New ETSY Listings

I have been working hard to finish the projects at hand. But I did manage to put up some listings on ETSY - Finally :). I had neglected my ETSY store so long that I felt guilty :). Anyway, here are some cool things that you will find in the store.

This is a poppy cake flower. I love how the colors really pop out :). I also made one as a hair clip, for a friend's daughter :). 

This arrangement in an Expresso Cup is really a favourite with me. Because of its colors and its size, it is really versatile. Everyone who sees this has always wanted one. I have sold so many of them before I even had a chance to put it on ETSY! So, I thought it was time I did. 

The Peony Bouquet, I SO love! It is a simple bouquet, but has so much texture! I made it for the Bridal Show. But when ordered, I will be making a fresh one for the buyer. This particular piece stays with me :). 

I have tons of work to do, so I really have to rush now..... I hope you like these pictures. By the way, have you seen how all the pictures have the 'cake background' ? :) I thought the faux cake formed a really nice background for the wedding creations and got a little carried away. LOL!

Great News!

When we moved to Arizona back again, last August, one of the things that I really wanted to do was to make Arizona the base for my business. Seems like I am taking at least baby steps in that direction :). My flowers will now be stocked at Brilliant Bridal - a beautiful new bridal boutique in Mesa, AZ. I went to meet their owner Melanie Little recently, to discuss the details and I can attest to the fact that it is indeed a great place to shop at for your wedding! 

Brilliant Bridal has beautiful wedding dresses, rooms to try out those dresses in, tons of accessories (including my flowers too!).... the first thing that struck me about the place was that it is really BIG. There is so much space to move around. The flow of light is really nice too. I love it already and wish I had a place like that of my own. LOL! :) Oh! And you know what else is nice? Brides will be able to hold a bouquet in front of them to see what the 'complete' look is like. And guess who's making that bouquet! :) I can't share more details about it yet (That is a surprise) But you can bet it is going to be a super gorgeous one!

You can read more about them on their website by clicking here. 

I am on Arizona Weddings' Blog

arizonaweddings.com/blogMy previous post was about Jenn's Wisconsin Wedding. The same post has now been published by Arizona Weddings on their blog. :) Arizona Weddings is the oldest and most prestigious Wedding Magazine in Arizona. And this is blog post is really a great thing for KeepsakeBlossoms. I have been working hard to establish a base in my home state and slowly it is falling into place - after all those travels of 2009-10. I have been getting a lot of interest from people who want to learn this art and also brides who want my flowers for their weddings. It is indeed an exciting time for me and I am super happy to share it with you.

 First I got the Bride's Choice Award from WeddingWire and now the blog post. Things seem to be moving in a great direction for me :).

I have to really rush now, and I am sure I am forgetting a whole lot of things that I wanted to say, but I shall be back soon. Keep Reading! :)

Real Wedding Photos - Jenn and Zac, Wisconsin

I have been dying to share these photos with you, but I had to wait a little bit so Krystal, of Krystal Muellenberg Photography could email these to me. Since she was in Mexico, shooting another wedding, this took some time. One look at these pictures, and you know why people hire her to travel from Wisconsin to Mexico to have her photograph their weddings :). Just gorgeous, gorgeous work!

So Jenn contacted me and told me what she was looking for, in terms of flowers, colors and the general look. We had to cut down on one flower variety, to keep the bouquet consistent with what she was looking for.  I always advise my brides not to go for too many different grand-looking flowers. They vie for attention :) and spoil the look. This is something I learned from my teacher Yukiko and also the tons of Floral Arrangement books that I keep reading. 

So anyway, we decided on Blush Pink Anemones, Ivory Peonies and Antique Hydrangeas. I added some simple green and pink fillers - so that they complemented, rather than competed with the flowers. I wanted to give this bouquet a freshly hand-tied feel and didn't press the flowers tightly against each other.  I like simple ivory wraps, but in this case I felt it needed a splash of brown. So that is where the brown ribbon came in.  Ivory+Brown, Green+Brown, Pink+Brown. You can't go wrong with any of those combos! So classic and so so beautiful. I am so happy with the end result! :) 

Here's what Jenn had to say about her flowers: "Deb is an amazing person to work with. She is all about making certain the end product is something you will truly cherish the rest of your life! She is extremely detail oriented and very quick to respond to any/all e-mails. I cannot say enough good things about her. I am so so SO happy that I chose to work with Deb, we received so many compliments on the wedding flowers and my favorite part of it all is I get to look at them every day for the rest of my life!"

I have said it before and I'll say it again, my photography doesn't do the slightest justice to my flowers. That is why I am all the more grateful for brides and photographers who share Wedding-Day photos with me, which I - in turn - share with my readers. Thank you Jenn and Thank you Krystal.

Of clays and clays and DECO Clay.....

A lot of times, I get asked by people why I use DECO Clay and not any other air-dry clay in the market. The answer simply is, that there is no other clay in the market that is as versatile, as easy to work with and as good a finish as Claycraft by DECO or DECO Clay as we refer to it most times. It is simply the best (according to me, of course) air-dry clay in the market. I don't say this simply as a DECO Clay Craft Academy Certified Instructor. Every time someone talks about a new kind of air-dry clay, I try it out to see how it is different from DECO Clay. Without taking brand names, here is what I found:

Weight: Most clays in the market, are DENSE and HEAVY. Even if you could mold them into flowers, they would end up looking clumpy and tacky (to say the least!). And they are super heavy. I also had a recent experience of looking at the work of someone who works with this kind of clay. Seriously, I felt lucky to be working with DECO. That is about all I can say without being rude :).

Versatility and Ease of Working: I have tried 3 different types of clay, that claim to be light. That they are. I won't dispute that. But when I worked with them, I found them sticky and rubbery. It felt like someone had rubbed glue into them. While these clays were easier to work with as compared to the heavy versions, these stuck to the tools. While you could mold them a little more than the heavier version, you definitely can't get as intricate with these, as you can with DECO Clay.

Finish: None of the air-dry clays in the market have the finish that DECO Clay has. The finish is not smooth and feels really rough when dry.

Price: This is again an oft-asked question and an important one too. Why does the DECO Clay cost 8.99 a pack, as opposed to X Brand which costs 3.99? Apart from all the other reasons that I have mentioned above, if you take a look at the quantity, you'll know for a fact, that DECO Clay is not more expensive than any of other comparable brands. These clays are packaged in smaller packets. So, even though they might seem cheaper, they are - in fact - not.


Disclaimer :) : The clays that I have compared to DECO Clay, are the ones that I have used personally. This writeup is based on my experiences of using comparable air-dry clays. If you wish to ask a question or share your experiences with a different clay that you have used, please feel free to comment on this post and I shall answer as best as I can.

I hope this post has answered a lot of your questions. I will be happy to answer more. Just email me at info@keepsakeblossoms.com or leave me a note on this blog.