For MizuIro

I made these for a friend's new Japanese concept cafe called Mizu.Iro Ramen & Coffee at Bandar Menjalara. I finally had a good use with those dried palm tree leaf ends I salvaged. Makes a pretty nice vessel if you ask me and all natural too! Delivering it was a real drag as it was the monsoon season and boy did it pour alright, but it made it safely onto their counter. Do drop in for a visit, except my flowers would have been long gone by now. Mizu.Iro Ramen & Coffee 49, Jalan 9/62A, Bandar Menjalara Kepong, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Color Phunk

I'm always impressed with natures beauty. God is pure genius I must say. He's beyond creative, artistic and makes the most overwhelming beautiful things like this hydrangea.

Get well Carol

Carol did recover well from Dengue Fever. I'm quite lucky as most orders I was getting till this point, I was given all creative freedom. I was informed Carol loves dragonfruit so I had to incorporate that in the fruit basket. This was what I whipped up, it came from her work teammates. What a super bunch they are.

Not a flower

I'm starting to think I have junk collecting issues. I passed a large branch of dried palm seed shoots. Nothing left on it cept the ends from the shoot which was once attached to the palm seeds. It really does look like a flower. I didn't know what the hell to do with it but it does have potential I thought to myself. I left it under my garden chair for sometime until on day... I created the below. 

The first brown paper order

My friend Nat needed a "casual bouquet" for someone who I'm sure he has some hearts for. Naturally I'm more than glad to help him out on this. We decided it shall not look romantic, rather happy and thoughtful. Brown paper makes it all more rustic and casual. I should check up on their relationship status soon.

I checked in on him the next day to see how was the bouquet doing as he was not seeing her till the evening birthday celebration. Evidence of it still alive below.

I was out...

Last minute order, I happened to be out so it was convenient for me to pick up whatever was available to make something out of.

Bye Bye Birdie

This is not about the musical. I found this bird on my driveway and it didn't move one bit when I went near it. "Uh oh" I thought. Thinking as fast as I can, I picked the lil guy up, place him in 1 one of my large spare carton boxes and placed it in the front porch under the shade. I even made a soft bed for it out of my floral straw strings, soft leaves from my garden. Gave it some water and chia seeds just in case it had some appetite. I checked up on him every couple of hours and even force fed it some water, it did drink from the plate. Sadly he only made it through the night and till next afternoon. I gave it a decent burial in my front yard. RIP.

Placid Blue and the case of the Blues.

In all my years as a designer (of all sorts), I never knew of this color called Placid Blue until one day a client shared with me the colors she chose for her wedding. I Googled it and....."Ah".  I call it Baby blue or powder blue. First bouquet I made for her was for her pre-wedding photoshoot. Anyhow, there weren't that many blue flowers to choose from at that point of time, so the light blue hydrangea was our best. I apologize for the bad lighting and background, but the floral supplier I ordered my flowers from back then were not too reliable. My hydrangea never made it over for me to pick up, I had to wait for the last shipment till 7 in the evening, rushed back to make this and deliver it immediately after. I've since then stopped ordering from them.

MH17, never forgotten

 I went downstairs to take get a sip of water before calling it a night when my dad who's on HIS chair as usual watching TV yelled out "hey come and see this, another Malaysian plane lost contact and crashed!" I swallowed my water in a lighting speed, left the mug on the counter and dashed out. I sat there staring at the TV and couldn't believe it. This is NOT what we need right now considering the last incident of MH307 has brought upon grief towards this country and the families. It's not even been resolved really...it's just somewhat forgotten and put in the past. People moved on with their lives. Maybe they are reminded once in a while when they pass billboards of well wishes along the highways.

I sat on listening. "WE GOT SHOT AT? WTH!?" Apparently Ukraine shot us down. Just like that, like a duck flying and suddenly "BOOM" got shot by a hunter. The end. Today is the continuation of another sad day for us, everyone is twitting and posting all over Facebook about this tragedy. Live press conferences being airs on radio stations and on the TV.  It's quite depressing really. So I decided to make a wreath for MH17 to say my heartfelt condolences and how very sorry I am for all those lives. Life...fragile, worth living, do it now, say it now.

Getting down and dirty

Today I had a great day because I finally went to the flower nursery to pick up some flowers and plants. It was also a family day outing, very rarely we get to do something like this anymore and coincidentally we were all off work from a public holiday. Yes I do have a day job which I dislike terribly, infact I'm borderline despising it already. Yes I'm a part time floral designer but my heart is definitely in it FULL TIME and even at my day job all I can think off are my flowers, where will I be with them in the next half a year. I often find myself day dreaming of a little floral shop I wish to own some day. I also always wish I can take Powder my fur buddy along with me anywhere I go. So doing this full time and owning a store some day will make that possible.

It can be very scary at the same time, venturing out on your own. Equipped with nothing more than a dream & guts. Plenty of guts. But also determination and contentment at the end of the day. Is there something you really wish to do in your life but have yet to do so? I say my friend now is the time to do it and never look back. I have a small list of things to do which requires some bravery. The checklists are :

1. QUIT MY DAY JOB, the sooner the better
2. Run my floral business on FULL THROTTLE
3. Camp in the woods or stay in a cute rented cabin in Norway
4. Fish for my own food from the rivers in Norway
5. Buy a house, do it up, sell it.
6. Buy a house, do it up, use it as my studio.. etc...
7. Eat a bug. Im just kidding.

Had a budget to stick to this visit. I will be back for you my Calla lily and red maple. I will be back for you.

For a birthday boy

Don't you just love hearing girls sending guys flowers? This gives me an opportunity to create something less girly or romantic and something with more of an edge but still allowing some room for something a little delicate, precious & pretty. I figured a guy probably wouldn't know what to do with a vase after the blooms have wilted or with a wrapped bouquet as he also wouldn't know to leave it wrapped or remove the wrapping and arrange it in a vase. Does he even have a vase at home? I wonder. Lets jut put it in a box. A very guy thing to do I thought, men with their toolboxes, junk in boxes, they wear boxers... ANYWAY so I decide it shall be in a box. So here it is in a box.

Congratulations, you did it!

I'm not a big fan of congratulatory flowers on those very dated metal stands. I would however suggest something more chic but due to budget constrains I have to use it. I did cover it up with brown paper for a more rustic look. The direction was - colorful, big, bright. I salvaged an old palm leaf with it's leaves sawed off. I love using dried twigs & leaves.

Mr P nosing around. He wasn't any help that day

Happy Birthday Momma

My mom turned 60 last month. I took her out for breakfast & dinner prior but had a small simple celebration at home for her. She's not fussed about flowers and generally likes all flowers. I picked up some beautiful red hydrangeas as they are harder to get your hands on and made a simple arrangement for her for her bedside table. (naturally I ended up caring for it in the living room more often)

Business cards

Ive been meaning to post about our new business cards which finally got printed. I'm so happy how it turned out. I've been giving them out along with the floral orders. Here are a couple of pictures of it. Enjoy :)

Dior London window

I miss London since I came back in May, it was a week of holiday and relaxation and exploring a new city. I wish I could take home with me all the flowers there. I very quickly snapped a couple of pictures of the front window at Dior on Conduit Street. I love the floral & foliage window display, it mimics the location where the runway took place for the season. The human refused to move.  -__-

Go GREEN!

 I had the itch to just arrange something so I decided to head out by foot and cut me some foliage from the neighborhood.

Trial & tribulation

I came across a new floral wholesaler in my hood and I got quite excited. I now have an option closer to where I live and I don't need to travel far to get my supply. I decided to just try them out to check on the quality of the flowers they have. Here I simply made an arrangement with local grown purple roses, asclepias pods & dark pink asters. I'm guessing the pods have been in their cold room for quite some time as it was looking rather moldy and dry so I'm not pleased at all with them. As for the roses best to get the imported ones as local roses do not bloom well and are small in size. Note to self :- call them up in advance to order freshly delivered & imported blooms. :)

When selecting flowers at your local vendors always :
1. Ask when did it arrive
2. Ask how to care for it (if you are not sure how to)
3. Get a few packs of plant food solubles. This will provide more nutrients to the cut flowers & leaves when you dilute it into the water.
4. Strip all leaves below water level
5. Cut stems at an angle. The larger the surface the more water it can absorb
6. Keep flowers in a cool place and avoid direct sunlight.

Some Mother's Day orders

Mother's Day was last week. I took my mom out for some great Japanese lunch and got her a great pair of footwear for walking & posture support. Dad sorta jumped in and conveniently picked his pair too. #splurgingonparentsisworthit . Here are a couple of orders I made. 

Baby party blooms

Cute mini carnations in mini metal buckets for a baby party. Rustic, relax, chilled & very sweet.

Peonies for the Bride!

 Peonies can be costly here in Kuala Lumpur and they are imported only when in season or only when there is a special order by clients. The bride was surprised by her bridesmaids with the incorporation of her favorite bloom and she thought it will just be roses & eustomas

Weeds & road side beauties

 Some miniature floral works from road side beauties & weeds. Also not forgetting my dries branches from palm trees of different sorts.

A Farewell gift

A colorful floral arrangement mixing fresh leaves + flowers with dried branches for a farewell gift