Southern Magnolia Cake Flowers

I had an inquiry a few months back for Southern magnolia cake flowers in size of 4-5 inches in diameter. I asked the client if I could hold off to make them until I had taken my C3 class to learn the new techniques. So I had made her flowers a few weeks ago, but they didn't look very good and so I put off reworking them, but I knew I didn't like the way they turned out and wanted to redo them.I recently saw a sugar magnolia cake flower that Jacqueline Butler of Petalsweet Cakes recently created and it gave me inspiration to try again.
I ended up falling back on some of my old techniques while at the same time incorporating some of the new things I learned. I'm very happy with the results.

Had a great weekend teaching in San Diego area this past weekend and spending time with my dear friend Debbie Friedrich of zenatona, doing some teaching and just enjoying a little time off! Now it's back to catching up on orders and accelerated instructor courses.

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!

Four more arrangements completed

I am now at 10 arrangements completed. I have flowers for 4 more arrangements left to assemble. I hope to be able to get to 3-4 more before I switch gears again and focus on my other orders. People asked where are my holiday arrangements. I'm all for holidays, but I also wanted really to showcase flowers that can be for every day use, not just the holidays. I love color so that's why I just went with whatever moved me.These 4 arrangements are simple trios of ranunculus in various colors with various colored glass vases and the last one is of 3 blush pink anemones. I am going to make one with orange cymbidiums hopefully tomorrow.

I'm taking a short break to visit with my brother's family which means no flower making for a day and a half, but hope to make more flowers tomorrow morning before that.

A few more items for the craft fair

I've been busy creating a bunch of new pieces for the craft fair. I finished 4 additional arrangements today. Two of them are phaleanopsis orchid arrangements that are simple yet stunning. Who doesn't want orchids that don't wilt or die. I have such a hard time keeping flowers alive let alone orchids. My longest success with an orchid is the last one my husband and son bought me which I kept alive for 3 months and that's being gone 1 week without watering it. But alas it too met the same fate.Since we learned how to make the phaleanopsis orchid during our C3 workshops, I thought it would be great to introduce these little gems at the craft fair! I'm really happy with the way they turned out.I also decided to practice my dog roses as well after C3 and incorporated them with white freesia that I had left over from the last bouquet order. I arranged them in these super cute paisley shaped ceramic vases.

More arrangements tomorrow, but for now, enjoy the eye candy!

New Items for an Upcoming Craft Fair

Next Saturday, I will be joining the talents of zenatona once again and we will be showcasing our art at a craft fair in the San Diego area. I've completed 2 arrangements that I really like how they turned out and wanted to share. I hope to get several more completed. My friend and business partner Myrna is creating pieces to represent gofigurette! as well and I'm so excited about her figurine ornaments! They are SO SO cute!
This first piece consists of 2 lovely whitish ivory, full bloom peonies, 4 green cymbidiums and 2 white and green lilac clusters. It's fresh and simple!
The 2nd piece I just finished utilizes this awesome tree trunk like vase that I found and I combined it with ivory roses, deep purple lilacs, light purple sweet peas and white and purple phaleanopsis orchids. Such a rich combination of color!

Back to my studio to create more flowers....

Plum Blossom Favor Boxes

I am going to be busy for the next month and a half working on a big wedding order for my clients, Asuka and Nori. They came to me via my Etsy site and at first it started out as just centerpieces for her bridal shower and then turned into an entire wedding order of centerpieces, bridal party flowers, favors and other specialty items.

I just conceptualized the favor boxes for them and here's a sneak peek. The colors may change slight, but I love the look of this. It's a great departure from my lauhala style boxes that I normally create which is nice. I also tried to change the design a little and not going with hanging the tag and not centering the ribbon.

I will be sharing more pieces from this wedding as I create each element so stay tuned....

Whites, Ivories, Greens and Browns with a Hint of Teal

Sorry for the lack of blog posts of late. I've been super busy with activities for my son and of course Halloween, but also because I've been busy trying to make flowers and elements for this order that is shipping out tomorrow. This is one of my bigger orders that I had with lots of time consuming elements.

My client, Teri had some ideas of what she wanted but she admitted she is not good with flowers so she gave me a few inspiration photos that she liked and one in particular that she loved. As we got closer to the start of her order, we discussed that she no longer wanted pinks and oranges and greens but rather to keep in line with the colors of her wedding - whites, ivories, greens and browns with hints of teal. She originally was going to have the bridesmaids wear teal colored dresses but ended up changing to a caramel color with teal shoes and necklace. So this is how her bridesmaid bouquets turned out. The flowers in the bridesmaids bouquets were green cymbidium orchids, white freesia, callas, gardenias and monkey tails.Teri asked if I could also make bouquets that she intends to present to her mother and mother-in-law to be. She asked that I create smaller bouquets that matched her bouquet and use the lace from her dress. Teri's bouquet as well as the bouquets for their mothers consisted of gardenias, freesia, callas, succulents, scabiosa pods and monkey tails. This was inspired by a bouquet she fell in love with from a fresh florist in Hawaii.I love the fact that we used Teri's lace and some beading that came from her dress and accented with some photo charms she had made of her grandparents. Such a great memory and a way for her to have them close to her heart on her wedding day.I'm moving onto working on some flowers for an upcoming craft fair next week down in Vista, California as well as gearing up to teach some students out that way. Lots to do and I'm trying to prevent myself from getting burned out!