11 Nov Tuesday…with Winter Ikebana

There’s something incredibly calming about arranging flowers, and for me I particularly enjoy using the simplicity of the the natural flow of leaves and branches…

I’m always so inspired by the Japanese Ikebana style, and as I have so many of my late Grandmother’s ikebana vases and books, I love to use them…even though Beryl herself would probably disapprove of my loose use of the Ikebana rules…After the 5ftinf workshop at the weekend, I had lots of bits and pieces left…scraggy twigs and short berry stems, but as I hate throwing even those little bits away, a block of oasis is always brilliant for helping odds and ends find an aesthetically pleasing home…

Ikebana vessels can often seem slightly strange without flowers, which is why I find them so magical…

…even one or two stems seem to instantly transform them…which is what is so clever about their designs; they lend themselves to nature, rather than impose themselves( Cheeks wouldn’t budge from here at this point! )I love using height and flow in my arrangements and these lichen covered twigs worked perfectly…There’s a slight difference between the arrangement at the top of the post and this one, and to be honest I couldn’t quite choose which I liked more…but I did just find those flowing twigs too irresistable!