London Calling

I wanted to share a few winter and holiday decor images from my recent Thanksgiving trip "home" to London...

Knightsbridge:
This gorgeous entrance courtyard in Knightsbridge made me positively swoon! It takes serious gardening skills to keep flowers alive in London's frosty winter weather. I should know - these potted topiaries with cyclamen inspired me to come home and spruce up my own pots...which didn't survive last week's freezing Seattle temperatures. Back to the nursery...

Regent Street/Oxford Circus:
Liberty's department store at 218 Regent Street has been around since 1875, making it one of the oldest shops in London. Known around the world for its stunning building reminiscent of a Elizabethan theatre, luxurious designer collections and interior design origins, I was dying to check out its Christmas decor and was not disappointed! A ceiling covered entirely with wrapping paper ribbons, tinsel streamers glistening all the way down from the 8th floor and flowers, flowers, flowers galore!

A visit to Luella Bartley's Christmas Grotto immediately added an extra page to my Christmas wish list with so many irreverent and beautiful things it was tempting to ignore the exchange rate and max the credit cards http://www.liberty.co.uk/pws/images/services/projects/luella/luellaxmas.html

So if you happen to be in London at Christmas, I highly recommend a visit to the iconic store, camera at the ready, and if you feel like being really generous, dear husband, I'll happily accept one of their "gift coins" commissioned exclusively by the Royal mint. http://www.liberty.co.uk/

Goody Bags for KCSARC!

Every 2 seconds someone in the United States is sexually assaulted. It's an appalling statistic and to make it even worse, 70% of those victims are children. The King County Sexual Assault Resource Center (KCSARC) is the *only* provider of rape crisis intervention, legal advocacy support and therapy for survivors of sexual assault in King County, yet every year KCSARC relies on funding from the city, state and individual donors just to keep itself afloat.

Each year, KCSARC holds a 1,000 person breakfast in Seattle. The 2010 "Kids are Our Business" breakfast will be held on February 23 at the Westin Seattle and is free to attend. This year's speakers will include Molly Shen (KOMO news anchor) and Margo Myers (ex KIRO news anchor). Major sponsors include Expeditors, Group Health, Boeing, Virginia Mason, Nintendo, Puget Sound Energy, Committee for Children and many others. Attendees will come from every major business throughout King County.

Here's how you can get involved:

We are looking for in-kind donors to contribute items to our Table Captain gift bags at the event. By contributing to the gift bags, your business will get to showcase your product/logo in front of over 1000 influential people at far less than the minimum $2,500 sponsorship level. We will need 100 of each item and are also looking for a sponsor to provide the bags themselves.

I became involved with KCSARC because I strongly believe in their mission to "End the Silence" which I think will resonate strongly with the women of the Ladies Who Launch and CRAVE communities. As mothers, daughters, sisters, trendsetters and entrepreneurs, we can support KCSARC with a small in-kind contribution, showcasing our own business to potential investors and customers while standing united against sexual assault in our community. Together we can "End the Silence."

Please contact me at rbowes@kcsarc.org if you are able to help with this request.

Thank you!

afternoon in the arboretum

I recently spent a lazy sun-soaked Sunday wandering through the UW arboretum with my husband and dogs...here are a couple of shots...and don't even get me started on how much I love to use berries and twigs in my floral designs!

Seattle Met Photoshoot Part 1

A few months ago, I received a call from the Editor of Seattle Metropolitan Bride & Groom magazine inviting me to design a summer reception table for their next issue. After months of planning and deliberating over details, the photoshoot finally took place last week. While, I can't reveal any pictures or details here until the magazine hits newstands in late December, stay tuned for "behind the scenes" photos as well as shots from the magazine when it does!

fall arrangements

dancing for salmon only

I am pleased to report that Friends of the Hylebos' annual Ruby Dance last weekend was a great success surpassing the fundraising goal by $3000! But then, with Sean MacLean of King FM fame as the emcee, Gene Duvernoy of Cascade Land Conservency as the keynote speaker, MacKenzie Allen as the auctioneer, Margery Godfrey as the event chair and Finch & Thistle as the event planners/managers/designers, how could it possibly be anything other than a great Saturday night in Federal Way??

Over 200 guests turned out to the King County Aquatic Center for an evening of silent and live auctions, an action packed program, rusted steel herons and raise the paddle. We exceeded our fundraising goals and a good time was had by all (even those working the event). Many thanks to all the volunteers and committee members who contributed time and willing hands. We couldn't have done it without you!

A few pictures from the evening...

all good pictures courtesy of Seth Bynum, less decent ones by me

No. 6!

Finch and Thistle is currently in 6th place in the Best of Western Washington competition. We need to make it into the top five to receive any recognition so please send this link to all of your friends and vote now if you haven't already!

Photos from Ryan Flynn - Lara and Eric

I am so impressed with Ryan's work that I will be recommending him to my clients left and right. Stay turned for a very serious and proper interview with Ryan in an upcoming post. In the meantime, you can find him here - http://www.ryanpflynn.com/. And how adorable are these flower girls???

All photos courtesy of Ryan Flynn Photography http://www.ryanpflynn.com/

New Partner, New Direction

In addition to floral and event design, Finch & Thistle offers event planning and non-profit event fundraising consulting. In order to expand on the consulting side of the business, I am delighted to welcome my new partner to the business - Alix Compton.

Alix and I have had the privelege of working together for over three years now and I am thrilled to be able to offer her event management and fundraising expertise to our clients. Together we offer the full event package - creativity with logistical event management. As I recently explained to an event committee - you can have the most beautiful event in the world but if the logistics aren't under control then chaos will ensue - and conversely - if the event runs smoothly but isn't visually appealing, no one will remember it. Finch & Thistle is able to offer expertise in both these areas and the addition of a partner enables us to reach a broader audience in the Puget Sound area.

Between us, Alix and I have nearly 20 years of combined event experience working with a wide range of clients including corporations, individuals, trade associations and non-profit organizations. 10 years of that experience was acquired working directly with non-profit community relations and development teams, with a particular focus on fundraising through special events. So next time you need an experienced event planner to manage your company's event or fundraiser and take care of all your floral and design needs, you know where to find us!

Best of Western Washington!

I am delighted to announce that Finch & Thistle Event Design has been nominated for best flowers in King 5's annual Best of Western Washington competition! I could not be more excited that we have been nominated alongside some truly amazing local floral designers - Fiori, Aria and Willow and Bloom to name a few. The voting is open until October 11 so please follow this link and vote for us!

Lara & Eric, 8/8/09

I was thrilled to get to know Lara and Eric over the course of their wedding planning. What a kind, considerate and down-to-earth couple! Lara is one of the most organized people I have ever met and she had most of the details down and vendors booked well over eight months ago. Eric built their wedding arch by hand, carefully wiring curly willow branches together into a rustic masterpiece. The arch did cause a few issues though...when I went to decorate it after dropping off the bouquets etc, it wasn't standing up by itself on the grassy slope of Hamilton Viewpoint Park. My sweet husband ended up hoofing it to the hardware store to buy stakes to hammer in supports on either side. I am pleased to see from the pictures that the arch remained standing throughout the ceremony!

The wedding colors were lime and eggplant, the theme vintage, organic glamour. Here are a few pictures from the day...

*invitation design by iwona k design studio- www.iwonak.com