KeepsakeBlossoms

Tiffany's Wedding - Red Roses and Stephanotis

2012-01-31T21:48:00.001-10:00

Tiffany, I met via Etsy. I was looking for writeups for my flowers and I came across her. She offered to write for me and did a great job of it. Then, after a couple of months, she wrote to me saying she loved my flowers and wanted me to create her wedding flowers.

Tiffany's wedding colors were Red, Black and White. She wanted a small, simple red rose and stephanotis bouquet with black Swarovski inserts. We also added black leaves (thanks to clay, that's possible!) with gloss, to go with the flowers. The wrap was a simple black satin ribbon. I also created the groom's bout and Tiffany's hair flowers - loose stephanotis flowers with Swarovski centers.

Here are Tiffany's thoughts about her Wedding Day and her Wedding Flowers, in her own words:

Hours seemed to turn into minutes, minutes into milliseconds, as we
waited for the sun to set. The second hand on the clock was nearly as
loud as the bumping of my heart, and all I could do was stare at the
aisle through the window of my bridal suite.

Finally, our daughter, the flower girl, was called out. It was almost

time. In just a few more minutes, I would be walking down the
aisle toward my best friend. Growing up, my family was never very
functional, and my brother and I were often left to raise ourselves. He
escorted me to the aisle, where he kissed my cheek, cried, and let me
go.

I took a deep breath, made a mental note not to drop my flowers or
trip on my flip flops (and yes, I so wore flip flops under my gown!
), and began my walk down the aisle to Nine Inch Nails‘ La Mer. The
sun had finally begun to set, and the sky was phenomenally clear. We
lit a unity candle, said our vows, exchanged rings, and handfasted,
a perfect blending of our personal beliefs and the traditions of our
families.

Matt, my new husband, and I had decided to take our first pictures
together before the ceremony. We wanted that special time together
unrushed. Plus, I refused to wear glasses or contacts on my wedding
day, and I wanted to see his face up close the first time he saw me.
The pictures before the ceremony were full of nervous energy and
laughter. After the ceremony, all we could think about was each other,
and in our pictures, you can see all of that.

As we approach our 9 months as a married couple, I can still
remember the day as vividly as if it happened yesterday. My favorite
part? I have more than just pictures to hang and memories to cherish.
My wedding bouquet, hair flowers, and the boutonniere my husband

wore are all as beautiful today as they were on our wedding day.

Instead of dried, fragile, and brown flowers kept away in a box, my
wedding flowers sit vibrantly on my shelf, as elegant and gorgeous

today as they were when I carried them down the aisle.

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Wedding Photos - Gardenia Bouquet

2011-12-29T21:35:00.001-10:00

Sometime back I had posted pictures of a beautiful Gardenia bouquet that I had created for a client. She sent me some pictures from her wedding day.

Melissa was very nice to work with. No hassles at all. I have to say though, that when I hear stories of bridezillas I realize how lucky I have been! Most of my brides have been exceptionally nice.

You know what I saw when I saw this photo of hers? The lovely necklace she's wearing. Though I am not a person who wears jewelry, I fell in love with this piece!

See that blue ribbon? You'd better! :) The shade is called Cobalt Blue. I made trips to a lot of Michaels Craft Stores in the Phoenix-Tempe-Chandler area (since Michaels was where Melissa had bought her other Cobalt Blue ribbons from and I wanted to match hers exactly) before a kind customer service rep told me that she could look up in the system and tell me which store had it in stock. Finally, I found it. And what a beautiful color it is! Totally worth all the running around. Complemented the off-white of the Gardenias beautifully.

I can't put a finger on what it is about groom holding his bride's bouquet, but I always love these shots. I hope you liked the photos :). So much better than what I click, right? :)
Please keep coming back to the KeepsakeBlossoms Blog because more photos from other weddings will be up soon. Also, please take a moment to 'Like' us on Facebook or 'Follow' us on Twitter

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Happy New Year!

2011-12-28T13:29:00.001-10:00

Hi Everyone!

I have been notoriously out of touch blog-wise. Sorry about that. Just so many things to do. And it just seems that either me or my husband is falling sick by turns. Hopefully, we are over it by now :).
I hope you had a great Christmas! I am so looking forward to the New Year. I have been working and working to get some things in order. Hopefully, they will all fall into place soon.
This year, in January and June I participated in the Bridal Fashion Debut Show in Phoenix. It is the biggest bridal show in the country with thousands and thousands of brides attending it every year. It was such a pleasant surprise for me when Shannon from the Bridal Show contacted me first to do a custom arrangement for her newborn daughter's room and then for a photoshoot for the purpose of advertising the Wedding MBA which she also organizes. Of course, I said yes! :) And guess where I was when I got that call in a remote location in the Glacier National Park, Montana driving through the beautiful fall foliage of the Rockies. Lucky I had phone reception! :)

So anyway.... Shannon said she wanted a couple of bouquets and it could be anything I wanted. The design was upto me and it would be nice if one of the bouquets had fall colors - but didn't too autumn-y.

For that I created a Modern, Pageant Style Bouquet with Orange Dahlias, Succulents (for the Southwest Feel) and Off-White Chrysanthemums. The dried branches accentuated the modern feel and the brooch on the handle gave it a little bling and complemented it beautifully.

The second bouquet I made was a more traditional all-white bouquet with Lily of the Valley, Ranunculus and Peonies. I gave it a platinum colored ribbon and again, added a brooch :). I so love this shot where it appears that the beautiful model can't resist smelling the flowers :).

The photos were shot by the fantastic Roy Bracamonte of Roy Bracamonte Photography. He was so easy to work with.... Not that I had much to contribute in the photography part of the photoshoot :), but he made us feel so much at ease with his effervescent personality! He even visited us at home and showed me a few tricks to get better photos. You can visit Roy's website here to look at some more shots that he took of my flowers.

Photo Credit: Roy Bracamonte Photography

Photoshoot for Wedding MBA, Bridal Fashion Debut

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Guest Blog by 'Inspired Occasions' : Trends in Wedding Cakes

2011-11-01T04:01:00.000-10:00

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I love cake! I should because I create them for a living, (it would just be weird if I didn’t, right?). It’s a lot of fun to see the trends in cakes from year to year too. I am always excited to see the new styles each season brings.

The cupcake tower is still going strong. They are kind of non-traditional and different, if that’s important. They are also less messy as far as having someone cut the cake and serve it. It also often saves the couple the cutting fee they would be charged by their venue, which is sometimes the same cost as the cake itself. Plus they are just so cute! You can do so much with those little bits of sweetness! Usually the bride and groom chose a 6 inch cake to place on the top tier of the stand as well. This way they still have an actual cake to use for the cutting ceremony.

Some trends have to do with colors. Color trends often follow home décor’ and fashion trends. Shades of purple seem to be making a comeback, black and white is always popular and the all-white cake is a classic. I personally love the vintage feel that I am seeing lately. You can find cream with black, muted yellows and garden pinks. So pretty! Speaking of fashion, have you noticed its influence in the cake world in more than just colors? Ruffles are huge right now as are flowers that resemble wrapped fabric. You can also find many the damask patterns on wedding cakes among other fabric inspired designs. An entire cake can be designed just by picking elements from the brides wedding dress.

Now let’s talk about frosting. I have seen a huge push back to buttercream iced cakes in the last year. Six or so years ago everyone was really into fondant and there are those that still want the look that fondant gives. There are others though that are going simpler with their designs and definitely want buttercream iced cakes. For most of them the texture of fondant is a turn off. There is something about a buttercream cake too that makes folks reminisce and think of times gone by. Sometimes we just need a little old fashion, yummy frosting! Buttercream can be iced smooth and it can be more rustic and rough. If you are copying a cake that was your parents or grandparents then chances are its buttercream and has all kinds of wonderful piping. Even if the design you choose requires fondant for some of the decorations you can usually still have the cake iced in buttercream.

Cake flavors are something fun to play with. Yes you might like the traditional white cake and that is completely fine, (my most popular flavor is white almond), but many couples are choosing things out of the ordinary. Yes you can serve chocolate cake at your wedding. You could also choose a red velvet, peanut butter/chocolate combo or lemon. Couples often choose to have a different flavor for each tier also. If you do that though you might want a little extra cake, some people may want to try all the flavors.

I would love to hear about and see pictures of your favorite wedding cakes. Please share!

God Bless!

Bonnie owns Inspired Occasions Designer Cakes in Arizona. She has been decorating professionally for almost 9 years and loves her job. When’s not elbow deep in icing she is taking cake or her three munchkins and hubby of 13 years. You can call Bonnie and order her delicious cakes (the keylime flavor is my personal favorite!) at 480-251-9880.

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New Website

2011-09-28T07:59:00.000-10:00

Landing Page

I had been working on a new Website for a long time. However, it took a long time and the right person to get the designs on track :). While I am still working on the improvements, and there is some way to go, I like the general feel of it all. The design is crisp and clean :).

Portfolio Page

Let me know what you think of the new design and what can I change to make it even better :).

KeepsakeBlossoms : Handcrafted Clay Flowers' Wedding MBA Experience

2011-09-19T13:04:00.002-10:00


Photo Credit:Krystal Muellenberg Photography

I spent the past week absorbing all the knowledge I could absorb, at the Wedding MBA convention that was being held in Las Vegas. I have been in the wedding business for over 3 years now, with my alternative to fresh flowers - my CLAY flowers - but there's a lot of things I could learn about the business. My experience so far, had been try, miss, try, succeed :). The Wedding MBA convention gave me a lot of useful stuff to ponder and act upon. There were a lot of industry leaders as speakers. There were Timothy Chi and Sonny Ganguly - the CEO and CMO respectively of 'WeddingWire', there Carley Roney - the Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of 'The Knot', Shannon Underwood and Will Hegarty (both of the 'Bridal Fashion Debut'), Erin Brukhard (of 'Be in Love Designs'), Kathy Ireland (Kathy Ireland Worldwide), Susan Southerland, Sasha Souza, Julia Markel (Association of Wedding Professionals International), Andy Ebon (of the Wedding Marketing Network), Laura Cave (Director of Marketing Intelligence of 'The Knot') among a host of other wonderful and knowledgeable people.

My New Clay Hair Flowers : Soon to be offered on my ETSY store (sorry for the bad pic. Blame my iPhone 3GS)

Being who I am - a very reticent person who wants to go hide somewhere when she sees a lot of people - I was planning on spending a lot of time by myself. But thanks to my friend Jo Ann Grant of Apropos Creations, that was not to be :). She made sure that I spoke with people and I was glad I did. I met so many wonderful wedding vendors - all experts in their fields. I hope to share their work with all of you on this platform. Coming back to Jo Ann, I have never met anyone like her. If you need something, she will most likely have it in her purse :). She is friendly, resourceful and extremely organized. No wonder she's a wedding planner! Here she is, with Kathy Ireland.

Photo: Jo Ann Grant and Kathy Ireland

(I wish I had a chance to show her my clay flowers :), that would have been fun right?) We had a fun time driving to Vegas together. At one point, we were so busy talking and laughing that we missed the exit and had to keep going for more than 20 miles before we could turn back :). If you are in the Phoenix area and looking for someone to take care of your Wedding Day, do check out Apropos Creations. I truly believe (and I don't say this because she's my friend) she will take all the stress out of your Wedding Day and put you at ease so you can enjoy your Wedding the way you are supposed to.

The simple floral arrangement that I made for Jo Ann's association's booth at the Wedding MBA Convention

Coming back to the Wedding MBA experience, it was wonderful. I cannot wait to do it again :). People who saw my flowers there, could not believe that they were made out of clay. Clay Flowers, I realize is a still a very new concept for most people and I am glad that I am able to introduce people to the beautiful world of realistic, lightweight and longlasting DECO Clay Flowers :).

Gardenia Bouquet

2011-08-30T19:30:00.000-10:00

I have been missing in action - again :). Sorry about that. But the good news is, that I am doing a lot of interesting things and you will see the results soon. There are so many things that I am doing right now, that posting photos sometimes becomes difficult. But this bouquet I totally fell in love with. So, I am taking time to post these pics for you :).

Most of you folks know by now, that I am not a great photographer :), so please forgive the badly focused pics..... and please wait for the next post which only has pics by professionals. It was supposed to be before this, but then I got busy with the wedding season that 'apparently' ended in April! :) I am not complaining though... I am loving every bit of it.

Enjoy these photos and I'll see you soon :).

KeepsakeBlossoms featured in the 'Bridal Buzz' Blog of 'Bridal Guide Magazine'

2011-07-20T15:02:00.001-10:00

Yesterday, I was going through my emails when I found one from the Bridal Guide Magazine. They said they would love to feature my work - my DECO Clay Flowers - on their 'Bridal Buzz' blog :). They had conducted a poll to see if brides thought that faux flowers were a 'DO' or 'DON'T'. One of my Facebook Fans told them about my clay wedding flowers (Thanks Becca! You rock!) :).
I sent in some photos and some information that they asked for and here's the blog :). I have been working at this DECO Clay flower art so hard for all these years. Finally, it seems, that recognition is trickling in. I am so honored and grateful (and may I also say, totally elated!Yippee!). This is the first time a National level major bridal publication has featured my work.

Click on the photos or click here to read what the blog says about the flowers that I handcraft from Claycraft by DECO. I must thank the photographers who helped me get here. I was always doing good work, but my photos sucked and people maybe thought my flowers sucked too. LOL! Well, I was lucky to find these ladies who took lovely shots of my flowers and made them look as pretty as they are in real-life: Angela Simpson of Angelina Rose Photography, Amanda Fales of Amanda Fales Photography, Wendy Loped of Abstract Mind by WLo and Marnie McCown of Crescendo Photography. Thanks Ladies!

PS: While you take this in, also look out for my next post. Tons of EYE CANDY, I promise! :)

Bridal Fashion Debut - June 2011

2011-06-21T09:45:00.000-10:00

I have been promising photos for long now :). Well, here are some from my recent participation at the Bridal Fashion Debut in Phoenix.

Am I allowed to have favourites amongst my own creations? LOL! Because these two above qualify. The left has peonies in three different shaped vases. The vases weren't sold as a set.... I literally had to hunt for matching vases. But they go so well together and give the arrangement such elegance. I love the simplicity of the design. It is so modern and striking.

The yellow ranunculus and freesia arrangement on the right took a long time to make. I was experimenting with colors and textures. Eventually, I decided on different shades of yellow, with hints of green as accent. The vase is actually a very very pretty candle holder, with a teal and light-gold print on it. I keep buying containers that catch my eye, to use in future arrangements. Sometimes they work out, sometimes they don't :). This one did. Big time.

This is how my booth looked this time :). A big change from how it looked in January :). I even hung photographs that I received from photographers who were kind enough to take pictures of my flowers. I credited them on the frames. The photos generate a lot of interest in my booth and people even asked for information on the photographers who clicked the pics. So glad the idea worked out well.

Here's some more eye candy :).

The pics came out nice, eh? Just goes to show how professionally taken photos can make a big difference and make my flowers look as beautiful as they are in-person. For these pics, I have to thank my friend Angela Simpson of Angelina Rose Photography. She not just did a great job of taking photos of my flowers, she also helped me design the booth and even came down to help me set it up.

Another person was a big help (and has been, since I first met her at the Bridal Fashion Debut in January this year): Jo Ann Grant of Apropos Creations . Jo Ann is immensely encouraging and helpful. She not just advised me on where I could get my tables and linens from, she also shared some of her own decorations with me :). Now I know why she is such a fantastic wedding planner. She really goes out of her way to make people happy. Thank you you Jo Ann :).

Andrea Jeckering of Dolli Bee.Com designed my new and improved Business Card. (Just email me if you want one.) What a difference she made! She delivered exactly what I wanted and in record time! My new business card is SO beautiful, I am going a little silly over it. I keep looking at it all the time :). Andrea is a wedding and event stationery designer (she is also on ETSY!) whom I met very recently. And I am so thankful that I did :).

This little arrangement that you see in this picture was designed by my husband. It turned out amazingly pretty! :) I didn't know there was a hidden designer in my engineer husband.

All the arrangements that you see here are already available in my ETSY store for purchase, or are in the process of being available there :). I am also working on exciting new products to be made available on ETSY soon. And yes, as always more beautiful photos to share. So .... keep reading.

Guest Blog: Angelina Rose Photography

2011-06-15T13:50:00.002-10:00

I have SO much to tell you.... and I know I haven't been good at blogging of late.... but please bear a little longer with me. Your patience shall be rewarded with beautiful photos :).

Talking of photos, allow me to introduce Angelina Rose Photography. If you are in Arizona and still looking for a great photographer for your wedding day, this would be a lovely choice!

I'll let the talented Angela Simpson take over from here:

A warming embrace, a quirky smile only the two of you understand, the laughter of a happy day, and the love you share.

It's not so much the wedding itself that's my passion to photograph, but the emotions, vibe, and lives that surround the wedding day. The passion of photographing the people. You and those that you invite to one of the biggest days of your life. Capturing the smiles, laughter, cherished memories from a story, and the tears of joy.

Here's a few of my favorite images from last year:

Melinda and Jerry met at the softball field in Glendale and got hitched a year later back on the field. A happy-go-lucky couple. Full of spunk both on and off their playing field and full of love for one another.

Sarah and Richard got married at the Windmill Winery in Florence AZ. This was a private moment during their first look that took my breathe away. So in-tune with one another that the air around them must have crackled.

I was second shooting for a friend of mine last October at the Scottsdale Fairmont Resort. This little guy caught my eye among the bridesmaids. A little ham all dressed up and looking absolutely adorable.

Amanda and Gerald were married at the Wright House in Mesa. Having their wedding day on a Thursday gave us the advantage to use both parts of the property for pictures. We had a ton of fun with the fountain and the surrounding gardens.

A backyard wedding and reception. One of the most intimate and personal settings that just screamed the personality of this lovely couple; Sharlot and William. A national park ranger and a non-profit organization worker.

Bridal Bouquet - Subtle Elegance

2011-05-15T20:18:00.000-10:00

Heather has been a breeze to work with. To start with she sent me a detailed email with all her wishes. That helps a lot! :) She also showed me some pictures that served as her inspiration.

Well, this is what we came up with - Ivory Peonies, White Ranunculus, Stephanotis, Pink Roses, White Hydrangeas with Blue highlights. I then added a little foliage to it, and embellished it using Swarovski Pearls (They are expensive.... but I L-O-V-E them!).

Finally, I put on a hot pink sheer ribbon with pearls, over an ivory ribbon with a fine silver lining. So pretty! :) I am so shamelessly in love with this creation of mine. I hope Heather enjoys her wedding bouquet. Here's wishing her a blissful wedded life.

PS: These lovely photos are again, by Wendy Lopez of Abstract Mind by WLo . Stay tunes for some more great pictures we took the day she shot these pics for me. I feel so lucky to have found her in my little town :).

Third Anniversary Giveaway!

2011-05-10T14:53:00.003-10:00

On May 13, 2008, I started my Etsy Store. I had no experience of selling online. (Or selling wherever!) But hey, I am here today. And I only have to thank my clients for putting their trust in me and getting me to this happy place.

To mark the day, I am doing a giveaway. Here's what you have to do to enter (Read carefully):

To be entered for the giveaway, please follow me on Facebook, Twitter and/or Blog. (Each gives you one entry. So if you follow me on all of the three, you get three entries) And send me a message or a comment that you are doing so. Its that simple. What's the giveaway? This time, instead of deciding on my own, I'll let the winner decide :), (Anything for upto 35 Dollars worth!) so that you are not stuck with something that you can't use. Excited yet? :) Spread the word. The person who gets me the largest number of Facebook Fans also wins the same prize. (Just let me know who you are sending my page's way)

I know, Friday is only a short time away.... but the drawing will be on the 31st of this month. So you have lots of time to enter :)

If you wish to Email me, my email address is: info@keepsakeblossoms.com

'Country Chic' Bouquet

2011-05-10T14:28:00.001-10:00

A while back, I was asked if I could make some bouquets for a photoshoot. I made 3 of them, matching them with the dresses the models were to wear. One of those bouquets, is this one.... Now, I don't have the photos from the photoshoot yet, but I figured I'll share with you what my friend Wendy of Abstract Mind by WLo shot for me :).

Now, this is a smaller bouquet, but I love how pretty it looks and how much character it has, despite the size. Initially, I didn't think of including anything yellow. My husband said I should 'infuse' yellow. Now, normally, I tend to ignore what my husband says about floral arrangements. LOL! But this suggestion totally made sense. I think the yellow gives this bouquet 'spunk' :). Don't you think so?

This bouquet has Roses, Shrub Roses, Lilac and Grape Hyacinth. The Lilac, Grape Hyacinth and the Grape Leaves give this bouquet a whimsical feel, while the colors keep it very very chic. Now, for the photoshoot, I did the wrap in a plain mauvy pink satin ribbon.... but I think I could work on it a little more to make it more glam :). That's my plan now :).

If you wish to see this bouquet first-hand, please visit my booth at the Bridal Fashion Debut - the biggest Bridal Show in the country - on June 12th, 2011 between 9am-3pm. It will be held at the Phoenix Convention Center. You can hold this bouquet and see how light it is ...and yes, it will still be looking exactly the same :), because these flowers don't die :). That's what I so love about my flowers!

Okay, now back to wedding orders :). Shall get back to you with more photos soon .... keep reading.....

Blue Rose Bouquet with Peacock Feathers

2011-05-02T20:41:00.000-10:00

Our move to Arizona has blessed me with not just good business, but also good people :). Wendy - of Abstract Mind by WLo - and I became 'Facebook Friends' sometime back, when I saw her beautiful portrait photography and 'liked' her page. We had been 'talking' on FB for sometime, when I asked her if she'd have some time to photograph my flowers. And I am so glad she agreed :).

This blue roses with peacock feathers bouquet, I have made for Suhanya from Canada. Suhanya is my first ever South Asian client. Interestingly, though she and I come from different countries (I come from India and she comes from Sri Lanka), my husband speaks the same language as she does - Tamil. I have a different mother tongue (India has about 5000 languages and dialects!) - Bengali. Anyway.... so I was pretty happy to finally have a bride from the same geographical area as me :).

Suhanya had seen my first roses and peacock feather bouquet and wanted something like that, in blue. It has turned out so vibrant! And the peacock feathers add a lot of charisma to these pieces -just in case you missed it the first time, there is a bout too, for the groom-to-be.

Alrighty! I've got to go now. I have lots more to share..... soon enough :). By the way, for those who are not on my Facebook Page, here's what I am working on for my next project - Kate Middleton's Wedding Bouquet - in CLAY. I am totally obsessed with it :). That has sometime to go though, with the million tiny flowers in it :).

Brilliant Bridal Grand Opening

2011-04-15T03:34:00.000-10:00

Brilliant Bridal is having their Grand Opening this weekend (April 16 and 17, 2011). And it is going to be the most happening place to be for Phoenix area brides. There are many many giveaways - including jewelry, gift certificates, wedding invitations, veils, tiaras, an HDTV and even a vacation :). And yes, my flowers too. I am giving away a 50 Dollars worth gift certificate towards a custom order and a hair flower.

There are raffle draws every half an hour! :) And food. And cake. Really, this is the place you want to be tomorrow and the day after. You can read more about the grand opening and the giveaways on Brilliant Bridals' blog.

Pictures from a PhotoShoot

2011-03-24T19:45:00.000-10:00

I just got these photos in from Marnie of Crescendo Photography and I just had to share them with you rightaway, though I am nodding off even as I type :).

The photoshoot was organized by Jo Ann of Apropos Creations. She is a fantastic wedding planner with exceptional organizing and networking qualities. I really owe a lot to Jo Ann. I met her at the Bridal Show and since then, she has guided me and helped me in several ways. Thanks Jo!

So anyway... I got an email from Jo Ann one day asking if I could lend some bouquets for a photoshoot. Of course I could, I said :). Given my photography talents, I am always happy and grateful to have my flowers professionally photographed.

My flowers show their true potential when photographed well. Don't you think so? :)

So these two bouquets were used for the photoshoot. And the results are better than anything that I could have imagined. :) The day was overcast. Yet, the flowers came out looking so so beautiful :). I am just amazed at Crescendo Photography's work!

The first bouquet is all peonies and has been photographed by me before with terrible results. LOL! :) I love it so! It is a petite bouquet and has a lot of character. And the colors too, are oh-so-beautiful. I have had many people look at this bouquet and ask if the peonies are real. When I tell them that they aren't, they don't believe me :). That is a huge compliment for my work :).

The second bouquet is a more brightly colored bouquet made of hydrangeas, shrub roses, roses and calla lilies. I love how vibrant it turned out. I saw this color inspiration in The Knot Wedding Look Book and gave the design my own twist.

Special Mention: The veils in the photos are made by Leah of 'A Silver Lining - Bridal Veils and Accessories'

New ETSY Listings

2011-02-23T04:06:00.001-10:00

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!

2011-02-21T05:55:00.000-10:00

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

2011-02-11T08:40:00.004-10:00

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

2011-02-03T13:08:00.007-10:00

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.....

2011-02-02T13:59:00.004-10:00

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.

Announcing 'CUTIEBLOOMS' - My new ETSY store exclusively for the kidlets :)

2011-01-31T20:52:00.006-10:00

I have been working on a whole lot of things lately and finally one project has come into fruition :). I had been planning on starting a store for Kids and Kids alone, but I never had the time to do it. Now, there is a place where you can purchase DECO Clay Flowers for your little ones.

I have named the store - CutieBlooms :). So please check out www.cutieblooms.etsy.com and tell me how you like it.

I have just put on a few flowers there... But do let me know what you'd like to see there, for your princesses and I'll be sure to put them on there.

Everytime I thought of what to give my nieces, I could only think of these flowers :). I was just waiting for them to grow up, so that they could start wearing these. These would be great gifts for birthdays or even just like that! No one needs reasons to give a little girl a gift really :).

Keep Browsing! See you soon....

Bridal Fashion Debut 2011 Giveaway winners!

2011-01-17T14:31:00.005-10:00

Thanks again to all of you who visited the KeepsakeBlossoms booth at the Bridal Fashion Debut! You will remember that we had a 'giveaway' :). I started with a Gardenia Hair Comb. The response was so good and we had so many people visiting my booth, that I decided to add 3 single hair flowers to the prize :). So one person gets the comb and 3 others get single hair flowers.

Without further ado, here are the names of the winners:

Renee Thibodeau - Gardenia Hair Comb

Julie O'Keefe - Hair Flower

Adriana Rubio - Hair Flower

Stephanie Rianne Burnett - Hair Flower

I shall also be contacting the winners by email to confirm the addresses.

Thank you so much for participating in the raffle. It was fun doing it! I have decided to hold more giveaways now :). So, keep watching this space!

No post is really complete without photos! And here is one I received from a client of mine who wore a Gardenia Hair Comb created by me. I love it when I receive photos from weddings! And this photo is just so beautifully taken.

Back to work now. My next project is another peacock themed bouquet :). But this one has a 'colorful' twist. Once it is done, I'll post photos for you to see :). I am very excited about it.

Bridal Fashion Debut 2011

2011-01-12T06:20:00.003-10:00

So, do you want to know what I did over the weekend? The title of the blog post should give you an idea :). I participated as a 'vendor' at the Bridal Fashion Debut 2011. The Bridal Fashion Debut held in Phoenix every year is said to be the biggest bridal show in the country. This year there were 4600 registered brides who attended the event looking to choose their wedding gowns, accessories, venues, menus, photographers, planners, coordinators, photo booths, you name it!

How I decided to do this and when, is an interesting story :). A couple of days before the show, I went to the bank to open a business account. The lady who was helping me with it - Shelley - told me about the event and said I MUST participate in it, but maybe it was a little late for the January show. I said there was no way I could have products ready in just a couple of days. After I came home and told my husband about it, he too said that I absolutely must participate in the show and that he'd help me with it. So, I called up the event organizers and asked what the booth cost and if anything was available at all. Well, I got lucky! :) And that started my frenetic adventure of making something worthy of a Bridal Show that big! I had never participated in anything like that before and did not even know where to start. (That explains the bare look of my booth! No decor, nothing... just a solitary banner... LOL!)

I decided to do a bit of everything.... and did what I could. I did some petite bouquets, small table arrangements, bouts, hair pieces, and even a ring pillow. I burnt the midnight oil, so to say :), but eventually turned out enough stuff to fill the table that we were allotted.

The beginning was quite disappointing, but with the first person who came to our booth, the people started coming in...and we didn't even have time for a breather. They couldn't believe that the flowers weren't real. That was a real compliment to my work, especially since I had worked day and night to make that show happen. To everybody, except 2 persons, it was their introduction to DECO Clay. So now, if nothing else, at least a few thousand people know about the magical clay that gives the flowers the real feel! (There is a similar clay in the market - Hearty Clay - but the finish is no where close to DECO Clay) It was really a terrific experience talking to so many people about the flowers and the clay.

A lot of people just love my rose and peacock feathers bouquet. It's been a hit from the day I made it for a client of mine 2 years back. Even at the show, a lot of people even took pictures of it, to get it done in real flowers :). While that doesn't get me business, it does say something about my design :) :). That's not bad! :) I can live with it for now.... LOL!

On the second day, we had a lot of people who said, 'we've heard about your work from others at the show'. We were actually generating 'word-of-mouth' publicity. How cool is that! We heard a lot of things said about my flowers - 'That is the coolest thing', 'That is the smartest thing', 'That is the prettiest thing in the show' .... but I found one comment very entertaining. One guy said that my flowers were so good, they were seriously 'Bada**' :). I would never have thought to use that word for my flowers, LOL!, but it was so fun to hear that.

Towards the end of the show, we actually ran out of the postcards that we were handing out to people....wehad to resort to 'rationing' them on the second day!

I met a lot of cool people at the bridal show. More about them later.... but for now, I would like to thank some people who made this happen:

Shelley - from my bank :)

Ashley - a fellow etsian who designed my new logo on time on a very very short notice!

Rob at Impressive Imaging - Our local printers here in Maricopa. Rob helped me out so much with designing the postcards and the business cards in addition to printing everything!

Nayana and Arup - Nayana is my best friend from childhood. She helped me pick out the right logo design, when I was not sure which one to pick. Arup is her wonderful husband. They are like family to me, always encouraging me to move on with my little endeavors :).

Sarang - My husband, who always helps out with everything! He encouraged me to participate, he helped me finish the products, pack them, transport them. He was there by my side all the time at the show. Can't get any better than that!

I took in raffle entries for 2 hair pieces - a gardenia hair comb and a single gardenia hair flower. Now it is time for me to put it all on the computer and pick out some winners :).

PS: Sorry for the bad pics folks! Shall post better ones soon. These are from my iPhone

New Wedding Bouquet for an Army Wedding

2011-01-01T15:29:00.009-10:00

Happy New Year 2011! I hope you had/are having a great Holiday Season :). So, have you been wondering where I have been? :) I was finishing up this beautiful bouquet for a very special bride.

Not that other brides aren't special, but this one was for an active duty soldier. She and her husband are both in the armed forces. On my website www.keepsakeblossoms.com, I have mentioned about a special discount for members of the armed forces. (Considering what they do for us, the discount is nothing. But, I do what I can) Thais came through me through my website. I hadn't been very active on Etsy for a while and I am always surprised to know how my clients find me through my website.... since I haven't advertised at all :). So anyway, she found me and said that she wanted a bouquet with green, white and a little black. She also mentioned a wildflower-ish look, but also elegant. Once I knew what her style and her favourite flowers were, we decided on Peonies, Anemones and Ranunculus as the main flowers. For the smaller flowers we chose Stephanotis, Freesia, Hyacinth and Viburnum.

I think the bouquet turned out extremely pretty, even if I am the one who's saying so.... LOL! I fell so completely in love with it, that I am now creating similar-looking arrangements for our home (which incidentally doesn't have any of my work as part of the decor!)

I have some more interesting developments on the horizon and I shall share them with you, as they materialize. With your best wishes and encouragement, I am sure I shall succeed.

Thanks for reading! Keep coming back for more news, and more flowers :).

P.S.: I know my photos aren't all that great. Any tips on photographing the flowers, especially on creating a background would be really welcome.

My teacher Yukiko Miyai on the Martha Stewart Show

2010-12-09T17:36:00.004-10:00

Yesterday, my teacher Yukiko appeared as a guest on the Martha Stewart show to show Martha how to make a holiday decoration. Me and my fellow instructors were bummed because on the Martha Stewart website, Yukiko was just described as a crafter. She's not just a crafter. She is a Master, in the true sense of the world. Amazingly talented and a very patient and dedicated teacher as well. If she hadn't shown trust in me and been patient with me, I would never have been able to learn this totally wonderful art that enriches me...

Without further ado, here's Yukiko

.http://www.marthastewart.com/show/the-martha-stewart-show/holiday-recipes-and-crafts?video_id=588a797e53ebc210VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD

New Flower Arrangements

2010-11-29T10:43:00.006-10:00

I am back with two simple floral arrangements. The first one here is 3 gerbera daisies put together casually in a bottle-vase. I started buying these vases more than 2 years ago, but I realized I hadn't been using them at all. I was making formal arrangements mostly, but I personally love just a few flowers thrown together. So, I thought I'd put the vases to use :). Here's an example. Let me know how I've done :).

The Gerberas are beautiful, grand flowers by themselves. These ones have anywhere between 45-60 petals individually worked on. And then you have the center and even the smaller petals :). It is a lot of work, but the end result is quite satisfying I am sure you'd agree.

This second arrangement with Peonies, Roses and Stephanotis. I made one of these for my cousin's family in California and they loved it :). So, I made one more and listed it on ETSY.

These are the flowers that I get the most requested for. Everyone seems to love peonies and roses! This is the new style of peony that I learnt from my friend and teacher Betty, as a part of the CIII course. Doesn't it look really fragile and pretty? And the roses, well.... Roses and Me, Me and Roses! I just love them myself and had taken upon myself to perfect it. Can't compete with nature, and I don't want to brag, but I am really happy with the roses I make now....

Alrighty, I have some very challenging projects to work on right now. Back to those now :). Shall post more photos as I progress.

This is a brother that I have always looked up to. So when he said that he liked my flowers and wanted some, I just HAD to make some.

KeepsakeBlossoms is now registered in Arizona

2010-10-26T15:02:00.005-10:00

Dear Readers,

I hope you haven't forgotten me. My last posting was so so long ago. I was utterly busy and tied up doing a zillion things. But I have so much to share with you, now that I am back! We have now moved to Arizona and I have been finally able to register my business here. I am very excited about our move. It means that we get to live in our own home, which we have been working on for the past year. Little by little, we furnished it, everytime we came visiting from San Juan. After our move this time, we painted it.... keeping in mind our 'eclectic' (At least I like to think it is eclectic. LOL!) taste and varied interests. We also got our carpet changed after the builder-installed basic carpet had nails poking at us! We bought a real TV :) (our previous one was a darling Magnavox that we bought for 50 bucks 4 years ago.) And right now, we are having our landscaping installed.
I also attended a film festival and watched tons of movies that I had been wanting to watch for the longest time. (Movies are my stress busters :) )
Flower-wise, I made a couple of trips to Betty in Atlanta, who taught me some CIII projects. Then I had a lot of wedding orders to work on. I had to stop taking orders for a while when our move to Arizona finalized. But here are some photos from my latest wedding project:
Blush pink anemones and ivory peonies, along with antique green hydrangea for the bridal bouquet.
Ivory rose buds and hydrangea for the bouts.

The final finished bouquet :).
Because of my self-imposed exile, I had time to work on some flowers that I had been wanting to perfect. I shall post some photos soon. I hope you'll like them.

Been a long time....

2010-03-05T16:13:00.006-10:00

Once again, I have been guilty of not writing much on the blog. But I have been working :). And thinking.... we (my husband and I) might be ready to take a few big decisions now. I shall keep you updated.
What I have been doing lately? Lots! In addition to working on flowers, I have been reading a LOT, watching movies a LOT and listening to music a LOT. Those are my three passions and I can't do without them. If you want any recommendations, feel free to write in :). By the way, those of you who haven't seen the movie "Invictus" - GO WATCH IT! It is wonderful.... very moving and very inspiring.
Okay, back to flowers.... Taking a break from wedding orders, I made some pieces for a friend. Here are some photos. (I shall post more soon)

Meanwhile, I just wanted to let you know.... there are a few causes that I have been supporting for sometime now. They are very close to me. You will find links to them, to the left of this write-up. Please check out the organizations. They are doing some great work!

The first of the organizations is "Women for Women". I am an avid reader and I particularly like autobiographies. One of the most stunning lives I read about was that of Zainab Salbi. She stayed with me through the years as a guiding spirit.... and I promised myself that when I start earning, I shall associate myself with the organization she started. I can tell you lots about her and Women for Women Internation, but it would be even better if you can read her books and/or look up www.womenforwomen.org . This organization supports women survivors of war.

Smile Train is an organization I came to know about, when "Smile Pinki" was nominated (and eventually went on to win) for the Oscars in the best documentary category. Smile Train focuses solely on the problem of cleft lips and palate. It is a huge problem in developing countries, where the poor can't afford the simple 45 minute surgery, costing just $250. www.smiletrain.org is the website that gives you more information about this.

Water.org is the third and the newest organization that I have committed myself to. Some days back, I came across an interview of Matt Damon - who happens to be one of my favourite actors. He was speaking about this non-profit that he started with a gentleman named Gary White. The organization works to facilitate safe and accessible drinking water to people in developing countries. I grew up in India, where safe and accessible drinking water is still a HUGE problem. I still remember the summers when we as kids used to haul up gallons and gallons of drinking water, delivered by govt. tankers, up the staircase of our apartment building. And this was in a city! Imagine what people in villages go through. Sometimes, they have to travel miles and miles for drinking water. And even then, it might not be potable. This is what water.org is working on and I don't have words to express how much I appreciate their work. I hope you will check out the link and involve yourself in whatever way possible.
There are so many people out there who are less fortunate than we are. Let us put forward a helping hand, so the world might become a better place....

Wedding Photos - Hair Piece

2010-02-11T05:54:00.005-10:00

I am guilty of not having posted this earlier. I got these photos months back. Somehow, I totally forgot to show them to you. I made these flowers for Veronica's veil.... She wanted a long-ish cluster of phalaenopsis orchids, with some pearls in it, to give it some movement. Also, her husband's bout is a clay phalaenopsis made by me :).
My finger is still healing and I realized, that not just did I manage to rip a thumbnail off, I also hurt my other fingers of my left hand (and that makes all the difference, because I am left-handed!). So, working is really, literally... a pain :(. So is typing on the laptop.
I shall therefore, leave you now, with these photos. Hopefully, I shall be back on the blog soon, because despite the injury, I have been working and have some cute arrangements to show you :).

My CIII Course

2010-02-05T11:53:00.005-10:00

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

2010-01-17T17:28:00.011-10:00

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....

2010-01-12T11:20:00.006-10:00

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!

2010-01-06T06:31:00.012-10:00

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

2009-11-18T13:09:00.007-10:00

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

2009-10-22T15:25:00.005-10:00

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 :)

2009-10-19T02:44:00.010-10:00

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

The look's changed :)

2009-10-01T05:02:00.006-10:00

I have been working on a new business identity for quite some time now... and though I like my pinks and reds :), I decided to go in for a simpler look. So here's my new logo, inspired by the photos of the bouquet that my friend Amanda took for me for the magazine photo shoot. I like the simplicity of it, and the vibrancy.

My website is also up now. It has a much better collection of photos, thanks to all the brides and the photographers for sharing them with me. You'll soon see the look being replicated on my blog and other places.... I also have to work on a couple more pages on my website, that show up as 'under construction' right now.

Please take a look at my new website and send me your feedback. I am not an expert on websites, so there are still hitches. There are some that I know, and I am working on. But there might be others, that have missed my eyes. Please know that I am counting on you!
Thank you all for your support..... I couldn't have come this far, without your help.

Cover photo on 'Veils and Vows'

2009-09-15T13:31:00.011-10:00

I had been dying to share this with you.... and its finally here :). Please go through the pages 9, 18, 28, 29, 30, 44 of the 'Veils and Vows' magazine.

This is all thanks to my friend, Amanda, of Amanda Fales Photography. I am sure most of you have been to her website and experienced her mindblowing talent. Those of you who haven't, are seriously missing something. Veils and Vows - an Indiana based Wedding periodical, did this Big Dream Makeover for a lucky bride-to-be. Amanda, who works for the magazine asked me if I would make a fall colored bouquet for the Makeover. Of course, I said yes! :). The bouquet has orange roses, white peonies, monkeytail ferns, stephanotis and some berries and foliage. I loved the photos so much, that my new website pretty much revolves around them :). This is my first magazine mention and I am super excited :).
Betty and I were away the whole day, shopping and sight-seeing..... when I logged on to my facebook, after I came back home, I found that the magazine had been published :). I was happy as it is, and then I even saw the ad that was put in there for me :). That was a big surprise!So, do let me know how you like the feature, the photos and my flowers .... :).

P.S.: All photos are courtesy Amanda Fales Photography

Disney Tiki House themed Tropical Flower Bouquet

2009-09-11T15:27:00.005-10:00

I am pretty sleepy :), but I realized that I hadn't posted for quite some time. So, here's some eye candy, although, it still needs a wrap. What wrap do you think would look good on this? Do send in your comments.....My DECO Clay friend Betty Phillips is here with us, to spend 10 days in beautiful Puerto Rico. So, along with flower making, we are also going to give her a tour of the Isla del Encanto - the Enchanted Island. Today, we went out for dinner to Frida's - a great Mexican restaurant and I had grilled chicken with Mango Salsa.... I never thought it could taste that great! And of course, we had Guacamole :) - the absolute best I have ever had.
Tomorrow, we will probably drive to El Yunque, the rainforest here.... it's beautiful! Anyway, I have to sign off now, but do let me know how you like this bouquet. It has red and yellow hibiscus (Yellow Hibiscus is Hawaii's state flower), Plumeria, Green Cymbidiums, Yellow smaller orchids, green roses, tuberose and tuberose buds - that's a lot of flowers there :). This bride is getting married on the beautiful island of Oahu (my Oahu .... how I miss it!). Lucky girl! :) I am going to put up more pictures of this bouquet, once the wrap is on. Okay, really have to sign off now.... I am dozing off.... Buenos Noches ....

Red Rose Vintage Glam Bouquet

2009-09-01T15:47:00.002-10:00

So here is the other red rose bouquet that I was talking about and was really excited about. The wedding colors are red, black and ivory and I have tried to incorporate all the three colors here.
There are red roses, pearl loops and ostrich feathers, surrounding the flowers. The bouquet handle is wrapped in an ivory ribbon first and then is overlaid with vintage - looking lace (which took some effort to find) and finally secured with ivory pearl pins :).
This is one bouquet that I didn't have to think much about... because the moment the bride explained her wedding look to me, I just knew that it had to be this design.... I think it looks quite glam. Let me know what you think.

What I have been up to

2009-09-01T15:25:00.004-10:00

The last week was quite eventful.... I drove on the streets of San Juan :). For those who are thinking why I am so excited, its because I just got my driver's licence, a few weeks back.

Also, we saw the film, "Inglourious Basterds", not once, but twice :). Loved it! I shut my eyes during the gory scenes, but the film is brilliant. I must mention that I didn't particularly like Brad Pitt, but I am a fan now :). But, the actor who plays the evil guy - Christoph Waltz, beats Pitt hands down. He is marvellous in the movie. Go check out the film and if you are like me, just shut your eyes close, when you think a gory scene is around the corner :).

Also, there is this book that I have been reading for the past two weeks: The Lost - A search for 6 of 6 million, by Daniel Mendelsohn. It is very emotionally draining, although it is not the first Holocaust-based book that I am reading (I started when I was 13 or 14, with
'The Diary of Anne Frank'). I always wondered why I have always felt a deep connection with the victims of the Holocaust. I think I have found my answer today, thanks to Daniel Mendelsohn. Like him, I want to know more about my ancestors, who had to leave behind the land of their birth and start afresh. Like him, I lost at least one member of my family in a similar scenario. And I have no idea if there were more, whom I don't know of. And I often think of them..... I often think what my grandparents and their families.... witnessed during the years of madness, that preceded and followed India's freedom from British rule. The stories I have heard, and the things I have seen myself, several decades later, only make me want to go back and find out more. Huh! Hate is such a powerful emotion.... so destructive! Anyway.... this paragraph was about 'The Lost'..... a book I highly recommend! The only thing is, the author digresses a lot and writes in long winded sentences - both of which make the content difficult to grasp. But once you learn to work around that, there is a lot you will learn from the book - about the author's lost family, the world at that time and I think, even yourself.

Real Wedding Photos - Cake Topper

2009-08-24T05:34:00.003-10:00

Mariette commissioned me to do her cake topper. I still remember myself sipping on a Java Chip Frappuccino at the Starbucks near Walmart, in Honolulu, when my Blackberry beeped with her message :). She wanted purplish roses, Sahara roses, lilacs and other flowers that she already had in her bouquet - for her cake topper.
In the course of time Mariette told me that she was having her wedding at the Grand Hotel in Mackinac Island, Michigan. The description she gave me of the place, made me want to go there rightaway. It seems like a dream place to get married at.
Mariette sent me these photos, without me having to even request for them. I am so happy to be sharing these with you. The cake was designed by Mariette's daughter. Didn't she do a wonderful job of it?
Another cool thing that I just got to know was.... Grand Hotel was rated as one of the 40 best places to stay in, by the Sky Magazine published by Delta Airlines. So, is the gorgeous Prestonfield in Edinburgh, Scotland where Nella got married. :).

Blogging from the Sky :)

2009-08-07T03:47:00.004-10:00

Hello! I am on my way to Phoenix for a few weeks. Am carrying all the stuff I need to make my flowers with me :). I hate flying and I figured the internet would keep my mind off it :). So, here I am....
Oh! Turbulence again! :(. We are flying over Florida now, and then, once I reach Atlanta, there's a layover of 3 hours! Anyone has any interesting ideas to kill 3 hours at the ATL airport? Let me know :).
A little bit of an eye-candy for you bothering to read my incoherent nonsense today :).

This a centerpiece I made for my friend Eve for her wedding in late June. It has roses and peonies (I love those flowers!) and is about 16 inches in diameter. I didn't get time to write a post on Eve's wedding, but, I shall do that soon. Till then, stay in touch and let me know how you like this photo.

Red Bouquets

2009-07-31T02:21:00.005-10:00

Red seems the color of the season :). I have already made two all-red bouquets and the third one is on the verge of completion.
The first one is a very traditional, simple all-red, all-rose bouquet, finished off with dark green leaves at the bottom. I love the simplicity and elegance of it. I know red roses are cliched, but I LOVE red roses. And I hadn't ever made a red rose bouquet and I was dying to! And now, I am making another one :). But that one's going to be very different, although the flowers are exactly the same. Can't wait to finish it!

Then, there is this all-red anemone bouquet. I never knew this would turn out so pretty! :). I wish I knew how to take better pictures, because these bouquets definitely deserved better pictures. I hope the brides send me some photos from their wedding so I can share them with you. This bouquet traveled all the way to Ireland and made it there in good shape. Not that I had any doubt it would... LOL, but sometimes even I am surprised by how strong these delicate-looking flowers are. This anemone bouquet was mailed with a matching bout.
Donna contacted me to make a bouquet for her, with about 45 days to go for her wedding. Not that I had time on my hands, but I love taking up last moment challenges :). The initial idea was to go for a wildflower bouquet. I had almost completed the bouquet when she saw an anemone bouquet and couldn't get it off her mind. She asked me if I could make that for her instead. It was very difficult to say yes, especially because I had almost made all the flowers for the wildflower bouquet. But, truth be told, even I was smitten by the anemone bouquet :) and HAD to do it. And then, I figured, I can always use the wild flowers for an arrangement or something :). That is how this bouquet was born :). Oh! And I figured out this cool way of making the petals! So, this bouquet was rewarding in a lot of different ways.

Dagney and Michael's Wedding

2009-06-16T03:12:00.006-10:00

I am sorry for the long absence. A lot had been going on in our lives...... that's taken care of now (hopefully) and I am ready to start posting again.This is one wedding that I have been thinking of writing about for quite sometime now. It fascinated me! I haven't contributed much to Dagney and Michael's wedding, just the hair piece (My Gardenia and stephanotis hair comb). But the theme, the coordination, the photography and the person.... Dagney, are the real reason behind this post.Dagney contacted me when we were going through a very bad phase. Sarang's project was hanging in balance. We didn't know whether we were moving to Puerto Rico/Arizona, or staying in Hawaii. Also, it was an exciting time.... my niece was born. Either way, it was a confusing, chaotic phase for us and I missed out on the email Dagney sent to me via my website. However, she found me again through ETSY and ordered the comb off my store. By the time I got her order, we knew we were moving. She was very understanding about it and shared her own story of moving away from HI. Dagney is one of the nicest people that I ever worked with!Dagney Pitts and Michael Stone got married in this AMAZING ceremony, in which everything symbolized the background that they came from. The wedding was in Trumbull, CT and the reception was in a hangar in Oxford, CT. There is a lot more written, much more beautifully in the photographers' blog here. Do check Robert and Kathleen's beautiful work here. Not that they need any endorsement from me! :) This particular wedding that they shot has been featured in Style Me Pretty.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. Now that I am BACK :), you can expect to see a lot many pictures soon..... keep reading :).

Update on my niece :)

2009-06-08T03:28:00.005-10:00

My niece Purvi is 2 and a half months old now :). And I think she looks like an angel. Here's a photo of hers that I wanted to share with you.

A special Gardenia Comb

2009-06-06T12:35:00.004-10:00

I have always wanted to make a gardenia comb with both pearls and crystals :). Finally, I did! Usually, I list this comb as a customized item. But this one is special and is available on my ETSY store as of now.
I have been guilty of not listing any new items on ETSY for the longest time :), but hopefully - beginning with this comb, I shall start again.This comb is 5 inches in length, is studded with pearls and Swarovski rhinestones and has 3 gardenias in full bloom (the other ones have one half-open and two full-bloom gardenias) and lots more stephanotises than the regular comb. It also has these cute rhinestone branches giving it more movement and character. In short, I absolutely love it!
Let me know what you think about this comb..... I would love to hear from you, as always....

Real Wedding Pictures - Ivory Roses with Peacock Feathers Bouquet

2009-05-21T16:09:00.007-10:00

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

2009-05-13T14:55:00.006-10:00

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 :)

2009-05-07T15:44:00.005-10:00

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

2009-05-01T21:21:00.005-10:00

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.....

Finished another Wedding Order :)

2009-04-15T11:40:00.004-10:00

Everytime I complete a Wedding Order, there is a relief of having finished things well and on time. But more than that, there is an excitement of what the bride will say once she sees the flowers herself :). Seeing them in photos is one thing. Seeing them in reality is quite another :). And I always wait eagerly for their comments....every little word of appreciation gives me a BIG (no... HUGE) smile :).Anyway... these flowers are for the bride that I made the Pink Peony and Rose Bouquet that I had blogged about earlier. Once she received the Bridal Bouquet, she ordered two bridesmaids' bouquets, 3 Bouts and a Peony Hair Flower.The Bridesmaids' Flowers match with the Bridal Bouquet, but they don't have the peonies. They have roses in different hues of pink, along with pearl-studded stephanotis flowers. Also, I haven't added any green to these bouquets. Even the wrap is a little different from the bridal bouquet. Despite all these differences, these two bouquets tie in beautifully with the Bridal Bouquet.
I always wanted to do a 'PINK' wedding and this bride of mine made my wish come true :). Not just that, she also referred a friend to me :). So, now, I'll probably be doing her flowers as well. I am excited and absolutely grateful for every little business that comes my way. Thank you very much for supporting and encouraging me!! It means the world to me :). Thank You!

Wedding Links on my blog

2009-04-15T11:32:00.004-10:00

I have decided to give a mention to wedding vendors/bloggers that I have loved interacting/working with, on my blog. Please send in your entries, to me at keepsakeblossoms@gmail.com

Please let me know what your areas of interest are. If you have a website and/or blog, please let me know and I shall take a look before I make my final decision. Only 5 entries will be picked for mention at this time. I shall then get in touch with you personally for more details.

Some glorious photos!

2009-04-11T09:40:00.014-10:00

Way back in January, when I was really really sick, I made a Haku Lei. I had blogged about it then. But I hadn't been able to take good pictures because I was feeling weak. The haku, if you remember for a child's Holy Communion. My client, the child's mother, sent me back these pictures. I love how the haku looks, but I couldn't take my eyes off the child. She looks angelic. Such a pretty girl!
The haku hasn't been worn the traditional Hawaiian way (across the forehead), but I'd say it looks no less pretty, thanks to the sweet child and my friend and senior colleague - Chenli. Without Chenli's help, I couldn't have finished this lei. Here's the feedback I received from my client: "Deb...I received the Haku Lei today and I am stunned by how beautiful it is. The work is amazing...Literally breathtaking ! You are incredibly talented and caring person. I will treasure forever... ". Chenli, this is for you too!

This haku lei has more than a 150 flowers and also some great fillers. These special fillers, that I always buy from the DECO Clay Craft Academy are flown in all the way from Japan. In my job, if the fillers aren't good, they can spoil the entire effort. So, I have to make sure that I get the very best. These fillers are pretty expensive, but quite worth their price. I haven't found better fillers anywhere else and I always prefer buying my fillers from the academy because they look so real!

The second set of photos is from another client of mine, Amanda. Amanda is a wedding photographer. You can check out her stupendous work here at Amanda Fales Photography. She also writes a blog pretty regularly.
Like I had written yesterday, one area that definitely needs improvement is my photography :). So, in stepped Amanda to photograph my gardenia hair flower. Not just that, she also modelled it, so it looks doubly gorgeous! I love the sepia effect (?).
The wafer thin petals of the gardenia can be very tricky to photograph. Neither me nor Sarang had been successful in clicking a photo that we were really happy with. But now, we are very happy. And also, quite relieved :). Thanks Amanda!
Okay, so that was a pretty long post. But I do hope you enjoyed reading it..... and I hope you loved the photos. Do let me know, so I can strive to be better.

A New Comb

2009-04-10T09:35:00.006-10:00

Sorry for venting out yesterday. I have now removed that post.... If its there, I might keep looking at it and feel sad again. But THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT. It is kind of hard for me to take a break right now.... but I promise to do that very soon.... and yes, I don't think I am going to give up. Like so many of you wrote to me yesterday, the best part of my job is to be part of the most special day for a woman and to make her happy. It is really a blessing to be able to make people happy in this way..... and I don't think I should give up. Thank you! Yesterday was so terrible for me and I am so grateful that I had so many people stand by me. Though I have removed yesterday's post, I have all your comments with me and shall keep looking at them whenever I need words of encouragement. Thank you very much!
Back to work now :).
A few weeks back, a client of mine came to me with a custom order. There was this special kind of orchid that she liked. She wanted me to replicate it for her and make a hairpiece .... one of my combs :). Going by the popularity of my combs, I think I should make more of those, in different designs, colors and using different flowers.
So here's what it looked like -
And here's what my customer had to say about this comb:"Deb,
I love the comb, it's exactly what I wanted. Can't wait to wear it on the big day. The pictures don't do it justice, you are truly gifted.
Thanks for the sweet note and for working with me on this custom piece."
Isn't that wonderful? One thing I am still lagging in, is photographs.... How do I take good photographs? :( I wish I could do a course somewhere! In my next post, I shall be writing about a photographer client of mine who sent me photos of my gardenia flower and shows it in an entirely different light :). I never knew that my gardenia could look so beautiful :).

Book Review - Bouquet Chic by Kimberly Aurora Kapur

2009-04-01T07:56:00.008-10:00

Ever since I started my business, I began picking up wedding flower books every time I could afford to. They give me inspiration to create new things and allow me to give my clients more ideas to consider. Also, when my clients are in doubt, I show them pictures and ask them to shortlist, so I can read their minds and create their dream bouquet for their dream wedding.

Of all the books that I have bought in the past one year, one of the most influential has been Kimberly Aurora Kapur's 'Bouquet Chic'. A bridal bouquet is a bride's personal style statement. As a florist, if you get the bridal bouquet right, everything else just falls into place. It is here that this book comes in very handy. Kimberly not just talks about the significance of colors in a wedding and how they tie in with the persona of the bride, but also provides several examples of different styles like 'Vintage', 'Classic', 'Glam'. Reading through the book and looking at the accompanying pictures, makes it easy for the reader to associate with what the author is explaining. There are more than a hundred and fifty lovely designs and that is a lot of choice!

Another cool thing about this book is that there are a number of cute wraps shown. Kimberly also shows us HOW to actually do those wraps.

This one's a great reference book for floral designers and also DIY brides. So, do remember to take a look. Its available in a lot of public libraries around the country. And if you want a copy for yourself, its available at all the bookstores and also online. Trust me (and you know you can), it is a great asset to have!
Keep checking this space. I shall be writing more about this talented floral designer soon....

Meet the pretty new addition to our family :)

2009-03-19T17:15:00.002-10:00

Bridal Bouquet - Pretty as a Peacock

2009-03-18T09:51:00.005-10:00

Okay, I grant you, that the name is as unimaginative as it can get. But, I never claimed to be a naming expert.... LOL! :) So, I can be forgiven for the name..... But here's my new bridal bouquet. The bride wanted ivory roses and stephanotis to go with a peacock theme. Here's what I came up with.

There are bursts of peacock feathers in between the flowers. Also, the bouquet is lined with peacock-eye feathers on the outside. The stephanotis flowers have teal and brown crystals to match the colors of the feathers. The finishing touch is the green/blue ribbon with brown sheer ribbon criss-crossing it, and ivory pearl pins go down the length of the handle.

Let me know how you like this bouquet. Also, please send me some imaginative names for this bouquet :).

My pink peony and rose bouquet again :)

2009-03-04T18:44:00.006-10:00

Yes, I really can't get enough of it :). I just love this one. So, after I wrapped the handle, I took some more pictures of it, just before shipping it out. The earlier pictures were in evening light and had a lot of flash-effect. These ones show the true colors :).

So, let me know how you like these new set of photos :).

I have been featured - "My Handmade Registry"

2009-03-04T11:33:00.005-10:00

A few minutes back I received an email from myhandmaderegistry.com . The name explains itself :). A bride can get beautiful handmade and often custom-made registry items for her big day from this website.As for the email, it said that one of my ETSY listings - the custom made bridal bouquet - has been featured in the 'Flowers' section under their "my $5K HANDMADE WEDDING GROUP". So, do take a look. I have tried working with the image, but it always turned out too small. So, I tweaked my bouquet image to look larger at least :). I hope it works :).

That is all I have time for, right now. I really have to rush.... Will be back soon.

Wedding Photos of my Valentine Bride

2009-03-03T09:06:00.007-10:00

Here are some photos from my Valentine Bride - Anitra's wedding. The photographer Tim Wong of Timecut Photography did a fabulous job. The colors of Anitra's bouquet are difficult to capture - especially in bright sunshine. But they came out so well. This kind of photo in black and white with only the bouquet's colors showing, is really IN. And I think I know why! :) They are so striking. The wedding bouquet is such a special part of any wedding and it definitely deserves a special photograph. It is always a pleasure to share wedding photos with my readers. The flowers - by themselves are beautiful. But in the wedding setting, they look much more lovely and so real :). Even though I make the flowers myself, I sometimes have difficulty believing it ... LOL!

Courtesy: Timecut Photography

It is interesting how more and more brides are exploring alternatives for the traditional fresh-flower bouquets and other wedding flowers. The clay flowers are about as close as you can get to the real thing! Silk flowers are nice too, but clay flowers can be customized to meet the bride's theme and they are unique, handcrafted, one-of-a-kind works of art. And I truly love making them - each and every one of them :).
Here's wishing Anitra and David lifelong marital bliss.....

New Bridal Bouquet

2009-02-28T14:21:00.005-10:00

This week has gone by in a jiffy :). I did not even know where it went :). I taught 17, yes 17 students in a demo session that DECO Clay holds every Tuesday at the Waikiki Mariott Hotel. My friend and senior colleague Chen-Li usually does it. But since she was busy that day, the academy asked if I could step in. I did, because I thought it would be fun and a great learning experience. I had students ranging from 3 years to ladies in their 70s. I learnt a lot, and had a lot of fun.... Also, my respect for Chen-Li and Yukiko went up manyfold :).
Then yesterday, I went to give Aya of DECO Clay Craft Academy a hand at the Girls' Day Craft Fair that's being held at Shirokiya (Ala Moana Shopping Center). If you are around, do come and take a look. There are many pretty finished products for sale, by some of our senior-most instructors (who do great work!). We are also doing demo sessions there. The schedule can be had from the DECO Clay C raft Academy.

This week I also finished one of my bridal bouquets. So, here are some pics. My client's colors were dark pink, light pink and some white. She initially wanted to go for roses and pearl studded /or crystal studded stephanotis. I showed her some samples and she decided to go with the pearl studded stephanotis. Also, she decided she wanted some peonies as well. So, this is what I came up with. I also decided to add some greens.
This client of mine contacted me via weddingbee.com . She is not new to DECO Clay Flowers. She had seen them at her cousin's wedding in Hawaii. And guess what? She loves her bouquet :). So, what do you think about it ? :)
PS: I totally forgot to mention..... about Cherrie's contribution to this bouquet. I usually make Peonies with green and white centers. But Cherrie told me to try golden yellow centers. That is what I have tried in this creation of mine.

Gardenia Hair Piece

2009-02-18T18:31:00.005-10:00

When one of my ETSY clients received the Gardenia Hair comb she bought, she realized that a comb was not she was looking for. She somehow thought she was buying a hair piece on an alligator clip and bought the comb by mistake. When she received the hair piece, she told me about her dilemma. When I said I'd take back the comb happily and send her a refund, she said she loved the way the comb looked. Only if I could do a similar cluster of flowers on an alligator clip. So, this is what I came up with.

I liked the way it turned out but thought that it was a little too big. So although my client loved it and told me to send it over to her, I ran it by my trusted senior colleague - ChenLi - today. When she told me that it was the perfect size and showed me how it looked on her hair, I realized she was right. So, this beautiful piece will be on its way tomorrow :).

I had loads of fun today! I attended a Tropical Flowers class by ChenLi at the academy, along with Corrine and Bob. I made a yellow Cattleya that I had been seeing at the farmers' market we visit. I also made an Anthurium and a pretty pink Plumeria and helped Bob make his Hawaiian Red Ginger flower since we were running out of time. I also showed Yukiko my white and green arrangement. She liked it too :). So, it was a fun time at the academy today! Not a dull moment with DECO Clay around :).

Peony and Rose arrangement in white and green

2009-02-17T10:28:00.004-10:00

A few posts back I had written about how I am doing a peony arrangement in white and green. Well, here it is. This is for a custom order. I have added white roses and lots of foliage. The green tendrils add movement and height to the arrangement.
I have always loved white and green arrangement, but never had the opportunity to do one. Well, now I have :). So, let me know how you like it.

A Gift for a friend and a friend's creations....

2009-02-15T08:51:00.006-10:00

The first part of the post is about a gift I made for my friend Maxine. Maxine was having a party and I was at a loss as to what to give her as a gift. I could carry a wine bottle.... but since I don't drink, I can't even differentiate a good wine from a bad one :). The best thing to do would be to give her one of my arrangements that she so loves :). So, that is exactly what I did. I created an arrangement for her just hours before we went to the party :). She loved it.
Yesterday, Sarang and I went to my friend and colleague Cherrie's house to take a look at some dolls she had made using the techniques that Kazuko Miyai showed us. Now, the rest of us, were content to do basic dolls with basic dresses :)- which was no mean achievement, trust me! :). But Cherrie is a an award winning dress designer. She makes beautiful flowers too, but I really really flip for her figurines and the dresses she puts on them :). Gorgeous, just gorgeous! And such amazing detail. I have to get better photographs, but here's what I have right now. So do let me know how you like Cherrie's work.

Llyons Arboretum

2009-02-14T20:13:00.003-10:00

On this Valentine's Day, we decided to do something very different. We visited the Llyons Arboretum here in Manoa, Hawaii.

We were amazed at the variety of plants there and the vibrant colors of the flora. I have put a slideshow of some pictures we took, for you all to enjoy. Happy Valentine's Day!

Peony Arrangement - Reloaded!

2009-02-11T23:16:00.004-10:00

This is an arrangement that has sold like hot cakes. It started out as a custom order, but so many people liked it that I listed it again on ETSY. This arrangement can be customized to a client's choice of colors. I wanted to share these pictures of my latest sale with you, because I think they have come out pretty nicely. I love the mint julep cup and think it adds a ton of elegance to any floral design.This is the first time I have been able to take decent pictures of this style of arrangement. I love the pictures and also the way the arrangement has shaped up. In fact, I am working on a similar wedding bouquet too. When its ready, I shall share it with you.Also in the works is a larger arrangement in a mint julep cup, with white peonies, green roses and lots of foliage and berries. This is the first time I am working on a white and green creation and I love the look of it. I can't wait for the peonies to dry up, so I can start putting the flowers together! :)

Meanwhile, I also attended a tropical flower class with the lovely Chenli today at the DECO Clay Craft Academy. It was SO MUCH FUN, re-doing flowers with Chenli ! The thing that strikes you first about Chenli is her resounding laugh :). It can bring cheer to the cloudiest of days :). But make no mistake - she is one hard taskmaster. She will keep correcting you till you get every petal, every texture, every shade right. And that is what I love about her! Am really looking forward to more classes from her and Yukiko - they are just pure joy, the joy that comes from creating something beautiful.

Valentine Bride order completed

2009-02-01T17:38:00.003-10:00

Here are some picture of my Valentine Bride's completed order. There is one bridal bouquet, 4 bridesmaids' bouquets, one Maid of Honor's bouquet, 6 boutonnieres, 2 corsages and 1 flower for the flower girl to hold.
Guess which was the toughest to make? :) The flower girl's flower. I needed something that would hold her attention, since she's just 2 and a half years old :). So, I came up with a single flower, embellished it with pearl sprays and leaves and finished it off with a ribbon. I hope at least one of those things will keep her interested enough in the flower, so as to not throw it away till the ceremony is over :). But with children, you never know :).

The maid of honor bouquet is a little different from the bridesmaids' bouquets. It has hydrangeas instead of orchids.

Over the months, Anitra - the bride - has become more of a friend than a client and its been such a pleasure working on her flowers. I now hope that she likes the flowers in person, as much as she likes them in photos. Here's wishing Anitra and David a blissful married life......

My new website

2009-01-28T09:28:00.004-10:00

Sarang and I have been struggling with our website for months. We want to re-do it completely, but at the same time, none of us knew how to achieve what we wanted. We did the the current and the previous websites all by ourselves, but this time we wanted something glam, chic and very me :). The re-do was also a necessity, because most of the flowers in the gallery were pictures of my student work, rather than my professional work. So, it was really important that we had something that showed people what I do NOW, rather than when I started playing with clay :). Also, this is the final stage of the branding exercise that I have been doing for the past several months, very successfully. A lot of people asked me why I haven't put pictures of my creations on my business cards, banners, letterheads, stickers, etc. The trouble is, that everytime I put something, I realized I created something that I liked better. Also, I don't want to keep changing my logo, my colors, etc. - something I learnt in my MBA. For those who don't know, yes I have an MBA degree with specialization in Marketing. Before coming to the US, I worked in the marketing department of several organizations.... my last two focussed on advertising and branding... alright, enough of my bragging! We've digressed from the main topic already :). So anyway, the thing I wanted to say is, I wanted is..... I think its better for me to use an image that is not my work, but in some way represents it.
When Brandy designed my Business Identity for me, I found what I wanted with regards to that. I love the flowing flowers in the designs... The same concept is carried on in the new website too. But, instead of doing it up in white.... (I know what you are thinking.... "There she goes"), we have done it up red (-ish) and pink. The colors are very romantic, the designing very chic and elegant. Most of all, it is simple. And the creator of this template is the lovely Joy - a fellow etsian who is the owner of boxedmemories. I am really amazed by the talent on ETSY. So much so, I have stopped purchasing a lot of things from regular stores. Joy was a great pleasure to work with. She was SO patient (I don't exactly have an idea of what I want, but once I see a finished product in front of me, I definitely know what I don't want.... that can be hard to work with) and creative. I plan to go back to her soon, as and when I start working on my image pages.
Do let me know how you like the new look. Am looking forward to some serious feedback :).

Haku Lei - Quite an accomplishment! :)

2009-01-26T17:56:00.009-10:00

If you haven't seen me in blog world for a while, its only because I have been sick :(. I caught a cold from my husband and really didn't want to pass it on to my clients while working on their flowers while I was sick. I am better since yesterday, so I worked on this amazing product - Haku Lei.
I was contacted by this lady from Texas who wanted a headpiece for her daughter's holy communion. And after discussions, we settled on the Haku Lei :). I am not quite fond of making tiny flowers :). They are a lot of work. And for Hakus, you have to make lots and lots of tiny flowers. There are two shades of pink roses, stephanotis, stephanotis buds and tiny little green buds too. Plus, there are lots of pretty fillers, all of which (as also the flowers) had to be individually attached to stems and wrapped... But the final result is just WOW!
I must mention here, that I cannot take all the credit for this beautiful creation. My fellow instructor Chenli helped me a LOT with this, since I hadn't completed a Haku before and I wanted to make sure that I didn't make any mistakes . I had started one, but just got overhwhelmed by the work it required and that haku was half the size of this one! LOL!
I just love what I have accomplished with this one :). Let me know what you think..... As always, that is something I totally look forward to. The pictures aren't nice, since its already evening here. I shall try to post better pictures tomorrow. The actual finished product is so much more beautiful.

Bridal Hair Comb

2009-01-20T17:21:00.003-10:00

Ever since I launched my Signature Hair Comb (doesn't that sound posh? LOL!) a few months back, it surprised me by becoming my star seller.
When one of my clients requested a similar comb in ivory, with a little bling, this is what I came up with :). It is pretty much the same comb, with gardenias, stephanotis and pikake (jasmine) buds and pearls. But I have added more pearls to this one and also crystals in the form of rhinestones and the crystals on wire, that are sticking out. I really love the way it looks! Let me know what you think about it.

Calla Lily Bouquet - Final Look

2009-01-16T17:15:00.007-10:00

This is how the calla lily bouquet finally looks. I was very apprehensive about the wrap, since I couldn't find a matching ribbon ANYWHERE and I really did look everywhere here :). That is when my friend Eve stepped in and stitched a wrap for me out of the swatch my client had sent me. I then secured it with the pearl pins and embellished it with a platinum organza ribbon and pearl pins.
I think this bouquet looks very natural and elegant. :) Yes, that's a rare thing, me talking nice about my own creations. But I really love the work I have been doing. So much heart goes into it, that my creation truly has a stamp of my own now :). Not bad, considering that I have been only doing this for 6 months now :) (selling my creations, I mean).
Anyway, do let me know how you like this one.

New York Bride's Bouquet ready!

2009-01-16T13:41:00.004-10:00

These are pictures of two of the 6 bouquets for my New York bride's wedding order. A bridesmaid's bouquet is teamed with the bridal bouquet in the second picture. Let me know how you like them. I shall be back soon with more, but I have to run now.

Calla Lily Bouquet Update

2009-01-13T20:08:00.003-10:00

Here's how the bouquet looks with the crystal branches and the grass leaves added in. The callas are now painted too :). I am getting some help with the wrap :). My friend Eve, whom I had written about a few months ago, is helping me with it. She is sewing the wrap for me! Yay! :) Once I have that, I will finish off this bouquet in style. I can't wait. I already love it :). Let me know how you like it.

Calla Lily Bouquet

2009-01-13T15:22:00.008-10:00

This is a bouquet I am doing for a bride from Maui, who's having a destination wedding at Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Her colors are midnight blue and platinum and she wanted white callas for her bouquet. I have planned to wrap her bouquet in midnight blue and platinum colors, while adding some crystal accents.
This was a last minute order, but I really wanted to do this wedding because the colors are so elegant and I think the callas will really go well with the color scheme. I received this order via the DECO Clay Craft Academy and I am so grateful that they trusted me with it.
I got some help from Chen Li - one of our wonderful DECO Clay instructors here in Honolulu - in putting this bouquet together, because I hadn't done round-ish bouquet with callas before, and I didn't want to go wrong (even the slightest bit!). But I decided to do it all over again, when I came back home :), so I could put to use what I learnt from her. And here's how it looks. Of course, this is just the first draft. I still have to paint the flowers, wrap the bouquet, add fillers and accents. There is so much more to do! But I was so excited, I thought I'd share this with you anyway :). More pics coming up soon!

Flowers for a Valentine's Day Wedding

2009-01-12T07:35:00.006-10:00

These are my latest creations for a New York wedding on Valentine's Day this year. The bridal bouquet colors are different shades of lavender/mauve/pink blended in together. The flowers for the bridal bouquet are roses, orchids and ranunculus. I have also added some green and lavender fillers. The bridesmaids have pink roses with green orchids and the Maid of Honor has pink roses with green hydrangeas.

Here are some pictures of the bridal bouquet and the bridesmaids' bouquets. I shall be back with more soon. :) These bouquets still have a lot of work left and I am trying to ship them out later this week. So, I really have to get going :). Let me know how you like these pictures. As soon as I finish the painting and the bouquet wraps, I shall post more photos. So stay tuned!

Film Festival and More....

2009-01-11T23:16:00.009-10:00

I am sure you are wondering what I have been up to, all this time. Well, I have been working hard. And not just on my flowers :). I was part of organizing an Indian Film Festival in Honolulu (Well, the name of the festival was 'Bollywood Film Festival', but I hate the term Bollywood so, I prefer calling it an Indian Film Festival). I was a film consultant there. This year, we had something for everyone. And that I think is the beauty of Indian cinema. We believe and our films prove that good cinema doesn't have to be boring. Nor do entertaining films mean bad cinema. We had some really great stuff throughout the festival. This year we included a lot of films that people did not expect to see - films that don't conform to the 'Bollywood' image :). And people were awed! And in today's movie 'Taare Zameen Par' (a heart warming story about a dyslexic child overcoming his disability), I could hear sniffles all around. People waited to see the end credits roll. There was not a single dry-eyed person after the film! Cinematically, the film is not perfect, but its heart is in the right place and sometimes that is what matters the most.... especially when we have ridiculous movies being churned out day-in, day-out (both here and in India). Coming to movies that have their heart in the right place, I can't help but mention.... yes.... SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE.
I saw the film a few weeks back and took some time to recover from it. That is one film, I wished was made by an Indian. One film, that I would have thought that an Indian made, if I hadn't known better :). Danny Boyle does such a marvellous job of showcasing my country and its people! Dev Patel's 'Jamaal' just takes your heart away. And there's another thing Sarang and I were discussing... Danny Boyle comes from the UK and makes a film on India..... and .... he chooses AR Rehman (Composer) and Gulzaar (Lyrics)! Can't go wrong with that combination! :) And when Sukhwinder Singh sings 'Jai Ho', its pure Nirvana! SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is one movie that's made straight from the heart... 'Dil Se'.
Anyway.... the film festival was very successful and it just finished today. So, I now have a wee bit of time on my hands to blog :). So, watch out for more posts!

Our Maui Trip Photos

2008-12-30T05:57:00.003-10:00

On Friday, the 12th of December, we decided we were going to Maui. On 13th, we were on the 6.00am flight :-). We had been to Kauai (twice) and the Big Island (thrice), but never to Maui. Well, in a sense, we didn't like Maui as much. To us, there wasn't as much 'Squeal Appeal' (which means places that make you squeal) as the other two islands I have mentioned. In Kauai, there is the Kilauea Lighthouse Marine Sanctuary, the Waimea Canyon, the Wailua Falls, the Spouting Horn and of course, the Na Pali Coast! On Big Island, my favourites are the Volcanoes National Park, the Akaka Falls State Park (which has 3 waterfalls and a great great forest-y walk), the Waipio Valley, the Hamakua Coast Drive, the Lava Tree State Park, the natural pools heated by lava....... I can just go on and on and on.
Maui has the Road to Hana, but we came across lots of bad local drivers, who just wanted to overtake and on the narrow road (just one lane going each way), they still push you to a corner, went onto oncoming traffic and overtake. (Yes, in the no-passing zones!) We had a few incidents like that. And the road has about 60 one-lane bridges :) and about 600 bends :). And there's hardly any place to park your car and go and take a closer look. That is what was most disappointing. We had so many beautiful waterfalls, but couldn't see them properly.
From Hana, we went to the Haleakala National Park. People go there to see the sunrise, but we wanted to be different :). So, we went at noon. Now, that is one place that blew us away (literally too!). Its gorgeous! On the road up the Haleakala, you get to touch clouds :). And when you get to the summit, you are actually above clouds. It such a great feeling! And from the summit, you can take a peek into the crater and different cinder cones of the dormant volcano (I don't think its extinct yet). The summit is at 10,000+ feet, so be prepared to acclimatize before you move on. Its super cold too :). On Haleakala, we saw the Silversword plant, which grows ONLY on the Haleakala and nowhere else in the world. It's really a marvel in more than one way! It starts out silvery-green and goes totally silver!!! Metallic, gleaming silver! It's amazing. My pictures don't do them justice.
We stayed at the Old Lahaina House. The room was so CLEAN! Why do I stress on clean? Well, usually, in Hawaii, unless you cough up a fortune, its almost impossible to find a room that you want to stay in. And Maui is the most expensive. So we were happy to find a room for less than a hundred dollars. And even more excited to see how nice and bright and clean it was. The Old Lahaina House is a Bed and Breakfast place. We were very pleased with our experience. And we loved the old town feel of Lahaina. This is one place that makes Maui score some Brownie points over Kauai and the Big Island. We found that we had a choice of places to eat from and they were open beyond 8pm :).
The next morning, we took a drive and simply stopped at places which interested/intrigued us. We also stopped at a place from where we could look at 4 islands (Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe and the tiny submerged volcano Molokini). Standing there, we also saw the HUMPBACK WHALES!!!! That was amazing. We then went to the Iao Valley State Park and finished our trip with a visit to the Maui Ocean Center, which is nice too.
Anyway, that's a lot of travel blabber from a person who didn't like Maui as much :). Imagine how much I'll have to say when I talk about Kauai or the Big Island :).

Moo - The cutest little cow

2008-12-22T18:12:00.011-10:00

I haven't been around in my blog much of late. Been very busy with work (and a Maui vacation.... photos coming up in the next post, so stay tuned)! But its been great fun too - because my work is fun for me :). That's the best part, isn't it?

Anyway, I had been missing my DECO Clay Craft Academy a lot. I hadn't been there in a while to take classes and wanted to try out the great special projects they had for the holidays. One of them had this cute little cow that I totally fell in love with. I just HAD to make this lady. Why is it a lady and not a guy? Well, don't you see how well dressed up she is? Ribbons, a shawl and flowers too :). Only a lady can be so elegant. What say?
Doing this project with Yukiko (my lovely teacher) and Chen Li, I learnt not only this figurine but also how to make those cute flowers. Those are called Kimono flowers. They are originally made with kimono fabric. Only, we have made them with DECO clay here :).
I want to say a few words about Chen Li here. (In the picture, she's the one in a grey top and Yukiko's the one to her left) She is such a wonderful teacher! And a great person too. We have several wonderful and friendly people in our academy. And Chen Li is definitely one such person. She helps Yukiko teach us and even when Yukiko is away, Chen Li teaches at the academy. She is such a wonderful addition to the teaching stuff! And she is extremely talented as well. I totally flip for her plumerias :). Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of her plumerias, but here's a photo of another tropical arrangement that I bought as a present for my parents, who just loved her creations! Isn't it lovely?
What else is new at the academy? Well, there are two bits of wonderful news! Firstly, we will be having a new flower course in April - new flowers, that we haven't learnt before. How exciting! The only bad thing about the news is that, its in April :(. I don't know whether I'll still be in Hawaii to learn the new flowers. Secondly, Sensei Miyai.... the Great Kazuko Miyai.... is going to be here in January or February next year to teach us a special project. Yay! This year, we did a clay kimono :). So, I know next year too, there's something truly special in store for us.

Somdutta - Another Fab ETSY Artist and a dear friend

2008-12-19T19:29:00.013-10:00

Somdutta is someone I know from my college days. This pretty girl was a year junior to me in college and we lived in the same hostel (dorm). We had lost touch for years, but one fine day she found me in ETSY, where she too has a store. No, actually, she has two stores. Two fab stores. She is a jewelry artist and her jewelry is so gorgeous that it has actually made even a person like me - I hardly wear jewelry - buy from her store. And not just once. I keep going back to her stores and when my father wanted a totally flawless gemstone - a London Blue Topaz, at least 8 carats - Somdutta was the one I trusted with my purchase. My father is very finicky and I was apprehensive whether he'd like the stone. He loved it! And he couldn't believe the price he got it for. And Somdutta personally handed it over to my family, when she travelled to India. I can't thank her enough! But I can recommend her - her quality of work, the quality of stones that she carries in her ETSY stores and her customer service. Truly, greatly, recommended.

SomsStudioSupplies has an awesome collection of precious and semi-precious stones, lab-created stones, crystals and pearls. In short, its a DREAM sourcing store for a jewelry artist. I stress on it, because I keep going back to her store, just to see what stones she has listed. The quality is so awesome! (She even gets appraisals done, if requested) And the price is extremely reasonable. Just as an example, take a look at this huge CITRINE in her shop. The appraiser puts the average retail value of the stone at over a 1000 Dollars, while her price is just 360 Dollars! This store of hers is doing really well. And its really no surprise :).

Her other store is SomsStudio where she sells jewelry designed by her. Somdutta's jewelry design is very unique. Her designs can be traditional, modern or even abstract. And sometimes, she can mix up all three effortlessly. This store of hers needs a little more buyer-attention, because its designs are very unique and the pieces very affordable.

So, if you are looking for a truly unique piece of quality artisan jewelry, you should be headed to SomsStudio. And if you are a jewelry artist and are looking for affordable and/or unique beads of excellent quality, SomsStudioSupplies sure is one place you MUST check out!

Christmas Wreath Custom Order

2008-12-11T20:37:00.005-10:00

Sometime back I had written a post about the Amaryllis flowers that I had made as a custom order for a lady. She also wanted a Christmas Wreath with candle stands inside it. She sent me an advent ring and some pics depicting what she had in mind. And here's what I came up with.
The wreath has peonies, callas, and tulips. It also has a variety of foliage, pine cones and lovely red holly berries. This one is the most difficult arrangement I have done in a long time.
First of all, it is a pain to find the stuff you want, in Hawaii. We searched and searched for three full weekends for the right kind of berries and the right kind of foliage. And we just could not find a styrofoam ring! Not the kind I liked, at least. (Finicky, ain't I? LOL!) Once we started finding stuff, they turned out to be far more expensive than I had estimated :(! That is what happens when you move from Arizona to Hawaii! Your costing sense goes topsy turvy! And ultimately, it turns out, that I really didn't make any money on this project - given the cost of materials used! But I learnt something new and that is an achievement too. :) Please let me know how you think the wreath turned out and if you think its missing something.... I went all out to make this wreath happen and happen well and I really want to make this wreath very special, because its a Christmas wreath :).

Holiday Arrangements

2008-12-09T16:14:00.007-10:00

I have been tremendously busy of late, but these are a few arrangements I have managed to finish. There are a couple more in my etsy shop.

Do take a look and let me know how you like them. I am not happy with the photos, but its been so cloudy here, that I couldn't get better pics. :(
The top picture is that of an amaryllis and rose arrangement for Jennie - my friend from ETSY. She wanted one of my creations for her family. One look at her shop will tell you how awesomely talented she is. Not just that, she's an amazing person too. I have been buying her creations for sometime now and recently she made something for my sister's baby, who's due in March 0f 2009. I just ADORE what she's done for me. I will write more about it soon.... Keep checking this space.
The second picture is that of a red poinsettia arrangement. My school in Hyderabad, (St.Ann's High School) used to have Poinsettias blooming at Christmas time. I have always loved them, though I knew them as 'Christmas flowers' :) back home. I have put some glitter on them, and it really looks so much better than in the picture... I love it so much that I don't want it to sell. Ain't I crazy?

Peonies :)

2008-11-25T15:32:00.008-10:00

I love the ball like poufy peony blooms and have been making peonies like crazy since the past few days (when I wasn't making lillies or roses that is). This arrangement, I finished today. It is a custom order.

This arrangement has brought me many sales. I sold the original in the 'Made in Hawaii' festival. It got me two wedding orders as well. And now this order too :). So, this is really my lucky arrangement.
This arrangement is very time consuming since each peony has about 35-40 petals, all made one-by-one :). But its really good fun. And when the arrangement is ready, its so pretty that I forget the hard work. :)
Do send me your much valued feedback :)....

Amaryllis Flowers

2008-11-24T10:17:00.005-10:00

Almost a month back, I heard from a lady who wanted two holiday arrangements. One in a vase and one a wreath for an advent ring. For the vase arrangement, she wanted crimson amaryllis. So, here's my first attempt at the flower :). I had been taught regular lillies, but not amaryllis (which belong to the lilly family). But instead of bothering my teacher - which I do a lot :) - I thought, I will try these out myself. So, I went to florists' shops and checked out the way amaryllis is structured. This thing about learning the botanical part of flowers is something that my friend Betty Phillips - a fellow DECO Clay artist - taught me. And really, it helped. I learnt that the petals are wider than the regular lillies. Then I figured out how to give texture to the petals. Then, I made some 'compromises' with the stems. Since my client wants the arrangement to be a certain way, and since clay flowers and stems are not soft like the real things, I made the stems thinner than real amaryllis stems. Also, I put only one flower on each stem. Since, the stems won't show as much in the final product, I figured it was okay to make these changes. I went ahead with an okay from my client. This is what I have right now. I just put them all in the vase sent to me by my client, for the photo. I should have pictures of the finished arrangement by tomorrow morning. :) But I just had to show these flowers off! I just love them. What about you?

My Christmas Wreath

2008-11-23T20:23:00.007-10:00

This week I attended a couple of classes at the DECO Clay Craft Academy and this is one of the things that I made :). I am so happy about this one. I just love it! I love all the glitter, all the pearls and I love how the white, pink, silver and gold go together. Now, I am just waiting for it to dry enough, so that I can hang it at home.

The wreath has anemones with golden centers and roses, which look like they are made of fabric. They aren't. They are made of clay. But this is a new technique that Yukiko taught me.
I am keeping this post real short for lack of time. I have lots of work to finish this week. But do let me know how you like this creation of mine.

Here's presenting Nella!

2008-11-14T09:34:00.013-10:00

I have been thinking of writing about Nella’s ETSY shops for quite some time now. I did not do it earlier, because I did not want it to look like a favour to a client. I did not want anything to take away the attention this girl deserves.
Nella is truly special. She is a crafter, yes. And she does so many crafts. Her wedding was a DIY (‘Do-it-yourself’ for the uninitiated) wedding. She did almost everything by herself! I was amazed at her creativity and energy. I say energy because Nella, is a student-doctor and she spent almost the whole day diagnosing illnesses, suggesting treatments, learning more about new faculties and then she came home and did her wedding stuff! Amazing!
Nella found me through ETSY. She saw the Martha Stewart Show and learnt about DECO Clay, which got her interested in the option of using for her wedding. When she searched for DECO Clay flowers, my flowers turned up too, including my fall colored wedding bouquet. In her own words, "I thought it was absolutely beautiful and that is how it all started. I was going to use the florist that Prestonfield had suggested but after seeing your bouquet, I was hooked. I’m glad I choose you. It was the best decision I ever made and the posies and table arrangements made great keepsakes for our guests!" Thank you Nella for those wonderful words!
As for me, I was pleasantly surprised to note how much she trusted me. After looking at just 3 samples (one of each flower), she went ahead with her order. It was the start of an amazing process and a friendship too. I didn’t even realize when we started sharing little things and deep thoughts with each other. There, there! I am getting carried away again by Nella – the person. I want to talk here about Nella - the crafter, Nella – the Etsian.
Nella has two shops on ETSY – The Quirky Bride and Ukiyoe Designs. Which is my favourite? I love both. I have been the lucky recipient of several pieces of Nella’s Jewelry, which she sells in Ukiyoedesigns(Ukiyo-e : Pictures of the Floating World). I have two bracelets and two sets of earrings made by her. I just adore them! I am not a jewelry person, but I do know that she works the wires between the beads (and she uses the real stuff!), kind of like crocheting with wire. Her jewelry is so beautiful and unique that several people have suggested to her that she should sell her designs at high-end stores and let other people make them for her. But like most artists, creating is what she HAS to do. So, she opted against having others make jewelry for her. It also makes her jewelry unique and personal.
Nella’s other shop – “The Quirky Bride” is really unique. Here she sells Guestbooks, hair flowers, throw bouquet etc. But my favourite and Nella’s too, are the Bride and Groom Love Birds that she creates using fabric and lace. For her own wedding she made burgandy coated grooms and lace and feather fascinator brides for her wedding and they were too cute for words. She tries to give them personalities similar to the bride and groom she’s making the lovebirds for. Isn’t that sweet? About the lovebirds on her cake, she tells me, “The groom had a silver ‘pocket watch’ which I think fit my husband very well (he has a bit of that old Hollywood look to him with all the class and sophistication) and I had a sterling silver and pearl fascinator and a long tulle train - very glam which fits my style”. As for her hair flowers, I truly love them. I had Nella make me one too. Though I make hair flowers myself, my raw material is different and in any case, it is always an honor to own another artist’s creations.
Nella’s dad was an artist in Nicaragua and her great aunt had her own line of clothing. Its no wonder then that Nella too has an artistic bent of mind! She tells me that even when she was a child, she used to love to create. “When I was 4 I used to get into a great deal of trouble with my grandmother because I would cut up our appliquéd and lace pillowcases to make dresses for my dolls. When I was six I used to mix her perfumes together and add water because I was “creating” new scents. It kills me to think about it now – mixing Chanel no 5 with Opium. LOL!” Nella’s grandma still has all of her fragrant masterpieces.
Nella’s journey on ETSY has been very interesting so far. In fact she told me that she intends to write an article on “How to have an ETSY wedding”, since she ordered most of her wedding stuff from ETSY. A little serendipitous, considering the fact that she just ‘bumped’ into ETSY. Here’s wishing Nella all the best with her lovely creations ! I hope she becomes a wonderful and famous doctor…. But I also wish that she never gives up crafting, because she is so creative and so great at it. Most of all, I wish Nella all the happiness in her married life with her wonderful husband (also a doc), Jonathan.

Gardenia and Stephanotis Bouquet

2008-11-06T12:52:00.009-10:00

Today's flowers are the ones I shared with you about a month back, when they were still just flowers, stuck on to stems. Now, they are a bridal bouquet, complete with ribbons and pearls :).
My client contacted me through ETSY and told me that hers is going to be a simple seaside wedding and the colors are just white and light almost Tiffany Blue, with less of green than the Tiffany Blue. And here's the final product. And there's a boutonniere and a hair flower to go with it, but I don't have photos yet. Let me know how you like this simple, elegant bouquet.

A really sweet gesture

2008-11-03T15:44:00.005-10:00

A client of mine, Liz from California got in touch with me via ETSY (Don't I just love ETSY!) for a Gardenia Hair Flower. And this is what she sent me as a part of her feedback for her flower. I thought this was very sweet of her, sending me a picture of her wearing the flower I made for her and also the cute thumbs up sign. It really made my day! So, I thought I should share this with you.

Making these beautiful flowers takes a lot of effort. And it feels so good to be appreciated by people who buy the flowers.

I found myself on the ETSY Wedding Gift Guide!

2008-11-03T12:05:00.008-10:00

I love ETSY. And not without reason. Ever since I started listing on ETSY, thanks to my friend Andrea (I can never thank her enough!), my business has been on the upswing :). And just the past week, I even found myself on their Wedding Gift Guide. Alright, the arrangement chosen by them isn't one of my hottest sellers, in fact I haven't really sold one of those arrangements :). But I am pretty positive that being featured on ETSY's wedding gift guide sure got me lots of hits, which then converted to sales :). And I am on the third page! :) Since most of the orders I get through ETSY are wedding orders, being featured on the Wedding Gift Guide is a huge plus for me. Yes, I know, I can't stop smiling :). So, please click on the picture and take a look.
I have also been featured in a couple of treasuries lately, but I have been so busy that by the time I found out about the treasuries, it was time for their expiry. Next time, I shall be more careful and try to share these too with you... While I go and check out if I am in any treasury today, do send me your comments :).

I have been featured!

2008-10-29T07:43:00.017-10:00

I have some news to share with you. Lots actually! I was recently featured by two different wedding planners. (If you click on the photos, they will take you to the posts)
On October 9th, Mary of 'Very Merry Wedding & Design Planning' did a feature on me. She put together some of her favourite creations by me in a nice collage and wrote some nice stuff about my work - which always makes me happy :).

Mary is a new talent in the wedding industry, based in northern California and got interested in wedding planning as a career, while planning her own wedding. Her background in visual merchandising, I am sure helps her in her current profession. Thank you very much Mary, for featuring me.

After that, I was featured on Sugar Blossom Wedding's blog. Sugar Blossom Weddings is a Luxury Wedding Planning and Coordinating company based in UK. I wanted to write a bit about them - and I will in future. But right now, here's what one of their client says about them and its worth reading:

“When I forgot to provide the caterer with our napkins, I carried on getting into my dress and you sorted it out.
When I realised that I'd made a mistake with the seating plan you fixed it.
When the photographer needed assistance, you stepped in.
When the DJ arrived and we were still eating, you met him.
When it started to rain you even appeared with a smart umbrella!
These are just the things that instantly spring to mind and I know that there were so many other things that you did entirely behind the scenes.”

I don't think there can be a better testimonial for a wedding planning company! And I am really honored to be featured by them. Another thing that makes me very proud about Sugar Blossom Weddings is that they are all for Eco-Chic Weddings. And my product falls in line with what they believe in.

I really wanted to share these features with you. Do read them up. As for me, I shall go and take some well-deserved rest :).