When designing and developing ikebana workshops, there is often the dilemma of portability of materials once the workshop has finished.

Tanabata, (七夕), the Star Festival, is one of the five Japanese seasonal festivals (五節句, gosekku).

To make the most of our very short summer we decided to create an ikebana arrangement with a focus on water.

In the Spring I collaborated with a not-for-profit organisation AMA Girafe  (https://amagirafe.org/) to create an Ikebana Adventure.

My daughters were excited to have participated in their first ikebana exhibition.

Creating arrangements using curved lines is one of the many lessons within the intermediate Sogetsu Ikebana curriculum.

A collaboration with AMA Girafe to create an Ikebana Adventure for French speaking primary school children.

Last week we visited the Hallerbos forest in Halle, Belgium.

Examining the different shapes, textures and colours of leaves enables children to discover their beauty and uniqueness.

Easter always provides fun and creative opportunities for children to make ikebana arrangements.

Seeing beauty in our Daffodils, after slugs and snails ate all our blooms.

We used flowering branches and flowers foraged from our local neighbourhood and from our garden to create a Hinamatsuri arrangement.

This year we celebrated our first Valentine's Day in Belgium.

With the sudden burst of warm weather, we were inspired to make a Spring arrangement.

This past week, Belgium was under a blanket of snow. The snow covered landscape inspired my children to create a winter wonderland ikebana.

The heady smell of Hyacinths is enough to chase the winter blues away.

To celebrate the similarities between our old home, and new, we decided to create an ikebana celebrating Three Kings Day.

After a long hiatus, moving countries and slowly settling into a new life, my daughters and I are back creating weekly ikebana arrangements.

am excited to announce the release of my first book “My First Ikebana: Ikebana for the Young and Young at Heart” (ISBN ISBN 9789058567161).

The Sogetsu Ikebana curriculum has lots of fun and creative lessons that are adaptable for children.