There are 3 ways to improve your creativity: practice, practice, practice. People come into our store and say, "Oh, I wish I could make my bouquets look like yours, you girls are so creative . . ." I know that we can take any bloom and make it look good in an arrangement-- because we've been doing it for 30+years!

If you will just relax-- it isn't brain surgery, you know; and even if the arrangement you make today isn't your very favorite, you can just decide that next time you'll try something else. When my sister went to interior design school, one of the teachers had all the students choose 2 colors they loved, and 2 colors they hated. Then, they created a design using all 4 colors. If you get into the habit of choosing something different every time you buy flowers, you will expand your design skills exponentially, just by sheer volume. If it makes it more fun, choose one flower you love-- gerbera daisies, for instance, and one flower you aren't wild about-- marigolds, maybe. Then, have at it!

Take 3 steps back to view your design, and in the beginning, cut long. You can always make things shorter, but it's tough to make them longer again. When you think you're finished, look at the bouquet from another angle: what do you like about it's shape? Is there a way to move a bloom to face front or to the side that will enhance its appearance? One element that seems to throw a lot of people is visual weight. Is the biggest flower at the top or at the bottom? Most of the time, the largest flower at the bottom should also be the darkest-- certain japanese arranging styles are exempt from this, and of course, you are the final judge. Therefore, if you like it, it's perfect.

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