Learn how to create exquisite, lifelike sugar flowers and arrange them with fresh blooms in the floral arrangements of your dreams—regardless of season or availability. “A Sweet Floral Life is pure magic.”—Ariella Chezar, author of The Flower Workshop and Seasonal Flower Arranging Rising Instagram star Natasja Sadi’s floral arrangements have a sumptuous, old-world look straight out of a classical painting. But among the glorious profusion of fresh flowers, there is often a surprise twist: handmade sugar flowers (traditionally used in cake decorating) that are indistinguishable from real ones and last forever. In A Sweet Floral Life, Natasja guides you through her creative process of flower arranging and developing your personal style, along with tutorials for seasonal arrangements, living and entertaining with flowers, and how to photograph flowers. A former fashion designer, Natasja began making flowers out of sugar to honor her African and Indonesian ancestors who worked in the sugarcane fields of Suriname. In A Sweet Floral Life, Natasja provides steps for sculpting sugar flowers, a versatile medium with limitless possibilities—they can be used in fresh floral arrangements, displayed on their own as unique home décor, or used to adorn cakes. And whether it’s the middle of summer or the dead of winter, sugar flowers are always in season and always in perfect full bloom. Capture the romance, set the mood, and be swept away by gorgeous and inspiring floral art with A Sweet Floral Life.

A guide to flower arranging. Topics covered include: what you need, advice on all the various styles of arrangement, and how to make flowers last longer. It also includes a plant dictionary which features information on topics such as vase-life and drying methods.

“The pigments he concocts from these humble beginnings are as fun to make as they are eye-opening to work with . . . the world never quite looks the same.” —MarthaStewart.com A 2018 Best Book of the Year—The Guardian The Toronto Ink Company was founded in 2014 by designer and artist Jason Logan as a citizen science experiment to make eco-friendly, urban ink from street-harvested pigments. In Make Ink, Logan delves into the history of inkmaking and the science of distilling pigment from the natural world. Readers will learn how to forage for materials such as soot, rust, cigarette butts, peach pits, and black walnut, then how to mix, test, and transform these ingredients into rich, vibrant inks that are sensitive to both place and environment. Organized by color, and featuring lovely minimalist photography throughout, Make Ink combines science, art, and craft to instill the basics of ink making and demonstrate the beauty and necessity of engaging with one of mankind’s oldest tools of communication. “Logan demystifies the process, encouraging experimentation and taking a fresh look at urban environments.” —NPR “The book is full of inspiration and takes a lot of the mystery out of ink making, at least at its simplest level. And it also reminds me why I love ink—any ink or liquid color as much as I do.” —The Well-Appointed Desk “Quite a few recipes . . . that use color from the kitchen: carrots, black beans, blueberries, turmeric, and onion skins all make beautiful ink colors.” —Design Observer “Make Ink opens up about methods, providing an open source guide to DIY ink.” —CityLab