This time of year, I really start feeling the winter blues. Trapped in the house/studio without enough fresh air; cold temps; the lack of sun….it all starts to get to me after a while. But, last week, Andy & I were surrounded by the colors and scents of spring, thanks to the very sweet Shama Klee.

Shama is a ridiculously-talented florist from Centerville. We had the pleasure of working with her back in October at MaryHelen & Kurt’s super fun Hyannisport wedding. (Check out the blog post for some samples of her amazing work.)

Recently, Shama asked about getting some photos of her flowers for her website. I happen to LOVE flowers. There’s something about them that just brings me a profound sense of joy & peace. I love picking them out when I go to the supermarket. And, a trip to home depot or IKEA is never complete without first checking their supply of orchids…my personal favorite, right up there with lilacs, which I love for their smell and their easy-breezy shape when grouped in a pretty vase.

I go into a bit of a trance when I’m cutting and arranging flowers…I guess it’s my inner crafty girl that comes out. (I can trace her beginnings back to the mini arrangements of violas I used to make after picking the wild weed-like flowers in my backyard when I was about 7 years old.) If I didn’t love photography so much, I’d love to be a florist.

Anyway, Shama & I talked about going into the Boston Flower Market together….oh to dream! But, things are still super busy for us with album designs and we’ve set a finish date that we’re working hard to meet. And, taking an afternoon off to play with flowers wasn’t going to be in the cards anytime soon. So, Shama had an idea that had me so excited, you would have thought I’d won the lottery.

She sent an e-mail that said, “Had an Idea. How about I bring you & Andy a different flower arrangement or two weekly or biweekly. You can enjoy them and photograph them at your leisure until we both have time to get together and spend a day? Love to know what you think? Shama”

What do I think? Uhhhh, yes please!

So, last Thursday, just in time for Valentine’s Day, Shama dropped off four…yup, FOUR…crazy beautiful arrangements that filled our house and studio….and me….with such joy. Everywhere I look, there are flowers. February just got a whole lot happier for Team Bello!

Equally as joyous as receiving the flowers was the fun I had photographing them. Here are some of my favorites. I hope they bring a little sunshine to your February too. Enjoy!

You may have noticed our new logo on these photos. As soon as we meet our album completion deadline, we’ll be moving on to revamping our website & blog with our new logo…hopefully in the next month or so. But, we thought we’d start the transition a little early. Hope you like it.

The lovely arrangement features pale pink garden roses with pink and white fresia, lime hydrangeas, white lisianthius and gorgeous pink ranuculus, accented with fern leaves…and I forget what the folded leaves are, but I dig those.

I love this next one. There’s something about those rising lisianthius reaching up toward the light that makes me happy. I’m also a big fan of ranuculus…which shows up a lot in wedding bouquets. I have to say, almost a week later and those are the flowers surviving the best in my bouquet. The tiny delicate petals have all bloomed and they’re gorgeous!

I decided to use the hanging capiz shells we have in our office as a backdrop for the next few photos and I just love the way these turned out. So fun & happy.

This next one features glorious yellow Gloriosa Lilies, which are amazing! This arrangement was huuuuge too. It’s a striking looking flower, with an Asian/alien feel about it.

And the leaves on this particular lily curl at the bottom in such a sweet way.

This next photo features a new blossom about just starting to open. I really like this photo, it feels very serene & spa-like to me.

Can’t you just feel spring?

When it’s fully bloomed, the petals spread out as if reaching with great exuberance. This is where it feels almost alien to me.

More curls…

And a traditional favorite, Romeo red roses. These beauties filled the studio with such a delicious aroma. Mmmmmm! I love the curly willow branches and trailing stems of ivy. Gorgeous!

Shama did two arrangements of the roses, a tall 2-dozen bouquet and another two dozen cut short in a super cute rectangular vase. The tall vase also featured kangaroo paw, which is a really cool, fuzzy red plant that accented the deep red rose color perfectly.

Mother Nature at her best…

I can’t wait till the ivy starts growing around here again! Bring on the green!

Love it….

I don’t think I’ve ever had so many roses at one time…lucky lucky me!!

perfection…

A great big thank you to Shama for bringing such happiness to my day, my week, my winter! Looking forward to doing this again! Your talent & generosity make the world a better place! xoxo Christine & Andy