Ho! Ho! Ho! - 'Tis the Season to be Jolly!

Hello all. Yep, it's coming up to that time of the year again - so today I'm bringing you some of our plans and designs for Christmas 2012.  We'll keep updating the website regularly with new designs, as and when materials come our way but in the meantime, look out for our special Steel City wreath made entirely from locally sourced materials.

For all you early birds who like to get organised and put your orders in before we run out of materials (and energy!), we are now taking orders by email - wreaths take a little while to make so ordering early is always a good idea! Here's a selection of our Christmas goodies to bring a bit of festive cheer into your home:

Our dried wreath would be lovely indoors and is designed using tillandsia moss, cones, dried gypsophila and is finished with a hessian bow and lace detail

Our 'City of Steel' door wreath features dried hydrangea, cones, pine, ivy, a lotus pods

 A close up of the pretty details

We're also madly in love with fresh hydrangea here at Campbell's HQ and couldn't resist featuring it in this table decoration.  All our decorations are made to order and can be made into one of our recycled 'found' vintage containers to suit your colour theme

A pretty moss table centre - look out for a DIY tutorial coming soon.  Or order one from us, if it's just a job too far!

These mini Christmas trees make brilliant table decorations, are long lasting and look equally fabulous in red, gold or silver ceramic containers

Again, we can co-ordinate the ditzy ribbon detail to suit your theme

Bespoke, fresh table arrangements can also be made to order, just get in touch and we'll carefully  design something gorgeous to adorn your table

Being in love with lavender, we've designed and hand made these pretty candles, which go to show Christmas doesn't need to be all reds and golds!

Hope that's helpful and that you like this year's designs - we've got lots planned over the next few weeks. If you're thinking of maybe switching off from the pressures Christmas can bring; why not join us at one of our workshops and immerse yourself in a bit of DIY in gorgeous, calm surroundings? Our workshops are always such relaxing lovely evenings where you can spend time creating something to be really proud of. Details are all on the website, and, as always, we try to source as many British grown materials as possible.

Prices are all available on application, we don't like to publish them as we try to make every design slightly different just to suit you perfectly.

'til then, enjoy and ho! ho! ho! everyone - I love this time of the year!

Tx

Much as we love our blog - it's come to our notice that lots of you are missing out on our gorgeous new website so here's the link just in case! http://campbellsflowers.co.uk

Campbell's Calendar - Working with Industry Friends

Hello peeps

As promised, here I am again keeping you updated with all the machinations and shenanigans of the previous week.  I was delighted to read in a recent survey that florists and plants people score very highly in attaining job satisfaction, love what they do and generally are all round happy bunnies! I have to say I do believe this to be true, and maybe that's why we work so well with other industry professionals.  I've had a great week and it's been one full of collaboration with other businesses - here's just a brief idea of some of the things I got up to!

Sunday

After having answered a heap of enquiries and dealing with my crazy in-box, I sought the sanctuary of the workroom and designed this wintery, Christmassy wedding bouquet using some gorgeous British grown eucalyptus cinerea and other pretty flowery materials - with some cones texture and good festive measure!  I finished the design with a band of white satin ribbon and a fine gold organza overlay - I adore white flowers and just love the combination of white and gold. So sumptuous but wintery too!

Monday

Had a very welcome visit from fab photographer Jess Petrie and Jenn Edwards hair and make up artist who I had the real pleasure of working with recently on a huge photoshoot which took place at Cusworth Hall and included over six models! Jess took this shot of my flowers on the day and I have to say this is one of my absolute favourite shots of my work - ever!  The 'official' photos haven't been released yet, but I can't wait - I saw first hand Jenn's work, just stunning!

Tuesday

Caught up with the lovely Laura, on of my Brides and fellow blogger aka The Mrs Makes - she's absolutely the queen of craft and her blog is always full of wonderful DIY gorgeousness.  She'd posted a photo of herself in a cover-up for her wedding day and it'd sparked a flowery idea of mine! We now have a cunning plan, which you'll have to wait 'til April to see, as she wants to keep it a secret!

The evening brought another of our fab workshops - this time it was a mini pedestal design in a Georgian Baroque stylie - gorgeous! Glad to see the biccies so much in evidence in this action shot! pop back onto the blog for more pics and the full story.

Wednesday

A busy day writing and sorting out admin was followed by a fantastic consultation with the very lovely Lisa and Sam.  Sam was sporting the most incredible 'mo' which was the subject of a bit of (not so) gentle teasing from Lisa and I, but clearly done for a fantastic cause! I'd met Lisa a little while ago and we'd hit it off immediately having got very giddy designing her table decorations together.  Naturally, I was really thrilled when they confirmed they wanted me to be part of their wedding in August - the only thing I have to figure out now is - how on earth am I going to wait that long?!

I can't reveal too much, but the colour theme is corals, yellows, greys and whites - pop over to their Pinterest Board for the barest hint of what we're up to!

Thursday

Spent the day putting together lots of plans for a couple of really exciting events happening early next year - will keep you posted as a when they come together.  Mwhahaha!

Our guest post on Purple Flowers  got lots of lovely email feedback from readers of Boho Wedding blog - proof that next year's predicted colours for Bridesmaids dresses are going to have a big impact on flower colour themes.

Friday & Saturday

Very flattered to find ourselves included in amazing creative company as a recommended supplier on the new Married in Sheffield website - the brain child of Jon from S6 photography who I met earlier in the year when he came and photographed the bouquet I made for Jessica Ennis.

Sadly the lurgy which had knocked all my family for six, last week and the week before, finally caught up with me so cancelled all our lovely plans for a weekend with wonderful friends at the seaside - had a bit of a quiet one instead on the sofa with a duvet  : (

I'll leave you with the hounds, who really didn't seem to mind the fire and heating on at the same time!

Enjoy your week lovelies and will keep you posted with all our updates

Tx

Photocredits:-

Jess Petrie
Style Me Pretty
S6 Photography

Purple Power - A perfect colour for Wedding Flowers

Hello everyone.  I'm really happy to bring you our guest post which appeared this week on the fabulous Boho Weddings Blog just in case you missed it.  Here goes! ....

Today I’m going to show you a range of purple flowers and give you some idea of what’s in season and when.

Pouring through wedding blogs and magazines recently, I noticed that many of the trends for next year’s Bridesmaids dresses colours are gorgeous sumptuous ‘Cadbury’s’ purples, rich plums and steely platinums.  Often, when I’m working through a consultation with a bride, having talked first about her fabulous dress, I then find the colour of the bridesmaids’ dresses can really influence the colour of the flowers.

For those of you who aren’t turned on by soft pastels, blushes and pretty pinks; purples, lilacs and lavenders can offer a really gorgeous alternative with a bit more depth of colour.  One thing to bear in mind is that dark purples are very recessive which means that they can ‘disappear’ in arrangements in atmospheric, less well-lit venues such as churches and panelled rooms in Stately Homes.  They are beautiful though, and as long as your florist understands colour and light, she or he will know what to do and you should be fine!

If you’re looking for ideas for a purple theme, then here are some of my designs from this year’s weddings. 

Lilac

Combine lilacs with dusky pinks and pale steely blues to create a fantastic misty palette which works perfectly with platinum.  Use echinops and ‘Memory Lane’ roses teamed with sedum if you’re having an Autumnal wedding.

Memory Lane roses with sedum and echnops

Cute little porcelain tea cups using alstromeria, bouvardia, echinops, sedum and roses

I love the long stems of this vintage bridal bouquet with a brooch detail

 Panicum grass add a little whoosh of texture to this design

Lavender

Gorgeous by itself – I love the simplicity of a heavenly scented lavender bouquet in the height of Summer, or for a barn wedding add some wheat or corn for a really rustic look.

If you're looking for British grown - then this Shropshire lavender might just be the answer

Finish your buttonholes with pretty ribbon to enhance the colour of this fresh lavender

 Three kinds of lavender - pink, lilac and lavender

Dark Purple

This is such a lovely velvety colour – choose the darkest anemone and cheerful iris for gorgeous Spring florals or use the ever popular and stunning double lisianthus, available all year round.

To prevent dark purples from receding into the background, add fresh whites and steely grey foliages

A long table decoration - perfect for a top table

A close-up of all those gorgeous Spring florals

I hope you’ve found this post helpful, if you’d like to see more of my seasonal, romantic flowers with a ‘just picked’ look, pop across to my website where you can browse through my wedding portfolio.  I’m happy to travel around the country if you’d like a consultation so do get in touch - we've weddings in and around Sheffield and much further afield booked for next year!  

If you've any questions or want help identifying specific purple flowers - then do get in contact.

Tx

Wonderful Workshops - A Baroque Design with Fruit and Sprouts!

Hello lovelies

This week we got together for another of our lovely Flower School workshops working with some gorgeous blooms.  The theme was Baroque - a lavish, over-the-top, sumptuous design style much loved by the Georgians.

When I taught floristry at Level 3, one of the modules was Period Design which I absolutely loved as it combined two of my great passions in life - Flowers and History!  The Georgians were great botanists and explorers bringing back plants from across the world from places like China and Japan and other countries they traded with for silks and spices.  They developed the idea of Botanical Gardens and  Robert Furber produced a series of drawings, which I absolutely adore, called Twelve Months of Flowers which showed a design using flowers in season for that month.

The Georgians also loved fruit  - it was a way of showing off wealth and the skills of your servants - and so, for our workshop, I decided to introduce some fruit and vege to our designs!  I just love using materials that are a little unusual or push the boundaries and the limes, kiwis and sprouts all had such fantastic textures and colour.

What was fun about the class was we worked pretty much without rules! In order to create designs which 'work' and are pleasing to the eye, we usually follow a set way of creating a design.  This time - there were no guidelines or rules - it was free form all the way!

Here's a few pics I took of the evening - we were a bit thin on the ground as the dreaded lurgy attacked a couple of our regulars.  It did mean more flowers and biccies for those that could make it, though!

We met at Pure Enough which is getting ready for the run up to Christmas

Such a lovely relaxed atmosphere - as you can see

The roses we used literally were as big as cabbages!

Yes, those are sprouts ...

and a lime ...

The finished mini-pedestal,  Baroque inspired design

We had a really lovely evening, it was fun, relaxing and everyone who was there learnt new ideas and ways of designing.  If you'd like to take part in any of our Workshops then pop over to our pretty new website or click on the link to see our wreath workshops this Christmas.

Tx

Inspire Style Guide Issue 2 - Christmas Edition

Hello all! Today I'm bringing you a really quick post just to let everyone know we've put together another of our gorgeous Inspire style guides and this time it's a Christmas edition.  The last issue proved so popular, we thought we'd bring you lots of lovely tips, ideas and inspiration on what's hot when decorating your home this festive season.

Pop over to the website and click on the link to download your free copy today - grab a cuppa and snuggle down to a great read, you'll be hooked once you do!

And, watch out for lots of lovely DIY tutorials in the coming weeks leading up to Christmas together with a couple of guest blog posts too!

'til then - enjoy!

Tx


You can always pop over to our fabulous new website if you're looking for gorgeous, seasonal, flowery inspiration click on http://campbellsflowers.co.uk

Campbell's Calendar - Christmas is Coming!

Morning all, well it's been another really crazy week here at Campbell's HQ with lots of work designing and thinking about ideas behind-the-scenes in the run up to Christmas.  Sometimes as a micro-business the weekly learning curve can be astonishing and my round-up is a sure fired way to remind me of all I've achieved in seven days!

So for those of you who are curious ... here goes

Sunday

Had a consultation with the very lovely Fi and Martin who met Lottie and I at the Designer Vintage Bridal Show.  We've got on famously so am crossing my fingers that they'll book - their theme is sapphire blue and they want their flowers to be designed around eryngium (that thistles to you!)

Monday

Spent the day making up Christmas wreaths and decorations to photograph for my new Campbell's Christmas 2012 page on my website.  I've concentrated on fresh door wreaths made from locally sourced materials, but have also added a couple of dried ideas to the collection - in the past dried flowers have always made me think of dusty baskets stuck in fireplaces but happily these days there are lots of lovely materials to work with.  Here's one I made earlier!

Tuesday

Put together the latest Christmas edition of Inspire with M.  For those of you who haven't come across it before, it's our downloadable style guide with lots of ideas, tips and pretty pics which we put together, usually for Brides.  We thought that perhaps it might be nice to do the same for Christmas - it's proved really popular for weddings, so we'll see how this issue goes ...

Wednesday

I went off to a morning training workshop called 'How to get the most from your website' run by Digital Direction a fabulous business support network which has really helped me with the sometimes scary world of IT.  I learnt loads - now it's just a question of having time to use all this new found knowledge!

Had a delish lunch at Jonty's on Sharrowvale Road with the very lovely Kelly from Boho Weddings and hatched lots of plans for guest blog posts in the run up to Christmas - keep an eye out on the blog and facebook for updates and links to her gorgeous site.

Thursday

Designed and, if you'll excuse the pun, delivered two enormous buffet table arrangements for the new Department of Nursing and Midwifery which went down really well - the client loved them.  I couldn't resist using gypsophila (baby's breath) in the design!

Friday

Took delivery of the most gorgeous British grown eucalyptus and stunning Paper White narcissus which had been specifically ordered by a very lovely lady who commissioned me to design something extra special for a friend's wedding day.

Saturday

Another commission, this time from a group of friends to a work colleague battling the rigours of chemo.  We decided on brights, with lots of gorgeous scent, in pretty but simple packaging.

Well that's all for this week folks!  Wonder what next week will bring? Whatever it throws our way, we'll try and keep you up-to-date with all that happens in our wonderful flowery world.

'til next time, enjoy!

Tracey