What a week for starting off the new year with amazing inspiration! Check out some of these fantastic youtube videos filled with floral inspiration, education and great design goal makers.

Who couldn’t love all the amazing designs done at the 2015 Rose Bowl Parade? For those that didn’t have friends working on the floats, luckily you have J Schwanke of UBloom.com to take you on an up-close and personal tour of the Kit Cat’s American Grown float this year!

Some our favorite things we took away from the video.

– The amount of people willing to volunteer at an event such as this.

– The unwavering support that American companies can show to each other.

– The fantastic quality of California Grown products.

– Large-scale design doesn’t just have to be big ball arrangements or tons of product just thrown on top of each other en masse.

Who doesn’t get excited when they see the words Hitomi Gilliam along with Mechanics and Techniques? Hitomi has us follow along as on her journey of transparency with florals. We are learning a unique way of creating an armature with flow, depth and texture using a limited amount of product in an very high impacting way.

Our favorite parts!

– “Let it happen naturally” Being someone that doesn’t love the mass design or ball of flowers, this is will be on repeat in our heads when it comes to our designs now.

– Using flowers and not just willow or branches for the armature structure creates more interest and tests the limits of a flower’s ability.

– Proper proportions to create the illusion of designing in stones.

– Enhancing florals that have hardier blooms such as crespedia to create greater interest.

– Knowing proper elements and principles of designs to elevate your designs into something above the basic everyday design.

What a start for the 2015 Mayesh Design Star Beth O’Reilly! Nothing is better than a fresh take on a mass design and Beth gives the anything-but-interesting mass design a fun and intriguing upgrade with this  2-D floral framed sculpture.

What we learned the most.

– The importance of depth and texture, especially in a 2-D design.

– Some older mechanics such as chicken wire are still the best and you can’t go very far without good mechanics.

– Using high quality product is key to a successful design such as the Mayesh Awesome Blossoms.

– Don’t fear going to the hardware store and being inspired with new tools and hardgoods.

Welcoming, professional and challenging are all the things we enjoy with from Leanne Kesler AIFD and the Floral Design Institute Videos. We get invited to the Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition and learn to make a contemporary tropical floral design.

What we took away from the video!

– Schedule to attend the Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition next year for inspiration and even more floral exploration!

– Don’t be afraid to take a few cuttings from the plants in your shop.

– Using proper and professional design terms and names elevates your design and creates a higher valued design.

– Find value in your foliages and use them as more than a foam cover.

What has already inspired you in the new year? Make sure to share your thoughts with us about these videos and tell us what inspired you. Also make sure to go show all these designers your support and subscribe to their channels to be updated when they post more amazing videos. We here at Floral.today hope your year is starting off with a bang and you are working hard towards your floral resolutions!

Till next week,