Custom Floral Arrangement = Magnolias and Plum Blossoms

I'm so fortunate to have clients who have become repeat clients, who ask me to create custom pieces for them. This particular client hired me when I first got on Etsy to create a large gardenia floral arrangement with hints of blue. Since then she's ordered gifts for special people in her life for various occasions.Recently she asked if I could create a low lying arrangement with magnolia flowers and cherry blossoms. I love how plum blossoms look more than cherry blossoms so I decided to use them instead. My client asked that I not use any greenery. Luckily the buds of the plum blossoms have a light shade of green and the hint of the branches adds some contrast.I love doing custom floral arrangements where my clients give me flexibility of design. :) Now that this arrangement is done, I'm focusing on a small favor box and ring pillow order using yellow cymbidium orchids and working on hundreds of small flowers for a jewelry designer who uses my flowers to decorate the beautiful wooden boxes she puts her custom jewelry in. Lots left to do in the next two weeks and then a much needed break!

Centerpieces in Honor of a Very Special Person

I was asked several years ago by my best friend's friend if I could make gardenia corsages for her dearly departed boss, who lost his life to cancer. They were having a "celebration of life" event to honor his memory. Yoriko lost her battle to breast cancer earlier this year. She was and still is such a special person to so many. She was this sweet Japanese woman who had a great sense of humor and no matter how much pain she was in, she always tried to muster up a smile and to make life seem like it was okay. Funny, now that I look back on those times with Yoriko, I realize she was like my mom in many ways in the way she handled cancer as well.Yoriko's dying wish was to have a celebration of life in honor of her. Her husband, mother-in-law and best friend are helping with the arrangements. Yoriko loved my flowers and asked if I could make corsages for all the attendees. Because of the change in prices since the time she asked me, we decided that maybe doing a smaller number of corsages for close family and friends was more ideal and to create larger centerpieces that her daughter could keep and one to give to her family who resides in Japan. The flowers requested were 3 different types and shades of orchids, green hydrangeas, white gardenias, roses, and pikake. I also decide to add purple sweet peas as these were also a favorite of Yoriko's.

These arrangements took a lot of time, more so because they asked for orchids I never made before and had to figure out. I love the color combination of green, purple and white/cream. I don't know why I struggled with this order so much, but I did. I am so happy to almost be done as it was a lot of hard work. My hope is that these arrangements and corsages will help to lift the spirits of those who mourn the loss of a very special woman. :) We miss you Yoriko!

Final Floral Arrangements for the Craft Fair

I finally finished all the pieces that I'm going to be able to do for the craft fair on Saturday. I made 5 arrangements with hydrangeas in them with a mixture of colors.

I made a few more phaleanopsis orchid pieces as well. One of my colleagues kept telling me how great my deep pink orchids looked yet I didn't make any so I guess she was trying to tell me something. :)
Lastly, I had to make a gift a former client of mine wanted to give to her mom who is undergoing surgery for breast cancer. So it inspired me to make another one but in different colors. I love the ranunculus and plum blossom combination!

Pretty Poppies!

I'm in the home stretch of finishing up flowers for the Garden Art Party. I totally wish I could have an extra week to create several more original pieces, but alas, time is not on my side. LOL. I had these really cute vases or votives that I purchased a year or so ago and thought they were so cute. I figured one day I would use them but just never knew exactly what I was going to do with them. Finally I figured out how I wanted to use them! I decided that poppies would make a great flower for these cute little vases. Simple, 3 little poppies to accent these great colored glass vases!

I'm hoping to get a couple more arrangements done before I have to pack all my flowers up for next weekend's Garden Art Party!

A Very Special Custom Gift

I was contacted a few days ago by one of my past Etsy buyers asking if I could make something custom for someone very special in her life, her aunt. Amanda asked if I could make an arrangement of flowers for her aunt who has breast cancer and the prognosis is not good. She thought that my flowers would be a bright spot in her day and something that would last and she could enjoy every day!
Amanda's story really hit close to home for me. My mother also died of breast cancer and most recently my mother-in-law died of bladder cancer. My heart reached out to Amanda and her family and what they are going through. I felt the need to share my story with Amanda and I think she really appreciated that I could relate to her situation and offer some really good advice.

Time was of the essence with this arrangement so she told me that her aunt loves Maui and flowers in Hawaii so we created a piece that had plumerias, cymbidiums, roses and tuberose in a pandan box vase from Eco-Friendly Market. She loved it and she was so happy that I really dropped everything else to make sure this arrangement gets out to her. I told her I would express mail it to her tomorrow so that she receives it on Wednesday. I was hoping to ship it today, but it needs one more day to dry.

I'm so honored to be asked to create a piece that her aunt will enjoy and I hope that Amanda's aunt will continue to have hope, fight and just live life to the fullest.

Gearing up for the Garden Party with zenatona

Although I have been feeling a little under the weather, I've been pushing myself to finish a bunch of pieces to showcase and sell at a very special event this coming Saturday. I'm so honored and excited to be asked to be part of this innovative Garden Party that Debbie Friedrich of zenatona has created. It'll be a day filled with juicy bursts of color in a garden setting.
I wanted to share a few pieces that I've been working on since Sunday. Still more to do, but these are the slightly larger pieces that I will be bringing with me.What was my inspiration you may ask? Well, I had originally planned to do pieces based on the art inspired by zenatona, but I decided just to go more so with my creative spirit and focused on colors and make them bright and cheery to uplift the spirits of anyone who views them. As Debbie says, it's art from mother nature to nurture your soul!I'm really looking forward to this event and my little quick trip down to San Diego to spend time with my dear friend, fellow artist and colleague, Debbie Friedrich!

A Cheery Clay Flower Arrangement

Normally after a big order I go through a lull in creativity and I need a day where I just try to not work too much on flowers or my orders even though I have the next deadline looming over me. My energy level is low because I push myself so hard to get everything done. So yesterday I had one of those days after I finished Sharon & Ryan's order. Didn't help that the dinner I ate last night made me go into food coma big time! LOL. I drank 2 cups of coffee which did nothing until about 9:30 p.m. I finally decided to do a few flowers for a gift that I had been meaning to get to for my friend Darrah at Otis B Jewelry on Etsy! I managed to make all the flowers and I love how this one turned out. Darrah wanted something simple and since she was a florist before, I was a little nervous that she'd be analyzing my flowers in much detail and scrutiny. LOL. Anyway, she wanted something simple and in shades of white, ivory and green. So this is the piece I created for her studio that is being built.
I just thought I'd share this piece because it's so pretty and I love the colors and it makes me smile when I see it!