Real Wedding Pictures - Ivory Roses with Peacock Feathers Bouquet

Hi Readers! I am sure a lot of you remember the bouquet with ivory roses and peacock feathers, that I made a couple of months back. It has become my most popular searched item and has made my blog readership go up by at least 20%.
Sondra, the lovely bride for whom I designed and created the bouquet sent me some very pretty pics from her wedding. So I wanted to share them with you.
I don't remember if I mentioned this, but Sondra came to me about 3 weeks before her wedding. But I loved her idea of a peacock themed bouquet so much that I just HAD to create this for her! Sometimes the urge to create something unusual and special just gets the better of me :). Also, I love working under pressure. I thought and thought about how I could design a bouquet with peacock feathers that would look elegant, rather than something overly flashy. I then studied the peacock feather closely and that gave me ideas. I used teal and golden brown Swarovski crystals to mimic the main colors of a peacock feather, so that the ivory didn't look like it didn't belong with the feathers. I also worked on the wrap and was able to find ribbons that I totally loved (Thanks Creations by You!). The most time-taking part was not making the flowers, but working with the peacock feathers. It can get very tricky, since they are very silky and slip easily.Sondra's wedding took place on the shores of Lake Tahoe. The background added to the bouquet's beauty, I'd say. See how well the turquoise water compliments the colors in the bouquet! The size of the bouquet, as you can see, is petite. But that doesn't take away from its elegance.... rather, it adds to it. Don't you agree? I just love love love this bouquet and would love to hear your thoughts about it too.... and the pictures :).

One more thing that made Sondra very special to me were the words she wrote to me. They were so touching! That's what I work for.... words like that make me feel so honored to be part of such a special day in a couple's life.

One year ETSY Anniversary

Hi there! We are still in the middle of our move :).... yes, still.... we have found an apartment, but will be moving in only on Saturday the 16th of May.
I just realized a few hours back that I just completed one year on ETSY. And what a year it has been. From my first sale to Melanie to my latest custom creation. There are lots of people I wish to thank.... I also need to thank Melanie for being the first person to trust me with a custom order :). I also want to thank Nella, for trusting a newbie like me, with her big day. Without you all, I wouldn't have been here .... truly! I wish to thank all my ETSY friends who have stood by me through thick and thin. Sarah, Julia, Chloe, Jennie, Sally, Somdutta, Jessie, Yasmin, Mary, Kristine, Schar.... thank you :).

A big thank you to the photographers who photographed my work so beautifully and gifted me something I couldn't myself create to my satisfaction - Amanda of Amanda Fales Photography, Cheryl of Image Pixie, John of John Caroll Photography, Tim of Timecut Photography, Amy and Todd of Studio 12, DB Images, Gregory of Gregory Paul Photography, my friend Eve who is a terrific photographer (and a model too!.... her modelling has sold dozens of my combs) and Sarang (my busy husband who takes terrific photos whenever he has time).
I also want to thank all my clients for allowing me to be a part of your special days. I want to thank all those who follow my blog and write me sweet comments.
This post would be incomplete without my thanking my dear friends Chenli, Cherrie, Betty, Eve and Max (Max does for me what I can't do for myself - promote my creations....) for supporting me always!

In this post I have included two collages. The first is a mix of projects I have done on ETSY, for ETSY clients. The second is a variety of combs I have done....After the first one, every single one in the picture has been a custom order :). There are some more that I have done, but I couldn't fit them all ....
This year, I have been featured on several blogs. Also, I have found myself on Storque as also the ETSY Wedding Guide and the ETSY Handmade Registry :). Some of my brides have also blogged about me. All of these have propelled my sales - more than anything I expected.
My academy (DECO Clay Craft Academy) and my teacher - Yukiko Miyai , have given me a new career and ETSY has given me an avenue to showcase and sell my work. And my husband Sarang. There is nothing I can say or do, that can express what I really feel about all of you........ THANK YOU!
I hope you will stay with me - supporting, encouraging and challenging me, as you have been doing all these months.

See where I found myself this time :)

It has been crazily busy of late, with me getting adjusted to a new place and hunting for an apartment. So today, just as I was wishing for some pleasant news, my Seattle bride sent me a photo of her bridal bouquet to savor :). I shall write more on that in a later post.
But here's what I want to share with you today. I was getting bombarded on my Blackberry with ETSY convos. I couldn't figure out why! It had never happened to me before.... So, I asked some of the ladies who wrote to me, where they found me. Their unanimous answer,"ETSY finds - Weddings"... WOW! I have waited for this so long. Its been great to have been featured on ETSY finds.... I can't stop jumping with joy... LOL!

Its been a crazy crazy time :) and wedding order teaser

We are moving.... for all those who don't know, Sarang and I have already moved out of Hawaii and into Arizona. I'll talk about the next part of our move later.... but suffice to know its been a crazy time for us. We decided that we needed to move immediately - in like 10 days! Not only did we have to pack and wrap up things in Honolulu, I also needed to finish a HUGE wedding order. I also wanted to finish as much as possible of the 10 centerpieces I am doing for our friends' wedding.

In between, I have also tried to squeeze in samples, hair combs, single gardenia hair pieces and cake toppers! I wish I could photograph them all.... but I really could not. But here are a few pictures of the Seattle wedding that I did bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres for.
The Hydrangea bouquet is for the Maid of Honor. The hydrangea has light green centers. This was suggested by my dear friend and fellow DECO Clay Instructor and fanatic :) - Chenli. Thank you Chenli.... your suggestion made a world of difference. Its always awesome to connect with DECO instructors like you.... its an absolute honor!

Along with the above two bouquets, there were another 6.... I have a flight to catch, so I shall run now and post the remaining pictures as soon as possible.... Meanwhile, enjoy these pictures and let me know what you think.
I have to make a special mention of the bride here. Without her, these arrangements wouldn't have looked so spectacular. She had the vision of going the non-traditional way. Instead of having a white bouquet herself, she preferred to have her bridesmaids and MOH have white bouquets - each will hold a bouquet different kind of bouquet. The MOH as I mentioned earlier, will hold the hydrangea, another bridesmaid will hold a Peony bouquet, another a Gerbera Daisy bouquet, and so on...... It was very exciting to work on! Rarely do you have the chance to work on something like this. The bride herself opted for a summer-fall happy combination of colors and flowers. Her bouquet has Dahlias, Ranunculus (this is a new technique that we learnt at the DECO Clay Craft Academy and looks very real, I think, unlike the one that looked pretty, but looked like a ball! Thank you Yukiko!), two kinds of orchids, Callas, Freesias and Poppies. Most of the hues are orange-y, but the smaller orchids and bright yellow freesias give it a more cheery splash of yellow. I have also inserted very little green, so it actually works as a highlight and not as a filler.
I think this post is getting a little disjointed :) and that's because I have so much to do in so little time. But this post is for all those who have been waiting to read and see what I have recently done :). So many people have written in specially to ask why I haven't posted and everytime I speak to my friends (again, very talented fellow DECO Clay instructors) - Betty and Cherrie - they tell me that they want to see pictures :). I hope these pictures make you happy :). Please excuse me for the bad quality of the photos.... these were just hurriedly taken shots :(.

Okay, bye now.... see ya soon....
PS: My Seattle bride is getting married TODAY :). Please wish her a very happy wedded life.....