Picture this: a moment so full of love it makes your heart ache.
The kind of moment where you’re sitting with someone you love—a friend, a lover, your child, a pet—and suddenly everything sharpens.
Time doesn’t exactly stop, but it stretches… just enough for you to feel it.
“This. This is what it means to be alive.”
Maybe you’ve had a moment like that—when the whole world softens around the edges and the only thing that feels real is being in the presence of someone you love.
Maybe you're tucked into a cozy corner of your favorite coffee shop, sunlight suddenly breaking through the clouds, wrapping you in its golden glow.
Ambient noise falls away, and you feel your heartbeat, the air around your skin, the ground underneath you, and the sun-kissed light dappled across your beloved’s face in a way that almost feels sacred.
It’s the kind of moment you want to press between the pages of your life.
A moment you want to hold onto, even as you feel it slipping through your fingers like sand—fleeting, tender, unforgettable.
That’s exactly what happened the day I snapped this photo of my youngest daughter at our favorite coffee spot in Santa Cruz.
Golden hour was pouring through the garden, wrapping her in a luminous glow—and the birds seemed to be singing a song, just for her.
In that instant, my whole heart cracked open.
Moments like this remind me why being a tiny human on a giant rock is somehow the most magical thing.
Because life is a lot.
None of us get through it without riding the highs, the lows, and all the beautifully messy in-betweens.
And truth be told, tending a garden mirrors those cycles so perfectly.
There are the hopeful beginnings—first seeds tucked into soil, bulbs settled into the earth, all that quiet potential humming just below the surface.
Then there’s the challenges. Pests, weeds, and the ever-ongoing dance with nature, all reminding us to remain humble and to learn how to surrender to that which we can’t control.
Then, there’s the harvest. The beauty and the bounty.
That same wave of tenderness and awe washes over me every time I witness this transformation.
I feel it again in my body when we collect flowers for the studio—this soft, steady love that threads itself into every pressed floral portrait we craft and every handmade botanical gift that leaves our hands.
It is a blessing to be able to learn from the garden in this way. To witness the seasons play out, as they do in the seasons of our lives.
Annuals fade. Perennials rest. The garden settles into its next phase of becoming.
It’s a reminder that endings are really just quiet beginnings wearing different clothes.
Lastly, the garden continues to teach me this: pressed flowers aren’t just pretty.
They’re time capsules.
With every season, we grow as the garden grows, and the plants continue to share their wisdom.
The garden reminds us that the flowers we select, pick, and preserve can symbolize a special moment in time.
A reminder of an intimate conversation that opened your heart, the feeling of your lover’s hand tucked into yours, or that hug you shared with your child on a golden day at your favorite cafe.
Those tiny flashes of life…the ones that don’t look dramatic from the outside… they’re often the markers of who we’re becoming.
They matter, and they shape us.
If you have a moment like that—captured in a photo but has been tucked away in a drawer for far too long—we’d love to help you bring it to life as a piece of art that grows with you.
You can do this in a few different ways:
Join us for monthly hands-on workshops in the Santa Cruz and Bay Area, where you’ll learn how to create your own pressed floral portrait from start to finish.
Or, if you’d prefer something lovingly crafted for you, our Custom Floral Portrait page walks you through all the options we’re currently offering.
And if neither of those are a fit just yet, no worries—I'm also putting together free tutorials on how to grow, pick, and press flowers from your garden, plus a mini-course on creating your own floral portrait at home.
Lastly, I host a quarterly giveaway as a small act of gratitude—because creativity and capitalism don’t always harmonize, and everyone deserves a chance to turn a meaningful memory into art.
Just send your photo and your story to helle@orchidandpine.com, and we’ll reach out to the lucky winner. Winners are chosen randomly, and we share the draw on our social page.
Thank you for being here and for sharing your stories and photos with me.
I’ll see you in the garden.
With love,
Charina