It is my pleasure to introduce today’s guest blogger & Bloom graduate ‘Liz Wise’. Liz was a recent participant at a Ponderosa & Thyme workshop in Suffolk England. Liz has kindly put her magical experience into words and images for us to enjoy. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have, Yvette x

“Stepping into a Fairy Tale”
Ponderosa & Thyme workshop in Suffolk England – Liz Wise

Last year I decided to invest in my creative flower loving- self and I booked into a Ponderosa & Thyme workshop. This was held at the beautiful Butley Priory in Suffolk England from the 11th to 15th July.

I have followed Katie Davis the founder of Ponderosa & Thyme for some time on Instragram and Facebook and there was no doubt in my heart that I wanted to be there. I have also been doing the Ponderosa & Thyme online class room where participants can receive monthly tutorials and playlists.

Butley Priory is a 14th century monastery and is located about 2 hrs from London in the beautiful Suffolk Coast un the United Kingdom. You can see why I call this stepping into a fairy tale. Butley puts its arms around you from the very moment you step thorough the doors. It is an enchanting house with doorways to beautiful bedrooms, windows looking out to the garden, beautiful living rooms and a kitchen that would tell many stories.

Upon arrival I was greeted warmly by Katie and her team Caroline, Ali and Annelise and was shown to my room. I soon met the other participants as they arrived from all over the world, four new friends from America, two new friends from Australia and two new friends from the UK. We all quickly settled into our accommodation and shared bubbly on the lawn and a spectacular dinner in the garden. Photos don’t capture the sound of the wine glasses tinkling and the sound of conversations and the sweet smell of the English summer evening.
Each day we ate breakfast in the garden or around the big country kitchen table inside the beautiful warm kitchen where the chef made us breakfast. Sitting with the others in the kitchen was a lovely way to start the day.

Katie is someone special. She is kind and wise and has an incredible knowledge about the floral industry. Katie tells us that this workshop is for us. She has created a space for us. We are to fill this space with whatever it is we need to.

We can learn, we can create, we can listen, we can talk, we can rest, it is a space for us.

What did I fill my space here with? I will tell you later.

Katie has help, Caroline, Ali and Annelise are there too and they share their knowledge and kindness and were always there to assist and talk. This is clearly a team that care and respect each other.

Each day we foraged in the garden and surrounding countryside, walked together, sat and talked together and attended sessions on bouquet making, we made a stunning foam free installation and a still life arrangement inspired by the Dutch masters. Along the way Katie shared her techniques for making bouquets using the “tap technique” method and another technique for what is referred to as an editorial bouquet. In addition to this Katie provides suggestions about elements of running a floral business.

Katie is not just about the flowers, she is here for the creative heart encouraging us to explore our creativity, foster dreams and to follow our intuition.

Each session was warm and welcoming and wonderfully put together to learn, create and experience something beautiful. Katie uses music to tell a story, carefully considered words to listen to and to reflect and think about ourselves, our creativity and how we can use the flowers to create something beautiful.

There were what seemed an endless supply of beautiful flowers for us to create, a carefully selected colour palette of Peonies, Roses, Statice, Astilbe, Chrysanthemums, Queen Annes’ Lace, Gyp and forages grasses, sticks and greenery (and more)…

Workshop activities also included a one on one session with Katie. This was a unique opportunity to ask questions or just chat.

The whole workshop was captured by a professional photographer Laura and these photos will be made available to us in the near future. I must admit I did put my phone down and will await the professional photos to arrive. We also had a professional model provided so all our work was captured for us to use in our own creative portfolios.

The weather was spectacular, a chef prepared every meal for us, morning and afternoon tea was in the garden. Each evening the dining table was set beautifully, and time spent talking and drinking wine.

One of the beast things is there was balance in this workshop. There was time to rest and there was time to yourself. There was always someone to talk to and always flowers available if you wanted to go and create something. There was also time to explore the house, the garden and to go foraging in the fields around Butley Priory.

The photo below is one of the workshop highlights was the Dutch Masters inspired still life creation. Tell a personal story using flowers and other items found in the house. This is of a girl sitting with her flowers picked from a garden. The story tells how she lost herself drawing the flowers she has picked. She is also holding a treasured locket and nibbling on a rose cookie.

I recently listened to a podcast and the speaker asked, “what did you do when you were a child that you lost yourself in?
I loved gardening and picking flowers from my grandmother’s garden and would lose myself drawing flowers and animals. When we were asked to create this still life arrangement it was easy. I had taken a sketch book with me and had done a drawing of the mock orange flower growing in the garden at Butley Priory. I also used the pendant Katie had given us as well as some rose cookies I had bought in a little English town on my drive up to Butley Priory.

I created an arrangement of roses, ivy, peonies and other blooms.

So what did I fill the space with that Katie provided for me?

Well I listened, I rested, I created beautiful arrangements, I learnt many new skills and made new friends. Most of all a gained reassurance to follow my intuition, what I call my creative intuition. I am not running a floristry business, but I am part of the floral industry. Being part of the floral industry can be whatever you want it to be. There is space for all of us, some of us teach, run wedding and event businesses, run flower shops, those that grow the flowers and there are those of us that find flowers inspiration for creativity such as painting and drawing.

Most of all I think it is about creating a space for yourself to be happy as well as inviting those like-minded people into your community. Be kind to others and care for the environment.

I also take away inspiration to think about following some dreams that I had put away in a little box on the shelf. Who knows what will happen next.

I would recommend all readers follow Ponderosa & Thyme on Instagram and facebook as well as visit her website https://www.ponderosaandthyme.com to find more information. Consider about investing in your creativity. I don’t regret anything.

Sending kindness to you all. I had a wonderful time.

Liz

Some workshop credits and links include:

WORKSHOP
Ponderosa & Thyme @ponderosa_and_thyme #ponderosaworkshop

VENUE
Butley Priory @butleypriory

WORKSHOP TEAM
Ali Briskey @alibdesigns
Caroline Reusen @carolinereusen
Annelies Vansant @anneliesvansantflowers

GOWNS
Joanne Fleming Design @joflemingdesign

FLOWERS
Garden Roses sponsored by Alexandra Farms @alexandrafarms

VESSELS
Accent Decor, Inc. @accentdecorin

SILK
tono & co. @tonoandco

Model @anneliesvansantflowers
Model @ceemeandtea