Welcome back!
While it’s been a while since a new article or content has been posted, we have returned after a break and oh what a break it has been!
We returned to Toronto, Canada for the 2018 Canadian Academy of Floral Art Fall Show and per usual it was awesome! So lets all grab a tasty beverage, a yummy snack and take a quick day by day jaunt into our floral adventure to CAFA.
DAY 1: TRAVELING // PREP
From St. Louis to Chicago and ending in Toronto, our first day was mostly traveling and preparing our competition piece. Our first task was getting to our friend Joseph Delarge’s store Wilbe Bloomin where we were kindly given a spot to work on our competition design and relax.
Day 2: SHOW PREP // COMPETITION PREP
This year’s featured florist was David Ragg from Bournemouth, UK and the show was themed ‘Inspiration through Innovation’. David captivated with his focus of creating elevated work that was still sellable but professional floral designer focused. After a day of creating collars and show decor we headed out to finish up my competition, get some floral body-wear ready for the show and eat some yummy Vietnamese food.
DAY 3: Competition // Design Show
The day finally arrived, competition and design show day, we started the day with a walk around the Toronto Botanical Gardens after dropping our competition piece off. Along with a demonstration show broken into two parts with a cocktail between there is also competition awards, CAFA Induction and other honors that are given out. David took us through many styles, techniques and products with a focus that inspired and innovated how you can elevate design as a educated professional. It was awesome to take away new techniques and to also see the new Oasis Floral Products ‘Midnight Foam’ in multiple applications involving floral and plant products.
DAY 4: WORKSHOP // SIGHTSEEING
Weaving, binding, depth and a whole lot of energy was just small focus of a day of floral education with CAFA and David. It was refreshing to see board members able to also attend the class along side attendees as a lot of time they are already busy, burnt out and sadly sometimes think themselves above continued education. David had us thinking about the energy of our designs and how it impacts the overall. David and myself were treated to a trip to Joseph’s other location Eco|Stems and a beautiful walk through Toronto followed by a lovely dinner.
DAY 5: TRAVELING
It was finally time to roll back to St. Louis and get organized for my next projects. CAFA always takes such good care of myself and the other attendants every year. I loaded myself into a Lyft bright and early and made my way to the airport filled with good memories, a hand made gift from my dear friend Abigail Hitchens of Petals in Thyme and lighter bags than when i arrived.
To follow me around even more make sure to check out the vlog of our floral adventure through each day.
Thanks for joining me for yet again another wonderful floral adventure and to the Canadian Academy of Floral Art for always being so great to me. Watch out for our Backlogged collection coming out soon from all our adventures around the world this past year.
Till next time,
