Thursday, April 8, 2010
Poppy's Petalworks New Website
Shortly after I delivered a baby few days ago (yes! He's finally here!), we launched our new website. Check out Poppy's new look!
Friday, April 2, 2010
Vote for Us Today!
We are running for Best Wedding Flowers in the 2010 Best of the Bay List. Please cast your vote for us today!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Poppy's Updates
I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather...I love Spring! This is a very special time for me as I will be a mom for the second time soon. This is not something new to many clients who met with me in the past months (you saw how my belly grew bigger and bigger). But I am excited to announce this news to our blog and Facebook fans. I hope I can be excused of not updating both sites for so long...I've been busy preparing for the upcoming arrival of my new bundle of joy. Nevertheless, I have also worked hard gathering wedding images from photographers and trying to wrap up with the new website project which I have been working on for a long time! I hope to get it done before baby's arrival.
I sincerely thank many friends and clients kind wishes and continuing support. I will keep you posted once my baby is here and when the new website's ready. Feel free to drop me a line or two via email if you have questions about Poppy's service. I will be as responsive as always with my email correspondence. And I wish all of you will have a wonderful time enjoying the Spring. Stay happy, everyone!
I sincerely thank many friends and clients kind wishes and continuing support. I will keep you posted once my baby is here and when the new website's ready. Feel free to drop me a line or two via email if you have questions about Poppy's service. I will be as responsive as always with my email correspondence. And I wish all of you will have a wonderful time enjoying the Spring. Stay happy, everyone!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Recent Weddings
I apologize for not updating my blog with recent wedding pictures for so long. I've been saving pictures for the upcoming new website and I wish to surprise you all with new images of many beautiful events we had this summer. But demands are so high that many brides want to know what we are up to and wish to see some of the weddings we did recently. So, here's a sneak peek of several weddings I will be including in the new website. There will be many more to come, stay tuned and I will keep you posted when the website's ready. 
Monday, August 17, 2009
Long Time No Blog!!
Hello hello! I apologize for not posting for so long. Many brides asked for my updates and wanted to see more recent wedding images.
This summer has been a very exciting time for me. Other than all the beautiful summer weddings, I attended the American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD) national symposium in Kansas City in July, again got myself soaked in all the inspirational educational programs, and met new flower friends from all over the world. AIFD is "the floral industry's leading non-profit organization dedicated to establishing, maintaining and recognizing the highest standard of professional floral design." It is a place where a group of floral professionals gather in the effort of "advancement of the the professional floral design through education and leadership." There were many talented floral artists, all best of the best international designers from the floral industry.
Another special thing I did during my visit to Kansas City was that I took the AIFD Accreditation Evaluation Session (AES) hoping to become an accredited AIFD member. So I had been practicing the entire June (yes, on top of my busy weekly wedding schedule!) because I knew AIFD has very high standards. There were two parts of the evaluation process. We first had to pass a written exam, then a floral design exam which was 4 hours long. Within those 4 hours, each candidate got the exact same amount of flowers and materials to create 5 designs in different categories - sympathy design, wedding, arrangement, flowers to wear and designer's choice. We didn't know what exactly we would be asked to make for each category until 2 hours before the actual exam during orientation. For this year's AES, we needed to make a casket spray for sympathy design, a bride's bouquet for wedding, an art gallery opening design for arrangement, a groom's boutonniere for flowers to wear and we could do anything for designer's choice. On average, we had approximately 48 minutes per design. It was not as easy as it sounds because a candidate needs to obtain at least 20 out of 25 points in order to be approved for the AIFD accreditation, with no single category below 3.75 points. The highest score for each category is 5 points, the lowest score is 1 point. There were 7 judges from different parts of the country so each judge may have a different eye for good designs. And they were certainly not looking for anything ordinary or sellable, but designs that demonstrated solid design principles and extraordinary creativity. To be honest, I've been stressed out all summer - before the exam, practicing every week and studying all the design principles based on which the judges would evaluate; and after the exam, awaiting the results, wondering how I did.
It was truthfully a great relief last Saturday when I received the evaluation results. I am thrilled that I am approved for the AIFD accreditation, and I also obtained my Certified Floral Designer certificate!
I shared my thoughts with some of you during this process but did not write about this in the blog because I wasn't sure how things would turn out. I sincerely thank my family, friends and clients for all the kind encouragement and affirmation. Your support gave me much courage to carry on pursuing my goal and dream to become a floral artist. Thank you very much!
Here's my table.
My Art Gallery Opening Arrangement on the left - horsetail bamboo "cage' with flowers interlocking. My intension was to create a constrained form for an abstract splash of colorful flowers, just like paints on a canvas. My bridal "bouquet"which is a floral purse on the right.
My Designer's Choice design which is a floral hair piece on the left & my boutonniere design on the right.
Me wearing the Designer's Choice floral hair piece & the sympathy casket spray (an inspiration from Yin-Yang opposites).
Note: Starting 2010, AIFD is transitioning its accreditation process to PFDE (Professional Floral Design Evaluation) which is similar to AES. If you are a floral designer and wish to obtain your accreditation or to become a certified floral designer, please visit AIFD's website for more details.
This summer has been a very exciting time for me. Other than all the beautiful summer weddings, I attended the American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD) national symposium in Kansas City in July, again got myself soaked in all the inspirational educational programs, and met new flower friends from all over the world. AIFD is "the floral industry's leading non-profit organization dedicated to establishing, maintaining and recognizing the highest standard of professional floral design." It is a place where a group of floral professionals gather in the effort of "advancement of the the professional floral design through education and leadership." There were many talented floral artists, all best of the best international designers from the floral industry.
Another special thing I did during my visit to Kansas City was that I took the AIFD Accreditation Evaluation Session (AES) hoping to become an accredited AIFD member. So I had been practicing the entire June (yes, on top of my busy weekly wedding schedule!) because I knew AIFD has very high standards. There were two parts of the evaluation process. We first had to pass a written exam, then a floral design exam which was 4 hours long. Within those 4 hours, each candidate got the exact same amount of flowers and materials to create 5 designs in different categories - sympathy design, wedding, arrangement, flowers to wear and designer's choice. We didn't know what exactly we would be asked to make for each category until 2 hours before the actual exam during orientation. For this year's AES, we needed to make a casket spray for sympathy design, a bride's bouquet for wedding, an art gallery opening design for arrangement, a groom's boutonniere for flowers to wear and we could do anything for designer's choice. On average, we had approximately 48 minutes per design. It was not as easy as it sounds because a candidate needs to obtain at least 20 out of 25 points in order to be approved for the AIFD accreditation, with no single category below 3.75 points. The highest score for each category is 5 points, the lowest score is 1 point. There were 7 judges from different parts of the country so each judge may have a different eye for good designs. And they were certainly not looking for anything ordinary or sellable, but designs that demonstrated solid design principles and extraordinary creativity. To be honest, I've been stressed out all summer - before the exam, practicing every week and studying all the design principles based on which the judges would evaluate; and after the exam, awaiting the results, wondering how I did.
It was truthfully a great relief last Saturday when I received the evaluation results. I am thrilled that I am approved for the AIFD accreditation, and I also obtained my Certified Floral Designer certificate!
I shared my thoughts with some of you during this process but did not write about this in the blog because I wasn't sure how things would turn out. I sincerely thank my family, friends and clients for all the kind encouragement and affirmation. Your support gave me much courage to carry on pursuing my goal and dream to become a floral artist. Thank you very much!
Here's my table.
My Art Gallery Opening Arrangement on the left - horsetail bamboo "cage' with flowers interlocking. My intension was to create a constrained form for an abstract splash of colorful flowers, just like paints on a canvas. My bridal "bouquet"which is a floral purse on the right.My Designer's Choice design which is a floral hair piece on the left & my boutonniere design on the right. Me wearing the Designer's Choice floral hair piece & the sympathy casket spray (an inspiration from Yin-Yang opposites).Note: Starting 2010, AIFD is transitioning its accreditation process to PFDE (Professional Floral Design Evaluation) which is similar to AES. If you are a floral designer and wish to obtain your accreditation or to become a certified floral designer, please visit AIFD's website for more details.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
May Prom
May is the Prom season. This year I had so much fun designing Lowell High School's senior prom table centerpieces. I love working with their student committee, they were so open to all of my ideas. I intended for the centerpieces to look elegant and fun with whimsical touches that bring out their "When You Wish Upon a Star" Fantasy theme. The ostrich feather design is my personal favorite.
Venue: Intercontinental Mark Hopkins, San Francisco
Client: Lowell High School, San Francisco
Colors: Purple, silver
Theme: "When You Wish Upon a Star"
Chair Covers: Especially Yours Chair Covers
Client's Comments: "It was really nice working with you, the centerpieces were amazing! So many people gave us compliments about them. I'm really happy with prom...A lot of the students wanted to take the centerpieces with them, so we decided "sure, why not." Who is going to blame them for wanting to bring home a piece of prom? Thank you so much and I will definitely recommend you to next year's senior prom committee. Thank you!"
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