Taking a Much Needed Break....

The last couple of months have been EXTREMELY busy and to top it off, my son got pneumonia. Needless to say being a full time mom and owning your own full-time business takes its toll. I often feel bad that most of my time is spent working rather than spending time with Aidan. He understands his mommy has to work. He just got over pneumonia and the long hours that I've been working trying to do everything I need to get done to meet my deadlines was making me a little crazy. To the point where i had to remake hydrangeas for my client's bouquet 3 times to get it right. Granted the hydrangeas were used for other things, but that's when I knew I needed a day off.
Rarely do I take any days off, every day is somehow a work day for me. My husband and I agreed, we should get away for even just a day or two. So we booked a hotel at Shell Beach near Pismo. We drove down on Wednesday and stopped off at a place called Hoagies in Pismo Beach! OMG, awesome California style cheese steaks. Not a cheap lunch and it's probably enough to share with 2 adults. We couldn't finish the full sandwiches. We then drove back to the hotel to check in. Even our Boston Terrier joined us on the trip. He was a little freaked out, had no clue what the heck was going on.We took a little rest and then headed to the beach just below the hotel. Not a kid's beach, but with both my son and husband being sick, we just thought it would be nice for our son to just play in the sand and water. These are some of the shots I took of that day.
It was nice to get away for even 1.5 days and spend quality time with my family! That was my early Mother's Day gift from my guys. :)

Having Fun with my New Macro Lens

I've been wanting to buy myself a new macro lens, but as you know they are not cheap. I finally bit the bullet and invested in one and I've been having fun the last few days playing with it. I have to say, it's my new favorite lens! :) These are some shots I took of clay flowers and fresh flowers. :) The colors are so vibrant and the detail is amazing. I love how it can make the picture look almost like a painting too. This was my Mother's Day gift to myself. :) Happy Mother's Day to all the mother's in the world who have touched our lives!

Tropical Inspired Bouquet for a Wedding in Taos, New Mexico?

I am sure the title of this blog post sounds quite intriguing! My client Kirby contacted me and asked if I could create a tussie mussie design using different shades of pink plumeria flowers with accents of purple. She is getting married in Taos, New Mexico in a week. This one was a little challenging since I needed to make the bouquet bigger than normal. It took a couple tries, but I finally got it to work. :) Lots of vibrant colors and plumeria flowers are my all-time favorite. They have such a wonderful fragrance.

Happy Wedding Day to Kirby and her fiance!

A Special Request from Myra Callan of Twigs & Honey!

Back when I first started on Etsy and after I had been on the Martha Stewart Show I remember Myra Kim (now Callan) hearted me on Etsy. One of her clients also hired me for her wedding to do the bouquets. I had emailed Myra to tell her how much I love her work and she kindly responded to me about how much she had admired mine. Twigs & Honey since then has EXPLODED onto the wedding fashion scene. Myra definitely hasn't let that go to her head, she's still a sweet and delightful person and designer!

At any rate, last week I read one of her posts about what a beating her hands go through making thousands of fabric and feather hair accessories, boutonnieres and sashes. I read her blog post thinking how much it reminded me of what a beating my hands go through so I had commented on her blog. The next day she emailed me to thank me for my comment and asked if I would be able to do a last minute request for her. She asked me for some hydrangea blossoms for her hair for an upcoming trip to France. I agreed and also decided to make her a little gift for her home. She told me back in October of 2008 how much she loved my flowers and one day she'd like to buy an arrangement. Well, from one admiring designer to the next I decided to make her something as a gift.
Myra is so very talented and she was so very kind to me even being new to Etsy so I was honored to create something for her.

Dahlias, Roses and Apple Blossoms = STUNNING!

Just finished my bride, Michaela's order. This one is shipping to Alberta, Canada. I'm always so honored that even across the world, people put their faith in me to create their wedding bouquets and flowers. I wasn't sure how this bouquet order would turn out, but this morning as I sat painting all the details I got all excited because I could see how amazing it turned out!

This is the first time I've made apple blossoms and I love how they turned out. While I could have just used my knowledge of how I make cherry blossoms, I decided to focus on the details and while more time consuming, I feel that I've tried to recreate the apple blossoms true characteristics. I love the hints of pink on the white apple blossom flower. It breaks up the otherwise all pink bouquet.
The boutonnieres are simple with just a pink rose bud and the apple blossom. The varying shades of pinks and yellows against the dark navy blue are stunning. This is another order where I did not use any fake fillers. In the past I've been so quick to use them but I'm finding more and more that I can do bouquets all in clay and that to me means I have more confidence in my flower making skills and that just the hints of green calyx add enough greenery to the bouquet.
I've got a couple more orders to work on before I take a couple days off. It's racing against the clock, but I will be so happy when we're on the road and away from the computer and the studio even if it's only for 2 days!

Hydrangeas, Hydrangeas, Hydrangeas....

I've had made hydrangeas up to my eyeballs this past week and to boot, I made the wrong color blue about 2-3 times. You think I need a little vacation? After I screwed up the color 3 times, I realized, yes I need some time off even if it's only 2 days. Finally I got my focus back and got the right colors.

Heather's request was specific colors of hydrangeas and ribbon colors. Her bridesmaid dresses are a dark peri blue and a clover green. She wanted her bouquet to be shades of blue to match the dark peri dress from JCrew. We added hints of lighter blue with shades of pink. The tips are accented with some green which tie in the clover colored dress. Her fiance's boutonniere matches the color hydrangeas in her bouquet.
The bridesmaids have all white hydrangea bouquets, but ribbon wraps to match their dresses. The groomsmen will wear matching boutonnieres.
The flower girl will be carrying this cute little purse.The parents and grandmother all have specific color hydrangeas and this is how they turned out.
Hydrangeas are time consuming and lots to make to equal one bouquet, but I'm happy with the way they turned out. Happy to say however, that I'm done with hydrangeas for a little bit in terms of a big wedding order! My fingers are tired. :)

Best wishes to Heather and her fiance on their wedding day! Now I'm off to work on a few more orders before I take a much needed 2 day break from work and spend time with my family!

Dogwood Flower Order

I'm busy wrapping up several orders before we take a little break from work. I don't think I've had a break since September. I wanted to share with you one of the orders I just completed. This came to me via a bride in Georgia, Suzi. She had a very specific request, white dogwood flowers with a touch of pink. I guess in Georgia this is a very popular flower. I believe Suzi's whole theme is centered around the dogwood blossom. It was the first time I really made this flower and I'm quite happy with how they turned out. It was a bit of trial and error, but the end result is beautiful. So simple yet so detailed.

Suzi shared with me pictures of the jewelry, her dress, the shirts and ties and how everything should go together. I'm glad I got the opportunity to add another flower to my long list of new flowers I am creating out of clay! :)
Best wishes to Suzi and her fiance!