Pre-wedding Posy

Hydrangea, White Rose & Musk



Pre-wedding Posy

I made this posy for a pre-wedding shoot. It's been re-scheduled for the fourth time because of the rainy season. Originally, both the bride and I wanted to use peonies, but we had to change the flower choice since peonies were very late in the season and would not last in the hot weather.

The whole day shooting will be done outdoors. After discussing with the bride, we decided to choose the much sturdier white roses. However, I knew the bride was not too partial to roses, so I decided to add some pale pink hydrangea and musk to add some dreaminess and fragrance to the posy.

Snowball Bouquet

We did a lovely snowball bouquet in class this week. It's mostly made for bridesmaids and flower girls to carry around. They could hold it by the ribbon, or put the ribbon through the arm and let it dangle like a round handbag.

The bouquet is made with pink and green sweet peas, red spray roses and eucalyptus leaves. I think this snowball is more for flower girls than bridesmaids because it is too cute, especially with the pink ribbon tassles. They reminded me of the ballon strings.

I could imagine a flower girl swinging the snowball in the sunlight already. It would make a lovely photo. Awe, so sweet....

Birthday Flowers

Belated Birthday Bouquet


Peonies, Calla Lilies and Lotus Pod in vase

I have been receiving flowers from a friend without fail on Valentine's Day and my birthday for six years. This year's belated because my friend was out of town. The nicest part was that even though it's belated, my birthday was not forgotten. Thanks for the thought.

I bought the vase at a bazaar near my place last year. It was such a bargain I also bought a porcelain umbrella stand. I mainly use this vase for heavy bouquets, since it's pretty heavy itself; big flowers would not tumble out of the vase so easily. The vase was perfect for the peonies pictured here since the blossoms were bigger than rice bowls!!

Flower Class

Wrist Corsage

Dome Rose Posy

Bridal Bouquet with Calla Lilies

I have been taking flower classes since May. The Dome Rose posy by far the most difficult one because we had to visualize the whole process from a reversed angle.

The front of the posy, as seen, was actually the top from where we had to create the dome. All the while, we had to balance the three roses which hung vertically down.

First, we had to choose three rose buds, place at an angle in the foam, then wire to steady them. Next, we pick the biggest bloom and put it in the middle as our focal point. Actually, when we were making the posy, the rose was on top.

I totally blanked out the first few minutes, when the teacher said we had to measure the length of the other roses and foliage to make the posy into a perfect dome. I was so glad that after a few stems, I got the hang of it. Another challenge was that the foam break apart easily, so we had to be pretty accurate as to where to put the stems.

We ended up standing up and stooping down to see if the posy was rounded for two full hours. I was tired, but happy to have learnt yet another technique.

Championship

I have been dying to write this post. The past week, I have stayed up till 2 am, sometimes 3am to watch every Finals game. I woke up at 8am this morning to watch Game 5 of the best of 7 series. Lakers were leading 3-1. Just one more game.

Lakers and LA fans were devastated by last year's humiliating defeat by the Celtics, they lost by 39 points at home court. It was a defeat the Lakers vouched to avenge. Ever since the Lakers nailed the Western Conference Finals this year, we were waiting for a comeback, one that would silence all the cynics.

Could Kobe Bryant win a Championship without Shaq? Today, Lakers rule, Kobe rocks and Shaq drools. Today, Lakers took Game 5, 4-1, to take the NBA Finals Championship. During the playoffs and finals games, critics said Kobe was so focused on winning the Title, he had a permanent scowl on his face. His daughters called him "Grumpy" after the 7 dwarfs. Today he smiled, a broad grin.

As the Lakers players donned their championship caps, Kobe's 2 daughters came out in their gold Lakers dresses with mom, in Lakers purple. You could see the relief and the exultation on his face. Playing as he did, he was the Finals MVP, but he did not forget to give credit to his teammates. Kobe has matured. It's not a one man show from before, it's team work.

Derek Fisher, the only other player who had won 3 championships with Kobe back in 2000-2 was tearing up when he was interviewed. He said that winning this time around meant a lot, because they had been on the highest and seen the lowest. To have comeback from the lowest and be on top again is truly amazing.

Incidentally, this year's NBA theme is "Where Amazing Happens". "Amazing" was sung by Kanye West.

(photo: www.nba.com)

Australia

Hugh Jackman was not a familiar name in my peripheral knowledge of Hollywood stars till I watched the Oscars presentation. He was the host of that night. There were a lot of criticisms about the Academy shouldn't be spending an absurd amount of money on the presentation, in accordance with the economic times.

The decoration was subdued compared to the past Oscars. Against the backdrop of this blandness though was true talent. Hugh Jackman cracked a couple of jokes setting the mood of the night. He quipped about the past roles he'd played in, and he said the most challenging one was him, an Australian, playing an Australian, in a film called Australia. Then he sang, in a Broadway style for 5 minutes. I was awed. Boy could he sing!!

Australia was a movie about the lost generation of aboriginal children in Australia. These were children born of white fathers and aboriginal mothers. These "creamy" kids would be taken away from the aboriginal mothers and kept in schools run by churches, aiming to assimilate them into the white people and cutting their roots as half aboriginals.

Nicole Kidman, always elegant, played Lady Ashley. She came to "down under" from England to find Lord Ashley, who had invested in a cattle ranch, dead. Hugh Jackman was the cowboy sent to meet her and take her to the cattle ranch. It was hilarious when poised gal met tough guy and Nullah, the creamy child.

The film was funny, wistful, romantic and epic in scale and it attempted to tell the story of the lost generation against the backdrop of a love story and a war. In the end, I think the movie accomplished what it set out to do, to bridge the wrongs done to the aboriginals. In 2008, the Australian government apologized for what she has done to the lost generation.

It's a beautiful movie.

(Photo: http://movies.about.com/od/australia/ig/Australia-Photos/australiapic2.htm)

Amazing Grace

In June 15th's edition of Time magazine, I came across a really heartwarming story about a 65 year old retired detective, Yukio Shige, scouting the three spots on the Tojinbo cliffs for suicides. If he finds someone, he would say "hi" and talk to them. A lot of times, the people he talk to would "burst into tears" and he would gently lead them to his "office".

He would serve them tea and oroshi-mochi, a sticky rice usually eaten only on New Year's. Shige is also a counsellor and he would listen and talk to the these people. He said that amongst men who commit suicide, it's almost universally work related, bounded by debts or unemployment. With women, it's health problems. As for youngsters, he would accompany them to their parents and make the parents "write a promise to change, and hang it on the wall".

For most of the past 5 years, he has funded his "organization" with his own savings or donations, to pay the rent of his office and sometimes help those he has "saved". Recently, the Japanese government pledged $100 million over the coming 3 years to organizations similar to Shige's. They have been petitioning for 5 years.

Japan has the highest suicide rate in the world, 23.8 per 100,000 person. Shige's reason behind serving the oroshi-mochi to those he has saved is bringing memories of loved ones celebrating the New Year's to their minds, reminding that they are not alone.

The article ended with Shige reading a letter from a man he has saved 5 years ago, thanking him for a second life. Then Shige's cell phone started to ring, the ring tone is the Amazing Grace. How great is that?

(Photo : http://jcollector.wordpress.com)