Custom Work for Eco-Friendly Market

I've been working with Eco-Friendly Market for a while now and Aimee asked me to provide her with some favor flowers in various colors/flowers/sizes. I finally had a chance to work on the remainder of the box tops for her and she also asked if I could design some favor tags that she could use for her photo shoots to go on their green wedding favor packaging concepts.I spent the better part of this past weekend working on her requests and their new logo for the green weddings initiative! This is the logo the decided to go with. I don't ever plan to do branding or logo design professionally, but it's nice when what I envision is what the client envisions! Stay tuned because they have some great favor packaging ideas and items for invitations. I hope to have some to share with you in the coming weeks and months!

Custom Floral Arrangement for the Winner of the Nesting Newbies 1st Bluebirdbag Giveaway!

It's been a crazy wedding season thus far but I finally had a chance to work on the giveaway piece from the Winter issue of Nesting Newbies' bluebirdbag giveaway. The winner had the option of receiving the peony and cherry blossom arrangement or do a custom floral arrangement. Jennifer Durham of Spry on the Wall blog requested a custom piece. She's been ever so patient fortunately, but today I finished her custom piece. Jennifer sent me a picture of her bridal bouquet and asked if I could recreate the flowers (ivory roses, green cymbidiums and some brown elements). It was great because the vase I chose was already a deep dark brown. Her wedding bouquet had some orange in it but she said it wasn't particularly what she had wanted and the florist threw them in.
I decided to incorporate some light green viburnum and brown branches since her colors were predominantly ivory/white, green and brown. She saw the pictures today and she said it brought tears to her eyes.I get to enjoy this beautiful piece for a week or so before I ship to her. Check out Jennifer's blog at www.spryonthewall.blogspot.com. Be sure also to check out Nesting Newbies magazine because the next big giveaway is coming soon - the clay flower pendant that graced the current issue is going to be part of the In'betweet giveaway contest! You could win my clay flower pendant that's valued at over $1200. Over 200 flowers in this beauty!

Melissa & Jake - Real Wedding Sneak Peek!

This morning I woke up to my Facebook account and noticed Critsey Rowe had posted photos from Melissa & Jake's wedding from last Saturday. So excited!The back story on this wedding is that I was contacted by Melissa via Etsy that she was in dire need of a gardenia hair flower by Friday (she contacted me on Tuesday). So I had to notify a bride who just purchased the last ready-made one I had if she could wait a few days longer so I could help a bride in need. Luckily the other bride could wait and wanted to help Melissa out. So I shipped Melissa the hair flower on Wednesday and she received it on Thursday. Melissa was super sweet and so appreciative of making sure the flower arrived in time! Another reason why I love what I do!
Melissa and Jake's wedding photographer was none other than Critsey Rowe! I was so excited when Melissa told me! I was super excited. I LOVE Critsey's work. She's been featured on David Tutera's My Fair Wedding TV show, she's well known for her Couture Boudoir photo shoots and her just amazing eye for photography for awesome engagement sessions, weddings and more! Here's just a sneak peek of some of the images Critsey released. My favorite image is the top one, looks like a meteor shower or twinkling stars, but it's the rain coming down... so stunning!

If you'd like to see more of Critsey's work, visit her website.

White, Ivory and Blue - Part II

I just finished Rachael's order and boxed it up to be shipped out tomorrow. Rachael has 5 bridesmaids and she wanted all white hydrangeas with blue centers and a matching blue ribbon wrap that goes with her slate blue color palette. The groomsmen have matching boutonnieres.

Her groom and the dads have similar boutonnieres with a white ranunculus and blue hydrangeas. The groom's is slightly more elaborate with a little more hydrangeas. The mothers have a ranunculus and tuberose wrist corsage with ivory ribbon.When I do big orders like this, I'm so relieved when they are done. Lots of work goes into everything, but it's a great sense of accomplishment. Every day until end of October will be hectic trying to meet all my wedding dates for my brides. Hope my fingers can keep up!

Yes, even on Father's Day I work! LOL. We did manage to take time out for my family last night and had a nice dinner in! Definitely enjoyed good food, good company and good fun!

Ivory, White and Blue Bouquet

My client, Rachael came to me a few months ago and at first was thinking she might try her hand at making her own bouquets for her wedding. After a weekend of trying out making her own flowers she realized that she should hire a professional especially for her own bouquets and she didn't have enough time. Granted I made my own bouquets but I had a year to make them. I shared the photos of her bouquet with her today and she was completely happy.This one measures 12" in diameter and is such a stunning bouquet of whites, ivories and blues. Her colors are almost a grayish or slate blue and she initially wanted her hydrangeas to be that color, but after she played around with hydrangeas for her cake topper she asked me to use my best judgment. We decided on whitish ivory peonies, ivory English roses, white and green ranunculus, ivory tuberose and mixed shades of medium and light blue hydrangeas with hints of deep blue and green. I incorporated some green hydrangea leaves out of clay as well.

There are 6 more bouquets of all white hydrangeas with blue centers and 8 boutonnieres and 2 corsages to finish before I can ship this order to the client. More pictures to follow in a couple of days.

Peonies & Pearls = Great Combination for Hair Flowers

I had someone convo me today via Etsy asking if I could do a pearl center on my peony hair flowers rather than rhinestones since her dress has pearls. I told her I could get her a pearl button with rhinestones around it and then I thought, wait a minute, I can try hand wiring pearls and seed beads! So this evening I tried it out on the ivory and peachy pink versions and I'm quite happy with the way they turned out!

Such a great combination. Who doesn't love peonies, pearls and feathers? Check out www.dkdesignshawaii.etsy.com. These again are made-to-order hair flowers!

Fabulous Peonies.....

As I mentioned in my previous post, my fingers and wrists are sore from making peonies with 50-60 petals each. Well, I wanted to share some finished pieces I worked on and completed this morning.This beautiful whitish ivory peony bouquet with pearl embellished stephanotis is just stunning. So romantic. Too bad I didn't know how to make peonies when I got married! The bouquet is finished with a sage green ribbon with some greenery at the base of the flowers.I also have been meaning to put out the lauhala pillow collection and although I only have one so far, I love the peony against the natural banana leaf weave!

New Peonies - Bridal Bouquet in the works

So, I've been wanting to experiment with my peonies for quite some time and after my dear friend's son gave me a beautiful full bloom peony it gave me some incentive to finally try it. After a couple of tries I think I'm happy with the results and decided to use this style for my current wedding bouquet order. Each flower has roughly 50-60 petals. I only made 7 full bloom flowers, but my fingers are TOTALLY sore and cramped. Not to mention I made 4 peony buds and 20 stephanotis flowers for this order as well. I'm excited to put it together and see how it turns out.

I just wanted to take some photos to share with you. Love the details!

Red and Tiffany Blue Bouquet

It's been a busy weekend of making flowers. I was able to get flowers done for 2 bouquet orders. I wanted to share the first one with you since it's all completed. This client came to me via my Etsy site and wanted a clay flower bouquet, but was on a limited budget. So she gave me her budget and then I told her that she would get more of a bridesmaid sized bouquet. She was well with it. Her color palette is red and Tiffany blue so she asked for red roses, whitish-ivory stephanotis with aquamarine rhinestone crystals and monkey tail fern curls. She asked the bouquet to be finished with Tiffany blue and aquamarine blue ribbons and red pearl pin details.This is the first time I have done red and Tiffany blue. It's quite beautiful. I remember seeing a lot of weddings with this striking color combination.

New Made to Order Items on Etsy

Well, after a tough decision, I decided to start doing some made to order items that I normally don't sell on Etsy, namely bridal bouquets, but I think it's time so that people can see just what is possible with clay! I picked 5 of my most favorite bouquets from this year to showcase as samples. My bridal bouquets range from $250-500, most averaging between $350-400. So now brides can do a custom order deposit and we can work the details via Etsy/email.I've also added the ring pillows I was exclusively selling via Estilo Weddings. Maria and I had agreed to give her 3-4 months exclusivity on the ring pillows. While ring pillows are no longer exclusive to Estilo Weddings, many of my other designs are. I have one that's ready to ship but the rest are made to order.
I'm finding that I don't have time to just make things when I have free time, because honestly I have very little of it. So this method of made to order is the best way I know how to deal with the demand, plus the bride gets something custom and couture. :) So check what's been listed here.
Well, I must get back to my bridal bouquet orders... Hope to share more photos in the coming days.

DK Designs & Estilo Weddings in the Engage!10 Grand Cayman Swag Bags

I've been so excited about something I worked on a few weeks back but couldn't really share. I've also been scouring the internet to see if I could find any photos from the Engage!10 Grand Cayman Luxury Wedding Summit of the attendee swag bag. Alas, I finally found one via Donna Von Bruening Photographers websiteI'm sure more photos will surface, but wanted to show you the awesome swag bag that the attendees of the event that took place at the Ritz-Carlton looked like.

I'm so honored to have been asked by Maria Ryan of Estilo Weddings to create a piece to be included in the bags. Out of all her amazing vendors she decided to showcase the clay flowers. We decided upon 200 plumeria hair flowers. 100 were white with a yellow center and an aquamarine rhinestone crystal to match the color palette of the event. The other half was a deeper pink with yellow center and AB crystal rhinestone center. To quote Kathryn Arce who works with Rebecca Grinnals (of Engaging Concepts) via Maria, "Totally LOVE the flowers! They are AMAZING! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Can't get much better than that!

This was such an AMAZING opportunity to get my clay flowers in front of 200 of the top wedding professionals (Martha Stewart Weddings, Style Me Pretty, Bridal Bar, Junebug Weddings, The Knot, Colin Cowie, Sylvia Weinstock, Brides Magazine, Southern Weddings Magazine, Preston Bailey, and more) in the industry! Thank you Maria for having the confidence in me to get it done on time and feature my clay artistry to the wedding community! What a dream it would have been to be one of the attendees!

Photos courtesy of Donna Von Bruening and Engage!10

Cherry Blossom Hair Comb

I finished another hair comb late yesterday. I have always wanted to do cherry blossoms as a hair accessory, but not just individual blossoms. I thought it would be pretty to wire them to a comb and incorporate crystals and seed beads. So this was my first attempt at creating a cherry blossom branch style hair accessory. Find it here on Etsy.

Lily of the Valley Hair Comb

As you might recall, lily of the valley is very near and dear to my heart. My late mother-in-law said it was her family's favorite flower growing up and she was always surrounded by it. Clippings from the original plant are still to this day in alive and well. I call this new piece, Kinneally which is her maiden name. I've been wanting to experiment with new hair flower concepts and this is one that I completed this afternoon.A past client asked for a branch of them so I made her two long branches that she incorporated into her low-do and it was stunning. I wish I had photos to share. Maybe soon. At any rate, I thought about doing a hair comb with them and instead of putting peps inside the middle I decided to put Swarovski rhinestone crystals in the centers and hand wire them onto a hair comb. This is a perfect option for brides who LOVE lily of the valley but may not be able to get them. So simple and so pretty!

Check out my Etsy site for all the latest hair flowers available. More to come soon.

Kulia I Ka Nu'u Award in Honor of Brothers Cazimero

Every year I'm tasked with the honor of making a 5 strand pikake and pakalana lei out of clay and create the shadow box award. This year was a little last minute and every year seems to creep up faster. I honestly dislike to make leis and I think it is the only one I make every year. This lei however is an honor to create year after year because it goes to some truly gifted individuals who play a vital role in the Hawaiian community and spread Aloha to those of us in the Bay Area. In past years, my lei shadow box has gone to Sam Choy, June Jones (former head coach of the UH Warriors football team), Roy Yamaguchi (Roy's Restaurants) and now the Brothers Cazimero. They are one of my favorite musicians of all time. My favorite song they sing is Puahone, which is the song I danced for my husband at our wedding.
Interestingly enough speaking of the number 5 (5 strand lei, Five Star Aloha Gala), today marked my 500th sale on Etsy! Thank you to all those who buy my clay flowers and enjoy them. I so appreciate all the business I have received in the last few years. Each an every day I'm so fortunate and happy to be able to do what I love most.

To learn more about HCCNC, visit www.hccnc.com.

New Hydrangea Hair Flowers on Etsy

A month or so ago, the sweet and uber talented Myra Callan of Twigs & Honey contacted me about some hydrangea hair flowers for her upcoming trip to France. It was a little short notice, but thank goodness these tiny blossoms dry fast. I was super excited at the chance to give something to her. Myra was super duper sweet to me when I joined Etsy and our businesses both blossomed at the same time. Granted her business has skyrocketed of the charts if you ask me!

Anyway, I rushed to make hair flowers and also sent her a little arrangement of hydrangeas in a latte cup from Anthropologie (one of her favorite places to shop). She always said she wanted something for her home so I decided to give her an arrangement.Myra was so sweet and blogged about her trip and plugged my hair flowers. She was even sweeter to allow me to use her photos on my blog and my Etsy listings.
She convinced me that I needed to have these on my Etsy site for sale because so many people have complimented her on them. Even her husband thought they were real! So, I decided last night to get off my rear and just make them. I made 5 sets but they will be all made to order due to my busy wedding season schedule. Currently 5 colors are available to choose from and more will most likely be added when I have more time to make them. I'm thinking deeper hues of pinks, purples and blues! Each listing comes with 6 individual hydrangea blossoms all hand-painted on bobby pins. Great for the bride, bridesmaids and flower girls. Even great for every day wear!
Thank you again Myra for always being a fan and such a supportive wedding colleague! I'm one of your biggest fans! Wish I hadn't already gotten married because I wish I could wear one of your stunning hair flowers on my wedding day. If you are in need of an AMAZING hair or wedding dress accessory, definitely check out Twigs & Honey! You won't be disappointed! Definitely follow her blog!

Shabby Chic Inspired Boquuets - Part II

I decided to finish Kate's order last night instead of waiting until this morning since the flowers were dry enough to still assemble. This is how her bouquet and her daughter's bouquet turned out. The difference is that they have freesia, pink ranunculus and blush pink peonies as well as some deep purple/burgundy hydrangeas. Simply beautiful!

Shabby Chic Inspired Bouquets - Part I

I've been frantically trying to complete this order for a Canadian bride and I'm in the home stretch. I've been battling a cold mixed with allergies this weekend which has made it hard to focus on anything let alone flowers. Yesterday I had a good day and was able to complete 95% of the flowers. I spent this morning putting together the bouquets and completed the 3 bridesmaids bouquets.

My client Kate came to me and told me she was having a shabby chic inspired wedding and she had a lot of colors in mind, but the central focus was the deep purple anemone flower and everything else would be muted tones of pinks, creams and mauvish lavender purples. She initially had wanted some blue hydrangeas and then it turned to green and she finally settled on cream so that there weren't too many colors going on.
These are some images of the bouquets I took this morning. The lovely vintage Ball mason pint jars are from Midwest Finds on Etsy. Just love these jars, they make excellent props for my photos! I also had put the 3 bouquets in this 6x6x5" pandan box from Eco-Friendly Market. I love how it turned out. It would make a stunning centerpiece for a dining room table!
More pics tomorrow once I complete Kate and her daughter's bouquets!