Champagne Hued Flower :)

I have always liked this shade but before this, I wasn't able to create this color to my satisfaction. The flower is similar to what I made yesterday, but the color and the jewel style is different.
I have a feeling that I am going to make more champagne colored flowers :). Loooove the shade! And what's more ... It is always an in-style color.

Jeweled Flower with feathers attached

This flower is the same one that I posted yesterday. Only, this has feathers attached.
This can be attached to any kind of clip or comb :).

New Flower

I am trying blogging using my iPhone. Here's my first post, with a photo of a flower I just created. It'll be available on Etsy soon.
This is about 4 inches across.

Tiffany's Wedding - Red Roses and Stephanotis

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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

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!

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

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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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