Thursday, July 16, 2015

The Dog Days of Summer

Dog Days of Summer - Stein Your Florist Co.
Great Dane Elliott enjoying a wee bouquet of blooms.
It’s hot. The sun beats down from a cloudless sky through stagnant humid air, falling upon human, animal, plant and the inanimate alike. The streets absorb the heat to the point that the tar becomes almost fluid and if a car drove by it would surely find itself stuck. As you stand stationary you feel beads of sweat form and roll down your face and back; any movement would surely cause a sweat so profuse it would seep through your clothes leaving you wet, embarrassed and somehow even hotter still. The air is so thick you could practically chew on it if it wasn’t choking you. Vision clouding waves of heat fall into view, distorting the landscape of motionless blades of grass and unmoving trees full and heavy with summer’s bounty. Squirrels, birds, feral cats and that fat backyard groundhog you nicknamed Sebastian long for any kind relief as they struggle just to breathe, and you swear they somehow know about air conditioning and are jealous when they see humans retreat indoors with their beloved chosen pets. The sun is a relentless furnace with no breeze to calm its fiery breath. It’s just... So. Damn. Hot. These are the dog days of summer.

Dog Days of Summer - Stein Your Florist Co.
Poodle Winston couldn't be happier with his yellow ranunculus!
We are in the thick of it! The Old Farmer's Almanac lists the traditional period of the Dog Days as the 40 days beginning July 3 and ending August 11. We thought the best way to pass this time would be to pair some of our favorite pooches with pretty petals!




Dog Days of Summer - Stein Your Florist Co.
Miniature poodle Sherman is celebrating with flowers!
The Romans referred to the dog days as diēs caniculārēs and associated the hot weather with the star Sirius. They considered Sirius to be the "Dog Star" because it is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major or Great Dog.




Dog Days of Summer - Stein Your Florist Co.
Layla enjoyed her visit to Steins!

The Ancient Greeks thought that Sirius's emanations could affect dogs adversely, making them behave abnormally during the "dog days," the hottest days of the summer. Their excessive panting in hot weather was thought to place them at risk of desiccation and disease.




Dog Days of Summer - Stein Your Florist Co.
Those cats are interfering with my flowers!




According to Brady’s Clavis Calendaria, 1813, the Dog Days were popularly believed to be an evil time "the Sea boiled, the Wine turned sour, Dogs grew mad, and all other creatures became languid; causing to man, among other diseases, burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies."







Dog Days of Summer - Stein Your Florist Co.
If you can tolerate an outdoor picnic during the dog days 
of summer, don't forget to pack your poodle!
Here at Stein Your Florist we have a mixed bag of feelings about the Dog Days of Summer… Some of us love it, enjoying every second they can in the heat, reveling in a visit to the beach, basking in the sun’s rays and holding joyous backyard barbecues full of levity and fireworks…


Dog Days of Summer - Stein Your Florist Co.
Leo loves his rainbow roses!
Others not so much, longing for the days of winter, stating “those snowstorms weren’t so bad,” lamenting over how hot it’s going to be when they get in their cars to go home, complaining about their summer wardrobe and emphatically stating that the flowers just don’t like it!






Dog Days of Summer - Stein Your Florist Co.
That's one patriotic pooch!
Like it or lump it, it is what it is. The Dog Days of Summer are here, but autumn’s relief will arrive soon enough and we may find that we miss summer’s verdant hues and that devastating feeling of passing out as soon as you step outside.
Dog Days of Summer - Stein Your Florist Co.
Elliott is looking good in his floral anklet!

Dog Days of Summer - Stein Your Florist Co.
Sherman is stylin' in his collar of black-eyed Susans!

Dog Days of Summer - Stein Your Florist Co.
It's hot out! Stay inside and pamper your pooch with 
peonies and a PETicure (wow, that was a cheesy pun even for us).

Dog Days of Summer - Stein Your Florist Co.
Jah Rastafari!

Dog Days of Summer - Stein Your Florist Co.
For those hot summer weddings when you 
ask, "why didn't we get married in the spring?"

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Art in Bloom 2015

Prayer Rug 1 by Karen S. Davies interpreted by Patrick Kelly of Stein Your Florist Co.
"Prayer Rug 1" by Karen S. Davies interpreted by
Patrick Kelly of Stein Your Florist Co.
The Cheltenham Art Center once again invited our floral artists to their annual Art in Bloom, Floral Interpretations of Paintings event. The event is a fundraiser benefiting many of the wonderful programs that take place all year at the art center. Six of our talented designers took to their workbenches to create their floral versions of beautiful paintings by local artists.
Stein Your Florist Co. owner/operator and designer Patrick Kelly chose to interpret “Prayer Rug One” by Karen S. Davies. Patrick chose a heavy stone container as the base of his arrangement and added matching pebbles to the surface of the pedestal to accent the dark blacks and grays of the painting. All the flora is dried and preserved, including:  millet, hydrangea, Spanish moss, branches, grasses, berries, seed pods, limonium, and heather. The dried materials have a wonderful textural look, which complimented the painting’s dimensional qualities perfectly. The painting’s artist was so impressed with Patrick’s interpretation that she made a donation and bought the piece herself! She said she simply couldn’t picture the painting without it! 
Chaos in Purple/Blue by Norman Soong interpreted by Patrick Kelly of Stein Your Florist Co.
"Chaos in Purple/Blue" by Norman Soong interpreted
by Patrick Kelly of Stein Your Florist Co.

Patrick also hosted a live demonstration during the event, designing his interpretation of “Chaos in Purple/Blue” by Norman Soong for the attendees. He created a chaotic purple/blue design of his own with delphinium, agapanthus, statice, and novi belgi asters, while also picking up on the painting’s flecks of orange with hypericum berries. The arrangement is seated in a classic cobalt blue vase and accented by a bit of ming fern. The painting’s artist recorded the entire design process and the arrangement was awarded to the night’s lucky raffle winner, who was thrilled to take the floral creation home with her!

Avelthorpe by Dera Kapnek interpreted by George Emberger of Stein Your Florist Co.
"Avelthorpe" by Dera Kapnek interpreted by
George Emberger of Stein Your Florist Co.





Stein Your Florist Co. designer George Emberger chose to interpret “Avelthorpe” by Debra Kapnek. He said was drawn to the trees in the painting and created a dark forest of his own with white branches and deep blue delphinium with pops of golden yellow solidego asters and wispy accents of bear grass. He completed his forest floor with sheet moss and dark gray river rocks. George was awarded Best in Show for Fun and Fantastic Design for his interpretation.








Love Lies Bleeding by Gail Fox interpreted by Jessica Kelly of Stein Your Florist Co.
"Love Lies Bleeding" by Gail Fox interpreted by
Jessica Kelly of Stein Your Florist Co.
Co-operations manager of our Burlington, NJ location and designer Jessica Kelly chose to interpret “Love Lies Bleeding” by Gail Fox. Unintimidated by taking on such a large painting (it was more than five feet wide), Jessica chose a large clear glass cylinder for her design, which she filled with stones and soil, wanting to display the unseen “underground” layers. In the center of her arrangement she used red ginger, purple liatris, and birds of paradise to capture the colors and the height of the painting. At the base of her design she planted succulents and tropical plants and accented them with cut tree fern, ming fern and hypericum berries. Jessica’s interpretation was purchased by one of the attendees.


Baggage by Nicholas Burns interpreted by Jennifer Kelly of Stein Your Florist Co.
"Baggage" by Nicholas Burns interpreted by
Jennifer Kelly of Stein Your Florist Co.

Jennfer Kelly, Co-operations manager of our Burlington, NJ location, head of social media and designer, chose to interpret ”Baggage” by Nicholas Burns. Jennifer wanted to capture painting’s theme baggage, so she used several vintage suitcases to stack around the design as well as to create her arrangements in. To capture the flow of the painting she used a bundle of curly willow, draping foliages like hanging eucalyptus, springeri and Thai leaves and clusters of raffia. The flowers used are delphinium, solidego, hydrangea, spray roses, hanging amaranthus, white agapanthus, calla lilies, a pink antherium, and bird’s nest fern. She accented her bouquet with newspaper, which was also present in the original painting. Jennifer was awarded Best in Show for Mixed Media Design.






Your Majesty by Edwina Brennan interpreted by William Kirk of Stein Your Florist Co.
"Your Majesty" by Edwina Brennan interpreted by
William Kirk of Stein Your Florist Co.
Floral designer William Kirk interpreted “Your Majesty” by Edwina Brennan. William said that the painting reminded him of his own, sometimes chaotic, way of thinking and he thought the painting suited his design style perfectly. He choose bright blooms of bells of Ireland, dendrobium orchids, blue roses, lisianthus, and miniature carnations to pick up on the painting’s colors and captured the black swirling strokes of the painting with rings of dried grapevine. The painting’s artist was there to see William’s interpretation in person and she was touched by his vision.




Rhythm by Gerry Tuten interpreted by Carl Mishinski of Stein Your Florist Co.
"Rhythm" by Gerry Tuten interpreted by
Carl Mishinski of Stein Your Florist Co.




Our final representation from Stein YourFlorist Co. was created by apprentice designer Carl Mishinski who interpreted Rhythm by Gerry Tuten. Carl built a freestanding armature on which to create his design from Guatemalan river cane. He envisioned the painting as a tropical rainforest and covered his structure with Thai leaves, hanging eucalyptus, hanging amaranthus, leather leaf fern, ming fern, blue and black roses, and king protea. Carl is also a graffiti artist so he called upon those skills to tint some of his flora to mimic the colors of the painting. His work was one of the largest pieces at the show and its’ impressive stature created quite the buzz!


Our designers have been invited back to participate in the CCA’s event once again next spring. Two weeks prior we will draw for spots to select from the art on display and plan our designs. We are looking forward to another inspirational affair and we hope you will join us.

Follow updates for next year's event by
liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter
"Chaos in Purple/Blue" by Norman Soong interpreted live by Patrick Kelly of Stein Your Florist Co.
"Chaos in Purple/Blue" by Norman Soong interpreted
live by Patrick Kelly of Stein Your Florist Co.

Monday, May 4, 2015

Star Wars Day

Ewoks at Stein Your Florist Co.
Ewoks
Happy Star Wars Day from all of us at SteinYour Florist Co.!

May the fourth be with you!
Chewbacca and Han Solo at Stein Your Florist Co.
Chewbacca and Han Solo
Admiral Ackbar in a bonsai at Stein Your Florist Co.
Admiral Ackbar in a bonsai



Lando Calrissian at Stein Your Florist Co.
Lando Calrissian
Luke Skywalker, R2D2 and C3PO at Stein Your Florist Co.
Luke Skywalker, R2D2 and C3PO


Happy Star Wars Day from the green roof atop Stein Your Florist Co.
Flowers make the moment... Let us make a moment for you.

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Bollywood Fun

Bridesmaids of a traditional Indian Wedding with flowers by Stein Your Florist Co.
Bridesmaids of a traditional Indian wedding
with flowers by Stein Your Florist Co.
We love that in the floral industry everyone is our customer. People from all cultures, backgrounds and walks of life enjoy the beauty of flowers and incorporate them into their lives.

We’ve had the recent pleasure of working with more of our kin from the Indian community. Their culture is rich and beautiful and flowers charmingly represent the country’s unity in the form of diversity, liveliness and generosity.



Bride & Groom of a traditional Indian wedding with flowers by Stein Your Florist Co.
Bride & Groom of a traditional Indian wedding 
with flowers by Stein Your Florist Co.
A single flower or a bunch of flowers can gladden the mind and confer prosperity. In various Indian traditions flowers have been associated with the Creator, religion, worship and with innumerable myths and legends across history. Similarly, flowers have forever remained an integral part of everyday life and culture.







Bollywood fun, Indian inspired designs by Stein Your Florist Co.

We embraced the beauty of India and the fun of the Bollywood movie scene in some of our recent floral designs. We strive to represent all cultural communities in our work and love the wonderful opportunities we are granted to share our designs with the world!

We adorned our lovely model with flowers for her hair and wrist. We choose colorful assorted blooms to represent the fun and levity associated with Bollywood films.

Bollywood fun, Indian inspired designs by Stein Your Florist Co.
The brightly colored sari she’s wearing, as well as, the blue sari with strands of 14 karat gold spun through it that is draped over the small table, were both given to us by a customer who had traveled to India. 

Her jewelry is authentic Indian jewelry, for sale in our stores, that was brought to us from India by the owner of one of our neighboring businesses when he traveled home to visit family.




Bollywood fun, Indian inspired designs by Stein Your Florist Co.
We filled our pretty peacock pottery with stock flowers, liatris, spray roses, stargazer lilies, iris, tuberose and delphinium with a tail of peacock feathers. In Hindu mythology the peacock is a sacred bird, known as Mayura, and is associated with a number of gods and deities. 






Bollywood fun, Indian inspired designs by Stein Your Florist Co.

We look forward to continuing to work with our diverse community and learning more about the world’s cultures and their beauty.




Bollywood fun, Indian inspired designs by Stein Your Florist Co.

Bollywood fun, Indian inspired designs by Stein Your Florist Co.

Flowers make the moment... 
Let us make a moment for you, at Stein Your Florist Co.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Art in Bloom 2014

Nature's Bones Floral Interpretation
Nature's Bones
We’ve said before that floral design is an art and recently we once again had the opportunity to pair our flowery art with its more traditional counterpart, paintings and mixed media designs at the Cheltenham Center of the Arts’ second annual Art in Bloom, Floral Interpretations of Paintings.


For this year’s April 26th event five talented Stein Your Florist Co. designers, as well as several more of the Philadelphia area’s floral artists exhibited their floriated interpretations of a variety of masterfully created paintings and mixed media art pieces at the CCA’s exhibit.


Stein Your Florist Co. owner/operator and designer Patrick Kelly chose to interpret “Nature’s Bones” by Paul Gorka. He created the floral portion of his design with blue delphinium, dendrobium orchids, Spanish moss and pothos. His design used a lot of mixed medias, awarding him Best in Show for mixed media design. The drift wood at the base was from his own backyard as well as the tall pussy willow branches. The tree branches and small pinecones were gathered from the grounds around the art center, the stones were from the pond in our flower shop, the large pinecones were from a trip to Yosemite State Park and the resin skull was a local flea market find. Patrick had a wonderful time creating his piece and said that the painting was the first one to catch his eye upon entering the art center.
Untitled 1 Floral Interpretation
Untitled 1


Stein Your Florist Co. designer George Emberger chose to interpret “Untitled 1” by Edwina Brennan. He said he was drawn to the pops of natural color and wispy freedom juxtaposed to the linear grid work in the design. George constructed his own three-dimensional grid of river cane with floral bursts of color in roses, tulips, pincushion protea, solidego, Spanish moss, ferns, seeded eucalyptus, and sprays of bear grass.


Road of the Flower Floral Interpretation
Road of the Flower
George also hosted a behind the scenes seminar before the main Art in Bloom exhibit. He did a live interpretation of “Road of the Flower” by Merle Spandorfer, designing for an audience, answering questions, and describing his interpretive process while he created his art piece. He chose a bold black container and curvaceous black branches to make the “road” of the painting pop in his design. The painting’s colors were picked up in the flowers George used:  ginger, gerbera daisies, alstroemeria, chrysanthemums, leptospermum, and springeri. The painting’s creator was there for the live demonstration and was fascinated by George’s interpretation and design process.


Living Room - Fort Lauderdale 1995 Floral Interpretation
Living Room - Fort Lauderdale 1995
Co-operations manager of our Burlington, NJ location and designer Jessica Kelly chose to interpret “Living Room – Fort Lauderdale 1995” by Howard Silberthau. She was drawn to this painting’s deceptive simplicity, appearing as a blank canvas from afar but boasting wonderful detail and linear precision up close. Jessica chose to interpret the painting as an unfinished canvas, paying homage to the evening’s theme and created her floral design as an unfinished painting itself. Working with liatris, roses, lilies, hydrangea, cymbidium orchids, gladiolus, iris, larkspur, bells of Ireland, and peacock feathers (a signature piece in many of Jessica’s designs) she created a massive arrangement to compliment the painting’s equally massive size. Some of the arrangement’s flowers were hand painted to convey the idea of a work in progress and it was accented with brushes, a painter’s palette, a paint splattered drop cloth and other painter’s tools to finish the effect. Jessica’s design was awarded Most Creative Floral Interpretation of a Painting.
Under the Microscope Floral Interpretation
Under the Microscope

Co-operations manager of our Burlington, NJ location, head of social media and designer Jennifer Kelly chose to interpret “Under the Microscope” by Barbara Straussberg. Jennifer, who has a bachelor’s degree in bioscience and biotechnology from Drexel University, said that “this painting reminded [her] of [her] college days in the lab, staring into a microscope at the various minute wonders of a world we rarely get to see.” Playing on the “under the microscope” theme Jennifer created her design as three oversized microscope slides, complete with labels and floral specimens. The “Succulent Plantae Sp.” slide was designed with live succulent plants, fresh cut pin cushion protea, and accented with Spanish and reindeer moss and dried foliage. The “Amaryllis Hippeastrum, c.s.” slide was made with roses, pincushion protea, hyacinth blooms wired as though floral flagellum, eucalyptus, hypericum berries, tulips, cut succulents, reindeer moss, floral pods, and a cross-section of an amaryllis bulb. Finally, the “Punica Granatum, c.s.” slide was created with tulips, amaryllis, roses, pincushion protea, cut succulents, ranunculus, reindeer moss, loops of hypericum berries, Brussel sprouts, savoy cabbage, purple cabbage, and a cross-section of a pomegranate. Jennifer had the opportunity to meet the painting’s creator and she was blown away by her floral interpretation. Jennifer was awarded Best in Show for Fun and Fantastic Design.


Ruby and Friends Floral Interpretation
Ruby and Friends
Our final representation from Stein Your Florist Co. was created by freelance designer Denise Emberger, who chose to interpret “Ruby and Friends” by Gillian Bedford. Loving the beach, Denise focused not on the children in the painting, but on their surroundings. She stacked bubble bowls, mimicking the frothy waves of the ocean, atop a piece of driftwood and filled them with seashells, starfish and mosses resembling kelp and other sea life. She completed her design with beautiful green cymbidium orchids, pincushion protea and a large spray of bear grass that looked as though it was plucked from the sand dunes.


Our designers have been invited back to participate in the CCA’s event once again next spring. Two weeks prior we will draw for spots to select from the art on display and plan our designs. We are looking forward to another inspirational affair and we hope you will join us.

Follow updates for next year's event by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter.

Stein Your Florist Co. designer Jennifer Kelly adding the finishing touches to her flora interpretation of  Under the Microscope
Stein Your Florist Co. designer Jennifer Kelly adding the
finishing touches to her flora interpretation of  Under the Microscope

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Art in Bloom

Floral design is an art in itself. A knife or floral shears are our brushes, the flowers our paints, and a vase, a basket, the entire world is our canvas. We paint and sculpt with fresh blooms, creating magnificent masterpieces; our floral designs flow like lyrical sonnets. Some have referred to floral design as a craft, but it is indeed an art.

"Woman Eating Ice Cream" by Jane Rovins
interpreted by Patrick Kelly

Last April the Cheltenham Center for the Arts presented their first annual event, Art in Bloom, Floral Interpretations of Paintings. Four talented Stein Your Florist Co. designers, as well as several more of the Philadelphia area’s floral artists exhibited their floriated interpretations of a variety of masterfully created paintings and mixed media art pieces at the CCA’s exhibit.

Stein Your Florist Co. owner/operator and designer Patrick Kelly choose to interpret “Woman Eating Ice Cream” by Jane Rovins. He created his design with birds of paradise, orange asiatic lilies, and blue roses with accents of limonium and tropical foliage. His use of colors picked up on the painting beautifully and the choice of exotic birds of paradise paid homage to the woman’s ethnic headdress, also accented by the traditional African cloth he draped across the pedestal. We had the pleasure of speaking with the artist at the exhibit and she told us the story of the woman she saw at a café that inspired her painting. It was a joy meeting her and having the opportunity to appreciate each other’s art.

"Shaman Shapeshifting" by Rebekah Higgins
interpreted by Jessica Kelly 


Co-operations manager of our Burlington, NJ location and designer Jessica Kelly choose to interpret “Shaman Shapeshifting” by Rebekah Higgins. She was drawn to this painting, whose colors are not typically found in the floral world, and accepted the challenge of the interpretation. Imagining the world this painted creature must have come from, Jessica created it in miniature. Lush succulents were carefully planted amongst a faux deer antler and accented by fresh white calla lilies, veronica, curly willow, bits of wax flower and seeded eucalyptus. We also had the pleasure of meeting this artist, who was thrilled with Jessica’s interpretation (she snapped about a million photos of it) and this floral piece was purchased by one of the attendees to help raise funds for the CCA’s cause.
 
 


"The Quandry" by Rob Kasprzak
interpreted by Jennifer Kelly
Co-operations manager of our Burlington, NJ location, head of social media and designer Jennifer Kelly choose to interpret “The Quandry” by Bob Kasprzak. The painting is indicative of her style with its eclectic and lavish features. Drawing on the worldly elements of the painting, Jennifer added her own diverse elements to her piece, including a globe, a Quan Yin statue, pottery from China and saris from India. The arrangement was positioned to be an extension of the painting, as though the woman was gazing at it and created to look as if it could be in the room with her. The flowers used included roses, hydrangea, delphinium, heather, hypericum berries, cymbidium and dendrobium orchids, solidego, stock, hanging amaranthus and eucalyptus. Stands of crystals and jewels were added for an extravagant feel. This piece was awarded Best in Show for Mix Media Design for 2013’s Art in Bloom exhibit.
 
 
"Stress Relief and Beauty"
by Ydalinda Oliviera
interpreted by Michelle Erikson
Our final representation from Stein Your Florist Co. was created by designer Michelle Erikson. Michelle choose to interpret “Stress Relief and Beauty” by Ydalinda Oliviera, a mixed media piece. Michelle loved the lines of this artwork and aimed to capture that in her floral design. The graceful curve of the flamingo’s neck is mirrored by the arrangement’s armature of larkspur and snapdragon. The body of the bird was recreated in protea, antherium, cymbidium orchids and more snapdragon with background accents of tropical foliage and craspedia balls. The vase was filled with delphinium to represent the watery habitat of the flamingo.
Our designers have been invited back to participate in the CCA’s event once again. Two weeks prior we will draw for spots to select from the art on display and plan our designs. This year’s event is even more poignant with the Philadelphia Flower Show being held in early March boasting a theme of Articulture, pairing with area art museums for an Art in Bloom style event of their own. We are looking forward to another inspirational affair and we hope you will join us.
This year’s Art in Bloom will be on Saturday, April 26, 2014, 5-7pm and includes an her d’oeuvres, wine & beer reception.
Tickets may be purchased online at www.cheltenhamarts.org or call 215.379.4660.
All proceeds benefit the educational outreach programs at the CCA!

Follow updates for this year's event by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter.