Hippeastrum

My aunt has "green fingers"- whatever she plants grow abundantly in her garden.

Here's a blooming attractive hippeastrum, or popularly known as amaryllis.

Ain't this screaming for attention?

Flowers for special celebrations...

These are two bouquets of carnations that I made for Mother's Day & a birthday celebration. Thanks Mei Wah for helping with the order & delivery.



One of my favourites- a simple round bouquet wrapped in banana leaf. Altogether 12 stalks of blooms, surrounded by fillers of statice, yellow peacock and bear leaf with Song of India (that's the yellowish green leave). Final layer are some 5-finger leaves to enhance the shape of the bouquet.



This is a 6-stalk carnations decorated with the same fillers and foliage. A touch of golden ribbon gives an elegant look to the bouquet.

Bed of ribbons...

Ribbons, ribbons, ribbons... am glad with all these colourful ribbons that I made, especially the gold ones. The material is very hard, making it tough to twist or tied, but the end result is very satisfactory :)


Now I have many choices for all the bouquets...

Flowers for Wonderkitten

This is a table arrangement that I designed for Wonderkitten http://wonderkitten.blogspot.com/, in conjunction with Pipit Wonderful Market.


Glad that you love this gift, Lois.

The event was held at Berjaya Time Square last Saturday. A monthly bazaar for artist & designers to showcase their creativity & skills, this is the event to mark in your calendar if you are looking out for interesting apparels, jewelleries, hand-craft, stationeries etc.

Breathtaking... Kyoto, Japan (2004)

Some gorgeous flowers and garden during my visit to Kyoto in Sept 2004.

My flower book collection: part 2

A visit to MPH warehouse sales yesterday proved to be successful. I've added another book to my collection- Jane Packer's: Flower Course - for a really good bargain. An excellent book like this with colourful illustrations is a real treasure. I am very impressed by the simplicity & elegance of Jane's floral arrangements.

This is another book that I got from the previous sales. Simple Flowers Style by Paige Gilchrist is full of simple designs for home settings.

Flowers at Delucca Grand Opening

April 25th marked the grand opening of Delucca, the Italian Restaurant. A friend, who is one of the owner, extended an invitation to toast to the occasion.













As I arrived at the entrance, I was marvelled by some most gorgeous flower arrangements. Though massive, they exude the beauty of each bloom and definitely demand attention.








































Do check out this new restaurant in town for some authentic Italian fare in modern setting. http://www.delucca.com.my/. Portion is quite generous (for me at least) because after the second entree I was more than full.

Make her day beautiful .... Happy Mother's Day

To create a little flower is the labour of ages- William Blake


Mother's Day is on 10th May. Pink carnations are associated with this special celebration. Why not shower her with love and appreciation with a simple bouquet and some sweet indulgence- cupcakes!
I've made some simple bouquets & would like to share with you here.
Please also visit http://www.cupcakeindulgence.blogspot.com/

My flower book collection: part 1

Guess the best way to learn more about flowers is through books. My first flower book collection is this Paula Pryke’s Flower School. Here Paula shares her knowledge on the skills to master the art of floral design. I am very impressed with her signature styles & designs- simple and yet elegant.

Flowers A to Z by Cecelia Hefferman provides important facts about each individual flowers.

I’m listing some of them:

agapanthus, amaryllis, bells of Ireland, calla lilies, camellias, daffodils, delphinium, euphorbia, forget-me-not, foxgloves, gladiolus, gloriosa lily, hydrangea, hypericum, iris, liatris, lilac, nerine, ornithogalum (Star of Bethlehem), peony, ranunculus, roses, snapdragon, sweet pea, tulip, viburnum, yarrow and zinnia.

I’ve learnt so much from this book- the names, varieties, colours, scent, vaselife, freshness, availability, cost, meaning, arranging tips and growing tips for each flower.

This magazine Wedding Flowers contains some of the most gorgeous bridal bouquets created by prominent designers worldwide. It also features a section of elegant bouquets in a spectrum of colours and hues- lovely pink, passionate red, zesty orange & yellow, glorious purple & blue, pure white or multicolour.

















Here’s another by Paula Prykes Simple Flowers- full of brilliant ideas to create arrangements for home, workplace and even special occasions.

Okay, so far all are about western designs. How about eastern? I can’t miss out on knowing something about the Japanese flower art.So I bought this beautiful book Keiko’s Ikebana- a contemporary approach to the traditional Japanese art of flower arranging written by Keiko Kubo. Combining traditional techniques with modern tastes, Keiko introduces some of her authentic, simple & graceful arrangements (as you can see on the cover).