a la mode

who knew red onions could be so charmants?
{image from here}

different kind of italian leftovers..

you gotta be a ice-cold mf not to smile when you see a poppy.

leftovers from last saturday's wedding but i'm delighted for the bounty.  have thoroughly enjoyed their irrepressible cheer throughout the apartment.  poppies are the perfect reminder that even in the dead of winter, spring will be here soon.

scared money don't make no money

i started kat flower to share my love of flowers.  i have an aesthetic -- it's lush, romantic, loose, seasonal, textural, whimsical and i'm not afraid of color.  i love greens and vines and going with a flower's natural movement.  and though i can go simple, many of my designs have 15+ elements in it.  it's not particularly inexpensive but it's what i like and what i do.

i work in new york, a market saturated with brilliantly talented designers.  lots of choices out there, catering to different styles and budgets but guess what?  i want to work with people that love kat flower.  people that look at my body of work and buy into what it is i do.  i don't want to be second choice.  i don't want clients coming to me because they couldn't afford x or y.  or clients that say they don't really love or care about flowers because i love and care about them.  or clients with copious tears of another designer's work looking for me recreate it for their event.  of course, i know that designers get booked and i very much appreciate when my colleagues refer business to me {i do the same} but  once you come to me, you need to trust and believe in the work that i do.

another thing...pricing.  i'm also completely above board about it and even include it on my website.  so when you inquire as to my availability, i trust that you know what you're in for, both aesthetically and financially.  time is a precious commodity and i'm not about wasting yours or mine.  that's not to say that i don't do small events because i very much do...it just has to make sense for the both of us.  this is after all, my business and livelihood, not my hobby or side-hustle.

basically the long and short of it is, in today's fickle economy, it would be easy, at least at first, to take every job that crosses my path.  but i'm thinking long-term and big picture so i can't do that.  i'll wait for the jobs and clients that are a good fit.  and eventually, as i become more established, those jobs will find me.  scared money don't make no money*.  and i'm not scared, at least, not right now anyway.

*lyric by young jeezy.  thanks sha for hipping me to it.

i'm ready

it's 2012!  yay!  what's not to love about a new year, a fresh start, a global clean slate.  it's a perfect time to do new things and the potential for greatness can't be ignored.  it's already a bigger and badder year for me and kat flower and to that end, i thought i'd share some goals that will make this year off the chiz-art...

- get some plants.  sad but true confession.

- keep my house tidy for at least a month.  it's super clean now and i am loving it.  staying in love enough to put my shoes and other crap away will be key.

- take better care of my skin.

- visit friends that live out of town.

- visit a new country.  might be able to fold in the aforementioned.  

- look up at the sky more.  

- dream, laugh, cook, read, teach more.

- finally learn to knit.

- grow.

- re-upholster my sofa.  it will be a total game changer.

- get a haircut.

- de-clutter.  

- use every gift certificate i've received over the last, i don't know, three years.

- learn to smize, i.e. smile with my eyes.  never too late.

- be loving, be gracious and be thankful.  that one is a life resolution.  always and forever.

happy new year buttercups.  wishing you beauty, love, hope, peace and light this year and beyond. x

p.s. a reason to love winter -- quince blossoms.  definitely one of my top 7.
p.p.s. already making progress on my list.  feel free to share some of your goals below.  might want to add some more...

reflections

some more images from the gala i wrote about for the huffington post...

we're just a few days out from the year's end and like you, i've been reflecting on my 2011. it's gone by in a flash and all in all, it's been a great one for kat flower.  i booked more weddings and events than previously {thank you again to everyone for choosing to work with us}, met some cool people, worked with and collaborated on some great projects with some very talented designers, artists and photographers with the promise of more opportunities to come, got great press, taught some workshops, launched my website all while doing what i love...creating and designing with flowers.  i am truly blessed.

HUGE thanks to all of you for reading and following my escapades through this floral life. thanks for caring, for following, for commenting, for pinning and for supporting me and my little engine that can. it's been heaps of fun {and tres helpful} sharing my journey with you. 2012 is already going to be bigger and badder than ever so stay tuned for all the shenanigans.  so in the indelible words of michael scott {because i've been streaming episodes of the office}, 'see you on the flippity-flip.' and yes, it's official...i've morphed into that guy that quotes tv and movies. please save me from myself.

i'm going to clean my house now. 

x

{photos by michael seto}

huffington post

my latest post on being an entrepreneur and running my small business is now live so check it out here.  it's my own personal christmas miracle that i submitted it before the holiday but then again, 'tis the season. 

anyway, because all of you who read le blog are so near and dear to me, i thought i'd share some behind-the-scenes thoughts and inside scoop about my behind-the-scenes article...

first, no b.s. but i got hired 12 days out from the event.  not ideal but clearly doable.  and the email came after midnight from a friend of a friend {who's now my friend too..just go with me on this} who's taken two of my floral workshops.  fancy that.  

the brooklyn floral design community is amazing.  i admire and respect them all and yes, we are friends.  shout out to sarah of blossom and branch, suzanne from coco rosie and sarah from saipua for referring these talented designers because my team was BOSS!  sooz, jen, britt, liza, adriana, linda -- love you all and hope to have lots more work so we can kill it again.  and that's a photo of the 40+ wrist corsages and boutonnieres we were charged to make. wowowowowow.

i've done weddings with bigger budgets.  and so producing all that we had to produce and staying true to my aesthetic was very hard.  and after flowers, supplies, labor, delivery, i had nothing.  so really, why did i say yes?  it really was to test myself and to explore galas and the like as a possible direction for kat flower.  the verdict: definitely can do it so sure, i'll go back to my event roots...in calculated doses.  

finally, the wonderful and talented parris wittingham.  i met parris at an wedding industry event and he was kind enough to not only to check out my work but also called to let me know that he liked it.  that's always nice, right?  so when i decided to approach a photographer about shooting some behind-the-scenes images, he was at the top of my wish list.  luckily for me, he said yes and he committed to the project.  he sent me a questionnaire so he could better understand what i do and what goals i had set for the shoot -- thorough to say the least.  he called it 'love at work' which perfectly summarizes what it is that i do.  and as someone who hates being photographed, he exudes a warmth and calmness that immediately puts even the most camera-shy among us at ease.  and because he was there, i have that beautiful image of team kat flower group hug.

pushing through and making it work indeed...

{photos by parris wittingham studio}

fierce drummer woman

happy holidays sugar plums.  happened upon this clip via a friend's fb page and it's too brilliant not to share with y'all.  grace jones is everything and her outfit is totally appropriate for a children's christmas special, right?  i can't.  bonus: s. epatha merkerson pre her lieutenant van buren years.  fair warning, this may be a series...
p.s. imagine if this package really went to the 1988 white house? hahahahahaha!