On my online workbook this week: A Very Merry Dried Orange and these from My Greenhouse to yours Trendy Christmas Cheer

Dear

This week's inspiration is a having seen all the sparkly sights, snacked on all the treats and listened to all the songs, felt all the lovely Christmas feels and am ready to tone it down a bit… time for some deep breaths and uplifting smells.

Citrus smell you get from an orange is the work of chemicals called limonene and linalool. These bright and uplifting natural chemicals are what make orange scents popular in perfumes and colognes. Add a bit of cinnamon, and cloves and you have a Festive fragrance that is all natural and just pure joy.

My tip for you this week is about creating a feeling. You know I love this! The perfect design with that after Christmas feeling is toned down to limit the overwhelm, but still cozy. And I love to make it just a bit messy just like it should look like under the tree on Christmas morning.

To create a controlled messiness in your design choose one detail, in this case my twigs (that shows the needles are dropping… so it must be after Christmas…) and push that to the limit. And then add the rest of your details in a restrained way to contrast with the wildness of the twigs. Remember your flowers need to tell the story in floral design and not the accessories. Because I am not adding any flowers I allow the most natural (unmanipulated) part of my design to tell my story. The twigs are all over the place and all the other design details in my design are in some way bound and wound and wired into tighter shapes.

Because we enjoy designing so much it is the hardest thing for us to do… limit our great ideas in a design. It is the mistake I see most often in staged designs. Secretly it makes me happy because I know you had fun if you add… ALL THE CLEVER DETAILS!!! But from a design perspective: One great idea per design is a lot more effective. Too many design ideas in one design screams too loudly for attention and we end up really noticing none.

So tell your design story with one spectacularly well executed design idea and make that shine.

Enjoy your cozy days after Christmas!

Every good wish,

Christine

ps: Phew! As a Christmas surprise there will be a lot more for you to look at each week from now to just after New Year's Eve. This week's design has no less than five new Tutorials. Make sure to scroll down and have a look at the copper wire clove garland, the orange roses and the cinnamon bundles.