Hello all, I was just walking my apartment looking at how nice, neat and clean it is. I cleaned for 4 hours yesterday and it is spotless, and It makes me smile just looking at it. It's amazing how the little and simple things in life can make us happy. And yet we are always striving for something new and exciting to fill some make believe void that we have inside of us. I believe that all the happiness we need is already within us, we just have to channel it. But that is not to say that we shouldn't strive for new things, but not for the sole purpose of being happy. As I digress, the purpose of this post was to share some exciting news (well to me at least) I applied for an awesome job yesterday and I would hope that you all would wish me luck.
The Job I applied for is located in Los Angeles California. It is with a Company named Teleflora, A huge pillar in the Floral Industry. The Job is in the Marketing and Product design department. I know that I wouldn't be working with flowers very much at all, but It is another side of the business that I would love to be apart of, and besides I feel that I have some really great ideas for some new products and some marketing tools that they can use. And I also have a lot of valid input, and opinions of some of the products and marketing tools that they already currently use. I want this job for a number of reasons; for starters I would be seeing the floral industry from a different perspective. I also would be employed by one of the largest players in the industry, and the opportunity to grow and do so many different things within the company is endless. And lastly I want this position because I feel that I need it, I need it to become more rounded and experienced in this industry. My main goal is to get the job, but I will settle for at least an interview, because just because this position may not be for me, there will be something else that comes along with Teleflora. To me being apart of such a staple in this industry would not only be an honor, but a great opportunity to meet some of the best people this industry has produced. So feel free to Google Teleflora, read up about how great of a company it is, and wish me luck!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
It's just flowers
Today was one of the most stressful days of my life. The day I turned in my capstone project for my MBA doesn't even hold a candle to how stressed I was today. My boss was being a Major spazz, and when someone around me is spastic that puts me on edge. I am very responsive to the emotions and mood of those around me. So I can't be at ease when someone around me isn't. I have been off work now for about 3 hours and I am still jittery and I still have a pounding headache and my job doesnt have to be this stressful. But at the end of the day its just flowers. We aren't doing rocket science or saving a life here, we are just making the world a brighter place one flower at a time. But it is not necessary to get stressed out over it.
On a happier note, I am starting to really focus on "Jeremy Estes Designs" If I Can book at least 6 weddings for 2010, I can cut my hours at kent's and start doing more things on my own. And if all goes to plan, I can have my own space by spring 2010. I need to do my own thing for myself no one else. I am being hindered by the negative sides of retail, and my creativity is being stunted as a result. If anyone has a need for fabulous flowers for a party or wedding hit me up! I need the exposure!
Well I hope all is well with the rest of the world, and I will hope to talk to you all soon!! take care and love long.
On a happier note, I am starting to really focus on "Jeremy Estes Designs" If I Can book at least 6 weddings for 2010, I can cut my hours at kent's and start doing more things on my own. And if all goes to plan, I can have my own space by spring 2010. I need to do my own thing for myself no one else. I am being hindered by the negative sides of retail, and my creativity is being stunted as a result. If anyone has a need for fabulous flowers for a party or wedding hit me up! I need the exposure!
Well I hope all is well with the rest of the world, and I will hope to talk to you all soon!! take care and love long.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Getting Ready for Autumn
School is back in session and the weather is getting a bit cooler, and football season is getting underway. The holidays are coming quicker then we think. So I have a couple tips and idea's to help get us ready for the holiday season. My purpose for creating my blogspot account was to share with the world my passion and love for Floral materials, and to hopefully inspire someone with a tidbit of information.
As times have presented themselves to be tough the past 2 years, we can not let money or the lack thereof prevent us from enjoying everything that the Holidays have to offer. Fall is upon us and there are some simply ways that we can enjoy our autumn without breaking the bank. It is always a tradition in most family's to go out and purchase pumpkins and set them around their home, and then closer to Halloween pumpkin carving is a Fun family past time. Buying pumpkins from a retail store can be a bit expensive, even Wal-mart. Buying Pumpkins locally, from a local grower (whom often times have more then they can maintain) can prove to be cost effective and you are supporting an independent farmer, and boosting his buying power in this struggling economy. But for those family's that aren't on a budget and can decorate for fall and Halloween, I will share the big trends in Fall and Halloween colors. There are a lot of Traditional Black and White items being shown for Halloween this year. Traditional Halloween in my mind goes back to those old black and white movies of Dracula, that sticks out in my mind, and that makes me think HALLOWEEN! So if you want to be in the new! and the happening, go classic and get black and white, and like clothing and furniture, black and white never goes out of style.
For those that can not let go of color, Plum and Shades of pink are also hot to mix in with the other beautiful fall tones(Oranges, Reds, Greens, Etc) And lets not forget the color that is sweeping the nation, GRAY! Gray is so hot right now, so mix it in any way you can. And most colors pop off of Gray beautifully, so why not Paint the door to your home gray! and see how beautiful that fall wreath or swag looks against it. And a note on that, a door adornment doesn't have to be a tradition wreath, wall pocket of swag. We can be very creative when it comes to how we present our door, because the door is the first impression of the house. If the door has some creativity and some edge, then that says a lot about the homeowner and the rest of the house. A simply idea for the upcoming season, and for any season really. Go to you local craft store, (some small retail store sell them too) and buy you one of a couple of those over sized letters;they can dictate you initials, or you can just pick something random, like and "F" for fall, or you can Spell out the word "FALL". Once you have you desired letter(s) then you can either buy them in the finish you like, or paint them accordingly to the season or the colors of your home. If you paint your door gray think about how fabulous those letters would look in Orange! or Yellow! Affix the letter(s) to the door in you desired placement, and to them you can add ribbons, leaves, or any other fall treatment that you see fit, or they can stand alone which I think would make a great statement!
I hope that I have inspired someone to do something cool and different this upcoming season, and I will do my best to post another segment about thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Eve. It will be probably either later this month or early October because my schedule is going to get very hectic in the next couple of months...One last thing while its on my mind, there is nothing wrong with being ahead of the game. Plan you holiday decor and festivities now so that you have more time to spend doing all the wonderful and fun things that Fall and winter have to offer!
As times have presented themselves to be tough the past 2 years, we can not let money or the lack thereof prevent us from enjoying everything that the Holidays have to offer. Fall is upon us and there are some simply ways that we can enjoy our autumn without breaking the bank. It is always a tradition in most family's to go out and purchase pumpkins and set them around their home, and then closer to Halloween pumpkin carving is a Fun family past time. Buying pumpkins from a retail store can be a bit expensive, even Wal-mart. Buying Pumpkins locally, from a local grower (whom often times have more then they can maintain) can prove to be cost effective and you are supporting an independent farmer, and boosting his buying power in this struggling economy. But for those family's that aren't on a budget and can decorate for fall and Halloween, I will share the big trends in Fall and Halloween colors. There are a lot of Traditional Black and White items being shown for Halloween this year. Traditional Halloween in my mind goes back to those old black and white movies of Dracula, that sticks out in my mind, and that makes me think HALLOWEEN! So if you want to be in the new! and the happening, go classic and get black and white, and like clothing and furniture, black and white never goes out of style.
For those that can not let go of color, Plum and Shades of pink are also hot to mix in with the other beautiful fall tones(Oranges, Reds, Greens, Etc) And lets not forget the color that is sweeping the nation, GRAY! Gray is so hot right now, so mix it in any way you can. And most colors pop off of Gray beautifully, so why not Paint the door to your home gray! and see how beautiful that fall wreath or swag looks against it. And a note on that, a door adornment doesn't have to be a tradition wreath, wall pocket of swag. We can be very creative when it comes to how we present our door, because the door is the first impression of the house. If the door has some creativity and some edge, then that says a lot about the homeowner and the rest of the house. A simply idea for the upcoming season, and for any season really. Go to you local craft store, (some small retail store sell them too) and buy you one of a couple of those over sized letters;they can dictate you initials, or you can just pick something random, like and "F" for fall, or you can Spell out the word "FALL". Once you have you desired letter(s) then you can either buy them in the finish you like, or paint them accordingly to the season or the colors of your home. If you paint your door gray think about how fabulous those letters would look in Orange! or Yellow! Affix the letter(s) to the door in you desired placement, and to them you can add ribbons, leaves, or any other fall treatment that you see fit, or they can stand alone which I think would make a great statement!
I hope that I have inspired someone to do something cool and different this upcoming season, and I will do my best to post another segment about thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Eve. It will be probably either later this month or early October because my schedule is going to get very hectic in the next couple of months...One last thing while its on my mind, there is nothing wrong with being ahead of the game. Plan you holiday decor and festivities now so that you have more time to spend doing all the wonderful and fun things that Fall and winter have to offer!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Mortified
I went to a Fall and CHRISTMAS floral showcase at Mears Floral Products in Springfield MO yesterday, and I am still appalled. The Wholesaler was set up very beautifully, and they have remodeled. It was such a breath of fresh air to be down there seeing as it is 3 hours away and we at Kent's don't often get that chance to go down there and shop and see the product first hand. As I digress, the commentator/designer for the show was horrible! And I have no problem with posting this, and I have no problem with her finding out about the things that I am about to say. The Purpose of a Design show such as the one that we attended yesterday was to inspire, teach and share...and she did the exact opposite.
The show was supposed to be about holiday and fall decor, In the first segment I learned about one product (a Vase) that she used and for the rest of the time, I heard about her, her shop, and how wonderful her children are; and how without her family (not one mention of her employees) she wouldn't be as successful as she is today. In the second segment she spent the first 30 minutes talking about a ladder that her husband bought her, and about how wonderful her daughter is, and how wonderful things are in her shop. When Questions were being asked of her, she danced around them like hot coals, and wouldn't share too much information about her techniques used because she didn't want to give away her "Secrets" as she kept saying. My question is, "so why are you here?" The last segment she made 4 arrangements ahead of time that didn't have anything to do with each other, and had nothing to do with what the segment was supposed to be about. She did design on piece on stage, using the techniques and teachings that she learned while studying ikebana, but she didn't relate it to the show, I felt it was just her bragging about being a student of ikebana. During 3 segments out of the day, she only mentioned 2 times the things that she used from the Mears Showroom. That is part of your job as a commentator is to plug the merchandise and materials that you are using. I heard more about these fancy Japanese Clippers that her wonderful daughter got for her in NY, by the way none of us can get them from our local wholesaler cause they are only available in NY... Anyone else seeing the issues here?
The icing on the cake was when she was ending her final segment, and she looked at a girl in the audience that she had spoken to during break. The Designer was going on about tweaking the rules and principles of design. It was at that moment that she looked at this woman, and said "You won't be able to design like this, or design like me, and you may never be able to, you just a beginner".... SO much for inspiring you audience. This woman is so self-centered and delusional. and she needs not every do design shows again with that attitude. I have always said "the moment that you feel that you know it all, is the moment you should quit the business" She totally belittled her audience, and misused the opportunity that she was given. She had to opportunity to share, inspire and teach people some things that they might not have known, but instead, she was protecting her "Secrets" and that's very sad. I hate to break it to her but every concept and every idea in this world is derivative from something else, there are very very few original ideas in the world. The floral Industry has not gotten where it's at today by people keeping their "Secrets" to themselves. This Industry is very rich with knowledge and talent, and I hope that one day when I am doing Design shows that I can inspire, teach and share anything and everything that I can to help out someone.
The show was supposed to be about holiday and fall decor, In the first segment I learned about one product (a Vase) that she used and for the rest of the time, I heard about her, her shop, and how wonderful her children are; and how without her family (not one mention of her employees) she wouldn't be as successful as she is today. In the second segment she spent the first 30 minutes talking about a ladder that her husband bought her, and about how wonderful her daughter is, and how wonderful things are in her shop. When Questions were being asked of her, she danced around them like hot coals, and wouldn't share too much information about her techniques used because she didn't want to give away her "Secrets" as she kept saying. My question is, "so why are you here?" The last segment she made 4 arrangements ahead of time that didn't have anything to do with each other, and had nothing to do with what the segment was supposed to be about. She did design on piece on stage, using the techniques and teachings that she learned while studying ikebana, but she didn't relate it to the show, I felt it was just her bragging about being a student of ikebana. During 3 segments out of the day, she only mentioned 2 times the things that she used from the Mears Showroom. That is part of your job as a commentator is to plug the merchandise and materials that you are using. I heard more about these fancy Japanese Clippers that her wonderful daughter got for her in NY, by the way none of us can get them from our local wholesaler cause they are only available in NY... Anyone else seeing the issues here?
The icing on the cake was when she was ending her final segment, and she looked at a girl in the audience that she had spoken to during break. The Designer was going on about tweaking the rules and principles of design. It was at that moment that she looked at this woman, and said "You won't be able to design like this, or design like me, and you may never be able to, you just a beginner".... SO much for inspiring you audience. This woman is so self-centered and delusional. and she needs not every do design shows again with that attitude. I have always said "the moment that you feel that you know it all, is the moment you should quit the business" She totally belittled her audience, and misused the opportunity that she was given. She had to opportunity to share, inspire and teach people some things that they might not have known, but instead, she was protecting her "Secrets" and that's very sad. I hate to break it to her but every concept and every idea in this world is derivative from something else, there are very very few original ideas in the world. The floral Industry has not gotten where it's at today by people keeping their "Secrets" to themselves. This Industry is very rich with knowledge and talent, and I hope that one day when I am doing Design shows that I can inspire, teach and share anything and everything that I can to help out someone.
Friday, August 28, 2009
My favorite weddings this year
Here are some of my favorite bridal bouquets that I had the privilege to create over this past year. All of these are dear to me, because I was allowed to apply my own creative and special touches on them. And one in particular was for a dear friend of mine, and it was really a joy and an honor to play such a big part in her wedding day. Thanks to all of my amazing brides whom make my job both enjoyable and easier!
The bouquet above left was a bride that I spent a year planning her wedding but it turned out beautiful. She was really great to work with but she had more ideas for her big day then we could fit into one room. This bouquet is composed of white, pink and blush peonies, and pink rannunculus, to the back of the bouquet I pinned an antique broach to the handle. Super chic and classic beauty as was the bride.
The bouquet above right was for Natasha Nosic, I am very proud of this one because this is only the 4th bouquet that I have ever made in a holder, in my entire career(12 years) I think this bouquet turned out fantastic. I started by stringing white dendrobiums on fishing line, I made about 10 strands, all at differnt lengths. In the bouquet I used white hydrangea, Sahara Roses, Peach lilies, Cream Garden spray roses, Apricot Parrot Tulips, Green Hypericum berries and finished it off with the Orchid strands, and Roseo Leaves. The felt and looked like a princess on her wedding day!
The bouquet above center was created for my Friend Natalie "Noack" Freeman, She is a very earthy and natural type girl and I had a lot of fun doing this bouquet because some of my favorite materials to work with are pods, grasses, and berries, In this bouquet I started with white astilbe, then collared that with White Scabiosa, Scabiosa Pods (I DIE!), Blushing Bride, White Cottage Yarrow, and Skeleton Leaves. I wrapped the stems with white satin ribbon, and attached a robin nest (w/eggs) to the handle. Totally Cute and totally Natalie!
I hope you enjoy my pictures and I hope to post more soon! Take care....
I hope you enjoy my pictures and I hope to post more soon! Take care....
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Follow the links
Here are some links to some pretty amazing and outstanding uses of floral materials! I DIE!
http://www.pbase.com/jjgallery/flowershow2009
http://theflowershowblog.wordpress.com/2009/03/04/those-amazing-aifd-shoes/
http://www.pbase.com/jjgallery/flowershow2009
http://theflowershowblog.wordpress.com/2009/03/04/those-amazing-aifd-shoes/
????
I had an epiphany today...is it that people just don't get it? or is it our job to educate them. WE will never know if people will "get it" unless we show them something different. I decided that today; well kinda. I decided that I am going to make what I want, and sell it to the customer, opposed to selling the customer what they want. If I go through my career doing the same roundy moundy bouquet of roses and lilies then that's all the customer will expect. Its time to change it up! and if that means moving then so be it! I want to be where I am appreciated as a floral artist not a DESIGNER (by the consumer)! I have proven that I am more then a Designer..... It may be time to travel to Europe or japan and learn something : ) So this weeks design technique will be inversely proportional designs. Inversely Proportional designing is when you design primarily on he inside of a vessel (container) the focal an emphasis of the arrangement is primarily contained inside with very little material above or outside of that container. I think that if I challenge the "standards" that creativity will prevail! OK so the randomness ends here! I am not even going to proof this post because I know that it is super random and I have not the energy to edit at this point. Take care all.....
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