Iris & Jared - Green Cymbidium, Coral Orange and Burgandy Palette

This couple found me somehow... must have been via Pacific Rim Weddings Magazine because their initial theme was to go with the tiare flower and one of my favors with that flower was featured in one of their issues a couple of years ago. They then decided based on a meeting with their florist to change the flower/color scheme. Anyway, here's another wedding client that I've been working on. We're almost done. Just the place cards left to do before I leave on my trip.

Iris wanted the deep burgandy and the coral orange that was in the cymbidium to be carried out into the cardstocks. I think this combination makes a striking impact! I never really would have thought the colors would go together but they do! Iris' order consisted of a guestbook, table cards and place cards. They live in North Carolina and are getting married on Oahu.

All the best to Iris & Jared on their wedding

day!

If only I had another week to get

everything I need to done before the trip. AAH!

OOT Bags for Big Island Wedding

So I had pictures of some comps I did for a client a month or two ago. The wedding is almost here. Sayaka and Jeff tie the knot on May 2nd! Sayaka's family is flying in from Japan and Jeff's family is from the East Coast so it just so happens they are kind of meeting about half way! They are getting married at the beautiful Kona Plantation.

I asked Orchid Isle Weddings & Events if they could take some snapshots of the OOT bags since typically the photographer who shoots the actual wedding doesn't get to take these pics unless the bride remembers to make it part of the details to shoot. So thank you to Ruth Powell (Cheryl Shoemaker's assistant) who took these great pictures for me!

Sayaka requested all of the items to have the phrase "Makana Aloha" which losely translated is "gifts of Aloha or gifts of love". They wanted plumerias for the OOT items and the wedding day details use the orange cymbidium. It's kind of fitting because the favors we did are tiny wooden turtles with mini white plumerias for the men attending the wedding and the women get orange cymbidium orchid favors. I hope to share in the coming months pictures from the photographer who is shooting their wedding! Until then... enjoy!

New Arrangements Posted to Etsy.com
So, in the midst of my dozens of wedding orders I'm trying to wrap up, clay lei awards I'm making for the Hawaii Chamber of Commerce (Northern CA chapter) fundraiser event, I've had time to make more arrangements. These are some of my favorites. The colors are vibrant and very spring influenced. Plus I think the flowers are very popular right now. Who doesn't love ranuculus, hydrangea, orchids, and peonies? Some of my all-time favorites - Tropical Punch, the Green Cymbidiums, Pink Peonies with fuschia coral pink roses are back. Even the oh so popular Spring Flowers Arrangement is back in a smaller configuration!

Visit http://www.dkdesignshawaii.etsy.com/ to order your favorite arrangement!

I'll be away from the storefront from 4-29-5/15 so orders will be processed upon my return. I hope during my time away from the store to have A LOT of new arrangements to post for sale! Business is booming and I'm doing my darndest to keep up with the demand and give my 110% to all my wedding clients and clay flowers students! I think I can qualify for Superwoman! Ha ha... The last 2 nights I've been up until 2 a.m. trying to get all my work done... Boy do I need a vacation even though I'll be working my vacation!

Vintage Elegance - Coral Pink, Purples and Browns!

This particular wedding came to me via Honolulu Wedding Consultants (http://www.honoluluweddingconsultants.com/). The wedding colors are peachy pink, purples and browns. The client didn't have a theme so we used a decorative border and the couple's monogram as the motif. The, menus, drink menu, appetizer menus and the place cards all came out really nice! The pearl bead accents also add a nice elegant touch. Vintage and classy!

This particular wedding is at the beautiful Paul Mitchell Estate on the North Shore of Oahu! I don't actually get to go to these awesome venues, but I live through the pictures after the wedding! :)

The color combination was inspired by one of the bouquets featured in the Martha Stewart Weddings Magazine - winter issue of 2008. IT's a classic bouquet of vintage purple roses, beautiful tuberose, pink tulips and coral peachy pink roses! I can't wait to see the florals for this wedding and how it ties into all the printed wedding details!

12 New Arrangements Listed on www.dkdesignshawaii.etsy.com!

Well, I worked hard all weekend long to post some new arrangements to my http://www.dkdesignshawaii.etsy.com/ storefront! There are now 12 new arrangements on the site for purchase! I hope to post more by next week. Some of the popular arrangements like the pink gerbera and coral pink roses are back, some new versions of the hydrangea arrangement show on the Martha Stewart Show - now in pinks and deeper blues, as well as some tropical arrangements that are really vibrant and colorful!

My favorite is the orange cymbidium and coral pink roses, but I do love the classic look of the blue hydrangeas with the light green tuberose buds in a glass vase and the base of the vase where the flowers attach are covered with a vibrant green flax grass.

Prices for these arrangements posted this morning range from $40-80/each, plus shipping. My arrangements have been selling like crazy so hopefully these 12 arrangements will carry me through at least until next week when I can make more!

Recent Arrangements & Projects

I know it's been a while since my last blog post. It's been to say the very least CRAZY BUSY with keeping up with the demand. Some of these photos are pictures of things I made for my husband's work. I have seemed to developed a fan club with the women at his work. They LOVE Martha Stewart and they LOVE my stuff. So I felt the need to make some little arrangements for them. Now they want class! It's nice just to see their enthusiasm.

I've even gotten inquiries from women interested in taking the classes all the way from Arkansas, Ohio and Maryland! If only I had enough hours in the day to do it all! Some of these arrangements are also items I made for Etsy.com which have already sold.

This one is an arrangement of a tussie mussie bouquet and a matching boutonniere I made for a special project I was working on. It's green cymbidiums, pink freesia, pink hydrangeas, stephanotis flowers with crystals and greenish white ranunuculus flowers. Can you see the pink/green/white theme going on!!!

Favors & Centerpieces for a Vow Renewal

Another Hilton Waikoloa Village referral came my way just prior to the Martha Stewart Show airing. This particular client is celebrating a vow renewal with her husband. She contacted me for her small centerpieces for her guest tables, favors as well as her place cards, table cards and thank you cards. She wanted pinks and greens and loved the cymbidium orchid. It's interesting, I think green cymbidiums will never go out of style. It's always been one of my favorites!

Anyway, these are the centerpieces and the favor box we're doing for her vow renewal celebration. Things to say the very least have been HECTIC! Please note that I may not be able to post new material as often as I want to. It's wedding season and I'm trying to keep up with all the wedding orders already on the books as well as the etsy.com demand! It's definitely been a great thing to be on Etsy.com to say the very least. I even got someone in Australia asking me if I would ship her an arrangement!

DK Designs gets Plugged on Etsy News... New Arrangements Posted to Etsy.com
I just found out that the people who write news articles for Etsy wrote about me and my little segment on Martha Stewart! It was a really nice little write up and so many people have commented that they saw the show and loved it! You can read the article at http://www.etsy.com/storque/section/etsyNews/article/dkdesignshawaii-on-the-martha-stewart-show/1547/

I also have spent a couple of days creating some new arrangements for my http://www.dkdesignshawaii.etsy.com/ storefront. I hope to continue to keep posting more items for sale week to week. There is a lot of interest and it's really amazing how many people really like my stuff! I've gotten so many glowing compliments and it's really an honor to be able to do what I do for a living! To be able to do something I enjoy and share it with others day in and day out! Here are a couple of pictures of the new items that were posted. You can now buy the arrangements I made for the Martha Stewart Show!

(Picture of Noel & Karen from the MarthaStewat.com blog)

DK Designs - As Seen on the Martha Stewart Show!
I arrived on 3/31 to JFK, definitely sleep deprived but excited! I checked into the hotel and got prepared for my 10:30 meeting with the producers. I got right to work with Kristen St. Clair who helped me get the swap outs done for the show. She and Robert helped with how things were going to look on the set and get the swap outs laid out for me the day of the show. They were all so impressed with the flowers and the clay! They had never seen anything like it.

After my swap outs were done Karen, the producer for the segment took me back upstairs and roughly went through the process and what was going to happen on 4/1. It seemed so easy and simple. I felt really good about the show and wasn't nervous by the end of the day. Everyone was so nice!

I went back to my hotel and just vegged out for a while and took a much needed nap. I was able to go to dinner with some friends from San Francisco who were there at the same time. Marc and Jennifer came to support me on 4/1. If you saw the cool and stylish necklace I was wearing on the show... well, Jennifer Erickson, designer and owner of Meditrina Designs (www.meditrinadesigns.com) graciously let me borrow that piece to wear for the show! It's one of my favorite pieces of her's! She has an amazing collection of necklaces, earrings and bracelets. If you're looking for classic, timeless and stylish pieces, check her designs out. You won't be disappointed and she her quality is top notch!

4/1 - What an amazing experience to be on the Martha Stewart Show. I woke up in the morning just so tired and a little nauseous. I think all the excitement and my nerves were finally getting to me. I didn't think I would make it through the day. But as soon as I got to the studio everyone on Martha's production staff was warm and very encouraging. I got the royal treatment with a make up and hair session with Debra and Nicole. They made me look good and hid all my imperfections!

(Deb and Nicole in the background courtesy of Marthastewart.com blog)

Karen Kinney and Noel Rosselli walked me through the entire rehearsal and even though I was nervous up until then, the reahearsal helped to calm my nerves. The production team is AMAZING!!! Every step of they way they were telling me how great I was doing and that everything was fantastic. I wish I got those pep talks every day of my life! :)

So, I didn't get to meet Martha Stewart until I got on the set to do my segment. I saw her during her briefing with her team, but was too busy trying to get ready for my "bump" shots (the intro piece to the show). Martha is so calm and is just like an "everyday" person. She asked me a couple of questions and the segment started. She asked me a couple questions not part of the introduction so I tried to roll with the punches and then the 7 minutes flew by in 1 minute! Literally. I felt like I wasn't getting all the steps down. Martha tried really hard. I think if she could have the whole show to do the flowers she would. She was so intrigued by the clay!

(Joey the Stage Manager who waved signs at me to speed it up! Photo Courtesy of the MarthaStewart.com blog)

The feedback has been ENORMOUS! I got to JFK after the show and I already got comments on the blog, emails of people interested in finished products for their weddings, interested in buying the clay and books. My page views for my website have been shooting through the roof! I average about 50-100/day, and today before I got on the plane was over 2,000 and not all West Coast cities had still viewed the segment.

I think I might have shut the etsy.com website down as I couldn't get on for at least a half hour. I think everyone who saw the show was going to check it out. I already sold all by 2 pieces on my etsy storefront. Not to worry, I will be trying to post more items for sale soon!

It TRULY was an AMAZING experience! Words cannot describe how awesome it was. The production team is TOP NOTCH! Hats off to them and I will forever be so grateful to have worked with such a dedicated, professional, helpful and down-to-earth team! THANK YOU MARTHA STEWART AND THANK YOU TO THE ENTIRE PRODUCTION, STYLE AND STAGE MANAGEMENT TEAM - especially Karen, Noel, Laura, Kristen, Robert, Joey, Debra, Nicole and Brendan!

You can view the whole show at :

http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.017db2225a7627b8510467a2b5900aa0/?vgnextoid=38f9cf380e1dd010VgnVCM1000005b09a00aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default