The Wedding Bouquet

It's me again!!! Blogging two days in a row, almost unheard of!!

I have a lovely little treat to share with you this evening and I am so super excited about it! 

A project that has brought me a huge amount of joy to make. Not only because its full of crafty goodness, but because it turned out simply perfect! 

This project started off a few months ago when Dennis' best friend Bianca asked us if we would do the honour of making her bridal bouquet for her Springtime wedding. Bianca wanted something extra special for her big day and something handmade and heartfelt definitely seemed to tick all boxes.

Dennis and I put our heads together to brainstorm ideas.  We wanted to create something elegant, sophisticated and above all, gorgeous. 

We looked at traditional wedding bouquets, made of real flowers. 

We considered using  felt, fabric or already made silk flowers, but of course settled upon the craft we know best.....crochet!

Bianca had given us an idea of her wedding dress colours, so we tried our best to incorporate these into her bouquet. 

Soft vintage pinks and traditional cream were the foundation to this project. With the colours at hand Dennis and I got going in working to gather to make our ideas become  a reality.

With a variety of colour appropriate embroidery floss, Dennis and I got to work making some cute crocheted flowers

We added some pure woollen flowers to the mix and we were on track to wedding bouquet bliss!

We bought a selection of pins that would be used to secure our crocheted flowers when the time came to form the bouquet.

We bought a selection of polystyrene shapes that we had decided to use as the foundation of the bouquet.

With our basics in place, we got to work creating crafty havoc!!

We crocheted flowers by the dozen!

Adding pearled pins to the smaller flowers added a nice touch.

We covered cardboard with crocheted chains and ribbon making a smooth seam to the construction of the bouquet.

A round of crochet picot trimming not only covered the join between the cardboard base and the polystyrene body, but also added a beautiful and delicate contrast to the ribbon.

We also covered the polystyrene body with crocheted chains. This was a fast but effective way of covering the polystyrene. We chose to cover the polystyrene just in case any of it could be spotted through the arrangement of flowers. 

Now to the fun part.....
Adding the flowers!
We pinned each flower to the polystyrene to check the arrangement before properly securing them.

With the flowers added, we had a rather splendid looking arrangement. The base was looking all neat and pretty...

and the join from the base to the arrangement was clean and flawless.

Now onto the finishing touches.
We weaved some ribbon, which was rather fiddly but had pleasing results.

We attached it to the stick that was to be the handle of the bouquet. We then wound the stick with ribbon and secured it with fabric glue to create a rather elegant baton.

Finally we added the baton to the arrangement and our creation was finished!

I don't mean to blow my own trumpet, but I'm so pleased with it and know that Bianca will love it!!

It is detailed and pristine in it's assembly.

It's pretty and frilly. Above all it's personal! We added a little silver anchor as a symbol of Bianca's future husband who is a marine.

Of course we had to have a little photo shoot to celebrate out creation, before we pass it onto Bianca so she can celebrate her special day!

 

I hope that it's everything that Bianca was hoping for. A memento of the love that Dennis and I put into making it, but also a lasting memory of the love that her marriage will be built opon. 

I'm feeling a little soppy!!!

OOOOOOH I love a good wedding!!

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Enjoying it while it lasts!

Good morning gorgeous readers! how are you all?

Guess what I have....two glorious weeks off from work!!! isn't that amazing! 

I originally had the next two weeks planned as a vacation spent with Dennis' on the cruise ship he works on. Two weeks of travelling around the Canary islands and spending time with him in the sun. I've been looking forward to it for months! 

Things didn't quite go to plan as Dennis came down with a nasty bout of kidney stones and had to come home from the ship. :-(

The plus side is that Dennis is all fine. The kidney stones are not yet out, as the procedure to remove them didn't quite got to plan. He will have a repeat of the procedure in a few weeks, but thank God he's no longer in any pain. He's definitely on the road to recovery.

Of course the down side is that I didn't get my much longed for vacation, but I have to say things are turning out rather splendidly. I'm spending some time at home with Dennis (which was the main point to the holiday anyway) and am rather loving the long days I get to spend at home and out on the balcony, talking, crafting and eating the hours away.  

We have Spring weather! The sunshine makes me feel like a totally new person. Basking in the sunshine is not only doing wonders for me, but also for the plants I potted a few weeks ago. I'm rather enjoying watching the progression I see from day to day as another leaf, flower or sprout appears.

I couldn't resist taking some pictures to show you all. I'm simply adoring having an outside space to call my own: 

Along with the flowers I've also started growing some Strawberries. They are only little at the moment, but I hope they will grow big and have sweet red strawberries to munch on!

Also, I'm growing tomatoes! Again they are only tiny at the moment, but I'm hoping they will grow deliciously tasty fruits so I can make some Summery salsa.

Not only do I love the colour and vibrancy having a little garden brings to my life but I'm truly enjoying the maintenance part. Watching over my plants and watering them when they need, is becoming a sacred moment to the day. A time to be alone with my thoughts and ponder life as I tend to my thriving plants.

It's rather precious having this unexpected couple of weeks to spend at home.  I'm allowing myself the time to  take it slow and enjoy every moment of the day, to indulge in the things that I sometimes take for granted when busy with work.
Alowing myself the time to sit and sip tea out on the balcony, watching the day go by is such a luxury and something I would not normal plan as a way to spend my free days.

Maybe Dennis' kidney stones were a blessing in disguise? Of course not for him, but maybe for me? They've allowed me a time to enjoy the days as I please, no obligations, no schedule to follow, no boundaries as to what I can do for the next two weeks. That's rather lovely feeling! I'll enjoy every minute whilst it lasts!

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You can read an updated and revised version on our new blog.

Click here to read this post in full at it's new home!