It took me quite awhile to be able to write about these flowers and it is still emotional. I did these for the funeral of Rod Carter, a dear, close family friend. Rod died from cancer September 8, 2010. It was more than an honor to arrange his casket spray. I used yellow as the dominate color, because Rod was colorblind and yellow was really the only true color he saw correctly. It was one of a kind - just like him.

I look at funerals as an opportunity to create something truly unique to honor someone's life. It's also nice to have something to talk about when sometimes the right words are hard to find.

The three arrangements were grouped together to represent my sister and her family, my family, and my parents in the center. I curved the yellow callas to create an invisible line for the eye to follow through the arrangement. I love incorporating symbolism into different pieces.

I created this arrangement for a friend of Rod's and mine. I was asked to design something that incorporated a broken heart and streamers. After a lot of consideration and trial and error, I was more than happy with the outcome. I carved a heart out of floral foam and covered it with deep red mini gerberas, green Kermit mums, and then used the seeds from seeded eucalyptus to "break" the heart. I arched lily grass over the heart and then tucked the pieces in to let streamers come out. It was definitely a unique arrangement and a success.