Issue 04

Thanks to blogger, Judith de Graaff, we meet our third florist in Florence. Sonja de Graaf of Funky Bird creates a colourful arrangement in a Bloomingville bowl for a summer table.  Take a look below.

FunkyBird// Sonja de Graaf // Florence, Italy //funkybird.it

The Flowers:  Protea nutans, mitsumata (black), tillandsia, violas, moss, chamomille. The bowl is by Bloomingville
Inspiration: I wanted to create a little flower world in a bowl, one of those places fairies live, a micro-cosmos. Big arrangements are great, but these little arrangements with many elements have their own spirit 🙂 When clients let me do arrangements ‘my way’ it will most likely be something like this.

Open for Business: 2010

The other interesting thing about Sonja are the delicate paper flowers that she creates when she is hired on as a florist for weddings that take place in Tuscany/Florence (see below).

The Flowers: Handmade paper flowers, white Akito roses, pink Sweet Avalanche roses, puntone (asparagine, wild asparagus), hedera

The Inspiration: Most of our clients want to get married under the sun with the Tuscan hills as a backdrop to the ceremony.  However, very few varieties can handle the high temperatures and direct sunlight, so we propose these handmade paper flowers.  Decorating with paper flowers in combination with real green branches like the strong asparagine is a nice solution as paper flowers can be re-used during dinner.

Photo Source: Funky Bird