Petal Pusher

Summer Citrus

noreply@blogger.com (Nichole Campbell) — Thu, 24 May 2012 03:34:00 +0000

A blog! Can you believe it!??

Hello all! We've been in love with orange and yellow lately, and the photos in this blog show you why! The first two pics are from a recent wedding. I love the pops of vibrant orange and yellow against the elegant white callas, and the bridesmaids are just plain fun!

Bridal bouquet of calla lilies, roses and tulips.

Bridesmaids of roses, tulips and vanda orchids.

My favorite element of this wedding were the centerpieces, by far! I love the freshness, the elegant simplicity and the color!

A footed glass bowl filled with fresh oranges and white dendrobium orchid blossoms.

We were so in love with the citrus theme after that wedding, that we decided to create citrus topiary arrangements for the Mother's Day Brunch at Green Bay Country Club. We threaded the oranges and lemons on wooden dowels and created the floral in Oasis at the top. Cute and fresh.

Topiary of oranges and lemons with hydrangea, lilies, roses and hosta.

Prom Open House Inspiration!

noreply@blogger.com (Nichole Campbell) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 00:43:00 +0000

Given that our Prom Open House is coming up this weekend...

(I know. I know. Enough, already! I just want to make sure everybody knows so we can see you all there!)

Anyhow, I thought you might like to see the inspiration behind some of the new looks that we are going to be showing off for corsages and bouts. No finished product (that would be too much of a sneak peek!), but these are some of the ideas that we'll be running with!

First up, Ribbon Roses.

We love the softness these lend to corsages, and the fact that they will let us bring in colors that don't exist in nature! (Like all of those beautiful blue tones that have been so popular!) And we're hand-making them, so we can tailor them to any dress color!

Elegant Industrial!

Moving away from the softness, I love the almost industrial feel of these bouquets. I think it' s a bit too extreme, but some of that feel paired with the softness of fresh flowers in corsages and bouts will be both unusual and gorgeous!
And the guys will like the more masculine feel as well for bouts!

Paper and Fabric Leaves.

This is an idea that was born for a wedding that wanted to convey a music theme (the groom was a musician.) Once we started thinking about it, we realized this concept could go anywhere! It gives us flexibility to bring different patterns and textures (especially in fabric) into a bout or corsage! So many possibilities!

Our New Ti Leaf Ribbon!

So, this photo is actual fresh Ti leaves binding a bouquet. I couldn't find a photo of the leaf ribbon (it's that new!). It gives the same feel and look as fresh Ti leaves but it's more flexible and can be cut to size, so we can create curls, loops and wraps perfect for corsages and bouts! The possibilities for this are endless...We're all in love.

Buttons!

This look has been coming on in weddings for a little while now, and we're going to debut it this year from prom! (With a little more sparkle, of course!)
After all, what would be prom without a little sparkle?

Hope to see you all at the Open House this weekend!
Friday from 5-8 and Saturday from 9:30-5

Prom Open House! And a Few New Corsages!

noreply@blogger.com (Nichole Campbell) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 12:02:00 +0000

Mark your Calendars! March 16th and 17th!
Our First Ever Prom Open House!

We'll be creating a bunch of fantastic new corsages, bouts, floral jewelry and hairpieces so you can stop in, try them on, and oooh and aaah! Sassy Girl will be bringing in the best and the brightest new dress colors and showing off the jewelry and shoes to match, so you can see how your entire look can come together.
We'll be sampling our gourmet foods, lavender lemonade and Flavor 8 soda too!
Tell your friends! Friday, March 16th from 5-8 and Saturday the 17th from 9:30-5!

So, to tide you over until then, here are just a few of our newest wrist corsage creations for this upcoming prom season! And, if there is anything you would like to see us create for the Open House, just send us an e-mail or leave a comment on our facebook page!

White hyacinth blossoms centered with gold pearls and accented with white waxflower on our new antique gold beaded wristlet! (This new wristlet is available in other colors too-they're each a little bit different!)

Pink miniature cymbidiums and lavender aggapanthus blossoms on a purple rhinestone wristlet and accented with lavender rhinestones! (Because what is prom without some sparkle?!)

Red Spray roses and red rhinestones on a black pearl wristlet. A classic color combination.

Pink cymbids, but this time they are accented with some of my favorite little chocolate feathers! I just love the texture feathers add to corsages and bouts!

More, pink cymbids, but this time the color is punched up with some hot pink spray roses! Sheer black ribbon and a pink pearl wristlet finish the look.

Champagne ribbon paired with white mini callas and the softness of seeded euc, waxflower and hyacinth.

White hyacinth centered with crystals and accented with white ostrich wisps and guinea hen feathers.

Vintage Soda Bottles!

noreply@blogger.com (Nichole Campbell) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:10:00 +0000

These adorable soda bottles are from Flavor 8 Bottling in New London, WI. We walked across the street to the grocery store to grab some lunch today, and couldn't resist a case of these! We drank a few-the soda was great, super sweet and flavor full (made with real sugar!) And then we filled the empty bottles with tinted water and some cute blossoms and ribbon bow ties!

So, today's lesson:

Vintage Soda Bottles + Fresh Flowers = Ridiculous Cuteness

We are so excited to have found these today! We have a prom open house coming up on the 16th and 17th of March and are going to be serving these cuties as one of our refreshments!

Jay and Lindsay's Wedding!

noreply@blogger.com (Nichole Campbell) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 02:36:00 +0000

Okay, so I've been a little lax on here lately! (Or, a lot!) But, I've still got some really, really great weddings from last season that I am determined to get posted before this next season starts. (Which, honestly, feels like it is right around the corner!)

Alright, this one is Jay and Lindsay's wedding from back in July. (Aaahhh. Remember July? 80+ degrees? And sunshine for 10+ hours a day?) Anyhow, I digress. This wedding was lovely. And Jay and Lindsay are truly lovely people. They had so many unique and special details that they put a lot of thought and their own time into creating. So, I really can't take credit for everything I'm about to share. :)

Let's start with my fave! GARDENIAS! In Lindsay's bridal bouquet! They look heavenly. And smell even better! I just did a wedding consult today for a bride who is leaning towards gardenias for herself. (Yes, Nicole. If you're reading this. Gardenias would be perfect for you! :) They've got such a wonderfully vintage glamour to them. And surrounded by English Garden roses, celosia and stephanotis, you can't go wrong!

And, not to forget about the bridesmaids. We brought a little more texture and color to theirs-with the focus on hydrangea, celosia, nigella, and of course, a few more roses. The celosia is the star in here for me-that velvety soft texture is gorgeous against the papery hydrangea petals.

On to my two favorite details. These made the wedding for me (these, and the gardenias, of course!) Both are beautifully sentimental nods to her parent's wedding.

Lindsay's bouquet was adorned with her parent's wedding rings. (Her mom's ring was so tiny-such a petite lady!)

Their unity candle, and the bridal bouquet, were both wrapped with embroidered lace from her mother's wedding gown. One of the most unique bouquet wraps and unity candle embellishments we've created.

I absolutely love the lace against the candle. Tone on tone, but the difference in texture is so dramatic. Simply beautiful. And such a beautiful significance.

Wedding Show 2012!

noreply@blogger.com (Nichole Campbell) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 19:07:00 +0000

The PMI Wedding Show 2012 just wrapped up yesterday! Thank you to all of the brides, grooms, family and friends that stopped by our booth. We were soooooo excited to see that you all loved the feathers, succulents and grey and yellow color combo as much as we did!

Here's a recap of what we created for the show...

Callas, ranunculus, guinea hen and bear grass loops.

A detail shot to show off the adorable guinea hen ruffle on the stems!

A coordinating centerpiece of fringed white tulips with guinea hen feathers attached to strands of bear grass. The movement of this as the feathers fluttered when people passed was just beautiful! (The feathers on the bear grass was one of our favorite concepts we created for this show! It was one of those "why did we not think of this before?" sort of moments!)

A hand-tied bouquet of those amazing fringed white tulips and white anemones. A beautiful choice for spring!

And just one more detail shot of those amazing white fringed tulips!
(We're fans. Can you tell?)

On to the yellow and grey...
Succulents! Paired with yellow callas, billy balls and dusty miller! This bouquet was also collared with ostrich drab (though you can't see it much in this photo!)

A matching billy ball and dusty miller bout for him!

A coordinating glass cube centerpiece filled with succulents, roses, dusty miller and loops of calla lilies.

Gerberas paired with dusty miller and brunnia. I love the way the dusty miller and brunnia take a flower that is so classic and cheerful and give it a more modern, edgy twist.

Feathers! My personal fave! (Well, it's sort of a toss up between this one and the guinea hen that I started with!) Classic ivory roses (a few with blinged centers!) collared with a natural feather boa with tails of ribbon and feathers. Between the softness of the feathers and the double face satin ribbon on your hands, to hold this is heaven!

A whimsical coordinating centerpiece or unity candle arrangement featuring a wreath nest base detailed with a little bird and a jeweled nest!

And, for the bride to wear at the reception after the veil comes off, a coordinating feathered and jeweled hair clip with a fresh ranunculus.

Spring! Helleborus, lisianthus (Locally grown! Yes-in January in Wisconsin!) and trachelium! I love the spring green of the helleborus!

Lavender roses and trachelium accented with paphiopedilum orchids, curly willow and Chinese evergreen.

A detail shot of those amazing orchids! One of Barbi's favorites!

More amazing tulips! Libretto parrot tulips paired with lisianthus, hypericum, spray roses and dusty miller. I love the looseness of this bouquet.

A darling corsage for mom, featuring ranunculus with a rhinestone buckle that she can keep!

And, for her something blue, blue hydrangea paired with white gerberas, fringed tulips and pearl accents.

Calla, meet sparkle! Plum callas (also locally grown!) centered with rhinestones and finished with a buillon wrap.

For one of our upcoming brides, by her request on our facebook page, red and burgundy roses paired with sparkling rose hips and evergreen. Holiday Luxe.

Buttery yellow roses accented with a few blush ranunculus and collared with packing material! Yes-packing material! This textured wrap is wrapped around merchandise we receive to protect it during shipping. We loved it's texture and flexibility, so we gave it a second life as a bouquet wrap!

Anthurium and callas accented with the bright green of button mums and bells of Ireland!

More anthurium, but this time a more contemporary interpretation. Nested in a grapevine armature that is wound with diplocyclos and silver buillon.

So, I've shared our favorites. If you have a moment, we'd love to hear yours! Just leave us a comment! Or post it on our facebook page!

Music Wedding!

noreply@blogger.com (Nichole Campbell) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 11:49:00 +0000

We're back! So, we took a little time off for a bit there! Things were too busy with weddings, weddings, and more weddings and then before we knew it, it was the holidays! But now we're through with that (and we've almost got all of the evergreen pitch off of our fingers) and we're ready to start looking ahead to our 2012 weddings! So we thought we'd start by looking back wistfully at some of our favorites from 2011!

This was one of our faves because of the personal touches. I love it when the couple's personality comes through in the decor. For this couple, the groom was a musician and the bride wanted a very natural and organic feel. I think those elements came together beautifully.

The bouquets featured succulents, scabiosa seedheads, roses, ranunculus, hydrangea, stock peach roses, and lady's mantle. (Loved the fuzzy succulents in this one!)

The bouts were ranunculus, succulents, astrantia and dusty miller detailed with hand cut leaves created from sheet music!

The ceremony was kept simple and natural-using bright green ferns as contemporary altar arrangements that then doubled as centerpieces at the reception! (It's always great when we can get a double usage out of arrangements!)

The pews were decorated with cones made from birch bark. They were filled with coordinating hydrangea, lady's mantle, astrantia and seeded euc. (We loved these! I just love the look of cones on the pews! We've done them from beautifully patterned papers and fabric too-they can add so much texture and richness to a simple combination of flowers.)

On to the reception...

Which was held at the Warch Center on the Lawrence University Campus. An amazingly beautiful space.

The ferns from the ceremony doubling as centerpieces.

The other low style of centerpieces...a footed glass bowl filled with hydrangea, goatsbeard, lady's mantle and of course, more succulents!

Okay, so we didn't have to much to do with this (except for the flowers on top), but I do love a picture of pretty little cupcakes all in a row! (Or rings!)

And last, but not least, this is my favorite pic from the wedding. These are the centerpieces all lined up in the design room waiting to go out on delivery. Something about the lighting and the colors in this pic makes me fall in love with it every time I see it!

Jordan and Dave's (and Salty's) Wedding!

noreply@blogger.com (Nichole Campbell) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 15:46:00 +0000

Yeah! Another succulent wedding! And this one was for one of our sweetest brides, Jordan! And it had a very special wedding party member in their pup, Salty. (But more on that later!)

First up, Jordan's bouquet featuring succulents, hydrangea, lisianthus, astrantia and cymbidium orchid blossoms.

The crystals centering one of the succulents provided her something blue...

And another succulent provided the perfect resting place for this amazingly beautiful crystal frog.

The bridesmaids carried hydrangea accented with bright green kermit mums and green trachelium.

For their unity ceremony, they "planted" a tree to grow for years to come. (Okay, they didn't really plant it. She wasn't out there in her gown with a shovel, but they added soil to represent the planting-and avoid getting dirt on her dress!) A nice alternative to the unity candle for an outdoor ceremony-and perfect for a ceremony at the Green Bay Botanical Garden!

And we couldn't resist putting a little jeweled nest with pearl eggs in that tree!

In keeping with the "tree theme," the favors were little saplings wrapped in burlap and bound with chocolate ribbon and the centerpieces were birch branches displaying hanging votive candles.

And last, but certainly not least, their Newfoundland, Sir Salty. He walked down the aisle, and as such had to have flowers as a legitimate and honorable member of the wedding party.

So we created a floral collar full of cymbidium orchids (nothing but the best for Sir Salty!)

Complete with name tag just in case there would be any confusion as to which member of the wedding party got to wear the giant floral dog collar.

And here he is...

Sir Salty, stealing the show.

Wedding Greatest Hits, Volume Spring 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Nichole Campbell) — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 11:00:00 +0000

So, it's been a while! We've been so busy making all sorts of fabulous wedding flowers from week to week, I just haven't found time to blog about them! So, I've decided to create a "Greatest Hits" post to highlight some our favorite creations from our spring season!

Bridal bouquet (for my cousin!) of green cymbidium orchids, gloriosa lilies, roses, and hydrangea.

An adorable pomander for a flower girl of sunflowers and asters detailed with a fluttering little feathered butterfly! What little girl wouldn't be excited about that?!

Bridal bouquet of hydrangea, stock, ranunculus, roses, lilacs and a little bit of bling!

A bridal bouquet of sunflowers, gerberas and beautiful fluffy, soft peonies! And bear grass loops!

We're all sort of falling head over heels in love with yellow and orange lately! So we were in love with this one! Hydrangea, stock, ranunculus, and accents of dahlia, chamomile and lady's mantle.

Purple, anyone? Hydrangea, lisianthus, roses and calla lilies collared with hosta foliage.

Tomato red ranunculus and lime green viburnum! (Sounds like salad, looks like beautiful!)

A bridal bouquet of sky blue hydrangea, freesia, lady's mantle and pops of bright blue delphinium.

Succulents! And cymbidum orchids, freesia, fern curls, scabiosa, and waxflower!

And last, but certainly not least, English garden roses (centered with bling!), gardenias, hydrangea and stephanotis! (And this was just a sample for the bride to preview-we can't wait to make the "real deal" later this summer!)

Stay tuned!
Cuz you know we've got a summer full of beautiful creations ahead of us!
(And I plan to back track and get a few more of the spring ones up here too!
Some are too gorgeous not too!)

Bay Area Humane Society PetWalk

noreply@blogger.com (Joplin Japhet) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 13:36:00 +0000

Hello All! So, it's been a long time since you've heard from us on here! The ladies have been busy with wedding season so I decided to pitch in and help out on the blog.

Recently, there was an event that is near and dear to my heart...Bay Area Humane Society's Annual PetWalk. If you're not familiar with it, please visit their website to learn more. Anyhow, the general jist is that people collect donations to sponsor themselves and their pet in completing the 5K walk. The funds then go to help the furries in need at the shelter.
(And as you all know, I was a furry in need myself once!)

I did collect donations for participating, but my idea of "participating" is a bit different. I collected donations and pledged to nap and snuggle my way through PetWalk from the comfort of my pillow at the shop.

You see how it would be if I were to actually make an appearance at PetWalk...being one of the few feline representatives present, every dog in attendance would want to come over and exchange greetings and salutations (by sniffing my butt of course.) I, to this day, do not understand this about the canine species. Being a self-cleaning creature, I am familiar with my own behind and I do not see any reason to stick my (or anyone else's) nose down there beyond what is necessary for good hygiene. A simple "Hi. A pleasure to meet you. Joplin Japhet's the name. Best of luck to you with the walk." would have sufficed for all.

So, I chose to participate in my own way.

Here is a picture of me actively participating.

Hard work.

I am, however, considering re-evaluating my participation for next year. I think that with the appropriate means of transportation I could nap and snuggle while simultaneously completing the walk.
All I need is a feline sedan chair and some porters.

Of course, I would look considerably more regal.

Once the sedan chair is being carried by the porters, I should be out of reach of dog's noses (and will be out of the drool danger zone as well.) Except for maybe the occasional Great Dane. But then again, I have always found Great Danes to be one of the more refined breeds.

I will be holding auditions for porters in the near future. Please contact my shop ladies for consideration.

And, if you would like to help out the Bay Area Humane Society raise some extra funds, please consider donating directly to the shelter via their website or visiting Broadway Automotive's Facebook page. They are donating $5 for every "like" the receive!

Farmista!

noreply@blogger.com (Nichole Campbell) — Wed, 04 May 2011 11:00:00 +0000

For Easter this year, we created a farmer's market themed display for the buffets at Green Bay Country Club. We paired fresh cut tulips and daffodils with produce the club provided to us-including mushrooms, asparagus, broccoli, radishes, cauliflower and the cutest carrots known to man.

After setting up this Easter display, I was enjoying a glass of wine and flipping through my latest issue of Florists' Review. Turns out this is an up and coming trend called Farmista! (We're just so ahead of the trends! :) Anyhow, farmista is now my new favorite word!

I mean, really! How cute are those carrots?!

And asparagus-wrapped cylinder vases!

And for the kid's buffet, we added in adorable little "cheeps" peaking from between the tulips and daffodils!

"Cheep, cheep!"

(They set up the cutest kid's buffet! It's a kid height table that displays macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets and other kid-friendly entrees. Too cute. And I'm sure it makes for happy kiddos!)

And for the dining tables...

Glass cubes of locally grown wheat grass accented with fresh cut tulips. If that doesn't say spring, I don't know what does!

Joplin "The Kitten with the Mittens" Japhet

noreply@blogger.com (Joplin Japhet) — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 01:29:00 +0000

So, earlier today I had a lovely young lady tweet about me and hailed me as a "fierce furry blogger." What's that, you say? You didn't know I was on twitter? @joplinjaphet. Consider yourself informed.

Anyhow, I was also heralded as the "protector of @gbpetalpusher." Given that I am an adorably white fluffy kitty, I thought people might have a tough time regarding me as a ferocious feline.

But I'm a ninja kitty.

Yes, a ninja kitty.

This is a behind the scenes shot.

I'm shooting an upcoming film and I was just working through some of the action sequences with my trainers.

Joplin Japhet is "The Kitten with the Mittens." The Deadly Mittens.
-said in a deep announcer-type voice.

Also part of my action sequence.

Roooaaaaar!
I apologize for the blurry picture, but the camera is just not quick enough to capture Ninja Joplin.

I also have knife skills. This knife may be small, but we have a lot of them around the shop. The ladies use them for flowers, but in a pinch, they can cut more than just roses.

I'll cut ya bad, man. Real bad.
(As long as you're a piece of ribbon already lined up under the knife.)

Did you hear that?

If there is an intruder, I'm ready and waiting with my ice pick (aka Sharon Stone device.) The ladies use these when they create corsages and bouts. We'll save that explanation for a later blog.

Umm, false alarm.

All this heightened awareness has got me sleepy.

Time for a nap.

In my Cat Cave.

Yeah, the people involved with Batman stole that from me. Sure, theirs was more luxurious but I don't need all those frills.

Pardon me. I've got to go.

Duty calls.

It's a Prog! That's a Prom Blog!

noreply@blogger.com (Nichole Campbell) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 00:02:00 +0000

The first of what will be many creations for our upcoming prom season! We love, love, love creating these! The dress colors are fabulous and fun and we love all of the details in the wires, ribbons, rhinestones, crystals and feathers! Especially the feathers! Finally, people are loving the feathers as much as I do!

Cymbidium orchids paired with wisps of ostrich feathers on a sheer red ribbon and red pearl wristlet.

The matching bout for him-detailed with red bullion wire.

Locally grown white freesia centered with crystals and sky blue rhinestones on our new crystal and rhinestone wristlet.

White dendrobium orchids on a turquoise rhinestone wristlet accented with turquoise tinted guinea hen feathers and iridescent rhinestones. (Love the guinea hen in this one!)

Barely blush cymbidium orchids and dendros accented with sprays of crystals and rhinestones and very subtle feather accents.

White mini callas and white ranunculus accented with rhinestones, beaded vines and ostrich wisps! My favorite!

And last, but not least, his matching bout!

Spring on a Snowy Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Nichole Campbell) — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:24:00 +0000

We thought everybody could use a bit of spring among the snowflakes today! Joplin Japhet enjoyed watching the snowflakes fall from his window perch.

And then, when he realizes I'm taking his picture, his inner diva comes out.

Smooch!

All right, enough Joplin love! (Not that he's not adorable). But, on to the spring stuff!

One of our newest additions! Zipper flowers! These happen to be made by the mother of the bride for one of our upcoming weddings this season!

Love, love, love these! (And love both our bride and her mom!) These are available as both brooches and barrettes! You will be seeing the Push staff modeling these as well. She had to re-stock our inventory after we ransacked the selections!

Also, just arrived...brand new metal garden accents!

Adorable bluebird bird houses!

And butterfly bird feeders! And hummingbird wind chimes! Oh My!

And cute little plant accents-for indoors or out!

Buzzing little bumble bees!

And sweet little garden snails!

And fluttering little butterflies!

Luminescent glass flower garden stakes! When the sunlight bounces off of and passes through these-they are gorgeous! (And they're inexpensive-only $10 each!)

And, from one of Joplin's favorite people...

We are freshly re-stocked on Barbi Gossen's handmade herb markers! Stop in early and get the best selection-before all the "basil" and "thyme" get "harvested!"

And lastly, adorable little jeweled nests filled with pearls and crystals!

Charming additions to fresh flower arrangements! And plants! And bridal bouquets! And place settings for an Easter brunch! Or a cute touch of spring for your desk at the office! You get the idea-put them everywhere! They're cute!

Spring Wedding Show at The Meadows

noreply@blogger.com (Nichole Campbell) — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:54:00 +0000

Just a few fabulous bouquet pics from our most recent wedding show at The Meadows! It was so fun to get to create bouquets with all of the wonderful spring blossoms just coming into season!

Ranunculus (which have been amazing so far this year!), locally grown (yes, locally grown) freesia (from our friends at Windswept Acres), hypericum and bear grass. I love the shape of this one, sort of a free-form asymmetrical cascade.

A darling clutch of red gerberas accented with loops of bear grass and a feathered butterfly (so adorable! I'm a sucker for butterflies!)

A dramatic hand-tied of orange roses combined with hot pink matsumoto asters, seeded euc and ribbon-like loops of Ti leaves. I think orange is one of those up and coming wedding colors. (Or at least I hope orange is an up and coming wedding color. For some reason I'm very fond of it lately! And I'm not normally an orange-loving girl!) I'm not saying we are going to see a ton of orange bridesmaid's dresses (don't worry bridesmaids-I don't think you'll be donning orange chiffon pick-ups anytime soon), but I love it as an accent color with something more neutral. Green tones, softer brown, greys, etc. Orange makes anything feel fresh and can make a statement in the simplest of designs.

Switching gears from that intense orange, a demure, simple and sweet clutch of lavender and white daisies and white waxflower.

Classic buttery yellow roses (one of my favorite varieties of yellow-called Skyline) paired with sweetly scented stock (smells like cinnamon and cloves) and citrusy-smelling waxflower. Mmmm. "buttery, cinnamon, cloves and citrus." Sounds like I'm writing for Food and Wine!

More roses! This time a beautiful lavender called Blue Curiosa paired with pink callas, the hottest of hot pink waxflower and some bling-tastic lavender crystals.

Spring. Purple anemones, hot pink freesia (again, locally grown!), soft pink hyacinth and pink matsumoto asters.

If you missed this show, but are still in wedding planning mode, visit us at the upcoming Visuelle Wedding Show on March 27th at the Fox Cities PAC! It's always a great show!

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Beatles! Or at least a floral arrangement inspired by them!

noreply@blogger.com (Nichole Campbell) — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 03:45:00 +0000

This past weekend, we had the pleasure of creating a Beatles themed floral arrangement for a private event held at the Weidner Center in Green Bay. The event was themed to coordinate to the concert that evening-the Green Bay Symphony performing Beatles tunes.

And we got to make a FLORAL GUITAR!

How rockin' is that?

This was Barbi's creation, from pretty much start to finish! Here are a few close shots to show the detail she put into it! She wanted the guitar to be as "accurate" as possible-so we did some internet research to make sure it resembled the early guitars the Beatles played. At least as closely as it could-given that we're talking about flowers here!

A big thank you to my Dad for donating the 45s used in the design. No, they weren't Beatles 45s. He was only willing to part with those that he didn't deem worthy of his collection. (So we covered them with patterned lime green paper!) A true patron of the arts, that man.

And the incredibly inventive ladies at Not By Bread Alone got to create some amazing Beatles themed nibbles...

Strawberry Fields Forever.

Even better when dipped in chocolate!

And a carved watermelon! How adorable is that?

There was even a yellow submarine holding cocktail sauce! Visit their facebook page to see some more great pics that I missed!

Yes, we really do love our job! I mean, how could you not when you get paid to do this!?

Why I Love Gerbera Daisies...by Joplin Japhet

noreply@blogger.com (Nichole Campbell) — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 03:36:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, the ladies had a wedding that used 200 gerbera daisies.

Pretty, no? Thank you to the fine people at Ever-Bloom in California for growing such a lovely product.

But, more importantly than that, when you order 200 gerberas they arrive in a giant box! It's even better than the printer box "that guy" got for me a while back. (Sorry Hewlett Packard and "that guy." Guess you'll just have to start making bigger printers so the boxes are bigger!)

It's got a great opening on the side that I can sneak into and observe the world. The white fluffy stuff (other than me) is the packaging they layer between the daisies. It also happens to be excellent cat napping material.

I can then exit with the appropriate post-nap dramatic feline stretch.

But my favorite feature...

Are alll of these great ventilation holes! Perfect for playing with my catnip fish. Or bear grass. Or seeded euc. Or ribbon.

It's also got a top tier that I can climb and perch upon. "I'm the King of the World."

Actually, I'm kind of sleepy. Playing is hard work.

I think I'd better take a nap on the veranda. Did I mention this box comes with it's own veranda?

Valentine's Day Loves...

noreply@blogger.com (Petal Pusher) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 01:11:00 +0000

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and it's all about love, so we thought we'd share a few of the things we love...

Barbi Gossen's Conversation Heart Pins! They're cute, they're sweet, they're hand-enameled and they're only $8! What's not to love?

She even made one for Joplin too!

"Purrfect!"

And Joplin Japhet is excited to announce the First Annual Joplin Japhet Cutest Pet Contest! Visit our facebook page and post your adorable pet pics to our wall! 4 categories-cutest cat, cutest dog, cutest not a cat or a dog and best dressed! Enter as many pics as you want. Winners will be drawn February 28th and will receive our adorable new Puppy Love arrangement pictured below!

Sorry-Joplin Japhet is not included!

And seriously-we love cute pet pictures! It makes our day! So let's seem 'em!

In other Joplin news, watch for his upcoming photos and article in the Green Bay Press Gazette on February 13th (the day before his birthday :). The photo shoot was last week-and he was darling as always. Though after an hour long shoot, he was exhausted. Being a model is hard work. His interview is this upcoming week, and we're certain he'll be gracious and witty, as usual.

Back to our adorable Puppy Love arrangement- it can help you score some serious points this Valentine's Day! Have it delivered to your sweetie at work and it will be sure to generate a chorus of "Awwwww, how cute is that?!" from the co-workers! And, score even more points when your sweetie realizes that $10 from every Puppy Love sold benefits the fuzzy butts in need at the Bay Area Humane Society! We've even had a few people send them on behalf of their pets-feel free to steal that idea!
"Happy Valentine's Day Mom! You're the best! Love, Fluffy"

Notre Dame Floral Showcase

noreply@blogger.com (Nichole Campbell) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 21:16:00 +0000

This past week, we had the opportunity to participate in a unique event-the First Annual Notre Dame Floral Design Showcase. The event was a fundraiser for Notre Dame's choral program and featured designers from Burst, Aster Park, Schroeder's and Branching Out. We all got to bring product of our own choosing and create an original design on stage-one each for six different categories. Frank from Frank's Dinner Theater provided the commentary-he was hilarious and most interested in discovering what flowers he could eat!

The arrangements were sent home at the end of the event with lucky attendees (drawn randomly!). I missed pics of some as they went out the door quickly! But here's what I did capture!

This is one of my favorites. It represents spring to me. At least, spring in Wisconsin! We always get that one late season snow that blankets the bulb plants and then melts away. The daffodils are real (I had a lot of people ask me that!) but the snow isn't (it's that really cool fake snow stuff that you just mix with water. It's cold, it's wet, it totally looks real! And yes, we sell it :)

This is my tropical arrangement. It features protea, tropical foliage and beautiful phaleonopsis and paphiopedilum orchids. Unfortunately, in this shot the paphiopedilum orchids are being a bit camera shy and faced the wrong direction. If you want to treat yourself, just run a google image search on them. They are amazing. For this design, I wanted to work with pinks and purples as everyone thinks of tropical flowers in oranges, red and yellows.

Here are those warm colors! They are wonderful to see in the middle of winter, so I couldn't leave them out. This is my long and low design which features gloriosa lilies, acacia, tillandsia and marble vine.

I extended the long and low line by suspending some gloriosas in water tubes (wrapped in faux-leaf ribbon) among horizontally-placed birch branches which ran the length of the arrangement.

And two quick close-ups of some of the starring stems from the evening. Above, "black" anthurium and that beautiful phaleonopsis. And below, the marble vine and tillandsia.

It was a fantastic evening. It got to work next to my former co-worker (Jay from Burst) and we had a blast. My fellow designers and I have even grander plans for next year! There was talk of doing a "musical chairs" design. We each start a design and then change stations and finish someone else's. Stay tuned to our facebook page, and I'll make sure to post details on next years as they become available! I'm sure it will be bigger, better and even more fabulous!

Wedding Show!

noreply@blogger.com (Nichole Campbell) — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 02:32:00 +0000

Just a few of the bouquets we created for the recent PMI wedding show a few weeks ago. We always love a chance to create whatever our little florist hearts desire!

Locally grown (yes, locally grown!) white calla lilies detailed with rhinestone "pistils" and paired with football mums, button mums and silvered seeded euc. Wrapped in a cloud of tulle and complete with it's own train! A very couture bouquet!

Cream roses paired with fragrant stock, hyacinth and waxflower and accented with pale green cymbidiums. Smells like heaven!

Simple and sweet gerberas centered with pearls and detailed with a contrasting French twist ribbon wrap.

Our friend Paul over at Krystal Kleer Ice Sculptures was kind enough to create the ice columns and vases for our booth. (Yes, that entire thing is ice!) These definitely generated some oohs and aahs. People had to touch them to verify they were really ice (yes, they were wet and cold!) If you want to see a bit more of his work and ooh and aah for yourself, visit his gallery on his website! Thank you Paul! You never cease to amaze us!

Always one of my favorites- a cymbidium orchid pomander. Such an unexpected, yet elegant choice for bridesmaids or flower girls.

One of our newest looks-Barbi has mastered creating ribbon roses. A beautiful addition to bouquets and a wonderful keepsake as well. Accented with aggapanthus, star of bethlehem, Amnesia roses and lavender crystals.

More of those beautiful rich lavender Amensia roses. The word that comes to mind to describe their color is "murky"-but I know that is not a lovely word! It's like a non-pastel lavender. A lavender with grey and green added. One of my wholesale reps lovingly refers to their color as "zombie flesh." Again, not a lovely comparison. But I think they're beautiful roses! In this bouquet they are paired with the always lovely Black Baccara and pheasant feathers.

And last, but not least, another one of my favorite bouquet choices! I love non-bouquet bouquets! A darling black evening bag filled with bright yellow cymbidium orchids. Too cute.

My Favoritest New Toy!

noreply@blogger.com (Joplin Japhet) — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 03:29:00 +0000

Hello All! And a belated Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! I am pleased to announce a new addition at Petal Pusher-well actually two. But I'm only pleased to announce one of them. Allow me to explain...

A while back, Barbi (one of my shop ladies) bought me this adorable catnip fish at Artstreet. It was love at first sight.

Smooch!

I love him so much I sometimes wear him as a kicky little beret.

It's not every cat that can pull off this look, but don't worry-I can.

It gets even better! After seeing my fondness for this fabulous little fish, the ladies here contacted the artist (Ms. Elizabeth Anderson at Artess Designs-she makes lots of other cute stuff too!) and now we sell them! Unfortunately, they are stored in a lidded glass container because I have been told that I do not need a new catnip fish every day. Whatever.

But, the silver lining is the box that the catnip fish arrive in!

Aaaahhhh. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, like sleeping in catnip-scented cardboard. And the boxes are just the right size too. I sure do love that Ms. Anderson!

Anyhow, the first shipment came with an unexpected surprise.

Ugh. His name is Snag. Look at him. With all his buggy-eyed cutness. I can't even stand it.

And he's always so chipper. And awake. It's like he never sleeps. Like he's undead or something. Doesn't he know cats are supposed to sleep 23 hours a day? He always seems to interrupt my naps. I have my suspicions that the shop ladies have something to do with this, but given that I'm asleep until being awoken by Snag jumping on me, I can't prove it. But I suspect that they must assist him, given that he doesn't have legs.

Awoken again, by Snag. Wait, why are they taking my picture? It's like they knew Snag was going to wake me up.

Get out of the way, Snag. I'm the cute one here. They're here to take my picture anyhow. Do you have your own twitter account, Snag? I didn't think so.
(My twitter account is @joplinjaphet, btw! In case you were interested!)

In all fairness though, Snag is good for one thing.

He makes an excellent pillow.

artisan crafted ornaments

noreply@blogger.com (Barbi Gossen) — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 21:57:00 +0000

Hello again from Barbi. As well as being a full time floral superhero, I am also a jeweler and professor. So as you can imagine, I am almost as busy as Santa's elves. As always, I have been working hard to come up with new items. Recently, I started making great new ornaments for the holidays that are made of vintage silverware that I have found all over the Green Bay area.

People have asked me to make pieces from their grandmother's old silverware that they have then used as keepsake gifts for their families! Think about these for cute baby and wedding gifts! Each is a little different and glittered up for added holiday cheer!

I can use almost any old silverware, but sterling or silver-plated table ware work the best.

As well as the new vintage ornaments, I have hand cut, formed and enameled copper to create jewel-like, colorful ornaments.

Each is hand crafted in my home studio and enameled (an ancient glass fusing process) in my small kiln. A perfect craft for chilly winter nights, as opening the door of a 1500 degree kiln with each of the 5-7 fireings each takes, can warm up any small space!

So come and check out these great gifts as well as my holly pins (which retail at just $5!!!) and snowman earrings!

Halloween, by Joplin Japhet

noreply@blogger.com (Nichole Campbell) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 03:00:00 +0000

I know it's after Halloween, but I worked long and hard on these costumes so the blog is going up either way! (The ladies apologize for the delay-they've been busy getting the store ready for the holidays. I might need to find some new assistants who understand how to prioritize. Please feel free to forward me your resumes).

Anyhow, most of these costumes are all me. Shows how much can be done with an incredibly creative, adorable and photogenic cat like myself.

Bobcat Kitty. Ferocious, huh?

Alien Kitty. Take me to your leader.

Grecian Kitty.

Cardette Kitty. For those not in the know, cardettes are the little things that hold the cards in flower arrangements. I'm pretty sure I'm the cutest cardette ever.

Lamb Kitty. I need a little assistance from the ladies on this one.

And last, but not least, Pirate Kitty. Arrrrrgh. I look pretty tough and mean, don't I? I just need a little hook on the end of this paw.

Packer Game and Floral Cheesehead!

noreply@blogger.com (Nichole Campbell) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 00:53:00 +0000

I generally get to one Packer game a year. So, for that one game, I go all out and salute the Packers to the best of my floral ability by designing and modeling my one-of-a-kind floral cheesehead. This is Version 3.0, each season I re-interpret my design slightly. It's big, it's a little bit heavy, yes, it's all fresh flowers, and yes, it's totally worth it! It takes me about an hour and a half to make. I wind up getting a ton of requests to try it on and take a picture of it. I'm certain there are random photos of it floating the internet!

To date, however, I have yet to get on TV with it! That is the ultimate goal of this endeavor, after all. If anybody has the connections to make that happen, have your people call my people. Eeerrr, just e-mail me. Eerrr, just comment.

The top view, displaying what I am certain may be one of the only floral tributes to our own #12, Mr. Aaron Rodgers!

My husband, myself and the floral cheesehead taking in the game!

Seated directly behind us was a row of Vikings Fans that were actually very good sports! Good enough in fact to pose for this photo. Needless to say, they exited very promptly after the game! Floral cheesehead meets feather boas and leopard print.

KICK OFF! Sorry you all couldn't be there! It was a beyond exciting, awesome, fantastic game!

And this seemed like a good idea at our post-game victory celebration! I promised him fame and fortune when he made our blog. Umm, the check's in the mail.

Triple Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (Nichole Campbell) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 10:59:00 +0000

So it's not often that we devote an entire blog entry to just the bouquets for one wedding, but then again, it's not often that we do one wedding that involves 19 bouquets!

3 Brides, 1 Maid of Honor, 9 Bridesmaids, 3 Flower Girls and 3 Toss Bouquets!

First off, our Bridesmaids who wore navy blue chiffon...

Dahlias in orange and red-yellow tones accented with locally-grown gomphrena, bear grass loops and collared with fatsia foliage. The bouquets were also collared with rose hips (which you can't see in the picture!) They were a last-minute addition and a beautiful contrast in texture.

Our maid of honor, Grace. The maid of honor for all three brides-hence, the maid of honor, cubed!

Grace got to choose her very own special bouquet-dahlias in accordance with the other bridesmaids but made that much more special with the addition of beautiful yellow cymbidium orchids and loops of oncidium orchids! We loved this one! Simple, but yet oh-so dramatic!

And the first of our brides...Claire!

Claire loved gerbera daisies, yellow roses and the soft, fuzzy textures of celosia, centaurea and safflower (say that three times fast!) The combination was accented with red freesia, crocosmia, brunnia and hypericum.

Next up, Katie!

Katie has beautiful red hair, and she completely let us decide what her bouquet would be! I would love to say that I chose these beautiful glowing Circus roses to compliment the warmth of her hair color, but that was just a happy coincidence! I really picked them cuz I love them, and hoped she would too! (She did!)

And last, but certainly not least, our planner extraordinaire-Helen!

Helen loved all the little detailed stuff with unique shapes-the ranunculus, fern curls, parrot tulips, and dahlias. Pay special attention to the ranunculus with the green centers-they are mutant! And gorgeous!

And last but not least, a beautiful picture of each bride paired with her corresponding flower girl!

Below is a report from WLUK Fox 11 showing the beautiful brides (with their beautiful bouquets) on their wedding day!