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!

Yellow and Aqua Blue = GORGEOUS!

A florist in Colorado asked me recently if I had time to create a stephanotis bouquet for a client of hers. It was very short notice, but I was able to pull it off. She later asked me if I would be able to create centerpieces for her own wedding that's fast approaching. Initially I said, "no" because I was swamped with orders, but I looked at my schedule again and decided to squeeze it in. Her request was simple, peonies, roses and ranunculus in shades of yellow.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this color combination! It definitely makes me think of Spring and warm weather and the aqua blue ocean! I ultimately am happy I decided to take this order even though I had a tight schedule as I'm quite happy with the way it turned out.

Hibiscus with a little bit of bling...

A client asked me to make hair flowers for her destination wedding in Spain. She had requested ivory hibiscus for herself and fuchsia and yellow hibiscus for her maid of honor. The ivory hibiscus she said to use my best judgment on how to embellish. I decided to accent the stamen with glass ivory seed beads hand wired to look like peps and dusted the fringe part of the stamen and the inner petals with a sheer gold acrylic paint. I think it gives is a simple yet stylish component to the flowers.

Cherry Blossom Cake Flowers

A client recently contacted me and asked if I could create cherry blossom branches for her 3 tier cake. She had purchased a custom bird cake topper that she wanted a circle of cherry blossoms to surround the birds & base as well as branches to go up the sides of each tier. She asked me for a rough sketch and a quote.

She was very interested in having me create her cake flowers. Since my faux cake has only one position for the flowers to go in, I wasn't able to show you how it looks completed, but this gives you some ideas on what it could look like and other design ideas. I love how the branches make the cake 3 dimensional and adds lots of movement!
It's been a busy Easter weekend. No Easter egg hunts or brunch, my son got strep throat again so I was busy taking care of him and trying to get caught up on my work. Another year, my son didn't get to celebrate Easter with everyone. I think that's now 4 of 6 that he has missed out on!

Happy Easter... a little early!

While I've been swamped with working on multiple orders and trying to stay motivated, I worked on some little gifts to give to our dear friends' children for our Easter celebration tomorrow night. Every week we have "game" night for the kids and each of the families makes something to share with everyone. Granted game night often becomes no game night, but we always have a good time.

Since tomorrow, game night has been replaced with coloring Easter eggs for the kids, I decided to make some gifts for the little ones. Well, Easter, you think of bunnies and chicks. Um... well, my friends' kids each have their favorite stuffed animal that they take everywhere and I decided to make these cute little cups with a replica of their stuff animal in a Easter theme. Of course Easter is not complete with loads of candy. Loved how these turned out. Now I have to find time to make Sid the Sloth or Curious George for my son as he was not too happy that I didn't make him one too.Wishing you all a Happy Easter filled with lots of sweet treats and eggs! I'm very thankful this year that my son is healthy and can enjoy the festivities with our friends and family!

More Orange, Green Ivory and Brown...

My client Priscilla also asked me to make a centerpiece for her reception table. She gave me a list of the flowers that her fresh florist is using. She mentioned orange and white orchids, green anthuriums, green hydrangeas and lilies.

I decided to stay true to those flowers and came up with this design. I decided to add the monkey tail fern curls since she has a hint of brown in her wedding colors. The order is almost complete, I've got a few menus, a guest book sign and escort cards to make and the order will be done.

Some more new hair flower designs...

I've been working on a few more hair flower designs today. There are more to share, but for now, I thought I'd share these 3 that I did and listed on my website.

I'm loving my new rhinestone buttons. I decided to make a large form shrub rose (dog rose) with these pave rhinestone buttons. I did one in a pale yellow with black velvet leaves. I have seen a lot of weddings on various blogs using yellow and black. It's such a striking combination and it works well with this hair flower.

Of course I did a more traditional one with ivory and off white velvet leaves. Both are beautiful.
The other flower I decided to was a large form gardenia with elongated petals and green leaves. This is for the bride that wants a bit of greenery with her gardenia.

I have a couple more anemones in blush pink and deep purple that I'll share tomorrow. My ivory and black one sold in less than an hour after listing it! Visit my Etsy site if you'd like to see more!