We have a store full of little luxuries and exquisite gifts…& we stock up before Mother’s Day. Take a walk through the shop with me & I’ll give some great ideas for MOM!

Idea #1:  Luxury heart charm necklace..it makes a beautiful & stylish statement.  I LOVE THIS NECKLACE!

Idea #2:  Did you know Bella has jewelry?  This sparkly butterfly bracelet is divine.  Beautiful craftsmanship, this is another piece I’d love to have in my jewelry box.

Idea #3:  Always, always, always have at least one Phalaenopsis Orchid blooming at your house.  These plants require “benign neglect”.  We sell lots & lots of orchids.  Stunning!

Idea #4:  Star-of-Bethlehem plant…the orange version.  Lush & lovely, this blooming plant is great for a splash of bright color in the kitchen!

Idea #5:  This sweet little butterly is actually a piece of “spoon jewelry”.  It’s a ring that’s based on a spoon design…see the wings?  Looks the end of a spoon!  Cute!

Idea #6:  Moms like soap.  I know.  I am one.  I love soap.  I would love MY OWN soap but I never remember to buy it!  These sweet french-milled soaps have a gorgeous fragrance.

Idea #7:  Fabric flower brooch.  Get out of town…I LOVE THEM!  I’m especially excited for anything peach these days.

The brooch in red…..stylish on a coat or jean-jacket.  Just delightful!

Idea #8:  Rosemary, rosemary, or rosemary.  Must have one in the kitchen.

Idea #9:  Blooming basil on a standard (means it’s grown to look like a popsicle-shaped tree).  Perfect for the deck or patio!

Idea #10:  Green wreath….textural.  Goes anywhere!  Use any season!

Idea #11:  Silk flowers…all sorts of combinations.  Changes the room!

Love the orange/green combinations.

Idea #12:  Phalaenopsis orchid with “buddy plant” in the base.  Mackenzie used baby toes & photinia in this one with a bit of kiwi vine & reindeer moss.  Lovely.

Idea #13:  Help mom dress up your outdoor space with our dressy hanging lanterns.  Available in blue, yellow, & peach.

Idea #14:  Tailored sparkle…a gorgeous bracelet.

Idea #15:  Lacey embellished vintage scarves.  Darling.

Idea #16:  Cute sign for the kitchen….other sayings available.  How many times did Mom remind you to eat YOUR veggies?

Close-up of baby toes…they are available now & usually are harder to find mid summer.  Get ‘em while they’re hot!

Idea #17:  This one is absolutely glorious!  An intergeneric oncidium orchid…you have to see it for yourself.

Idea #18:  String of hearts are available again!  Long strings of little hearty heart-shaped leaves with pink blossoms.  A beautiful specimen plant!

Idea #19:  Orchid-scape…we combine 2 or more orchids in the same container for a dynamic show.  These two beauties were fast friends.

Idea #20:  Flower bracelet…looks beautiful on.  Lots of options for bella jewelry, come & see!

Need more ideas?  Please come to the shop or visit us at www.angelasbellaflora.com  where you can place your order online.  We’d love to see you, at either place!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Spring at Angela’s Bella Flora, Inc. is full of all sorts of hullabaloo!  Plants, blooming and green…lots of orchids, lots of fresh spring blooms, & some fabulous home decor.  We quite recently received a shipment of silk flowers in all sorts of joyful colors & varieties.  Take a look…

This silk hydrangea wreath is from one of our favorite silk companies..great quality.  Sometimes clients can’t tell if it’s real or faux!

We also celebrate the color PINK in spring at at flower shop.  These pink silk peonies & ranunculus will greet you upon your entry to our sweet little place….

I love the happiness of the color coral….these are silk garden roses, silk ranunculus & silk hollyhocks.  There are so many ways to celebrate spring in your home decor.  Silks have come a long way!  In fact…I used to be so against silk flower that 12 years ago we didn’t even carry them.  Then, I went to some really big wholesale markets…like Atlanta, Chicago, & Dallas.  I was amazed at the quality & how they used silks to flawlessly complement a well decorated room.

A silk dahlia against one of our strap-metal garden obelisks.  I love obelisks.  Don’t even get me started on obelisks.  They deserve their own blog.

We do lots of custom silk design here…most clients bringing in their own containers although we are happy to sell them one.  We try to find unique pieces to combine with our silks.  For us it’s really about the combination…how the different colors, textures, shapes, and finishes work with each other.  I LOVE these pussy willow spheres.  I can’t wait to use them…maybe after I’m done writing this blog…hmmmmmm.

These are some cute little gardenstyle silk arrangements in rustic terra cotta.  I used Sahara foam, dried angel vine, dried lotus pods, a cut of our pink silk hydrangea, green sheet moss, silk fern & dusty miller…added some raffia & away we go!

The silk hydrangea stems are kind of delicious….

And the silk peony wreath, ooh-la-la.  It looks as real as can be.  It is expensive.  I’m not gonna lie….she’s kind of an investment.  But she will treat you with love, respect, beauty and flowery love all of your days.  Don’t peonies just make you happy?

These are silk hollyhock stems…a great line flower for design.  (Meaning they make a line)  They offer nice height & a soft, dusty pink.

Spring palette not for you?  Not to worry…we always have a bit of the deep reds, rich oranges, golden yellows & burgundy too.  These seem to work with so much of our current home decor colors & styles.

If you have a space in your home that needs some energy, consider silk flowers.  Wreaths, swags, potted arrangements, garlands, hanging vases full of blooms, artistic installations using silks…the ideas & options are endless.  It’s almost difficult to decide!

More blogging later this week, it’s one of this weeks very important goals.  Now, I’m off to feed 3 hungry boys…

Happy flowering everyone!

Have you met Miss Mackenzie?   She is our plant specialist here at the Angela’s Bella Flora, Inc.  We’ll include a darling picture of her on Wednesday’s blog post…but for now, just take a look at her string garden installation!  It’s just magical!

This is a hanging medium size phalaenopsis orchid…also called a moth orchid.  Kenzie paired it with kiwi vine, twine & three mosses.

This is a base of one of our string garden orchids;  sheet moss, sphagnum moss & Spanish moss..tied with twine!!!

This is a bird’s nest fern…I have one at home in a terrarium.  It has lasted for 2 years and looks amazing.  This is a great plant for someone who needs to, on occasion, neglect plants!

This is the string “garden” installation in a sunny window at the shop.  Very artistic, kind of whimscial & magical even!

This is a maidenhair fern…one of our favorites.  Needs lots of moisture, it is soft and delicate with black shiny stems.

This is a bromeliad Mackenzie installed into the string garden…these last forever!

This is the base of a staghorn fern in the string garden.  Staghorns are strong,  architectural and have great character!

Interested in string gardens?  Come & learn about these artistic pieces at Angela’s Bella Flora, Inc. during our 3rd Annual Plant Extravaganza!  Starts today (January 23rd) and goes through January 28th, 2012.  We love to share all that we know.  Mackenzie will also be doing a Thursday night plant show all about terrariums and how to put them together.  Sign up for this lush little plant class here.

Until next time,

Happy flowering!

I love when flower bouquets are not necessarily about flowers.  I love when we get to focus on color, texture, line, scale, visual weight…you know, the artistic stuff.  I designed these pieces for a photoshoot done with a fantastically creative group of businesses.  I’ll tell you all about the flowers and then tell you all about the businesses that contributed to the mock wedding photoshoot these flowers were a part of.

We do love pods around here!  I love when we get to try something a bit different for our brides!  This bouquet (above) is the “lead bouquet”…the piece that all the other pieces were inspired by.  Lotus pods at the base, greyish textural brunea, mustard color billy balls (craspedia), and star-topped green poppy pods…hand-tied together for a bridal or bridesmaid’s bouquet.  Long lasting…will dry in place.

Jes, the photographer from Mad Chicken Photography asked specifically for an all billy ball bouquet…this stylish shoot was her brainchild.   I loved the idea so much I ended up building several bouquets with this simple bouquet in mind.  I love it!!

I love the line of this bouquet…ornamental grasses and scabiosa pods.  Very easy for the do-it-yourselfer!  Great for a prairie or farm-chic wedding.

This boutonniere (upright) we nicknamed “The Professor”.  We love the velvet ribbon and the fancy pin treatment on the top and bottom.  We want to base an entire pinterest board on this bout.  We love it!

The “lead bouquet” taken at another angle.  I love the line and weight created by all of the spheres and round shapes.

This charming little bunch of foliage and blossoms is a ground cover sedum from my garden.  It fills a small container solidly with the mustard and green color.  Just cute!

We also made these charming little pomander sitting balls.  They were so cute and kind of quirky with their mustard color.  Made from button mums, we just love them…you can use them anywhere at a wedding or an event.  Sit them next to table numbers, pile them high in a clear glass vase, nestle them in an urn or balance them on top of an open pot.  Put them next to a picture of the bride and groom or sit them on plates!  Lots of options!

So…after Angela’s Bella Flora, Inc. completed our floral work, where did these gorgeous bouquets jet off to?  YOU HAVE TO SEE THE REST!!!!  It’s amazing.  SO FANTASTIC!

For the rest of the story, you must visit Mad Chicken Studio’s Facebook Album.  Jes Hayes is absolutely A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.!!!!!!!  Jes made these flowers shine!  She continually surprises me with the number of great shots she’s able to get.  She is gifted like crazy.

Also involved in styling this fabulous event were the following:

venue:  Hot Sam’s Antiques, Lakeville
dress: The Wedding Shoppe, St. Paul
desserts: Cocoa and Fig, Minneapolis
furniture rental/table designs and styling: On Solid Ground Vintage Rentals
styling assistance and hairpiece: Taci of Pish Posh Styling
makeup: Derick Cich Makeup Artistry, Duluth
hair: Kara Gapske of Elysium Salon, Duluth
frame: My RedHead Designs
paper designs: Carolyn Kozlowski

There is so much talent here!  If you’d like to read about Jes’s experience with this fun shoot, she wrote a blog with some more great photography.  Check it out.

Until next time,  Happy Flowering!

Ok, 3 days left until Santa needs to fill the stockings!  Not that you need any help, but I’ve just got so many ideas and frankly, we are a gift shop.  We better have some ideas!  We’d love to help you cross a couple of items off of your very long to-do list.  Here we go, read on!

For your flowery jewelry lover….(spoon jewelry, beautiful!)

For your flowery paper lover….(Anna Griffin Papers, just arrived)

For your luxury soap user….(the fragrance of this soap makes me happy)

For your snowboarding-skiing-snowshoeing-sledding-snowmobiling-snow lover…(we really need some snow in Duluth, MN!)

For the ones you know who are sweet as honey……(bumblebees!)

For the fancy and elegant….(Hydrangea from Holland)

For the one who lost another…(a sweet message)

For the one who wants to choose their own…(gift cards always work!)

For the one who loves to cook…(charming recipe binder)

For your wooly, yarny, cozy ribbon lover…(wooly wired ribbon just arrived)

For your artsy vase lover…(great for 10 or 15 tulips dropped right in)

For your fragrant candle friends…(Smoke on the Water sells out!)

We have so many great gifts for the special people on your list.

We are especially good at helping you with you with the creative and artistic one in your life…they seem to gravitate to us!   One popular gift is one of our many classes…several to choose from for 2012.  We can’t wait to tell you more….

Come down and see the team at Angela’s Bella Flora, Inc.  We’ll get you out the door with some great product AND we’ll help you whittle your list down to nothing, and we’ll even gift wrap it for you.  Done and done!

Until next time, happy gift giving everyone!

Ok, maybe I should break this blog post into about 100 categories.  This is one versatile flower….there are so many different kinds.  This will be one of many blog posts that include orchids.  This post is just a little about how orchids can be incorporated into your home, office or event.

Below we have taken a picture of one type of phalaenopsis orchid.  There are so many color combinations, stripes, speckles, solidly magenta, magenta with white background, white with pink spots, forever and ever we go on.  We order orchid plants like this, “Hey Jo, we need a phal that is super showy (lots of open blossoms) for an event on Tuesday.  They like any shade of pink.”  The supplier will look for the showiest orchid plant in this case.  If we say, “Jo, we need any type of orchid you have in burgundy or gold for tomorrow.”, the supplier will find one in that color.  Since those colors aren’t always available on short order, they might be harder to get.  It literally depends on the day, the week, the month, the season.  I’ll ask my client what is the most important, the color or the type or the size or the shape.

Below, another phalaenopsis orchid.  We usually get these in plant form.  They are also called “moth orchids” because of their shape.  A great way to send them to friends is with some of the blossoms open and some unopened.

These are phalaenopsis stems as part of a bridal bouquet.  They have been cut from a plant, the stems are fresh and hold up well in fresh water.  They do end up costing 30-70$/stem, because you are almost paying for the plant.  Very showy and luxe!

This is a different type of orchid, a bit heartier than the phalaenopsis blossom.  This is a large cymbidium blossom, and is great for hair flowers.  I want the prom kids to fall in love with these because these are perfect for a lasting hair flower.  They come in white, apple green, yellow, green with yellow, white with yellow, orange, bronze, bronze with burgundy, mauve, light pink, dark pink, so many options!

The cymbidium blossoms in the corsages below are paired with greens from Australia, billy balls (also Australian) and kangaroo paw (yes, also Australian).  These blossoms are “small” cymbidium blossoms and they do well in bouttonnieres and corsages and can be mixed with lots of other types of blooms.

Another type of orchid we LOVE here at bella is a Ladyslipper Orchid.  Oh how we LOVE our Ladyslippers.  Below, MacKenzie is holding a bouquet with fiddlehead fern, white agapanthus, chocolate cosmos (smells like chocolate), Star of Bethlehem, upright amaranthus, poppy pods, scabiosa pods, green berzillia, coral bells, vinca vine, andromeda heather, various greens…..a gorgeous walk in the woods.  Hmmm…we say that all the time, “walk in the woods”, but really…who’s woods are these?  I would love to live in these woods.

This is a Ladyslipper in a different color…green and bright white.  We love it.  Beautiful in a bridal bouquet or on your desk!  Or at your bedside!

Yet another type of orchid plant….an intergeneric orchid. Intergeneric orchids are crosses of Odontoglossums, Oncidiums and Miltonias.   There are SO MANY different kinds under this label.  We love to plant orchids with other plants and orchids that will complement.  See below….

We planted this with selaginella and calathea.  Loved all the burgundies and greens!

We’ve also had great luck planting in cubes and cylinders with a variety of earth elements creating the base.  This is another intergeneric style orchid.

Interested in orchids?  There are so many options and so many ways to use them.  They can live for years at your home or office.  Invest in orchids and they can be part of your indoor landscape….a great option for people who enjoy treating their plants with “benign neglect”.  (I heard that once at an orchid show!)  Some of them even like to be watered with a slowly melting ice cube.  Like I said, more blogging to come on orchids.  Just you wait!  In the mean time, learn more about them and get one to your home or office immediately!

Until next time, happy flowering!

People ask all the time…how did you think of that?  Why did you decide to do that?  Where did you get that idea?  Well…we get ideas from all over.  I let ANYTHING inspire me.  Sometimes I’ll start with an ornament that I like…

I found this green cone ornament in a showroom at the Dallas Market Center in January.  I then ordered it for the shop and put it on my vision board, mixed with other pieces.  I love to mix textures.  Here we have rosette ribbon, a piece of lichen, reindeer moss, wide burlap ribbon, a white sparkly textural ornament and some pictures of thinks I’d love to put with the ornament.  This is how I plan and keep my head together for large events, or for a part of the store…a vision board.

The photograph above is from Veranda Magazine….a fabulous publication out of Canada.  The magazine has great style…a European Old-World feeling is a common thread throughout their articles and features.  I love what the florist did to this piece….green, white, gray, gold.  The combination of finishes is perfect…a fresh flower, a shiny but soft ribbon, a hard metal frame behind with a bit of shine, a cement vessel, and a little bit of sparkle.  LOVE IT!  This was one of the first pictures on my vision board and it has not left…

I wish I could remember the magazine I pulled this from, Brides Magazine maybe?  I do know that the arrangement was done by Randi Costa at Randi Costa Floral Design in New York city.  I love the container, the texture combinations, the style, shape…all of it.  This organic style has really grown in popularity for weddings and events.  We LOVE using succulents in our floral design.  They last and provide mass, texture and rich color.  I am inspired just looking at the picture of the picture!!!!

This is a card I have on my vision board, also a little inspiration….I’m a little bit of a perfectionist which, you may know is not necessarily a good thing.  This little saying reminds me to be delighted by imperfection.  Oh, it’s so hard some days though!!!!!!!!!

I am almost always inspired by color…specifically color combination and pattern combination.  This is a page from our Midori Ribbon catalog…the colors they have are luscious!  They mix patterned wrapping, patterned ribbon, sheer ribbon, velvet ribbon…the combinations are rich and luxurious.  Absolutely gorgeous.  This kind of a page could inspire a wedding or event palette…the flowers selection would come after choosing the colors from this page.

In this picture…I was inspired by this square hammered tin and the cones/pods.  I looked at all the colors present in the container…green, blackish, brown, cream, light green, dark green.  I then created a combination that would “play” with the various colors in the container.  While I am selecting silks I will set them next to the container and let them sit there for awhile so I can walk around and then come back with fresh eyes.  This piece hasn’t been arranged in the tin yet…all the items are just sitting on the top.  Once we decide this palette is correct, we’ll fill the tin with “dried” floral foam (the gray blocks) and then will use a bit of pillow glue and will place our stems in the foam.

I had my staff create vision boards this year…this is Sara’s.  I love that she is inspired by words, people, flowers, rooms, furniture…everything.  She posted everything on here that she felt inspired by.  The thing about inspiration is…it can change.  One year I’ll be inspired by one thing and the next year it will be different.  (So then, our vision boards are in constant flux and motion)

What will you be inspired by today?  Tomorrow?  Next week?  How will you keep track of it and keep your inspiration top of mind?

I’d love to hear what inspires you, and I challenge you to GET INSPIRED!

Until next time, Happy Flowering!

Wow, another great couple days of learning here at this cute little shop on First Street!  Here you’ll find the pieces we did for our Wednesday and Thursday demonstrations with some thoughts for each one.  Ok, here we go!

Below, you’ll see a hammered tin filled with all sorts of texture, line and color.  We started by foaming the base with oasis foam, adding 3 spruce tops in the center, and then adding seeded eucalyptus and yellow incense cedar in a 180 degree pattern around the rim.  We then added red/orange rosehips, dried limes, dried oranges and pepperberry.  We added one “faux” stem of cones and attached the top of it to one of our stems so it would create a line that brings your eye to the central axis of the arrangement.  We then added “faux” red berry stems and fresh broomcorn.  If you make this one on your own, make sure to add a sign or some text…”Welcome”, “Happy Holidays”, etc.  Words will really make the piece feel like a welcome!

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A closeup of the base…we love to create a line of color at the rim of the pot.  A natural place for a focal point.

The broomcorn is fantastic right now!!!  It will last until March if you like, but will definitely look good through Christmas.

I loved the shot below….it’s so fun to play with angles.  We heart our fancy camera!

Ok, next one:  Grandma Carmen’s Boat Oar.  I love this one.  Find something you love with a little history…a sled, some skates, an old chair, a crusty old rake….hmmm, whatever! Add some fresh greens, some ribbon, some sparkle, and of course..some words!

I love the ribbon here….we have bolts and bolts of it.  I especially like the sequins on the ribbon and how they “dance” with the beaded stems we added to this swag.  Superdarling.

We rolled the ends of our ribbon….a new style we love!  We used seeded eucalyptus, Port Orford Cedar, and white pine.  LOVE.

I asked Sara B, one of my amazing stylish designers to create a more modern style using MacKenzie’s Loll Planter.  The bella team LOVES Loll.  Check them out…a fantastic, GREEN, forward thinking company that has great product.  Hmmm, I think I digress.  OK, back to the modern piece below…moss balls on a found branch, cedar, apples, faux grass, orange ilex berry, oregonia and a California Sugar Cone cut and “repurposed” as cone flowers.  Sara is amazingly creative!

Moss balls.  What else is there to say.  I would say we die for them, but that seems sort of dramatic.  But really, WE LOVE.

And the sun….what a gorgeous day it was!  Thanks to all who attended…more learning tomorrow at angela’s bella flora, inc.  Our free noontime demos have been very well attended and kind of electric with energy!!!!  The police have even shown up a couple times.  Floristry can get totally out of control.

Below…a closeup of Sara’s pine cone flowers.  Really useful…and cute!

A closeup of the ilex or winterberry…available in orange or red.

Below we did a quick design in a fiberglass urn…this might go to my house.  If it does…it’s definitely not done.  I have a whole buncha stuff I’ll be adding…lots of orange, brown and bronze to the base.  Oranges, orange balls, quince slices, bronze dried artichokes on stems, more moss balls, pods on picks, and maybe even something with sparkle…we’ll see how this one ends up.  At this point, it’s just kind of the beginning.

A closeup of oregonia, looks good at least through Christmas and even into March!  Pair it will yellow incense cedar in all of your arrangements, it will bring out the yellow.

This magnolia foliage does well outside…the brown stays brown until March, the green turns a dusky whitish green.  Also, this foliage is great for inside…dried arrangements and wreaths.

Lastly, we didn’t make them, but they sure are good!  Cupcakes from Eileen at “How Sweet it Is”, a charming and delicious bakery in downtown Duluth.  Thanks Eileen!

You to can partake in the cupcakes…come down to the shop Friday or Saturday of this week!  More demos and more deliciousness!

Until then, happy flowering!!!!