Sometimes its not always about the flowers. Here at Fresh n Fabulous Flowers and Gift's its all about the customers, our clients. We strive to build those relationships and make those heart connections.
We work hard at creating an atmosphere of camaraderie, fellowship, safety and a calmness that encourages conversation. Here at the shop we have a little saying ,"Whats said in the flower shop stay's in the flower shop". This allows us to connect with our customers , heart to heart, as they celebrate all of lifes most important moments.These moments and opportunities come at random times throughout our day. It is at those times we make a point of taking the time to listen to our clients. Hence we always have a tissue handy as we sometimes share in their tears.
We love our clients and the work that we do. We work hard at creating that artistic element in a floral art form that expresses the feelings that they want to convey. In getting to know our customers we get to know about their lives, their likes and dislikes and we aim to honor those to the best of our ability.
Heart connections is one of the ways that we can encourage,support and uplift people as they trust us to artistically convey their emotions through all those special moments in their lives.
It feels like spring is in the air! Here on the coast we are just experiencing the annual herring run which always comes in late February or early March. A sure sign that the earth is awakening after a long winter. All the activity that is happening with the birds, fish,and boats, is an amazing sight to see. Just as are our gardens are waking up with spring with the abundance of tulips, hyacinth, daffodils, irises, anemone, and viburnum. It all starts with the softness of the pussy willow pushing through there jackets. Right now our floral cooler is looking lush and vibrant with all those locally grown BC spring flowers.
- Did you know that tulips when cut and put in an arrangement will keep growing at least an inch a day? That is one of the reasons we cut them a bit shorter in our arrangements so the recipients of our bouquets can watch them evolve over time.
- tulips are also heliotropic (which means that they will grow to whatever the direction the light is coming from). As we watch the tulips wind themselves out of an arrangement we sometimes call that there "tulip dance" .
- One rule of thumb is never to mix daffodils with tulips. The sap from the daffodils will kill the tulips. This only applies to fresh cut daffodils as they secrete a sap. You can mix the two flowers if the daffodils have sat for 24 hours in a separate vase to all the sap to drain out..
Spring is one of my personal favorite times of the year. So having all those locally grown BC flowers at my fingertips make it an absolute joy to create beautiful spring bouquets
Yikes! The day is fast approaching when traditionally this is the day that the rose is the most popular flower.and one of the most sensitive flowers to acquire.
Here at Fresh n Fabulous we stock both Ecuadorian Roses and local roses. Over the years we have found that Ecuadorian roses are the preferred rose for many reasons. They have thick long stems, larger flower heads with more of a petal count per blossom, intense and defined colors, and above all they have a lengthier vase life for our customers to enjoy in there home.
This compared to our local roses, which have smaller blooms, and a shorter vase life . We also support our local grower with acquiring these product but we are very aware of how this rose will be used for our customers in there homes and in our designs.
There are many reasons for this difference in quality. For the most part it is the growing conditions. Unfortunately here in Canada we cannot compete with long hours of sunshine and the almost perfect growing conditions in Ecuador.
For Valentine's Day we will have a large assortment of Ecuadorian Roses. With the proper flower care these roses will be enjoyed by our customers for as long as they can.
As we move forward here at Fresh N Fabulous Flowers we always keep an eye out for new and exciting local products. Today we are launching pairing products together Bome' Artisan Cheese's made locally in Coombs http://bomecheese.com/products/ also Jenny Marie's Cracker Co http://www.jennymariescrackers.com/ we have been carrying Catie's Jam's, Jelly's and of course the famous dill picked treats. https://www.facebook.com/CatiesHotDilledBeans/ here is a couple of pictures to help with paring Catie's Garpeno Jelly is Smoked Salmon and is great as a glaze when barbecuing fresh salmon. Paring Bome' Cheese with Catie's Ragpeno Jelly or any soft spreading Cheese add Jenny Marie's Crackers and you have an awsome combination.
Our community is very active with charity events like this one, the Qualicum Beach Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with the Qualicum Beach Rotary, run this annual event with a dinner and dance to raise funds for the needs in our community. We are very happy to have been a part of this event, this year.
Here are some pictures of the arrangements that we supplied to be auctioned off to help raise funds
Since we started we've always been passionate about art and flowers, some days it just flows or locations where we are placing our work, and the people, it can be who they are and how they gives us inspiration. This week we've been asked to put a piece into the Art Worx Gallery here in Qualicum Beach, it could be the gallery that gave today's inspired piece but most likely it's the owner Marlo, what a great caricature, personable and just fun to be around. Thanks Marlo and we wish all the best at tonight's show of more than 20 top artists in and around BC.
One of our
great passions in our life is supporting underprivileged people. When we were
in the planning stages of opening our boutique we really worked hard at trying
to find a way to incorporate this philosophy in our shop. Whether people in need were living across the
street or anywhere in the world, we wanted a way to give back to our community,
locally or globally.
Having
attended a local fair trade market I discovered the “African AIDS Angels”. To
my great delight I found out that it was a few local women here in Qualicum
Beach that get together weekly and handcraft these lovely angels using mostly
donated items. Each angel is given a
typical African name along with its English translation in honor of a child that
is affected by HIV or AIDS. The sale of the Angels supports 4 different
projects in South Africa and in Malawi.
100% of the sale of these angels goes to support these projects.
Needless to
say I was thrilled to learn this. My
husband and I have a tender place in our hearts for Africa, having traveled there three times to work among the underprivileged, and those suffering from
HIV. These angels are a regular feature
in our boutique and all the proceeds of the sales go to support this vital
work.
We are also
very conscious of supporting our local community whenever possible. We work with a variety of community
organizations, from those that work with our homeless, and yes Oceanside does
have a homeless population, to providing our expertise at different community
events; such as our local chamber with their yearly Gala event.
This week we
are supporting our local Rotary with all the supplies and roses for
their dozen rose “ Attitude of
Gratitude” fundraiser event. Fresh n
Fabulous will be providing 350 dozen roses, yes that’s 4,200 roses. An astonishing amount! Impossible for a small boutique to
provide! Not really. With a little effort and organization it all
comes together and it works, and is just another small way that we can give
back to a community that supports us.
Yes we have
found our way to embrace the idea; "Across the street and Around the
world… People helping People…."
One of our Fresh n Fabulous passions.
Can you believe that Thanksgiving is only three weeks away. I feel like summer just zipped by and here we are into fall.Thinking about Thanksgiving reminded me of a story that a dear friend emailed me when we first opened our boutique. I loved that story. In a nutshell it goes like this:
A customer ,Jenny,stopped in a local florist shop to buy an arrangement for thanksgiving. She had no idea what she wanted and she really did not feel like celebrating thanksgiving as there were so many tragedies in her life lately that being thankful was the furthest thing on her mind. While proceeding to order the flowers the florist asked her about the type of arrangement's she would like. She stated that she strongly believes that flowers can tell a story and that each arrangement portrays a particular feeling. " Were you looking for something that convey's gratitude this Thanksgiving? Jenny blurted out "absolutly not!" Apologizing for her outburst she explained that nothing has gone right in the last five months.
The florist then stated that she had the perfect arrangement for her.. Just at this moment a regular customer came in to pick up her order. The florist excused herself and retrieved a massive arrangement of green bows and long-stemmed thorny roses only the ends of the stems were neatly snipped off and no roses. Jenny thought this was a joke but she heard no laughter. The florist was thanked profusely for the lovely arrangement that she had created again this year.
As the customer left Jenny asked the florist about the significance of that particular arrangement. The florist explained that that was the Thanksgiving special. Jenny could not believe anyone would pay for that. The florist then explained the signifigance of that arrangement . Three years ago her husband had passed away, her father was battling cancer, her son was into drugs. She had to assume all the responsibility for the shop for the first time and she had to spend the holiday alone. She had no children, no husband, no family nearby and to great a debt to travel. Jenny asked her "what did you do" The florist replied " I learned to be thankful for the thorns."
At this Jenny was confused. The florist continued to explain.... She had always been thankful for the good things in life , always enjoyed the flowers of life but it took the thorns to show her the beauty of God's comfort. Because of the thorns we treasure the roses.It makes them that much more precious. So now every time we see a rose we remember to appreciate the good times and the hard times, as we grow through both and become stronger for it.
With that Jenny ordered her own Thanksgiving Thorn Bouquet with a pledge to work on healing her heart. With that the florist encouraged her and said the first years arrangement is always free.
I love that story . It portrays so many things that we can all be thankful for because it all makes us who we are today.
The Fresh N Fabulous Difference... at Fresh N Fabulous Flowers and Gifts, we provide top quality products and friendly, expert service and maintain a reputation for outstanding style and excellent value. We deliver to Parksville, Qualicum Beach, Nanaimo, and the surrounding area. Place your next order with us today and find out why so many people have made us Qualicum Beach's favorite flower shop. Contact us for more information.
Yikes! The day is fast approaching when traditionally this is the day that the rose is the most popular flower.and one of the most sensitive flowers to acquire.
Since we started we've always been passionate about art and flowers, some days it just flows or locations where we are placing our work, and the people, it can be who they are and how they gives us inspiration. This week we've been asked to put a piece into the 
Needless to
say I was thrilled to learn this. My
husband and I have a tender place in our hearts for Africa, having traveled there three times to work among the underprivileged, and those suffering from
HIV. These angels are a regular feature
in our boutique and all the proceeds of the sales go to support this vital
work.
This week we
are supporting our local Rotary with all the supplies and roses for
their dozen rose “ Attitude of
Gratitude” fundraiser event. Fresh n
Fabulous will be providing 350 dozen roses, yes that’s 4,200 roses. An astonishing amount! Impossible for a small boutique to
provide! Not really. With a little effort and organization it all
comes together and it works, and is just another small way that we can give
back to a community that supports us.