Real Wedding Photos - Jenn and Zac, Wisconsin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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