Tulip Ikebana

Hello lovely blog. I have been away for a while on hiatus....but Ikebana always, always makes me feel better!

This was the first class I have attended since February something....
BUT! I am back with some pics. This lesson is called "Paying attention to the place in which the flowers go"....alright, alright...that's the rough translation. But I swear it's something like that!
I'll update the name of the lesson.

Look at these Tulips, my goodness! They are my favorite. : )

This is a wall arrangement that pays attention to the view from below.
Can you believe I bought that red glass container from a thrift store for $3?!?! score.

Merry Christmas!!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Lavender Ikebana Bride

Sneak Peak Part 1

This wedding had me stalking 511.org(traffic information website in California)
for traffic conditions for a week before the wedding. Why you ask? They decided to close the Bay Bridge on labor Day weekend so they could tear down one part of the bridge and rebuild another section. What a nightmare....
My normal 20 minute trip to U.C. Berkeley turned into a potentially 2 hour trip according to the news. I had to be there by 9:30 am so it was way early when I started loading the flowers.

{Lavender Ikebana Bride}

How early was it?

BUTT CRACK OF DAWN early.
The sun was literally rising as I was packing up to get all the flowers across the Bay in time as evidenced by the shadows. :)

I like it when the ivy bush had the flowering "jacks" on them.

These were a few of the centerpiece that were pre-made that morning. They had lily grass loops, variegated ivy bush, white wax flowers, white lilies, and lavender roses.

Our destination was the U.C. Botanical Garden in Berkeley CA.

We waited outside and took some pictures of the bridal bouquets as the bride was just getting into her GORGEOUS dress.

The bridal bouquet was an all calla lily bouquet made out of green goddess callas, white mini callas, lavender calla lilies and a green ivy collar tied off with a white satin corset ribbon.

Her bridal hair flowers were a compose of lavender and white spray roses with touches of green.


The Redwood Grove is where the ceremony was taking place.

I mean look at the view, beautiful tall trees covered the ceremony area.....I almost expected bambi to come out. Oh wait, it did. Just as we were walking into the ceremony location a deer came prancing out of no where to say hello! I was scared for my assistant Mary since it was between us, except she was outside 15 feet form it and I was safe in my SUV. : P

I love the theater style seating.*swoon* It was just perfect.

The flowers out there were a simple arrangement of scabiosa, green goddess callas, white callas, curly willow, lily grass and some ivy bush.

Next it was onto the reception.
Here we made two different types of centerpiece.
The first was a simple off center arrangement. The ikebana label for it is simply
"To be viewed from all around". yep. short and sweet.
The second one was two tsutsu's joined by willow.

Finally, my favorite part, the escort card table.


I fenced together equisetum(horsetail) to make a structure that I really liked.

I sliced the equisetum to hold up the place cards and elevated the whole thing by making a mat that sat on top of three vases that were also lined with horsetail.

Kinda cool huh? toot toot, I know. I'm horrible...

The day was perfect, there was ZERO traffic, the bride was gorgeous...what else could I ask for?

{They lived happily ever after....}

Ikebana {Leaf work}

The first lesson I tackled in the Sogetsu School of Ikebana book three was called:

"With Leaves Only"
So I used one Monstera leaf, two Kiwi ti leaves, and two New Zealand Flax leaves that I twisted to created a sort of windblown horizontal look.
Super simple, but I liked it a lot. So did Soho because she didn't move a thing!

See, here's the thing with Ikebana instructors, they move stuff to show you how to correctly make the placement, or they add stuff or remove stuff to create balance.

Soho is super cute because she has funny little sayings that keep you laughing even as she is tearing apart your arrangement.
Like lets say two flowers are too close together, she will say:
"These two ladies gossip too much. We need to separate so they can be peaceful"

or if you have three flowers that are not facing each other she will say:
"Look, mother and father are in a fight and the baby doesn't know where to go.
Everyone is lost"

My favorite is if you have something that is too tall and the next flower is too far away:
" Upstairs downstairs, these two are headed for divorce"

Haha,she cracks me up!
As she is telling you this she is re-arranging your flowers and the little way she will face something makes a completely different arrangement sometimes.
That is what 50 years of Ikebana does for you .

So when she doesn't move anything, it is quite a compliment :)

Here was my arrangement before.

Here is it afterward.

Notice how she added height? Made it more exciting she said, and I agree.
Man. Why didn't I think of that? She says I need to think big sometimes, not to be afraid.
Word.

Here is a closeup of the lovely red and white variegated anthuriums.

Name That Flower {Ikebana Edition}

I am at a loss for the name of this flower......
It's driving me CRAZY!
Does anyone know? It's in the amaryllis family but its not an amaryllis...or is it?
This beauty was made by Soho for our lesson
"Composition of Curved Lines"

I *LOVE* it! :)

Sneak Peak at a Lavender Ikebana Bride

Here's a tiny peak at my Ikebana Wedding today.
I'm super tired! I had to get up at 4:30 am to travel across the Bay to Berkley today.
Now I know that it's nothing to a Bay Area person since I am at the very edge of San Francisco, and with no traffic I'm about 20 minutes away. But this Labor Day weekend, they closed the Bay Bridge so I had to get across the water going about 57 miles out of my way....fun stuff.

So I will share pictures tomorrow :)
I made some double Tsustu arrangements as well as some simple low arrangements along with this place card mat made out of horsetail that I love and can't wait to share!

Horsetail{Equisetum} Ikebana

*excuse the quality of my pictures, I have not yet figured out how to fix my settings : } *

Pink Echinacea Pods and Equisetum were the stars in my "Massed lines to Create a Surface" lesson for my Sogetsu School of Ikebana Book Three.
I also got my certificates for books one and two today.
*deep bow*
Thank you.

Hehe, I'm a little giddy since I have been patiently waiting for these to come from Japan for about 5-6 months now and they are here now and I love them. The paper is beautiful and one is written in Japanese and the other in English. :)

Yellow Pincushion Ikebana

Ok, so it's really Ikebana inspired.

Here is my Ikebana inspired arrangement of vases filled with horsetail and yellow pincushions.

I learned a new trick!
It's old but to me it's new :P

So you take a glue gun and and squeeze out the glue into a medium to large container of water(about 3 inches deep) and you get plastic lace. Whodathunk??
I layered the cut horsetail with this faux lace to make it look kind of like ice separating the layers and then used a simple simple placement of the horsetail and pincushions.

If you click on the picture you can get a better look. Kinda cool huh?

Freestyle Nagiere Ikebana

Pink Ikebana

Pretty in Pink

Ikebana today was so relaxing. Everyone was fresh from a week long break. The creative juices were flowing and I was able to knock out two lessons. I just applied for my Sogetsu School certificate in Book One and Book Two and am awaiting my diplomas as we speak. :)
Of course they take about 4 months to come from Japan, so yes, I'm a little anxious, hehe.

Here is a little number I made with pink snapdragons.
The lesson was using flowers in the same tonal range as the container.

This one is Kabuwake.
It's a freestyle arrangement using two kenzans.

I used flowering pittosporum, ecuadoran pink Esperance roses, and pink spray roses.

Green and Purple Ikebana

Sooooooooooo I am about halfway through my Ikebana certification!

*pause for applause*

hehe, just kidding!
But I really am halfway through and yesterday was my test. :)
I decided on making an arrangement called "with leaves only".
ummm. it's pretty self explanatory dont'cha think??


I used flax and monstrera leaves and they worked out well!

I later took my arrangement apart and made a new one using my left over iris' that I had at home.I truly believe everything looks better outside don't you think?
That glorious light gives my flowers the most beautiful color ever and I fall in love with what I am doing all over again! :)

Ikebana Friday

Ikebana has been crazy for me since I have a class that I need to leave to right afterwards. Often times I am in such a rush after the critiques that don't get to snap any pictures. :(

But here are a few that I got last week. Mac's Pink arrangement kills me becuase I like it so much yet, I am still timid in this new style to put these two colors together. It's funny becuase I do it with regular cut flwoers in all the other designs but because I'm an intermediate student I guess I'm just gun shy!
Anyhow, isn't it fun?

This one was Lori's and she does the flowers over at the DeYoung museum and I think she is fabulous!

Here is my freestyle vertical arrangement with a close up of the ti leaves and palm fan.

Look what I found in Las Vegas last week at the guest services counter.
Ikebana! :)

Ikebana Drive-by

What is an Ikebana driveby you ask??? Well it's a darn quick post on just two of my Ikebana pictures this week of course! lol :)

Here is my pretty in Pink Ikebana arrangement using pink stock, pink glads, and luecadendron.

Holy cow I love this one. Mac made this one and it is so clean. This is a bloomster bowl from Ikea and it makes the arrangement look like it's floating doesn't it?

Green Ikebana

I forgot to share these great Ikebana arrangements with you!

This is Soho's arrangement that uses monotone colors with a matching container. I love the use of her lemons and anthurium, they go perfectly with the vase.

This was Jamie's last arrangment before she left for Paris to pursue her painting.

I love her use of willow, celosia, kale, green dianthus.

Ok, ok. I lied. It's not an entirely green post. This purple little number includes artichokes with gray protea as well.