Category Archives: Devices We Love

by stevrt

Quick And Easy Floral Designing Using Floralgrids

One of the biggest problems with floral designing in water based media is the issue of control. How do you tastefully arrange your flowers so that they will look nice, and yet control the angle of placement when the water itself is sloshing around? ….. Many solutions have been proposed through the years.

At Rittners Floral School we believe that floral designing should be quick,and easy. The folks at floralgrid have sent us some wonderful materials to play with that make floral art in water based media, quick easy and fun.

We hope you enjoy this floral demonstration from Rittners Floral School in Boston, MA. and use these materials to make your own floral designing, quick, easy and fun!

by stevrt

Exciting 21st Century Clauss Tools Now Featured At Rittners Floral School

 

At Rittners Floral School, we are constantly looking for ways to improve our students’ experience.

One area that has been of particular concern to us, over the past couple of years, is our working tools. We have tried an assortment of various tools from various sources and along with our students, have put them through rigorous even extreme use. Some of these tools and solutions worked better. Others did not.

The choice of cutting tools is a highly personal and emotional subject for most floral designers. The tools that we use as we design have to work flawlessly in the background without drawing attention to themselves. Yet the floral designer is acutely aware of them, and whether they function well and feel nice to handle.

This is the 21st Century and we believe that our working tools used in training at Rittners Floral School should reflect the most advanced engineering technologies that are available on the planet. And they must not be subject to dated “sacred cow” type thinking.

With the cooperation of the folks at Clauss, we are moving forward to incorporate a range of wonderful cutting tools into the classes at Rittners Floral School. The folks at Clauss have been producing wonderful tools since 1877, but the instruments that they are currently manufacturing are not Dad or Grandad’s cutting tools. These items that reflect today’s technologies are awesome!

At one time the concept of serrated edges was (pardon the pun), cutting edge. Today, contemporary approaches also include such things as Titanium Bonded and Non-Stick technologies, Microban protection, ergonomic design and the use of recycled materials into handles for a more sustainable ecological approach! Wow! Just learning about all this stuff is mind boggling!

We are just so excited at the prospect of our students playing with these exciting tools.

 

by stevrt

Let’s Stop And Smell the Roses!!!

I love teaching all the various techniques and styles of floral designing, but once in a while, there is one style or approach that I particularly enjoy sharing. Such was the case in yesterday’s Day Class in Floral Design. The lesson was a Dutchess Flower, in particular the Dutchess Rose.

I love teaching this one. The Dutchess Rose is a composite flower. That means that it is a large flower that is created by hand using the petals of many flowers. It is a labor intensive design. It is also an expensive design as it uses a lot of petals. It can be carried as a wedding bouquet or incorporated into more complex wedding bouquets. Not all floral designers want to deal with this one. Not all are capable of doing one of these. I am particularly happy that the current crop of students at Rittners Floral School Day Class are very talented. They were ready for this advanced design and attacked it with their customary flair and enthusiasm! The results were awesome!

The bottom line is that I believe that flowers, floral products, services and floral designing enhances peoples lives in many ways….I believe that floral designing can and should be used to make people happy. It should be used to make their environments and events in their lives special. That is our whole reason for being. It underlies everything we do and teach at Rittners Floral School. This means that  I feel just as happy when teaching cutting edge floral art or classical techniques. Either supports our premise that floral design as an art can and should have positive social impact.

I get great gratification when I teach wonderful people who in turn can do great things with flowers and floral art. The Dutchess flower is a good example of one of many techniques that my students will take away with them as they go out into the world to make peoples’ lives better through floral designing.

by stevrt

Teleflora Superbowl XLV Commercial—Interesting!

I really look forward to Teleflora’s superbowl commercials. They are witty, edgy and push boundaries. The nasty talking flowers in past ads that were drop shipped really produced a few chuckles! (And I enjoyed seeing them showing up at other occasions too!) Anything that promotes the local florist is good as far as I am concerned.

I have to admit that i had some rather mixed reactions to this year’s Superbowl Commercial. On one hand, I can see many people finding it offensive. I certainly didn’t show it to my youngster. Nor will I.

On the other hand, the clueless fellow’s reaction was very typical of some guys.

He had a need to express himself  ( His “heart told him” to send it). Isn’t that what sending flowers is all about? He was expressing his emotions, his obvious appreciation and his affection. That’s also what floral designers help people do. They meet the emotional needs of their customers, and help them express themselves when words (quite obviously) fail.

The floral design itself is gorgeous. Faith Hill played her part wonderfully. If this were real life, let’s hope that Kim, the girlfriend, has a great sense of humor and really loves the guy. I am sure she will love the flowers ( if she doesn’t throw them at him!)

Edgy, adventurous and cutting edge. Definitely adult humor…. Although this stodgy Bostonian tends to prefer a little more class in his commercials, I have to admire the folks at Teleflora for having the guts to try this.  If it gets folks’ attention and sells more flowers and floral designs all the better. It will definitely be interesting to hear what some of the enclosure cards say this year…..

I’d be curious to hear from some of you how you react to this ad!

by stevrt

Posy Pockets: Incredible Floral Designing Devices!

posy1

We are truly blessed in the floral industry with the various manufacturers, importers and floral wholesalers who constantly help us change the look of our designing with the wonderful toys that they develop for us! As a floral designer and floral design educator at Rittners Floral School in Boston, I come across lots of things that are intended to make our floral designing easier, interesting and unusual.

(Before I say anything more, I should let you know that I have no financial interest in the product or company that I am about to talk about…… I just love their incredible products!)

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Once in a while, there is the device or gizmo that just stands out from the crowd. Something that  blows us away…. A device that is an outstanding solution to a floral design problem. Something that is simple yet elegant….. Such is the case with posy pockets.

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This is a simple little device, a piece of styrofoam covered with fabric.  It seems simple but the implications of these posy pockets are really quite profound for floral designers.

As floral designers we often use foam holders as our bases for bridal bouquets. They are quite functional.  The foam makes it easy to create various shapes. The plastic parts of these holders  are white and attractive. But brides often do want differing looks for their bouquets. They  sometimes want the handle finished differently, or covered. Or they are seeking a certain kind of “look” to the design.

Posy pockets are a wonderful way to do just that. Place one of these on the handle of a bouquet holder and instant pizzazz!

Visit the company web site at http://www.cameomacguffin.com and you will see an infinite number of looks that can be achieved ranging from elegant to quite exotic!

Congratulations to this company. At Rittners Floral School in Boston we feel that these posy pockets are wonderful!