Garden Art Party #5 a Success!

("intuition" paired with a couple of my purple and green inspired pieces)

Sunday, 8/8, was a GORGEOUS day for our 5th Garden Art Party. This time it was held at the Midas Garden, where we had the first party! The garden was blooming with all kinds of lovely blossoms, simply amazing. We even got to see caterpillars, chrysalis forming and even monarch butterflies! Debbie's mother-in-law so generously allowed us to use her garden again to host the Garden Art Party. We had lots of returning Garden Art Party guests as well as many 1st timers! Lots of new art from zenatona and DK Designs.

(This beautiful piece is "ella")
("capture life" and "secrets")

("abundance")

("lux")
(my purple hydrangeas in a mini teapot)
("aloha" and my floral piece inspired by this print)

("leap of faith" and "grace")

("aperture", "lemon meringue sky", "bubbly" are the large canvas pieces and "don't worry, be happy" and "heroine" in the 5x6" canvas paired with my pieces)

Debbie introduced zenatona "bloomies" which was a hit with everyone. She has this fabulous idea she developed - 4 sheets of seeded paper with a little pencil that says "believe" on it where you can write 3 wishes and give the 4th bloomie to someone so they can make a wish and watch it bloom. The directions are simple, "make a wish, saturate with love, watch it bloom, share with another. " Debbie had samples of bloomies to show how they bloomed with just a little bit of water in a dish and you can see the wish she wrote on the paper. INGENIOUS! They make great little gifts too.I also introduced the gofigurette! line of products as well. Everyone thought they were so cute. Especially the younger generation loved the cupcakes and figurines. We also showcased my friend Myrna's Petal Chic line of hand dyed, handmade silk flowers. They are beautiful and great wearable art for your hair or clothing.
Many of the items did not sell, but are available on my Etsy site for sale, so definitely check out what is still left! I know many of you expressed interest in some of the pieces in past blog posts.I was so happy that everyone enjoyed themselves and although we were so tired at the end of the day, it was a successful day of selling our art, but more importantly meeting new and old friends. Looks like I'll be heading down to San Diego in November to do a craft fair and some classes.("maya" in large canvas is AMAZING!)
Looking forward to the next Garden Art Party with zenatona!

One more teapot design...

I had high ambitions to work on a few more arrangements, but that didn't happen since we celebrated my niece's 7th birthday yesterday. I did get one special order from a person who won't be able to join the Garden Art Party next Sunday. She loved the teapot design, but was hoping for a pink, mauve, white and purple design instead. So I ended up making those flowers yesterday morning and finishing the arrangement before we left for my niece's party!I have 23 arrangements made! I'm so looking forward to the 5th Garden Art Party and seeing my dear friend of zenatona! Don't forget, whatever doesn't sell will be available for sale on my Etsy site starting 8/10!

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!

Cranking out more arrangements for the Garden Art Party

Ever since Thursday, I've been working hard to get some flowers done for the upcoming Garden Art Party and these are the arrangements I was able to complete. The first is a lighter palette of ranunculus blossoms with viburnum in a mini teacup.
These flower cupcakes were very popular with our gofigurette! clients so I figured I would make one for the Garden Art Party. Complete with the cupcake stand. Hoping to make 1 or 2 more before the event.
Decided to use another one of these 3x3 fine weave pandan boxes from Eco-Friendly Market and do a green and purple palette of orchids, hydrangeas and roses.
These simple white hydrangea piece goes well with zenatona's "breeze" canvas art!
This particular piece comes from zenatona's "aloha" print. Love how I can be inspired by Debbie's amazing photography! This one is using Eco-Friendly Market's 6x6" square pandan box. Love to use these as containers for my arrangements.
Lastly and one of my favorites is this peony arrangement. Three large peonies in a vintage aqua blue mason ball jar!

A few more arrangements for the Garden Art Party

Now that I'm done with my critical wedding orders, I've been busy trying to make flower arrangements for the 5th Garden Art Party with zenatona. It's been slow going, but I've been trying to push myself to get some flowers done. I have to complete all my flowers no later than Sunday! The flower arrangement above is using the pandan boxes from Eco-Friendly Market. The boxes make great containers for wedding favors or bridesmaids gifts but they also work well as vases too!Here are a few I wanted to share with you that I worked on and completed today. Still loving my teacup and teapot concept so I'm continuing to make little pieces to brighten living spaces! :)

Weekend Garden Art Parties a Smashing Success

It's been another crazy weekend between getting my pieces ready for Una Bella Sera and the 2 Garden Art Parties with zenatona, on top of my son coming down with pneumonia. Let's just say it was stressful, but overall Aidan is feeling better and everything turned out great.Our first hosted Garden Art Party was in Martinez, California on Saturday evening. It was a hectic day for many, but several people came to check out what's new with zenatona and DK Designs. We had lots of oohs and aahs because none of those who came knew much about our art, but they all said how well they complimented one another. We both had a great day of sales and enjoyed meeting new people and sharing our love for our art forms.

Sunday we had a small Garden Art Party at my studio and we enjoyed meeting new art collectors. Met some old friends I haven't seen in years too! It was a beautiful weekend and we're looking forward to doing another Garden Art Party outdoors sometime in the summer in San Diego.
I always enjoy spending time with Debbie Friedrich and I'm so honored to call her my friend and colleague. She's always so uplifting and positive! I was so happy to see all the new zenatona collectors eat up her art. She launched her zenatona "bloomies" at the party and they sold out! I'm glad the people are finally seeing what I see in her art. It's simply beautiful, vibrant and speaks to people! We all need a little happiness and beauty in our lives and her art totally makes you feel happy!
I also showcased gofigurette! figurines and gifts at the Garden Art Party on Sunday and while no one purchased anything, many commented on how absolutely adorable the items were. Thank you to my dear friend, Myrna who created some totally cute pieces. She's amazingly talented!
If you missed the Garden Art Party, visit our Etsy sites to see what's still available for Mother's Day and graduations!
zenatona - www.zenatona.etsy.com
DK Designs - www.dkdesignshawaii.etsy.com
gofigurette! - www.gofigurette.etsy.com

A Couple New Pieces for the Garden Art Party and Mother's Day

In between my teaching, I've been making flowers here and there to add to the collection of arrangements I'll be selling at the Garden Art Parties next weekend. I will also be posting whatever doesn't sell on my Etsy site so stay tuned to see what is listed.This first piece is using the lid from the pandan box (from Eco-Friendly Market) of the arrangement I posted about earlier this week. The lid makes a great low profile arrangement. Even together at different height levels the two arrangements go nicely together.
The second arrangement is something I put together this morning before I head into teaching. I decided to try something outside of my comfort zone. Doing a myriad of colors of ranunculus. Kind of like picking an assortment of ranunculus blooms at the flower market. I think it came out quite beautiful. So much color, just makes you want to smile. :)

Last of the Floral Arrangements for the Garden Art Party

I managed to finish 2 more arrangements this morning as well as finished painting my "sunkiss" inspired piece so I wanted to share the photos.

These two arrangements below are little square glass vases filled with magnolia flowers and peach English roses. I was trying to think of what to pair the magnolias with and when I think of magnolias I think of the South and then I thought, Georgia peaches so hence peach roses. :) I think they are super sweet and delicate.
The below image is that of "sunkiss". What's not to LOVE about this print? When you see it in person it's even more impressive. I bought this print from Debbie in a 11x14 and had her mat it for me. It's so beautiful I wish it was a 20x24! The colors are just amazing and it makes me smile every time I see it. So I wanted to create a piece to go along with this beautiful image.
I was debating what vase to use and decided to use these wonderful pandan boxes from Eco-Friendly Market, who provide eco-friendly packaging alternatives for the wholesale market. They are super durable and heavy. Plus they promote sustainability! It ended up being the perfect vase for this arrangement.
Obviously there are no flowers in the "sunkiss" print, but it's the colors that inspire me. I tried to pull the colors from zenatona's image and other than the blue, I think I've captured every color. :) I love the colors of this arrangement and the playful monkey tail ferns that makes it look more rich in color since everything is so vibrant with the pinks, greens, yellows, oranges and even purplish browns.I only wish I had more time to create some more great pieces to showcase and sell, but I only have time for one more small one and then it's back to focusing on my orders and getting the studio ready for the Garden Art Party!

More flowers for the Garden Art Party on Saturday

It's been a busy day, made flowers for a few more arrangements and had time to shoot one that I had completed a couple of days ago. I hope to finish flowers for a few more arrangements before putting the flower making for Saturday's Garden Art Party to bed. Plus I have a wedding order due on 12/26, back East so I have to start working on her order tomorrow. Not to mention start getting the studio cleaned and rearranged for the Garden Art Party and prepare the food. The above image is my interpretation of "quench". I love these two tone orange and pink roses. So vibrant.
This particular purple anemone with light purple garden roses seems to be my most popular piece of late. I think because of the striking balance between light and dark purples. I thought it was fitting to use zenatona's "balance" canvas print with this photo. It is a perfect "balance" between light and dark and I realized the texture in the black sand is similar to the texture in the center of the anemone flowers!
This next piece is my interpretation of "blush". Such a beautiful combination! This is the first time I've tried to compliment "blush" with my clay flowers.
Here's a work in progress. Final photos will be updated tomorrow. I still have to paint the orchids and varnish the anthuriums, but I love how this pandan box from Eco-Friendly Market looks as the vase for this arrangement. I created this piece to go with zenatona's "sunkiss" print. It's my all-time favorite image Debbie captured. It is the essence of Hawaii in my mind.

The last piece is a yellow ranunculus arrangement. I made some for my "sunkiss" piece and decided that it was such a beautiful color that I would create some more for a smaller arrangement and I love how it looks against "maya". One day I hope to create something specific to go with "maya" because it is OH SO BEAUTIFUL! :)
Well, back to my studio to create more flowers. The turn out is expected to be pretty good on Saturday. Looking at probably 25-30 people if everyone shows so I'm excited to see and hear what people have to say about our work!

Countdown to the Garden Art Party

I'm getting really excited about the Garden Art Party with dear friend, Debbie Friedrich of zenatona! We had a great catch up session and were ironing out all the details for Saturday's wonderful event. I've been continuing to create pieces. In total as of tonight I have 9 new arrangements to showcase and sell. Hopefully I will have plenty more as I have a few more arrangements I want to create using zenatona art as my inspiration.I decided to make a piece that goes with "breeze". Granted there are no teal colored flowers, but I had this stunning antique style mercury glass vase that was the perfect teal color. So I decided to create ranunuculus and debated what the other flower would be. I had already done dendrobiums so I had hoped to do something different. I had a left over flower from Sally's order and it hit me... gardenias! So this is how it turned out. Then another idea hit me, take a photo of our 2 pieces together! All I have to say is absolute PERFECTION! I'm not trying to sound conceited in the least bit, but I truly see how Debbie and my art go so well together. I think our creativity and encouragement is deeply rooted in our friendship. We are so supportive of one another, always try to encourage and throw out ideas to help grow and blossom. :)

The other two prints of zenatona below are "peace" and "bee polly". One of Debbie's motto's is "adding juicy bursts of color to your home" It's interesting because honestly when I first started doing clay flowers, I had the worst eye for color. I had a hard time trying to do bold or vibrant colors and I was stuck on pastels. Somehow I broke out of that shell and I can see just how vibrant and juicy my flowers have become. :)I decided to take a couple other pictures of my work and Debbie's so you can see just what I mean. I hope that the people who come to the Garden Art Party will see how well these two arts pair together and will want both pieces to showcase in their home or give as gifts. Well, back to work, lots to do before Saturday...