The Language of Flowers

I've always been intrigued by the meaning of flowers - how secret messages could be conveyed by the flowers that were sent from lover to lover.  The interpretation could be positive or negative - and I guess it would depend on the combination of flowers in the bouquet and the recipient's feelings or mood on the day as to how the message would be received!

For example, an arrangement that contains purple hyacinth, hydrangea with ivy sprig with white tendrils says 'I am sorry, please forgive me! Thank you for understanding - I am anxious to please you.'

So for your wedding, here are some meanings for the flowers that you might be considering....

For a spring wedding ...

Yellow and white ....

Daisies                 Innocence, loyal love, purity, faith, cheer, simplicity

Daffodils               Return my affection; new beginnings

Baby's breath        Innocence, purity of heart

Jasmine                Unconditional and eternal love 

White lilac             Youthful innocence

White lily              Purity

White roses           Virtue and purity

Pink and white ....

Peonies                   Prosperity, honor

Pale Pink roses        Desire, passion, joy of life, youth, energy

Carnations              Sweet and lovely, innocence, pure love, faithfulness

Canterbury Bells      Gratitude

Baby's breath          Innocence, purity of heart

White roses             Virtue and purity

For a summer wedding ...

Red and white....

Red carnations      Deep romantic love, passion

Red roses               True love

Scarlet lily            High souled aspirations

Lily of the Valley   Sweetness, humility, returning happiness, trust

Plum blossom       Beauty and longevity   

Peach and grey ....

Peach blossom      Long-life, generosity, and bridal hope

Thistle                  Nobility     

Protea                  Courage

Pink roses             Grace

For an autumn / fall wedding ...

Autumn colours ...

Burgundy roses           Unconscious beauty

Orange roses              Desire, passion

Red and yellow roses   United

together                

Orchids                       Refined beauty

For a winter wedding ...

Classic white - or white and silver ...

Moonflower          Dreaming of love

Lavender             Devotion

Blue rose             Love at first sight

I hope you've enjoyed reading about the meanings of wedding flowers - come and visit us at DunnCrafting to see our selection of beautiful bouquets, pomanders and buttonoles.  

We welcome custom orders and will be delighted to work with you to match your own unique colour theme

Mother's Day - 26th March 2017

There are any number of quotes for Mother's Day - some beautiful, some thoughtful, some smaltzy.  At the heart of them all is knowing that we would not be here if it weren't for mothers!

In appreciation of all those wonderful women we know - the mothers, whether new, experienced, or grandmothers - this blog gives some tips - and gifts - to show how much they are loved.

1  Breakfast in Bed - for any mum!

Dads - get the kids involved!  A cup of coffee or tea, some toast inexpertly spread with large dollops of marmalade, maybe a crumpet sticky with honey - all placed on a tray that is carried perilously up the stairs ..... and of course, with a flower...  

This beautiful pendant is available from Peculiaris.etsy.com

2   For the new mum....

Dads.... Change the baby, warm the bottle - or hand over to mum for feeding, making sure she has everything she needs to hand... while you put the kettle on ....

and get breakfast ready for her, burp and soothe baby, put baby down to sleep, and take your lovingly prepared tray of breakfast upstairs to mum - or if she's beaten you to it, lay the table, fresh coffee, warm rolls or croissants - and add a little something that says....

How sweet is this?  From FuNkTjUnK.etsy.com

3 For Granny...

These great ladies are particularly special - they made us possible, often care for grandchildren and are an almost infinite source of stories and wisdom.  My old mum became bed-bound in her final years and loved a little pot of artificial marigolds that brightened up her room.  So here's a gift idea from me at DunnCrafting.etsy.com

A beautiful table centre with faux silk rosebuds  - perfect for a bedroom too

 Do pop over to these great UK Etsy sellers and browse their range of gifts

FuNkTjUnK.esy.com

Peculiaris.etsy.com

DunnCrafting.etsy.com

Happy Mother's Day  

My Funny Valentine

Love shouldn't always be a serious business - fun and laughter should also be a part.

So, here is a great selection of funny and sweet gifts for that special person (male or female!), all from UK Etsy sellers

In our last blog, we featured handmade cards - here are a couple of ideas for crafty folk

Valentine's Day is for lovers - but there are lovers who are alone now and need hugs....

Gra of Crossstitchtheline created this lovely design - don't we all need hugs?!  

Heather of HeatherEllisArt's cute stamp fits this idea too - I love the tender words!

and who doesn't love a bunny to cheer us up on a grey rainy day? She's called Peaches (aaaah) from Peculiaris

and for funny valentines....

I'm a big Star Wars fan and I love this mug from TattooMugLady - how cool is this!

and with no apologies, I'm back to the romantic....

Kelly of FuNkTjUnK makes 

this fab confetti - great for 

scattering on the table at 

your intimate dinner for two...

 and when you are there, sipping the wine and gazing into each other's eyes,  you slip out a little gift....

Darling, you have the keys to my heart...
(with love from LittleConkers!)

I'll love you till infinity and beyond
(from Alludio)

The Happy Couple (and that's just the cats!)
from CarlBatterBee

Here are the links to these fab Etsy sellers

Crossstitchtheline

HeatherEllisArt

Peculiaris

TattooMugLady

FuNkTjUnK

LittleConkers

Alludio

CarlBatterBee

and a few lovelies available at DunnCrafting....

Valentine's Day Gifts # 1

The festivities are over - and romantics among us are looking towards Valentine's Day.

Shops, both online and on-foot, will be saturated with red hearts, schmaltzy cards - all to tempt us to make that romantic loving gesture.

But ....

for something really unique, look no further than 'Etsy - handmade in the UK' - beautiful makes that are simply not available elsewhere, and will tell your beloved how special she (or he) is....

Let's start with cards - here are two, one traditional, the other....? read on!

This pretty card, from Jane at Bitsanbobsanbags,  is a collage of tiny pieces of fabric, blank on the inside for you to write your own special message.

Or you might like something that is cute - and interactive!  Have a look at this from PurpleValleyDesign - pull the tab and ...... aaaah!

Stage  2 - the tender gift!

I love this glass heart pendant from Artbypolli - there are other really lovely 'heart' gifts from this great shop! 

and what lady wouldn't like to receive this stunning jewellery box from DaisyBelleShop

Stage 3 - the proposal!

'A wonderful and gorgeous snow globe featuring our Handmade design.  Just shake the globe to see many gorgeous red hearts or white snow falling down slowly through the water.'

....personalised for you, from KikkaandTikka - love it!

Being a real romantic, with a love of beautiful words,  I have to end this post with one of my favorite quotes from W B Yeats:

Check out these fab shops, by clicking on the links

Bitsanbobsanbags

Artbypolli

PurpleValleyDesign

KikkaandTikka

DaisyBelleShop

and, of course, come and visit us too, at DunnCrafting.

In our next post, we will be featuring Valentine gifts that are for the 'road less travelled' - watch out for it!

  

Spring Weddings

The Pantone colours for spring 2017 are quite a mix - from soft pastel shades to the more vibrant deep colours - this palette is taken from their website https://www.pantone.com/fashion-color-report-spring-2017

Whatever happened to the (stereotypical?) romantic white wedding? At DunnCrafting we have available some really lovely pomanders and bouquets, with favours to match, in a range of pastels including grey and cream, pink and blue - and our most recent additions are buttonholes and matching bridesmaid pomander in delicate white rosebuds - with a hint of pale blue.

The buttonholes have little forgetmenot flowers - don't you love the symbolism? - and are finished with a dainty collar of bridal lace

And to come?  adding to our buttonhole range, white or cream roses with dainty silver baby's breath flowers and lace; or how about silver grey rosebuds with tiny white flowers and the stems wrapped in dusky pink; or pale peachy pink rosebuds and soft dove grey satin ribbon wrapping the stems ......

I'm so looking forward to making these!  (I might even attempt a little video again!)

In the meantime, here are some of the favours we have on offer.....

Do come and pay us a visit - we love custom orders so contact us and let us know how we can help

Here are the links to our wedding sections:

Wedding accessories - including flowergirl and bridesmaid gifts

Wedding bouquets

Wedding kissing balls

Wedding pomanders

Wedding favours

Wedding buttonholes

DunnCrafting.etsy.com

Christmas Tree decorations

I've always thought of the Christmas tree as being the focus of all festive decorations in the home - and when my kids were growing up, everything was flung on, regardless of colour schemes, or quality (I had to be strong and chuck out decorations that really had seen better days!)

Fashion trends can influence tree decorations - from pink and silver trees to black and white upside down trees (which, frankly, I think are a bit weird!  Each to his/her own.....)

I'm delighted to be able to show you some lovely decorations made by UK Sellers - and a few of our own too!

Kelly of FuNkTjUnK.etsy.com has some fun decorations made with pencils (the gift that keeps on giving! - how many of us scrabble about looking for pencils to score games at Christmas!)

She also has recently added some stunning rustic decorations, that will fit with any colour scheme (or none!)  The collage shows a few and she also has other colours - deep purple, burgundy red and silver, blue and white .....

                            

Gra of Crossstitchtheline.etsy.com is a talented designer of cross stitch patterns - and these are lovely!  She says:  'They can be embroidered in high count fabric and framed in small hoops or maybe using plastic canvas to hang from the tree.'

Click HERE for the link for these lovelies in her shop 

A quick search through Hobbycraft or Coleman's Warehouse - or any other crafting suppliers - should help you find the little hoops or canvases you would like to use - a great way of making your tree really personal!

And for a bit of fun - with a little gift at the end - Naama of Peculiaris.etsy.com has a couple of really cute keyrings with a festive theme 

At DunnCrafting, we have a variety of Christmas tree baubles available - here is a selection for a more traditional tree in gorgeous golds, red and silver

Come and browse through these great shops - and make your Christmas tree unique with handmade decorations!

FuNkTjUnK.etsy.com

Crossstitchtheline.etsy.com

Peculiaris.etsy.com

DunnCrafting.etsy.com

Happy Shopping!  

Christmas Shopping for the Family

There are three generations in this lovely picture of my family!  So this is the theme (more or less) for this blog post - baby's first Christmas, children, couples - how about newly-weds' first Christmas?

My dad, sadly, is no longer with us - but I would love to have given him this little treat from Kelly at FuNkTjUnK

and how about this for parents who say 'we don't need anything, dear'?

Gra of Crossstitchtheline.etsy.com has some great ideas for family gifts - I love this one for a child's bedroom - or even for a new baby's nursery.  So cute and cheerful!

How about these for loving couples - or from wifey to hubby?

                                               

At DunnCrafting, we have gifts for baby and nursery, the home and loving couples - and in our Wedding accessories section, some really pretty little baubles (with presentation boxes) that can be stocking fillers, or little gifts from kids to aunties and grandmas.... 

Have fun browsing through these great shops!

FuNkTjUnK.etsy.com

crossstitchtheline.etsy.com

DunnCrafting.etsy.com