My CIII Course

I hope you have noticed that I have been away for some time :). Well, I was away doing an advanced course in ... clay flowers :). I was working on projects of the C-III curriculum of the DECO Clay Craft Academy, in Atlanta, GA with my friend and fellow instructor Betty Phillips. Not just did Betty teach me the course very patiently, she also - very graciously - allowed me to stay with her, in her very beautiful home :). I had a lot of fun working on the projects and also hanging around with Betty and her wonderful husband.
The new projects are a lot more complex that anything else we had learnt so far. I loved the challenge of it!
Let me know how you like these flowers :).
I shall get back to work now. I am making new arrangements everyday. As soon as I am able to take some pictures, I shall post them for you to enjoy.

Wedding Photos - Tropical Flower Bouquet

Some time back I had posted pictures of a tropical flower bouquet that I had made for a bride. Oceana has been gracious enough to share them with me, so I could share them with you. I have to take a moment here and say that I am very grateful to the brides who share photos of their special day with me and my readers.
Without any further ado, here are the photos...
Oceana had a beautiful wedding on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. Yes, that made me very nostalgic :).... I have tried to incorporate the colors and vibrancy of Hawaii in her bouquet. And now that I see the photos of her wedding day, I think I have succeeded in doing so..... :).
Do let me know how you like the bouquet and the photos....

I still can't get over how much fun we had in India during our trip there. Here are some more photos. These are mostly city scenes.

I begin with something that irritated me a lot! :) This is a typical poster asking for votes. This particular belongs to the Indian National Congress. To me, they are all the same! Nowhere to be found when people actually need them.
This is a quintessential Bombay(Mumbai) traffic jam. Sometimes I actually enjoyed it ... the only explanation can be nostalgia :).

The Gateway of India in Bombay. This place used to be a landing point for dignitaries travelling from Britain during the colonial days. The structure itself was built to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary in 1911.
The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. This was the first 5 star hotel built in India in the year 1903. To me, from childhood - being able to have a meal here was a benchmark of some kind of success. This time, when we went to Bombay, we had breakfast there. Can't say we've achieved that much in life yet :), but it was the culmination of a childhood dream.
This hotel was unfortunately, one of the scenes of the mindless terrorist attack on 26th November 2008. The hotel is still recovering from the shock. But like the BBC stated after the attack, "the hotel serves as a symbol of Mumbai's and India's resilience". I can't help, but agree.

Lonavala - a hill station near Bombay. The hills that look barren in this photo actually take on a lush green color during the monsoons. That is the 'tourist season' for this place. But even when its barren, it is quite beautiful in its own way.We had sweet corn at Lonavala, roasted(?) the traditional Indian way :). It tasted yummy with the lemon, salt and chilli powder that the guy selling it liberally rubbed on it. We followed it with a lemon soda with a dash of roasted cumin. I tell you, for a second, I didn't want to come back to the US :).

The Victoria Memorial in Calcutta (Kolkata). The least flattering picture - that is, the one just above this test - has been clicked by me. The other two are courtesy Wikipedia, just to show you, how beautiful it is. This majestic marble building was built in memory of Queen Victoria, between 1906 to 1921. Calcutta was the capital of British India until 1911 (after which Delhi became the capital). Hence, there are a lot of beautiful structures from the colonial times. Of course, there are purely Indian structures too, but this time, I couldn't visit those places. These happened to be in our daily travel route.

Traveling on the Howrah Bridge. Built (in its current form) in 1945, just before the Indian independence. To me, looking at the Howrah Bridge signified the beginning of my summer vacation in Calcutta. When we travelled from Hyderabad to Calcutta by train, the one thing that told me that I was in Calcutta, was the Howrah Bridge. When we saw it, we'd scream with happiness at the prospect of meeting with our cousins :).

This is a view of the Howrah Bridge at night. Of course, I haven't captured this one :). The photo is again courtesy of Wikipedia, so you can see how majestic and beautiful it is!This is a view of the second Howrah Bridge. Built in the 1990s..... serving to ease flow of traffic on the older bridge.

The Stuart Hogg Market, popularly known at the New Market, in Calcutta. This market was intended solely for the British who didn't like rubbing shoulders with the 'natives' :). But since 1874, its come a long way and now serves as one of the most popular shopping places for Indians and British (a lot of them stayed back in Calcutta, after independence. They and their descendants are now known as the Anglo-Indians) alike.
An inside view of Hogg Market /New Market. Loved all the colors!


A hand-pulled rickshaw (If you have seen 'The City of Joy', you'll know what I am talking about) .... not a very clear picture... these rickshaws are being phased out and there are only a few remaining now. It is a hard job to do for the rickshaw pullers. But in the communist ruled state of West Bengal (of which Calcutta is the capital), there are few other alternative job options available to them.
Anyway..... that ends my series of India photos :). I have just received photos from a bride and I shall be posting them next :). Till then, I hope you enjoy these..... let me know.

Happy New Year!

I know, I know.... I am a little late in writing this post. But like many of you know, I was away - vacationing in India. Now I am back, rejuvenated after meeting my cute and naughty little niece :). What a darling she is!
We all had a great time together and now I am dying to start work again. The jet lag this time is really bad though! Ughh....
Anyway, here are some pictures from my trip. First some flowers:




These are some flowers that we found during our trip to the beautiful hill station of Khandala. There were Jasmines, Bougainvillea, Hibiscus, Poinsettia and several other flowers that I didn't recognize by name. They were all so beautiful. But my favourite was this blue water lily :). I just fell in love with it!
This time, we travelled a lot in India. We went to Calcutta, Bombay (Mumbai), Lonavala/Khandala and Pune. While we were in Khandala, we visited the Karla caves (carved out around 3rd century B.C., right around the time Buddhism started spreading around the world). These caves used to be the seat of a Buddhist monastery. We were stunned by the art there. We got some photos of the inscriptions there too. I hope we can find out what they mean. The only sad thing was, the caves weren't maintained at all. The visitors are charged a fee, but there is hardly any maintenance. There is rampant vandalism of the ancient monument and there was NO information available there in English or Hindi (the caves are under the guardianship of the Archaeological Survey of India). There was a board there with some info in Marathi (the local language there) that we didn't know! And the most disgusting thing was, people who visited while we were there, showed absolutely no respect - they were screaming like there was some kind of party going on. Disgusting! I hope people read this and sit up and take notice. Monuments like this one are priceless and we need to protect them at all costs. Don't you think?
Anyway, that's about all that I have energy for right now. Tomorrow, more photos from India.... How I love traveling! Only if I could cut down on air travel and jet lag :).

Blog's New Look and New Listings on ETSY

I had been thinking about writing to you about the new look of my blog. But I got caught up in everyday work and also the flowers that I need to finish before I leave for my vacation. I am sure , by now, most of you have seen the new look .... so how do you like it? Good, Bad, Ugly?

Today, I listed two new items on ETSY (its been some time since I did that!). Both have Dahlias in them...

This one has one dark pink, one light pink and one white dahlia, with some lilac in it. The one pictured below has one light pink dahlia and two ranunculus flowers, with a few tuberoses.

Yes, both are predominantly pink and both have Dahlias, but they are different in their own way. I had been thinking of making these flowers for a long time. But, both of them need a lot of petals. I had so many wedding orders on my hands already... and didn't find time for these darling flowers for a long time :). Now that I am not taking last minute orders before I leave for my vacation, I found some time to work on these. I hope you like them.
I am also working on a custom order, of a very different kind :). One for my mom.... :) (Of course I am not charging her for it... LOL!) She wants a lot of bright colored flowers from me :) ... hopefully I can come up with something really wonderful for her! :)

See ya soon.... Will be back soon with more real wedding photos... :).

Photos from Real Weddings

Everytime I work with a bride, I find that they all have unique personalities and unique styles. Some are more easygoing and some are more reserved, some know exactly what they want and some look to me for ideas. Only one thing remains constant - the fun I have, working with them on their wedding flowers :).Kerry was only the second bride that I worked with :). She wanted a white and blue bouquet, which would be tropical, but not overly so. We agreed on a gardenia and stephanotis bouquet, with a blue ribbon. And guess which part was the most difficult? Finding the ribbon :). I also did her hair flower and the groom's bout. I had written a post on Kerry's bouquet earlier, here. But a couple of days back, she sent me pictures from her wedding. I was overjoyed! :) I hadn't seen a picture of hers before this, but tell me... isn't this one of the cutest couples you've ever seen? It might sound cliched, but they look like they are made for each other.

Speaking of 'Made for Each Other', here are some more photos that I wish to share with you. These photos are from Akiyo. This couple too, looks so much in love... I love the smiles on their faces.... I did the 'White and Green Elegance' themed bouquet for her. Also, I did the groom's bout and a couple of other bouts and corsages.

Courtesy: Carnival Weddings

Now, Akiyo - like many of my clients - is a fellow Etsian (Or is it Etsy-an?). I feel lucky to be working with such creative ladies! Akiyo's shop is called MyDearDarling. I guarantee that you'll fall in love with the little penguins that she makes (I've already bought one for my niece and am waiting for her to start her customized ones again, so I'll order more)! They are super cute!! She also has a blog and a website, both of which are well-maintained and full of fun stuff. I really mean it.... You just HAVE to check her creations!

Courtesy: Carnival Weddings

That is all for today.... I hope to be back soon with more photos, from more projects, before I leave for my vacation.

Some time off :)

I am a person who 'needs' to travel... even if it is from one end of San Juan to the other :). But this time, we did something more exciting. We went to Vermont to see fall colors. And now, we are thinking of buying property there.... LOL! If only we had the money :).
Here are some pictures from our trip:
This is way before we hit the peak fall color areas.... this is in MA.

The covered bridges reminded me of 'Brides of Madison County' :). Near Big Falls, VT

We just kept clicking.... It was as if we wanted to take home every single leaf with us :). They are all a little different from each other :).

I had only seen these pictures in books and magazines .... in real life, with the icy wind blowing ... it is all the more beautiful. This is near Island Pond, VT

Another picture postcard scenery. And just by this brook, there is a house.... Wish it was ours! :) Again, this is near Island Pond, VT



One of the many lakes on our way from NH to VT. In the light of the setting sun, the reflection of the trees in the lake looked magical. I wish we could stop and take more pictures of this scenery... this particular one was taken when we were driving at 65miles per hour.... but still, we think, we did pretty well.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures....

I will be away on vacation from the end of November until the beginning of 2010. Time to go to India and see my baby niece for the first time, who's coming from Melbourne, Australia. Here's how she looks now.... so cute and I can't help saying, so pretty! :)
People from her Daycare say that she is very chatty with her friends :). She 'talks' all the time :). I really can't wait to cuddle her.


By the way, the red dress she is wearing in this pic, was sewn by me :).

Lots have been happening on the work front too, please stay tuned for some real wedding photographs tomorrow. And yes, if you still haven't had a chance to take a look at my website, please do so now (there are still hitches, but I am working on those): www.keepsakeblossoms.com