HELLO WORLD!

Floral Preservation – What is it?

zuraskiclosebig.jpgHere is my issue.  The more I research flower preservation the more I am realizing that most of the public DOES NOT know that such a thing exists!  I’m the type of person who absolutely hates SPAM.  Do not flood my computer with ad after ad after ad.  Because of my intense dislike of SPAM (altho – I admit that I am one of the oddities who likes to eat the stuff called spam) – I avoid pushing my service because I hate people like me who do such things.  AND YET…………if I don’t tell you about it how will you know?  Not only that – but I need you to tell others about it as well!

Oh yeah – I’m sentimental and chances are you are too.  We all save memories in various ways.  How many times I have heard “we spent all that money on flowers it’s a shame to just toss them out.”  Well guess what…………you don’t have to!

Food for thought!

Blessings,

Anne

Is Life Passing You By?

 

 

Yeah………well it certainly is passing me by.  Since I last updated my blog the entire summer has come and gone.  Now I’m looking at lush grass which will, not too long from now, be covered in snow.  Ok……..enough of that.

Here’s hoping you have had a wonderful summer.  Just wanted to let you know that Anne Bruening Originals is alive and well and busy preserving some of the most beautiful flowers (because that’s what you all bring to me).  What a great way to pass my time.  Remember……..if you have any questions……..I’m always glad to help. 

Here’s to a wonderful Fall.

Blessings,

Anne

It’s time for Change

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I have to say, as I have gone through life, that I have mostly hated change. We grow into our routines. They make us feel comfortable, safe……even if life is not that great we still hold on to the “comfort” that the “sameness” represents. At least that’s how I used to feel.

Then one day, a few years ago, my world was rocked and the change that faced me was too overwhelming for me to bear………or so I thought. After about 3 months of walking around in somewhat of a stupor and stumbling for my way………life changed again. I strongly grabbed on to the hand of God and said let’s do it Lord……..let’s take on this world together in a way I have never done. From that time on I have embraced changed in most situations because it is a good thing.

And so it is with Anne Bruening Originals. It is going through change. It’s ok. I like it, actually. I am watching a dream come true that I have had from the beginning – that one day I might be totally “custom” order………I just didn’t think it would be in this way. Times have changed, people have changed, economy has surely changed. I noticed about 2 years ago that my retail sales were changing big time……retail as in coming in to the shop and just purchasing for the home. People were buying groceries and paying bills…….not buying “fluff”……..and that’s what I am…..”fluff”! A non-essential.

I learned years ago that if a business is to run well it must “find a need and fill it”. “Who needs dried flowers Lord?” I would ask almost daily. I have found out, in the last several years, that many people need dried flowers………..just not in the way I originally began.

And so…….Anne Bruening Originals is closing the doors to the basic retail end of the business I once had and opening the door to 100% Floral Preservation. It has been the way it has been going. It has been 98% of my sales…….it is what my clients need and what I love to do for them.

I think of a dear man who recently came to the studio who had just lost his wife to pancreatic cancer. They had 3 weeks. No one was prepared for this. She………younger than me. He had a simple rose from the funeral…….already 2 weeks old and quite withered………and their wedding rings……would I put them in a frame he asked?

Oh dear God……I love my job……..thank You for helping me find the need and fill it. I couldn’t be more blessed.

As most of you know…….my door has always been open. As long as I’m home I am open and available to you. But no longer do I have “regular” shop hours. Appointments are necessary as I am learning that it can often take a client an hour and more to decide on how they want their flowers displayed. It is important that they have their time uninterrupted. Still……….if you are driving by………you are welcome to come up and knock on the door and make that appointment (which could be for right then and there).

Feel free to comment and ask questions………I do my best to be available 24/7 though that’s not always possible. Just know that I do deeply care about what you think. And thank you for 20 years that has brought me to this wonderful place in this business. It has been and still is a wonderful journey.

Blessings,

Anne

Summertime and Birthdays!

My Emily Anne
My Emily Anne

 

This little girl is 29 years old today.  I don’t know what happened.  It makes no sense to me the way the years fly by like this and now the time brings only memories to my heart and mind.  This picture captures beautifully my daughter back in the day….a ball in one hand and the bottle always hanging out of her mouth.  She never held that bottle with her hands – it always dangled just like you see it in this picture.  And when she went to bed at night she still had it dangling out of her mouth like that while both hands were twirling her hair.  Ahhh, how I wish we had digital cameras back then – the stories I could have captured in pictures would have been by the 100’s I’m sure!!!

I didn’t want a girl!  Shameful to admit, I know, but the honest truth.  I wanted a house full of little boys.  Her dad and I had the name picked out just in case we had a girl.  You know, back then it was rare that anyone knew what they were having – you had to wait ’til it was time.  Anyway, we liked our girl name a lot……..and we got a girl……….so there you have it.  It took me about a week to get used to having a girl……….but once my heart took over I was never to be the same.  I can’t begin to tell you how much this child has filled my heart the last 29 years.

It seems that she must have been the perfect child by the way I’m speaking here.  She was!  She was perfect for me.  Just what I needed.  Emily was fiesty – quite the opposite of her wimpy/doormat of a mother.  I loved that about her.  She had her own personality that was NOTHING like mine and that was the best part.  She was a tom-boy through and through.  And no one got in Emily’s way – especially in our family………brother and step-brothers paid quite a price if they pissed her off!  We laugh about it now……..but it wasn’t too funny back then!

I can’t imagine having gone through this life without my Emily.  Not a day goes by that I don’t think about her and miss her terribly.  I’m in Pennsylvania – she’s in New Mexico – is there anything to like about that?  She’s a rock for me – yes she’s my child – but she’s my best friend in only the way mom’s and daughters become when they get older.  No gift could ever surpass this love/relationship between me and my daughter.  I have thanked God over and over and over again for giving me a girl.  He knew what was best for me all along and I have never looked back with regret!

My Emily is now a new mother.  She wanted a house full of boys too!  God has dealt her the same hand He dealt me.  Miss Cailyn Grace is now the life which envelops Emily’s heart (and mine too, once again!).  Emily,  may your heart be filled with all the joy you have given me the last 29 years.  I love you more than you will ever know.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY

 

My Emily Anne and new baby Cailyn Grace

My Emily Anne and new baby Cailyn Grace

I LOVE MY JOB!

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I am honored when I am brought flowers to preserve from a funeral.  I admit that I get caught up in the stories of the families of the loved one who has passed on.  I’m the type of person that will look at all your pictures even if I don’t know you.  I love pictures…………I don’t care who they belong to.  (more…)