Beeline Blooms Cut, Press & Create: A Pressed Floral Craft Workshop - includes a live flower-pressing demo
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Workshop refund policy
No refunds for all online orders. Please contact us for a class credit by email to hello@orchidandpine.com.
A Workshop by Orchid & Pine Studio with Beeline Blooms
Sunday, October 4 | 10 am - 12:30 pm
Join us for a beautiful fall morning full of flowers and creativity at Beeline Blooms in Ben Lomond!
This flower meadow wasn't always a flower farm. It rose out of the CZU Fire when a hillside of shade suddenly found itself full of sun and became, instead of a loss, a dahlia oasis and honeybee haven. Every bloom you'll select grew out of that story of rebuilding and bringing life and color back to a place that needed it.
Spend two and a half hours in the dahlia rows with your hands in the flowers and sun on your shoulders before settling in to turn what you've gathered into a petite bouquet to take home or to place in your flower press.
We'll begin with a hands-on demo led by Charina, then a stroll through the dahlia fields where Karla will provide instructions on how to cut and select your flowers, followed by time to settle in and create your own 8" x 10" pressed floral craft with pre-pressed flowers.
WHAT WE'LL COVER
• Your preservation tools
How to choose a press and which papers work best for different flowers plus all the tools you'll need in your preservation kit.
• Timing your harvest
How to select your flowers, including the best time of day to cut, and how to tell when a bloom is ready for pressing
• Pressing techniques
How to press a variety of foliage and flowers including challenging flowers like dahlias and daises
• Preventing browning and molding
Review the right amount of pressure, how to set up your layers, how to check your press, and how to troubleshoot common issues with preservation.
• Short-term and long-term storage
How to store your pressed flowers once they're ready.
From there, we'll move to the fun part: a floral craft session where you'll design and create your own pressed floral meadow inspired by the blooms on 8" x 10" lokta paper which you can take home and hang in a frame of your choice.
We'll cover the basics of pressed floral composition and gluing techniques.
All pressed flowers, collage and craft materials for the project are included. Just bring yourself (and a friend, if you'd like)!
Wondering how to practice pressing if you don't have a press of your own? We've got a few options for you:
- During the live demo, we'll have loaner presses and blotting paper on hand so you get a chance to press right alongside Charina.
- Feel free to BYOP (bring your own press) or even just a heavy book if you'd like to practice after gathering your flowers.
- Not ready to commit before class? You're welcome to purchase a press right at the workshop — we'll have a small variety of flower presses on hand in multiple sizes (8" x 10" and 9" x 12" regular birch) to choose from.
- Want to lock one in ahead of time? Add a flower press kit to your ticket (see above) for a high-quality Russian birchwood press and a blotting paper starter pack. We have 10 available in stock.
🎟️ Ticket Options
| Ticket | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Single | $65 | Workshop demo, craft materials for your pressed floral collage, and a petite bouquet of flowers in a jar to take home and press |
| Parent + Child | $80 | Everything in Single, plus one extra craft space for your child |
| Single + Flower Press Kit | $165 | Everything in Single, plus your own flower press kit — a high-quality Russian birchwood press and pressing papers (only 10 available!) |
| Parent + Child + Flower Press Kit | $180 | Everything in Parent + Child, plus one flower press kit to share — a high-quality Russian birchwood press and pressing papers (only 10 available!) |
Note: Not sure about the flower press yet? You're welcome to purchase one at the workshop. We will have a small variety of flower presses in multiple sizes (8" x 10" and 9" x 12" regular birch) available to choose from.
Details at a Glance
- Where: Beeline Blooms Dahlia Farm, 220 Stephens Lane, Ben Lomond, CA 95005
- When: Sunday, October 4, 2026, 10 AM – 12 PM
- What's included: Petite bouquet jar of flowers, pressed flowers, and 8" x10" floral lokta for your take-home piece
- What's not included: Materials are for the floral craft only. The Single and Parent + Child only ticket does not include additional flower press or blotting paper for at-home use. Add the press kit ticket if you'd like these! (limited to 10!)
About Beeline Blooms:
Beeline Blooms began in 2022, when Karla DeLong turned a fire-scarred hillside into something new. In August 2020, the CZU Lightning Complex Fire tore through the family's Ben Lomond property, taking their forest, orchard, and about half their beehives with it. Rather than mourn all the shade they'd lost, Karla saw an opportunity in the sudden sun, and planted a dahlia farm in its place. What began as an effort to bring color back to a devastated community has grown into a beloved local gathering spot: part flower farm, part honeybee haven, and part home for workshops, volunteers, and Sunday wanderers.
Karla is a longtime homesteading instructor with deep roots in gardening, beekeeping, food preservation, and floral design and has taught at Mountain Feed & Farm Supply in Ben Lomond for over a decade. Today, she runs Beeline Blooms alongside her sister Katrina as a working dahlia farm and honeybee haven, open to the community for you-pick visits, workshops, and events throughout the season.
Come wander the rows, cut a little beauty of your own, and leave with a piece of this farm to hang on your wall.
Meet Your Instructor: Charina
With a BFA in fashion design and experience as a floral designer, Charina has spent her lifetime exploring the space where creativity, craftmanship and nature meet. Learning the meditative art of Oshibana, the practice of creating pressed botanical art from real flowers is where it comes together.
Through Orchid & Pine Studio, she bridges the worlds of floral design and slow, intentional craft in a way that feels both intentional and alive. She's also known as a mixed media artist for her floral portrait collage work. Her pieces have been featured at The Huntington Botanical Gardens, The New York Botanical Gardens, In Her Studio, and In Her Garden magazine, with recent shows at Hunt & Gather San Francisco and Radius Gallery in Santa Cruz.
In her Pressed Floral Workshops, Charina creates space for you to slow down, reconnect with your hands, and rediscover your creative side. You'll learn to layer delicate blooms, play with color and composition, and leave with a piece that is entirely your own; a quiet reminder of what your hands and imagination can make.
I booked the pressed floral frame private event for my child’s birthday, and it was a wonderful experience from start to finish. Before the event, the instructor, Charina, communicated clearly via email with all the important details about the event. During the session, she was incredibly patient as she guided my kids and their friends through each step. She provided a beautiful variety of pressed flowers and leaves, along with all the tools needed for the activity.Everything was thoughtfully organized, and the process flowed smoothly from one step to the next. The kids had an amazing time crafting and creating their frames. The reservation process was very user-friendly, and communication with both Jiaren Cafe and Charina was seamless.
It’s been a while since I’ve taken an art class of any type. Time and money were factors, but mostly I missed something that spoke to my heart. My first interaction with Charina of Orchid and Pine was so welcoming that I knew I’d found just what I needed: flowers, learning new skills, incorporating parts of my life, and a beautiful environment. The pressed flower frame class, hosted at Home by Zinnia’s in Scotts Valley, featured a beautiful layout of needed supplies and clear, well-thought-out instructions that allowed participants to explore the process while making connections to the people involved and the images we were working with. The food, libations, and décor of Home by Zinnia’s made it a perfect Sunday evening treat. Being able to return home with a beautiful frame filled with flowers and a precious picture was exactly what my heart needed!
