A new way to enjoy fresh flowers has arrived from the Netherlands to the UK – Goodtrippers experiences Bloomon…
We received a beautiful pick-me-up at Goodtrippers HQ this week – a beautiful fresh floral bouquet from Bloomon. This is a florist with a difference – a company that wants to reconnect us to nature, shake-up the floristry industry, innovate with style and imagination, and bring a smile to everyone’s face via the simple pleasure of receiving pretty flowers straight to your door.
Bloomon, founded by industry “rebels” (their words) Patrick, Bart and Koen, cut out the middle man by dealing direct with growers. They source their flowers from expert growers, only selecting seasonal blooms and ensuring they are picked at the best time. This ensures extra days of freshness.
Enter Anton, their floral artisan, to help design some of the most original bouquets you’ll find via a delivery service. Taking inspiration from the Scandinavian school, Bloomon bouquets make the most of individual flower and leaf shapes, colours, movement and scent. The ‘New Bohemian’ bouquet of the week that Goodtrippers received was loose and romantic, full of blues, purples and pinks including peony, rose and brodea.
unwrapping the Bloomon bouquet
We love the ‘cheeky’ branding – the recycled wrapping (extra points there) is covered with positive phrases and cute reminders about how science says that flowers trigger happy emotions. The accompanying card also waxed lyrical about ‘the butterfly effect’ which inspired the bouquet design – a reminder of how small acts of kindness, words or gestures can have a wonderful knock-on effect. This really is a ‘feel good’ florist!
Bring fresh flowers to your home – how it works
Bloomon works on a subscription model – select your preferred size (small, medium or large), choose how often (weekly, fortnightly, monthly – you can pause if you’re on holiday), select a convenient delivery time (morning, afternoon, evening), then receive your new seasonal bouquets direct to your door. Prices range from £20.95 to £31.95 and you can also request the matching hand-blown glass vase.
New Bohemian by Bloomon
Exclusive workshops – how to design your own
This summer (July-August) Bloomon are also running a series of exclusive flower arranging workshops in London. For £25 you can learn a new skill, enjoy complimentary refreshments and take home your very own bouquet and vase. However, be quick, at time of writing workshops were almost all sold out – keep your eyes peeled for possible future dates.
For more information on Bloomon and to order your own bouquets (or buy a one-off gift), visit www.bloomon.co.uk.
It’s time to go slow this autumn and winter… From cooking ‘slow’ brunches to making your own leather tea tray, the new SLOWmotion workshops are here to teach us all the joys of slow living.
Organised by food magazine and event company TOAST, this new series of foodie and lifestyle workshops and events is all about celebrating the ‘slow life’. Mass production and instant gratification, step aside!
SLOWmotion at Rosewood London
Taking place at the beautiful Rosewood hotel in London’s Bloomsbury, expect tasty brunches full of plenty of sharing plates featuring slow food ingredients from the regular Sunday Slow Food & Living Market in the hotel’s courtyard.
As well as eating brunch with foodies including Rosie Birkett and Jackson & Levine, you could even make your own tray, table runner and spoon! Join one of several workshops which each focus on a different craft, and explore mindfulness and slow living by traditional techniques. Each workshop host will teach guests how to make an item to take home (ideal for Christmas gifts) as well as discussing their story and lifestyle.
See the full schedule of events and workshops below.
Tickets: Booking is essential – tickets can be reserved via the TOAST website www.eatdrinktoast.com/events and are priced from £40.00.
Location: The Living Room, Rosewood London, 252 High Holborn, London, WC1V 7EN
Doe at SLOWmotion
SLOWmotion Autumn/Winter 2015 Schedule
12-2:30pm, September 27th – Slow Food Brunch with Signe Johansen
A Slow Food brunch with Signe Johansen, Norwegian-American cook, writer and food anthropologist, and author of best-selling cookbooks Scandilicious and Scandilicious Baking; expect such delights as the Scandi Bloody Mary with tomato juice from the market, 58 Gin, Halen Mon smoked water, dill, horseradish and cucumber and Crispy Cod Cheeks with Nordic Dill Salsa, plus, to take home, Skoleboller or “school buns” – Norwegian vanilla custard filled buns with coconut www.twitter.com/SigneSJohansen
11am-1pm, October 11th – Slow Living Workshop with Grain & Knot
A Slow Living workshop with woodworker Sophie Sellu of Grain & Knot. Learn the art of crafting a spoon from reclaimed timber. During the workshop guests will learn the safest way to use wood carving knives and leave with their very own spoon. A kit of sandpaper and a homemade wood balm will be given to each attendee to continue to care for their spoons at home www.grainandknot.com
11am-1pm, October 18th – Slow Living Workshop with Waffle Design and Curate & Display
A Slow Living and interior design workshop with Waffle Design in collaboration with Curate & Display, a lifestyle and design blog. WAFFLE is a fresh range of home interior accessories made using organic cotton and a tactile waffle weave. The creative lead and founder Ciara McGarrity will share Waffle Design craft secrets, and teach guests how to create bespoke table runners. Tiffany Grant-Riley, the founder or Curate & Display, will talk about her thought process with creative, modern, clean interiors. www.waffledesign.co.uk // www.curateanddisplay.co.uk
12-2:30pm, November 1st – Slow Food Brunch with Rosie Birkett
A Slow Food brunch with Rosie Birkett, food writer, stylist, presenter and author of the bestselling cookbook A Lot on Her Plate, a collection of imaginative, delicious and approachable recipes that draw on the culinary vibrancy of seasonal, fresh produce and simple, store-cupboard ingredients www.rosiebirkett.com
12-2:30pm, November 8th – Slow Food Brunch with Jackson & Levine aka Laura Jackson & Alice Levine
A Slow Food brunch from London’s coolest supperclub hosts Jackson & Levine. With Laura Jackson and Alice Levine both working in TV and radio, they set up their supperclub as a passion project to create an interesting and fun environment for like-minded food folk to sit round a table and enjoy a home cooked meal and a glass (or three) of wine www.jacksonandlevine.co.uk
12-2:30pm, November 15th – Slow Food Brunch with Claire Ptak of Violet Bakery
A Slow Food brunch with Claire Ptak, food stylist, food writer and owner of Violet Bakery in East London. Hailing from California, Claire trained in the pastry department at Chez Panisse with Alice Waters, who subsequently wrote a moving foreword to her recent book The Violet Bakery Cookbook. Claire focuses on seasonal ingredients, natural flavourings, wholegrains and unrefined sugars when baking. Bringing a Californian sensibility to everything she does, she has also worked with Jamie Oliver and Yotam Ottolenghi. www.violetcakes.com
11am-1pm, November 22nd – Slow Living Workshop with Doe Leather
A Slow Living and leather workshop with Doe Leather, one of the last remaining Black Country leather goods workshops. Using natural vegetable-tanned leather, Deborah Thomas will teach guests how to create a beautiful leather tray. Attendees will learn the basics of leather sewing with different coloured harness threads, burnishing (on the edges of the leather with special gum and linen cloths) and then hand-stamp their initials into the final piece www.doeleather.co.uk
12-2:30pm, November 29th – Slow Food Brunch with Meera Sodha
A Slow Food brunch with Meera Sodha, cook, food writer and author of the bestselling cookbook Made in India: Cooked in Britain, a collection or recipes focusing on Gujarati cuisine written as she hovered over her mother’s shoulder at the stove www.meerasodha.com
More events, including Christmas specials, to be announced!
