sparkly look.

Step 8: I also decided to add some lace to add to the vintage feel I was going for. Sew all the embellishments into place leaving a small overhang at each side.

Trim the overhang

Step 9: Trim the embellishments where they overhang on each side.

Step 10: To cover the raw edges, I used a small satin ribbon.
* Other options would be to use bias binding or to add a ruffle to the side, or simply overstitch the edge.

Fold the end of the ribbon and lay flat over the edge of the embellishments.

   

Add satin ribbon to cover the unfinished edges.

Step 11: Sew the ribbon in place. Trim any loose  threads

The same embellishments can be repeated on the underside, or a contrasting pattern can be effective as well. As I was using remnants, I chose to only do one side.

Step 12: Repeat the embellishments at the opposite end of the scarf.






The finished product!
You can now wear your uniquely designed "new" winter scarf. If you added the extra length like I did, you'll be able to wrap it around your neck 3 or 4 times, whilst still having plenty of length to hang in the front. So it's not just pretty - it also snuggly and warm!

The finished product!

Welcome!

Welcome to my Blog! 

I thought this might be a great way to share with you the ideas and inspiration behind my "Soiree Belle" designs. 

You may have seen some of my floristry designs on my facebook page, or bought some of my kids clothing  in my Hand-Made shop, but these aren't the only things I make ,create or design. I'm hoping to share a few more things in the form of pictures, step by step 'how to's' and even video tutorials on anything crafty, inspiring or artistic that I can come up with.

Please feel free to make any suggestions on what you would like to see or learn how to do!

Hope you enjoy,

Belinda xx