Courtney & Todd - Real Wedding and Trash the Dress Photos

It's hard to believe 4 months have passed since Courtney and Todd got married on the beautiful island of Mau'i. They are a local couple (to the Bay Area that is) who fell in love with Mau'i. It's where Todd proposed and where they tied the knot. Courtney asked me to create her save the dates, wedding invitations, favors, place cards, OOT tags, menus and cake flowers. Such a wonderful couple and so easy to work with. I think they were pretty easy to please and it made my job that much easier.

The photos are amazing. I've never worked with Gordon Nash but it's easy to see why Courtney and Todd like his work. You couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day! WOW! That's why all who go to the islands fall in love and a piece of our hearts is always left behind. I still feel that way and we've been away for over 2 years now.
Their beautiful florals were done by Della Peacock of Dellables! I know Della comes highly recommended on the island of Maui.
I won't go into too much detail about the photos and let them just speak for themselves. The last 2 photos are some shots from Courtney and Todd's trash the dress session with my dear friend and photographer, Debbie Friedrich. They hired her after seeing our family photos and headshots done and Debbie just so happened to be going out that way for some other work so it worked out perfectly. Two great photographers and tons of wonderful photos!

Flower Magazine - Artist in Bloom Feature

Late last week I received the winter issue of Flower Magazine. This is a wonderful magazine focused on flowers of course. I was contacted back in late September by one of their editors, who asked if they could interview me for the winter issue. The magazine is published out of Alabama and is distributed in 12 states. They have a special feature article they do in each issue titled, "Artist in Bloom". It focuses on artists who create in various mediums and art forms with the one central theme, flowers.I was so honored that the editors found me and asked to do a feature. With magazine editorial so tight these days, I was so lucky to get 2 pages in their magazine. This particular issue focuses on wedding flowers which is awesome and a perfect issue to be in! I was also very fortunate to use the photos from Stewart Pinsky Photography, Allure West Studios, and Debbie Friedrich Photography. Thank you to them who help bring out the best qualities of my clay floral designs!
If you don't get this publication in your area, you can order it online.

Name this flower and you could win a zenatona print!

Before I start working on my flowers, I'm letting you know about a contest of sorts. My good friend Debbie Friedrich of www.zenatona.etsy.com is offering this beautiful "Frida" canvas art print to the first person who can name what flower it is. Hint, I already tried guessing hibiscus... NOPE!
Anyway, if you have a twitter account, direct message Debbie of zenatona @www.twitter.com/zenatona. Debbie is doing this in honor of Earth Day! I currently have 4 of Debbie's prints and 2 more are on the way! I can't get enough of her bursts of amazing color and happiness! :)

Another Cake Flower Order

Sorry for the lack of blog posts and new material to show you. It's been a crazy week of family drama, cold/allergy combo, spending time with my best gal pal/photographer friend Debbie Friedrich, trying to complete orders for a Monday shipment, teaching 6 hours of class and spending time with my family for the holiday weekend! Phew... That was a mouthful.

I can't wait to share with you some photos my dear friend Debbie Friedrich of Debbie Friedrich Photography and Zenatona, took on Thursday. She flew out for 2 days and did my head shots, family photos and some pictures of me in action. It was so much fun and I enjoyed spending time with her, talking and getting to know each other better. My 4 year old son is smitten with "Auntie Debbie".
Friday, I spent the entire day working on cake flowers and flowers for a bridal bouquet. I managed to get them all done. I'll have photos of the bouquet tomorrow to share, but here are the cake flowers I worked on for my client Amy. She's getting married in Ann Arbor, Michigan next weekend. Peonies, in varying shades of pink, blush pink ranunculus, tuberose and some green fillers.

Great Find - www.zenatona.etsy.com

Aaw.. it's the first day of Spring and what better way to start the season than with something to brighten every room in your home... Check out Zenatona on Etsy (http://www.zenatona.etsy.com/)! My dear friend and colleague Debbie Friedrich of Debbie Friedrich Photography has been working hard on a new extension of her photography business, turning her wonderful nature and lifestyle photos into canvas art prints! Simply beautiful and affordable! She takes her photographs, has them printed on canvas and she herself stretches the canvas onto the frame and it comes complete with a nice little easel and a logo'd eco-friendly muslin carrying case!
I'm SO, SO, SO HAPPY for Debbie! She's starting to spread her wings and share her love for photography with the world. Now everyone can be touched by the beauty she sees through her lens. She feared that people would think she's moving away from photography but I told her that her wedding clients will want to come back to her for her beautiful home decor pieces to decorate their homes with. I should know, I have her Sunkiss picture and just bought my first zenatona "float" canvas print. I got to be her first order today on Etsy and I'm so proud and honored to be her first customer because I am one of her biggest fans! If you knew Debbie, you would want to own one of these breathtaking pieces just to be touched by her heart! She truly does shoot from the heart. I can't wait to see her next week as she's flying up to visit to do headshots, family portraits and take photos of me making flowers! I so hate taking photos of myself and Debbie is one professional who I HAD to have take the pictures. Her photography makes me smile and her stories behind the photos are even more telling and bring the photos to life and tell a wonderful story.

Stay tuned this weekend as she posts more canvas prints on her Etsy site! Don't miss out. I know I'll be tempted to buy them up. I told her I need artwork to display in my new studio when it's done!

All images are courtesy of Debbie Friedrich Photography and www.zenatona.etsy.com

Stationery for a Dear Friend...

Debbie Friedrich of Debbie Friedrich Photography is someone I consider to be a dear friend. Granted I only met her once at a wedding I helped with back in October of last year, but she is such a talented and down-to-earth person and fabulous photographer! I think it's the mutual admiration for one another's work which bonds many of us in the wedding industry. If you don't know Debbie, she was the photographer for The Knot's Real Wedding of Cheryl and Fred DeAngelo that was featured a few years ago on the Oxygen Channel. (This happens to be one of my favorite pictures of Debbie - the story behind the picture as well as because you rarely see her in front of the camera!)

This was the first opportunity that I had to work with Debbie and she did a phenomenal job. She actually is the person who convinced me to start my own blog... so I have Debbie to thank for that! Debbie does weddings worldwide, but many of her weddings are either in the San Diego/Southern California area or on the beautiful islands of Hawaii. She truly does "shoot from the heart". You should check out her blog at http://www.shootingfromtheheart.typepad.com/. She captures the smallest detail. The latest one she did was the sunflower picture. She found little tiny heart shapes on the inside fringe of the sunflower just before the petals start! AMAZING!

She's in the process of working on her own Etsy site and I'm so excited for her. Be sure to bookmark http://www.zenatona.etsy.com/. She's also going to have the work of Ulu Art on her site as well, which is a collaboration of two very wonderful and talented photographers, Arna Johnson and Geralyn Camarillo of Arna Photography and Hokuli'i Images respectively.

Anyway, I bought this beautiful photograph that Debbie took (I think) with her LensBaby (one of my next Xmas wishlist requests). I was immediately drawn to this photograph and knew one day that I just had to own one of her amazing photographic creations. It's a picture of a ti leaf... SIMPLY AMAZING! Reminds me of home.... Hawaii. :)

She asked in return if I would be able to create some business stationery for her to send to clients and this is what I came up with. I tried different designs, but I really felt drawn to this one so I hope she likes it as much as I do. Debbie envisioned chocolate browns and fuschia pinks but she also thought about green cymbidium orchids. I contemplated how I was going to incorporate everything, but I think the end result is stunning yet simple and not overstated. Finally I remembered that I did a similar design for my wedding thank you cards and thought it was different than your standard fold-over cards... so I decided to try it out. On the inside, I did a simple slightly muted version of her logo so that her clients will always be reminded of her beautiful logo.

The wedding industry has been an amazing experience for me. I meet the most wonderful individuals and professionals, which in turn many times I am fortunate to call them my friends. I think even more so, being a woman in a predominately female industry, seeing successful women such as Debbie pursuing a business they love and enjoy is very inspiring and empowering to other women in the wedding industry!

Every time I see Debbie's work, she inspires me to always do what comes from the heart and pursue what I feel passionate about. Once her Etsy site is stocked with her new photo products, I'll be one of the first to buy it!