Blessed Christmas Folks!

The star - symbolic of the star that indicated the birth of Christ the King.
I made this with the fabric from my 9.5 year old quilt cover. Something new came out of something old. 
2011 is almost worn out, and hopefully out of it we learn and experience precious things
 that will bring forth new strength and hope in 2012.

The year end Christmas season is my favourite time of the year, with so many of my favourite things happening. Like the crisp cool air, the jolly festive mood, the shopping for gifts (my love language is 'gifts' so i'm really relishing in Christmas shopping) to bless those we care and love, and the many lovely things we see, feel, touch, smell and eat (i've been to Orchard Road 3x in a week, just to soak it up) -all working together to create a warm fuzzy buzz in me.  

It is also a time to slow down, reflect, take stock and re-energise for the new year.

2011 has been a wonderful, wonderful year for Flower Couture. Business wise, sales hit a new height, we've done some very interesting projects and there is a healthy growing momentum here at Flower Couture. 

But what I'm really grateful for, is the fact that all our customers this year were really nice, pleasant folks who made it such a joy to serve them. To not encounter even one nasty customer is a huge blessing!

I want to thank all our 2011 customers, (including the last one on 30 Dec 11- you know who you are *smiles*), for trusting us with your wedding day / event decorations and giving us the opportunity to serve your floral needs. It is a privilege to serve each one of you.

We'll be taking a break from 22 Dec 2011 to 2 Jan 2012. Just some time out to be with loved ones over the Christmas period, to recuperate, to reflect, to give thanks and to seek out new directions for Flower Couture in 2012.

Wishing you an awesome Christmas holiday and a Happy New Year!  

Remember, its all about the relationships around you, so go spread some cheer this Christmas!

God bless you!

Behind-the-scenes

Here are some behind-the-scene pix of flowers we've worked with.

The first is the flower arrangement for the front of a wedding car.

Leaves are inserted into the oasis, to establish the outline of the arrangement.
Different types of foliage were used to create a rustic textured look.



The main flowers, in this case pink and cream roses, are inserted next.  





Orchids are next to go into the arrangement, filling up the obvious gaps.





The arrangement is tied securely to the wedding car.

Here's a peek at how we make a flowergirl's fresh flower headdress.

Ivy leaves are woven around a wire, in the shape of a circle big enough for a child's head.

Individual mini-roses are carefully wired/taped onto the wreath structure.
This part is somewhat tedious and requires patience.

Once the mini-roses are attached, tie a ribbon.

Flowergirl wearing her lovely fresh flower headdress.

I hope you've enjoyed these behind-the-scene pictures!

E.T. Collection

Still on the handmade cards craze, here's my E.T. Collection. (E.T. = Embossed T)

Embossing looks great and its not that difficult to do, provided you use big letters. The more letters you have, the smaller the letters you have, the tougher it gets to make it look good. But if you stick to simple, large letters, the effect can be very nice.

Why "T"? Cause it was near Teacher's Day, cause it could double up as a "Thank You" card, or a "You're Terrific" card. T is easy and versatile.

Using a thick cardboard, cut out the shape of the letter you wish to emboss.
Make it into a sort of stencil.

Place the cardboard stencil over the front of the paper you wish to emboss.



Turn over to the backside of the paper, and using a blunt instrument, press the paper into the cardboard stencil.
I advise some trial practice run before you emboss on the nice paper you have in mind.
For demonstration purpose, i'm recycling by using a property brochure.



Once you've pressed down the backside of the paper, turn over to the front side and Tadah!
Like i said, it does take a bit of practice.

So finally after a few practice rounds, i'm ready to emboss on my nice white paper.
Somehow i think embossing on snow white paper looks great!
This has pink apples falling from the "T".



This just reminds me of Apple logo. I wanted to give this card to my friend who's an Apple fan.



Pretty yellow polka dotted ribbon.

White on black polka dots flower cut out.
I just punch out the flower shape using a shape paper cutter, and pasted my polka dot ribbon underneath.

 



Using shaped paper cutter, i punched out the floral shapes and pasted different coloured ribbons underneath.



Gold butterflies fluttering over "T".

White floral cut out pasted on white paper with gold butterflies. My personal favourite.

The E.T. Collection

Using one single embossed "T" as the base design, and thereafter, the possibilities are endless with whatever scrape materials you have lying around.

Designer Cards

 Designer Card = Any DIY Card

I've been making cards since i was six and never grew out of it.
Don't wish too...its great fun and the card becomes 10x more meaningful when its handmade. It literally shouts "hey, i took time out to make this for you, so you mean quite a bit to me or i wouldn't bother putting in the effort when i can just get one off the shelf".

Since this has been a quiet month (lunar seventh month), i borrowed some card making books from the library and tried the ideas. Will share 2 of easily workable ideas here.

1) Breakfast At Tiffany's Card

Love the tiffany blue and white effect, reminds me of Audrey Hepburn.



Paper doilies which are easily obtainable from baking shops or baking section in supermarkets.
Cut into quarters.





Cut out a square piece of Tiffany blue paper and glue the 4 quarters onto the square paper.
Its okay if the doilies quarters overlap.




Cut out a flower pattern (from the doilies) and glue it right in the middle of the card.
Add a crystal.

 

Stick the tiffany blue card on top of another white card for a nicer effect.

Then again.. it also looks rather Peranakan - well...that's the Asian twist.


2) Lacey Cards

If you so happen to have some old lace fabric lying around the home (like i do), and have no idea what to do with it (mine have been hidden in the cupboard for years), it looks great on black paper, turning into a lovely textured card.

Lace fabric & black paper.
You can vary the colour of the lace or paper and they will probably be more interesting than just black and white.



Stretch the fabric over the thick paper and tape it down on the other side.



On the ugly side, place another black thick paper over it,
and another piece of coloured paper for writing your message.
Unless you like using silver pens to write on black paper,
otherwise, its always better to overlay with light coloured paper.

On the lacey front of the card, glue crystals onto the lace.



Simple, textured, and definitely interesting!

  Another version of the Lacey Card.

Cut out flowers from paper doilies.



Glue the flowers onto the lace surface.





Finished Lacey Card with doilies flowers.


I had loads of fun making these cards, gonna save them for my friends' birthday.
You can easily try making them too.
Simple, cheap and designer made.
The Designer is you of course!


References:
Ultimate Cardmaking by Sarah Beaman (2008)
Handmade Greeting Cards for Special Occasions by Amanda Hancocks (2007)

UP! / Old School Ring Holder Box

Several post back, i wrote about using fresh flowers for ring holders instead of the boring old ring pillow. Well, now i'm thinking of ring holders in boxes, and i made one for a couple who's getting hitched this weekend.

Their wedding decor theme was UP!/Old School - Tiffany Blue & Canary.

So i started out with an old schoolish chalkboard box and worked my way from there.

Honestly it was tedious and required quite a bit of inspiration. I did it over a couple of weeks, a little bit here and a little bit there. It was a bit exhausting for me personally because the possibilities were endless and i tend to get paralysed when i have too many options to choose from. Same reason why scrapbooking never really caught on with me. To many permutations.

I doubt i'll replicate something exactly like this again. I get bored easily with repetitive reproduction of the same product.  It made me realise that Flower Couture will probably never provide mass market wedding services. This implies that we may not grow to be a huge company -_- , unless i take off my Designer hat (according to E-Myth) and put on my Business hat perpectually.

I digress, anyway, here's the ring holder : )





Plain O Chalkboard Box



Found these scrabble alphabet tiles at "made with love" (Plaza Sing) and it just rocks with the UP! theme.
Seriously couldn't resist 'em.



Right side - initially i wanted to use scrapbooking badges (there were some in UP!) but  they were simply overpriced.
 So let's go for old school buttons and ribbon badges intsead.



Front



Left side - a new "home" which the newly weds are establishing together.



2 Hand sewn heart-shaped mini pillows inside to hold the rings.

Why do wedding flowers cost so much?!!

Good question. I'm glad you asked : )

Especially if you've gone to flower wholesalers like the famous Far East Flora or Ji Mei at the Thomson region, your eyes will widen in amazement at how much a bundle of rose cost.
And then the next question you'll ask is...why do your bridal bouquet cost $100 or why do your centrepieces cost $80.

You see, its one thing to buy wholesale flowers....

Its really quite another thing to turn these flowers into this...

So having recently gone through my version of "Hell Week", when my colleague wasn't around and i had to man the fort with a number of weddings within a week, i honestly felt very justified with the prices charged. To say the least, its was labourous, back-breaking work.

(you'll have to understand that i made a career switch from desk-bound office job to callous causing florist job...so i confess that i ain't used to the labour intensive work during peak period without my comrade around.)

I thought i'll share a little of what goes on "behind-the-scenes" of preparing flowers for a wedding.

First, you start off with the design concept in consultation with the customer.



Using a table top stand, wires are necessary to secure the flower arrangements.
Safety (of the flowers) is important!

Next comes the cutting and slicing of floral oasis aka sponge.



The point is to fit the oasis nicely and snugly into the container (this is for the base of the stand).
When there is a huge number of arrangements, we can spend an entire day just preparing the oasis...i kid you not.

Now we prepare the oasis for the top part of the stand.

Tying it securely - again...safety of flowers is number 1.
You really don't want flowers to be dropping off or toppling down.

Little details like adding a piece of foil to the base means the oasis can better retain water
because the water don't drip away when flowers are inserted into to the oasis.
This means the flowers have more liquid to keep them fresh.

Once the oasis is prepared and secured properly, the foliage aka leaves/greens are added first.

Followed by the flowers.

Until the arrangement begins to take shape.

Flowers added to the base of the stand.

After many hours, the centrepieces are lined up and ready to go.
The final phase will be delivery to the venue and set-up.

The final product.

The above centrepiece is a fairly simple one. There are more challenging arrangements which cost hundreds of dollars, e.g. huge arrangements for churches or hotels. The reason they cost so much, besides the obvious fact that more flowers are required, will be because only very experienced and skilled floral personnels are able to create those beautiful displays.

(i'm definitely not one of those, but i do know one or two of 'em floral Jedi)

Here's another behind-the-scene for a large arrangement.

Its always best to do the arrangement at the spot where they will be displayed.
Which is why often times "floral Jedi" have to work after midnight to create the huge centrepieces in hotel lobbies.

Foliage (Jungle Bush) are inserted to form the shape outline.

Long and tall flowers (red gladious) are added to the outline.



More tall flowers (yellow Matthiola, orange gladiolus) added to enhance the outline.



Finally white lilies, red roses, eculyptus leaves and green pom are added to fill up the arrangement.

Hope you enjoyed this "behind-the-scenes" entry.  Feel free to leave your comments and   If you will like to see more of these, just drop me a comment.