Flowers for a Destination Wedding in Mexico

I just finished part of an order for one of my brides. She is getting married in Mexico towards the later part of this month. Her colors are beautiful hues of orange like a sunset. She asked for some hair flowers and corsages. Her order grew a few days ago to include favors, which I still have to work on.I wanted to share some of the flowers I worked on for her wedding. My absolute favorite that I made from the order is this dahlia! From a yellowy-orange to a deep coral, this is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. A slightly different style of dahlia as she wanted pointy tips to her petals. I couldn't replicate the real flower the way it looked in the picture, but I love how this flower turned out.

We did flowers in shades of orange dark to light.

For the mothers and grandmother she asked for white/ivory flowers with orange accents on pearl wristlets.I'll share the favor boxes when those are done, but thought I would post the photos that I took today of this order.

Products for my retailer in Australia

I've been pretty busy trying to work on an order for the Australian retailer I'm working with. She's participating in a popular bridal expo in January and wants items to showcase in her booth.

She asked for several things from bouquets, centerpieces, hair flowers and cake toppers. Lots more still to do, but I thought I'd share some pictures of some of the pieces she ordered.She really liked the arrangements I did for the 30 year project that I worked on several months ago, but wanted them in taller vases. She loved the white and green, yellow and ivory, and corals and peaches arrangements the best.
She also asked for some bouquets, here's just one of them.More to come....

3 Custom Floral Arrangements

A florist in Colorado asked me a while back to make a stephanotis bouquet, she liked it so much she asked if I could make 3 centerpieces for her wedding reception. Although it was short notice on both orders, I was able to pull it off. She loved everything. I got an email earlier this month and she asked if I could created 3 custom arrangements with 3 different color schemes.

She wanted an all white and ivory bouquet of flowers with roses, anemones and hydrangea. I decided since she liked another arrangement I did to add gardenias and sweet peas. It's a clean yet striking arrangement with the black centers of the anemone flowers.The 2nd arrangement she wanted light and dark shades of pink with peonies, roses and ranunculus. This one I decided to put in the aqua blue ball jar.The last arrangement was all shades of purple. Again I decided to make the dark purple anemones, light purple hydrangeas, lilac English roses and a stalk of hyacinth.

I love how all three turned out. I've been busy working on flowers for a photo shoot for Thursday, I'm almost done with those flowers. I am very excited that I will actually be able to attend a portion of the photo shoot before having to get back to my next big order.

Recent Custom Orders and New Etsy Listings...

Trying to catch up once again on custom orders. There's a few more in the pipeline and then I hope to have some much needed down time to focus on my website. :)

One of my Etsy clients asked me if I could create a couple of matching pieces for her. She wanted a blush pink anemone ring pillow and a matching boutonniere. I decided to use ivory velvet vintage leaves to accent the boutonniere since she wanted ivory accents throughout.
The second Etsy client wanted a sample dahlia in a dusty rose color which faded out to creamy ivory on the outer petals with hints of deeper shades of dusty rose and hues of yellow.I also had time to post a couple more arrangements for sale on Etsy. I think both would be beautiful for fall, but any time of the year. The larger one is very bright and cheery since the vase is white and there are white and ivory accents. Poppies, ranunculus, peach hued plum blossoms, and lisianthus.Click on the image to go to the Etsy listing.
Click on the image to go to the Etsy listing.
My mini teapots are making a reappearance as well. They are very popular and it's such a cute and beautiful, petite gift.

More things on the way, but it might be a few more days before I post some new items!

Changing Directions Leads to A New Path...

As I have alluded to before, the last year has been quite challenging with juggling all my responsibilities as a mom, a wife, and an entrepreneur. I have had to make some difficult decisions regarding my future to find balance in my life. Sorry this is a long email with no pictures.

Effective in September, I gave notice to resign from the DECO Clay Craft Academy as an instructor. The main reason is just because I need to find balance. While I love teaching, it's not what I love to do the most. My biggest love other than my family is to just create flowers. I have accomplished a lot as a DECO Clay Craft Academy student and instructor, and I will forever be grateful to Kazuko and Yukiko Miyai for sharing this art with me and making me realize that I could make a career out of creating beautiful things. I have taught lots of wonderful people in the last 8 or so years and many of whom have become such wonderful friends over the years. I will miss teaching everyone, but I know the friendships will carry on moving forward because after all, we have one mutual love, the love of the art of DECO Clay!

For those of you who are interested in DECO Clay Craft Academy classes and becoming a member, you can go to their website and find instructors who are in your area. If you cannot find a DECO instructor in your area, please feel free to contact the Academy directly. The instructor base continues to grow worldwide so even if there isn't an instructor where you live, there might be one there soon! If you are determined like many of my international and US students, who want to become certified, seek out an instructor who is closest to your country or state and they just may be willing to offer you accelerated classes so you can complete the curriculums and certification process in a shorter time frame.

For my students who wish to continue training with the DECO Clay Craft Academy, definitely seek out one of the certified DECO instructors because there are some really amazing classes once you become a certified instructor to challenge and develop your skill and create some INCREDIBLE flowers and figurines developed by Kazuko and Yukiko.

I have learned a lot in the last 10 years and have had so many wonderful opportunities. I continue to be blessed with new and more challenging opportunities that help me continue to grow. I will still be making flowers and figurines out of DECO Clay as I feel it's one of the most superior air dry clays around. So many applications and the possibilities are endless... You are truly only limited by your imagination.

I am in the process of revamping my website but that will take some time as I'm transitioning to a completely different platform, so even though it still mentions the classes and certification, I am no longer teaching and have officially resigned my position as a DECO Clay Craft Academy instructor.

I wish the DECO Clay Craft Academy family all the best and thank Kazuko and Yukiko for 10 years of a great journey. You will always inspire me to put forth my best and not limit myself as to what I can do. In my mind, there is no end to the possibilities in my future and I'm eager to start creating amazing works of art from this day forward.

Please contact DECO Clay Craft Academy at www.decoclay.com.

Let the new chapter begin....

Fall inspired arrangement

This past year has been challenging to say the least juggling so many things. I haven't had much time to dedicate to my Etsy site, but I'm starting to get back on track with that. While I love doing wedding flowers, I also miss doing smaller vase arrangements for people to purchase for their home or as gifts for loved ones.With the fall season upon us and the turning of the leaves (although we are experiencing summer like weather still in California), I thought it would be nice to finally work on some arrangements that highlight those flowers that make you think of fall.

This piece is listed on my Etsy site for sale. I have a few more coming later this week. I fell in love wit this wood vase that I found with it's rustic and earthy elements. I paired it with orange and green gerbera daisies, orange and yellow ranunculus, peach garden roses with hues of yellow and dusty rose, red and green hipericum berries and rose leaves.

New Cake Flowers on Etsy - David Austin Inspired Roses!

I've been trying to find more time to create new pieces and build out my Etsy store with new and fresh items. It's slow going, but I try to go with the creative juices when they hit me. I love the complexity and beauty of David Austin style roses which are rich in petals and colors. I decided to experiment after that last custom cake flower order.

I once had to do Sahara yellow roses and they are so pretty, so I decided to do one in that color with hues of yellows, creams and peaches.
The other one is a light pink rose. So many shades of pink, yet subtle. All contrasted with the rich glossy rose leaves. These will definitely make stunning cake flowers all on their own. A single bloom can have quite a statement, especially when the flower is 5 inches in diameter and from leaf to leave measures 7 inches! Click on the images to go to the links on my Etsy site!

More Etsy listings to come in the next few weeks. Hopefully I can manage to create some fall inspired pieces for the holidays.