By far the most frequent things I'm asked are: "How long does it take you to make a flower?" and "Do you use a template?"

So today I'm going try to answer both of these questions with a bit of a demonstration and an inside look at my process. 

Earlier this spring I conducted my first study with Lisianthus, and I fell in love. What's not to love? Bunches of Lisianthus are full of adorable trumpet-like buds and gorgeous blooms that I feel are a perfect cross between a rose and a tulip. Best yet—they seem to last for weeks in a vase! Whenever I see these at the market, I always pick them up. The problem with that is that they're only around for a short time during the year (or at least, they should be). Sounds like a perfect candidate for paper, right? 

Over the weekend I spent some time working on another paper anniversary bouquet! I can't wait to share this one, but it's going to have to wait another week or two so I don't spoil the surprise.

However, there's a reason I bring it up now…

My Mom brought over another vase full of fresh picks from her garden early this week (a regular thing this time of year) and amongst the collection of black eyed Susan's, zinnias, and dahlias were the most striking color of blue blooms I've ever seen. I asked her what they were, and for the first time maybe ever, she didn't know! They were wild, and she thought that maybe they were catnip? Whatever they were, they were as pungent as they were pretty.
 

On Wednesday my Mom popped over with a pristine Magnolia bloom that she and her neighbor had plucked from a tree in her yard (that story involved golf clubs—don't ask). We had talked about how I'd wanted to try one of these for a while, but my neighbor's trees had all stopped blooming, and the photos I'd grabbed of their blooms were also infested with beetles (they've been a real problem out here this year!). So she knew I had been on the lookout for a good model–and boy did she deliver!