Last weekend I told you I was off to Chatsworth House with my mum for a Floral gallivant to attend Florabundance and that I would be back with the results of my first serious floral workshop well here we go!
We had the most amazing time, it was my first trip to Chatsworth House and it won't be my last, it really is an amazing place and the staff looked after us so well. Florabundance happens once a year here and it is all created by the uber talented Jonathan Moseley international flower demonstrator and star of the recent allotment challenge on BBC2 among other things. Every room we went in or corridor we walked down held floral beauty all influenced this year by the art collection at Chatsworth. I have managed to reduce the 200 plus photos down and then put those in to collages so I don't drown you in photos but I have to share a flavour of the trip with you and also say if you can get to go next year ... do it!
There really was flowers to spot everywhere from huge arrangements to gorgeous fire places to incidental flowers along the way! There was a breath taking installation in the entrance too but my photos don't really do it justice so I haven't included them, it was a 'you just had to be there' moment!
This was a take your breath away moment in the chapel with a Damien Hirst sculpture of St Bartholomew in the centre and the floral arrangements reflecting the story.
and another one..... just a small table setting!!!
The Sculpture room was a sight to behold .... I have never seen so many roses in one place and they looked so rich with their colour against the white sculptures... just beautiful!
But my favourite thing had to be this room filled with silver beech. It stopped me in my tracks as I walked in. Again its difficult to get the same effect in photos but it was an amazing installation and I think it spoke to the theatre designer in me with the way it filled the space so dramatically with the beautiful trees dripping with amaryllis.
After enjoying the delights of the house we got to see the man himself work his flower magic with an amazing demonstration. The stage was full of glorious colour and Jonathan made it look so effortless
And to round that day off I was lucky enough to win one of the fabulous arrangements to bring home! Me and mum stayed at the Devonshire Arms in Baslow and I can highly recommend it .... the food was amazing!
So with a good breakfast inside us we were back off to Chatsworth for Workshop day ... eek! I was scared to death I have to say, I love flowers and seeing what talented people like Jonathan do with them but flowers don't always love me LOL but Jonathan was very patient and a great teacher and we had a blast!
The room was full of boxes of flowers that came at us thick and fast once we got going, hence the lack of pics ;) But what a joy to spend a day surrounded by colour, fragrance, my mum and even 3 more of the Guisborough flower club possee. We also had an amazing lunch as part of the day and got to walk away with 2 arrangements each ... are you ready for my results?
This was the first one and was based around a technique involving embroidery with flowers. The base is a glass bowl covered in textures with wool and flowers and then the top is a floral arrangement, I had great fun with the glue gun for the base and was thrilled I actually did the arrangement!
The second was based around the Dutch floral paintings in the house and is an amazing riot of colour all set in a hollowed out cabbage! ... Genius!
I was really rather pleased with my efforts and maybe think I could get the hang of this amazing craft if I had the time in my life to let another creative venture in!! So I guess I will keep going to the dems to be inspired (and I do get a lot of inspiration for my projects from watching flower dems!) and dabble here and there ;)
So that's our trip to Chatsworth .... if you get the chance to go, do visit and also if you get the chance to ever see Jonathan demonstrate or even attend one of his workshops do!!!
Thanks for popping by so I can share my adventures with you, I'll be back really soon with the Scrap365 part of the EPIC event with Scrap Around the world. In the meantime I hope you are well and happy and until soon, as ever,
Happy Crafting!
Love
MJM x
Thrilled you enjoyed your Florabundance experience x
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