1. Where are you located?
San Jose, CA
2. Tell us a little about yourself. I’m a former Silicon Valley high-tech marketing professional, now a stay at home mom, making clay flowers out of CLAYCRAFT by DECO Soft Clay for weddings and events. I also teach interested crafters how to make their own clay flowers and figurines out of this fantastic clay from Japan. I’m a certified DECO Clay Craft Academy Instructor and have been doing this since 2001. I’ve been featured on the Martha Stewart Show - which her producers happened to find me via my Etsy storefront and weddings where I’ve made clay flowers for favors and my wedding stationery have also been featured on TheKnot.com. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE what I do and I enjoy making each bride’s wedding uniquely their own!
3. What special things do you create for weddings?
Clay flower bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages, favors, centerpieces, cake flowers, save the dates, wedding invitations, programs, menus, table cards, place cards, seating charts, guest books, favor tags, pretty much anything!
4. Who or what sparked your interest in making wedding-related items?
I always loved the wedding industry. I guess getting married at 33 I had a lot of time to look at bridal magazines wondering if I would ever get married. Weddings are always a happy occasion and even in a down economy, weddings still take place. I love helping brides create a theme and a motif to really bring their weddings together and everyone just raves about the items I produce.
5. What is a little known fact, or something unique about your work that is interesting?
I obsess over getting the flower just right for my brides. If it’s just okay (which my brides probably wouldn’t even know the difference) I start over and perfect it.
6. If you are married, what’s the one thing you wish you had for your wedding that you didn’t?
Although we had a fabulous dessert buffet at the Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki -which I didn’t get to try but heard it was fabulous and yummy, I wish I had done the candy bar thing! I love the ideas that brides come up with these days.
7. What is your favorite wedding song?
Push - our wedding song by Sarah Maclachlan. It’s different and not the norm, but the words touched my husband and I.
8. What is your favorite part of the wedding journey?
Designing something new and trying to think outside the box.
9. What advice can you share for all the brides getting married this year?
Although the invitation sets the tone for your wedding, I recommend doing the wedding website link and posting your most up-to-date information there instead of doing the 3 inserts (things to do, directions, etc). Use that extra money you save there on the wedding day details that make your wedding ceremony and reception much more special (programs, candy bars, table cards, favors, etc). I would also say, try giving clay flowers a shot. I think more and more brides are realizing that clay flowers are a great alternative and they have something to show for it well after the wedding. I LOVE fresh flowers, but with the amount of money you spend, it’s a great gift for guests to take home!
10. What is your perfect honeymoon spot?
Hawaii - where we used to live…
11. If you could pick anyone famous that would purchase your items for their wedding, who would they be?
That’s a hard one… any celebrity who has great sense of style!
12. If you could choose 1 item from your shop that you wish every bride could have, what would it be?
Well, since my Etsy shop is more about just vase arrangements, I would say, I hope they see that my flowers are really lifelike and could pass for real flowers and it will entice them to order my clay flower bouquets which I don’t currently sell on my site because it’s all custom work. They do however the pieces on my site make great cake toppers!
Links where we can find out more about your work:
www.dkdesignshawaii.com
www.dkdesignshawaii.blogspot.com
www.flickr.com/photos/dkdesigns
1 comments:
WOW! Such amazing art! My new thing to save money for!!
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