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!

The boutonniere above was created with clematis, boxwood, variegated pittosporum and a lavendar rose.  The client really liked lavender…so we stayed on theme with lavender pins.

The bridal bouquet above was for a girl who REALLY LIKED PURPLE….we mixed dark and light to create this gorgeous bouquet.  Sweet pea, hydrangea, lisianthus, lavender flower, hyacinth, silver dollar eucalyptus & tulips.  We continued the dark and light purples with the handle tie:  sheer ribbon mixed with velvet.  Delightful!

Lavender flowers are often mixed with apple greens…and whites.  Above we used hyacinth & mixed it with lisianthus buds that weren’t quite open.  (Cute look!)  Some of the bouts have green trick and green kermit poms…great combinations.

Purple hyacinth in the cooler!

Purple clematis stems….playful!

The above picture was taken at a little photo shoot we had here at the shop….Mark Fitzgibbons of fitzphoto.com took some great shots before some of our weddings were delivered.  This wrist corsage is designed on a pearl bracelet base and has rosemary, oregonia, ranunculus, seeded eucalyptus & purple hyacinth.  They were darling!!!!

Mackenzie…one of our design team members designed the sweet bouquet above.  Purple veronica, purple roses, violet clematis, violet stock, lots of delphinium & agapanthus.  These bouquets were perfectly textured!

Do you like our green door?  It does so much work here…sometimes we put it on the wall, outside the front door, or maybe just use it to photograph bridesmaids bouquets (photography by Mark Fitzgibbons).     Here we used apple green mini hydrangea, lavender/periwinkle hydrangea from Holland, seeded eucalyptus, variegated pittosporum, & fragrant geranium foliage grown right outside the shop!

Love purples?  Lavenders?  Take a look at our pinterest board titled:  Moss, Lavender & Eggplant.  It’s just one of thousands of combinations using a bit of this sweet, smart color..lavender.

Until next time, Happy Flowering Everyone!

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!

We love all things darling…..and they just don’t have to cost a lot!  The best gift is “an unexepected gift given at an unexpected time”.  Let us show you how to create sweet little flowery gifts for under 10, 15 and 20$.  Our staff will be contributing to this session…I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with.  JOIN US!  Sign up below.

Date:  Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Time:  6-7.15pm

Place:  Angela’s Bella Flora, Inc. at 138 West 1st Street

Make a night of it!  Stop at Hanabi for a gorgeous sushi dinner before or after class.  Hanabi is a Japanese restaurant one block away from the shop on 1st Avenue West.  The bella team regularly has lunch from this fantastic and stylish restaurant.  Their plates are beautiful.  We like…..spicy crab roll, all tempura, white tiger roll, lake superior roll, mango roll, rainbow roll, spicy tuna roll, philadelphia roll….OK, we like it all.  Especially the ginger salad dressing.  We could drink it for dinner.  Get local and get downtown!!!!  Click on Hanabi above and get yourself a table.  You’ll be so happy you did!

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!

We’ll use fun summer blooms for this class.  This design style is great to learn before a season of gardening and blooms/foliage from your garden.  You’ll be able to use this design style for the rest of your life!

Date:  Wednesday, June 13th, 2012

Time:  5-7pm

Place:  Angela’s Bella Flora, Inc.  138 West 1st St., Duluth, MN

Cost:  $100

Sign up early, space is limited and classes do fill.  We’re excited to see you!

**Think you’ll be hungry before class?  Make a night of it!  Stop at Takk for Maten in the Tech Village on Superior Street.  Such good food!!!!  Give yourself an hour and they’ll grill up something unique and delicious and Norwegian!  I have had the turkey panini…amazing.  There are so many talented people in Duluth, MN!

Sign up early, space is limited…and our clients love gardening.  You do NOT need to know anything to come to this class!!!  Everyone is welcome.

Date:  Thursday, April 26th, 2012

Time: 6-7.15pm

Place:  138 West 1st Street, Duluth, MN  (Angela’s Bella Flora, Inc.)

Cost: $7.00 Prepayment preferred to secure your spot.  Call the shop with a credit card, send a check or click our link below to pay with Paypal.

Can’t wait to see you!  Do it up downtown & grab dinner at Zeitgeist Cafe before or after our class.  The drinks are amazing…and Sara B. likes their Tuna Nicoise Salad.  Ang loves their Grilled Romaine Salad with Chicken.  A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.!!!!  Thanks for supporting your locally owned businesses.  See you downtown!

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!

Football mum, button mum, miniature millimeter balls, wire orb, and “snow”.  The container and other hardgoods product were supplied by a company called Accent Decor. We adore this company…on-trend & magnificently creative.  The “snow” is one of their products…we spray our arrangement with water and then just sprinkle it on.  It expands a bit when it hits the water and also adheres to the flowers/sticks/wire/balls.  A great product.

We did 4 different flower arrangement styles for the tables this year.  The arrangement above has fragrant oriental white lilies, white football mums, bit of cushion mum, bit of button mum, 3 stems of star-of-bethlehem up high, wire orbs, and the blue malleable (bendable) sticks.  We designed all in foam…that way everything stays in place.  The star-of-bethlehem is one of our favorite flowers….we call it the “surprise flower” because it doesn’t look like much when it arrives, but after 2 weeks, it’s fluffy white and bloomed!  I have had friends text me pictures of these flowers 3 weeks after they’ve purchased them because they are so “surprised”!

Here they are, star-of-bethlehem….about 2 weeks away from true full bloom.

We also created some artistic interest pieces for ice sculpture and bar areas.  This little piece of floral art (above) was created by Sara B…one of our very gifted designers.  I had absolutely nothing to do with it!  Just so talented!!!!  I am lucky to be surrounded by these amazingly creative people.  She put glitter IN the water.  Yes, IN the water.  I love it.

Tulips can be amazing little creatures….Sara reflexed these petals back to create some drama in this piece.  What a gorgeous way to meet a tulip.  I mean really!

This is the floating arrangement (above) without it’s “illuminator”.  What’s an illuminator you ask?  See below. (I love the little blue pins in the middle of the button mums!)

The illuminator…illuminators add such brilliance and help to create a bit of a “party ambiance”.  They are bit expensive retail…but most of our clients rent them to make it affordable.  They last for hours and hours!

Sara filled the base of this piece with wire spheres from Accent Decor…then used them as a system for threading her flowers stems.  This is a great way to design large arrangements in wide vases.  The illuminator really made these pieces come to life.

We provided linens to our clients for several of the cocktail table…great way to introduce keep a strong color theme.  Tiffany Blue and snowy white…perfect for a fancy New Year!  You don’t have to do every single table in the room…but do some!

A close-up of one of the entry arrangements.  White dendrobium orchids, white agapanthus (will open!), and spheres of all kinds!

This is one of the four table arrangement style…sprayed white birch, white gerber daisies, wire spheres and blue twig (Accent Decor).  We used white carnations in mass to create a fluffy pop of snowy white.  They were darling!!!!

This is the full piece.  Completely different shape and style than all the others…it helps to create interest when you are doing event flowers to have one that is a totally different shape than the others.  This ended up being one of our favorites…and we don’t even use carnations at our shop!  The lines were simple and it was an easy piece to look at.

One of the larger pieces for the cocktail area…we have white hybrid delphinium and aluminum wire (Accent Decor again!) under the waterline.  Items become magnified underneath the waterline and further enhanced with an illuminator.  We used spray glue and blue glitter on our beargrass.  The large vases used are a tool we rent out for so many different events.  Glue, glitter, vase; all product from Accent Decor.  They make it easy to create a great floral event plan!

Thanks to my staff at Angela’s Bella Flora, Inc…..they have been working & working & working & working!  And still they amaze me!  Happy New Year to them (yes, it’s time for a rest!) and all the rest of our clients, especially the gang at Black Bear Casino in Carlton, MN!

Until next time, Happy Flowering!

You are invited to attend a lush little floral design class “Spring Floral Design” at Angela’s Bella Flora, Inc. on Thursday, March 29th, 2012.  This is a “Hands-On” Class, where students leave with gorgeous flower bouquets…fresh and fragrant!  We’ll focus on fresh spring blooms like hyacinth, tulips, ranunculus, star-of-bethlehem, hydrangea, and some designer choice blooms.

Come and learn all about how Angela’s Bella Flora, Inc. does spring floral design.  Angela will demonstrate, coach and give hands-on assistance as needed.

Everyone is welcome!  No prior floral knowledge needed.

Class is from 6-8pm at 138 West First Street (the shop) on Thursday, March 29th, 2012.

Cost: $100, prepayment and registration required to secure your spot.  Call 218.279.3444 or email us at flowers@angelasbellaflora.com.  You can also pay below with paypal.

Should you need to cancel, we offer a full refund if you do so at least 48 hours previous to class start.   We can then attempt to contact waiting list clients or we can cancel your flower order.  If you cannot give 48 hours notice, we can save your stems for pick-up or Angela can use your stems and product for the demonstration arrangement.  We want classes to fit into your lives and your schedule!