flowers & ribbons & buttons, oh my...

I spent a nice late morning walking around flower market and garment district. It's a "not so nice" area in terms of street ambiance, but it's a great area for perusing the source of flowers and textiles in the city.

Above are some snapshots of the floral market on 28th St between 6th and 7th Aves. Surrounded by floral designers, event planners and their clients, and commercial space owners, I got a chance to see the blooms and trends for the autumn. I definitely sensed a strong emphasis on natural materials {wood and bamboo containers} {large berry/peppers/fruit branches and greenery} which I think goes in line with the overall trend of eco-green-ness. The fall colors of deep purples, crimson, and orange mixed with natural greens were really beautiful...

Walking a few blocks up to the mid-30s area, amongst the various beads and textile stores, I stopped by my favorite trimmings shop, M+J. As you walk into this large space that is filled from floor to ceiling with buttons, ribbons, fringe, feathers, lace, sequins of ALL shapes and colors...it's almost like walking through a candy store. I loved the above wall of white lace and beading trims - ranging from antiquated to modern. I spent quite some time in the store pulling out various boxes and spools of trimmings, while imagining what kinds of crafts could come out of it. It was a great little mini-inspiration day for me...