We are very happy to announce that our blog has a fresh new look and platform!
Please visit this web address for a whole new DECO news experience!
http://www.decoclay.com/blog/
We are very happy to announce that our blog has a fresh new look and platform!
Please visit this web address for a whole new DECO news experience!
http://www.decoclay.com/blog/
Just back from a three week trip in Japan were the DECO Japan head office instructors and I taught seasonal arrangements and Tropical II classes in Kyushu, Osaka and Tokyo. This was the first ever spring seasonal project from the DECO Clay Craft Academy!
The seasonal project covers new techniques of succulents, Anemone, English rose, Lily of the valley, berries, air plant, basil & oregano leaves.
In addition to all these flowers my mother taught a very cute Rabbit with flower bulb!
Last year, while working on the 2014 DECO calendar projects, I had a chance to create so many new flowers. This is when I came up with the idea of creating the new techniques encased in this spring project. In order to share these new projects as soon as possible we immediately began planning these classes making them available to all DECO instructors. The first classes began in Hawaii and California. Instructors in Japan have now had a chance and we will continue to teach this project in Atlanta, Moscow and Taipei by end of year.
I am so excited to see the smiles that come with these completed flowers! I really learn so much from everyone and find something new every time I share DECO techniques. Life is a circle of giving and receiving… In our ongoing Tropical II classes, many instructors completed very beautiful tropical flower bouquets! Great work everyone!!!A perfect season for these beautiful flowers! Here are a few instructor class participants. I’m sorry that we were not able to get a picture of each of you… as you know things just gets really busy and then the regret of not taking your photo…
This trip in Japan was nonstop with teaching during the week, but there was a chance to have a weekend in the countryside during Tim's part of the trip.
So what else would you do…? We went to plant rice… I guess we like to labor. Tim, Masa (DECO Japan web site designer and great friend) and I went to Hakushu, Yamanashi where we could enjoy beautiful Mother nature wrapped in the Japan Alps.
These beautiful mountains feed pure water to the rivers which then are delivered by these amazing channels and finally into the rice fields waiting below.
Amazingly, none of us had ever planted rice. The first step into the squishy mud was one to remember… I was sure that I would tip over face first into the mud soup... would have been a moment.
Rice planting is by-no-means easy, but together we managed to complete the task! Having had this opportunity changed the way we see rice. I won’t be leaving even one grain on my plate from now on… A great big thank you to all the farmers, with the help of nature, provide this life giving grain on a yearly basis! Also huge thanks to Takahashi-san from Vege+Co and Make a Difference for inviting us to participate! We all had a great time with this new experience in this beautiful place. Can’t wait to eat the rice we planted! 5kg for each pair of hands…
As if this were not enough…
We are getting ready to launch our new website!
Tim has been working so hard together with a wonderful design team since last year… I can't wait to share this with everyone! Coming very soon…
Hawaii office is in good energy and busy with many things. Now the August Made in Hawaii event is a main focus. Chenli has bee filling up our soon to be flower shop with bunches of long stem flowers.
We do hope you will be able to come to the event which is held from the 15~17 at the Blaisdell Center in Honolulu.
I will close for now and look forward to seeing you all very soon… Enjoy the summer!
Yukiko
Our time in LA was most enjoyable, but went by really fast!
We spent a great week reacquainting with our long-time instructors, as well as meeting many new instructors, members, and bystanders that attended our classes. These classes were held in a rental space at The Reef, formerly known as LA Mart - a very cool place hosting many different types of events and showrooms full of home interior goods.
If you are looking for co-working area or need a studio in downtown LA, please don’t hesitate to call on them. They have a whopping 60,000 square feet of “artistic” space that is being further developed into a creative hub for the city. More details can be found here: makercityla.com If you have the chance, please tell them DECO sent you. It was a great big joy and thanks to work with the team of the LA Maker City, and hope we can do it again very soon.
We would also like to thank everyone who came to the classes dedicating their efforts and hard work to finishing the projects!!!
There was a lot of information and techniques to cover in such a short period and I was so happy to be able to share all these new techniques as well as many new creations in this limited amount of time.
Thank you for this wonderful opportunity!
Thinking back, it has been almost 5 years since we visited California to offer classes and it brought a wonderful sense of how this craft has touched so many lives. This long overdue trip made me realize how important it is to keep our DECO community engaged, and has inspired me to plan more of these classes in the near future.
Our next stop….Atlanta, Georgia! If you are interested in Atlanta classes, please contact us! Classes will be held late summer – more information will be posted soon.
Besides classes, Tim & I got to sneak in a few extra-curricular activities for ourselves. This time, we rented a room in a house in the Hollywood area close to some interesting stores and restaurants. In the early morning and evening we took time some to stroll around the area enjoying seeing so many beautiful succulents and all kinds of delicate roses everywhere! We also found so many different types of plants, trees, and flowers that you don’t see in Hawaii. I truly enjoyed our strolls during off time. On the last day we took a drive down the coast… It was such a great day to unplug and just relish in the blissful day!
Although I just came back, I will be heading over to Japan in a few weeks to offer lessons on the new spring arrangement. This new piece is proving to be a very popular project and can’t wait to share with all of you there! I promise to share more pictures soon!
All my Best,
Yukiko
It is my great pleasure to introduce our newest DECO Hawaii staff member!
Please welcome Yokina Ikei to our team. Yokina will be assisting with daily operations of the Hawaii office and is bilingual in English and Japanese. For many months we have been looking for the right person to assist in the daily running of things around here and I believe we have found her. With the increased interest in the DECO membership program worldwide, in order to offer the best possible customer service, we should have more hands around here. Yokina has been with us for nearly a month and she is picking up the workflow very quickly – I believe she will be a great asset to the team! I hope that we may be able to continue offering each and every one the best possible service now and into the future.
The new 2014 Spring Kits are now available!
This beautiful kit comes in a one-of-a-kind wood vase with special peps and world-class Mokuba ribbons. Spring kits are available for $16.99 and are in limited quantity; all DECO members and Instructor receive a 10% discount. We are producing some special new clay colors that are perfect for creating this kit… We will keep you posted on availability of these new clay colors.
Our LA workshop is approaching very soon!
These workshops will be held from April 21 through April 25 at Maker City LA, formerly known as the LA MART design center. It’s still not too late to sign up for these fun workshops, so please contact us at [email protected] for workshop enrollment and join us in LA! For detailed workshop schedules, please see below:
Monday, April 21 at 9:30am~3:30pm - Instructor Spring Arrangement class
Tuesday, April 22 at 9:30am~3:30pm – Instructor Spring Arrangement & C3 classes
Wednesday, April 23 at 9:30am~3:30pm – Instructor Spring Arrangement & C3 classes
Thursday, April 24 at 9:30am~3:30pm – Member & Instructor mini bouquet class (Orchids, roses, hypericum berries, succulents and a mini pineapple)
Friday, April 25 at 9:30~11:30am & 1:30pm~3:30pm – Member & non-member lauhala box project (Choice of roses, stephanotis, hibiscus, hydrangea, gardenia, lilac with assorted leaves and berries)
Cost of classes:
3 Day Spring Arrangement - $350 (Includes supplies)
2 Day Spring Arrangement - $225 (Includes supplies)
1 Day Member Bouquet - $100 (Includes supplies)
1 Day Instructor Classes - $85/Day
2 Hour Workshop - $40 (Includes supplies)
*Please note that non-refundable deposit of $20/class is required to reserve class
Our door is always open for everyone who would like to look around and discover what DECO clay is all about. We recommend that you let us know so we can make some time to demonstrate for you. Please feel free to contact us at [email protected] or 808.735.7800.
Hope this spring brings blooms of hapiness!
Yukiko
We are very excited to announce that we will be in LA from 4/21-4/25 to offer classes!
It has been a while since we were able to offer classes in the mainland and are so happy to have this opportunity. There has not been a day that went by that we have not thought about this… Can’t believe how time flies!
This will be great to chance to meet our new instructors, members and those who have never had a chance to work with DECO Clay.
These last couple years, my mother & I have been focusing on creating new curriculums and enhancing the techniques used in our craft. There are so many new projects and things to share.
In April, we will be holding classes in downtown LA. These DECO classes will be held in a space named “THE REEF” formerly known as the LA MART, which is a design center full of beautiful showrooms which in its self is worth the trip…
Here is the schedule for our workshops, please let us know if you have any questions! Reservations required for those attending classes. Our door is always open for those who would like to look around and ask questions without reservations. It is recommended that you let us know you are coming so that we can make time to demonstrate for you personally.
LOCATION: (Downtown LA)
The Reef
1933 S. Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90007
CLASSES FROM 9:30am ~ 3:30pm
Monday, April 21 at 9:30am~3:30pm - Instructor Spring Arrangement class
Tuesday, April 22 at 9:30am~3:30pm - Instructor Spring Arrangement & C3 classes
Wednesday, April 23 at 9:30am~3:30pm - Instructor Spring Arrangement & C3 classes
Thursday, April 24 at 9:30am~3:30pm - Member & Instructor mini bouquet class. Will be creating orchids, roses, hypericam berries, succulents and a mini pineapple
Friday, April 25 at 9:30am~11:30pm & 1:30pm~3:30pm
Lauhala box project open to members and non-members. Choice of roses, stephanotis, hibiscus, hydrangea, gardenia, lilac with assorted leaves and berries
COST OF CLASSES:
3 DAY SPRING ARRANGEMENT $350, INCLUDES SUPPLIES
2 DAY SPRING ARRANGEMENT $225, INCLUDES SUPPLIES
1 DAY MEMBER BOUQUET $100, INCLUDES SUPPLIES
1 DAY INSTRUCTOR CLASSES $85/DAY
2 HOUR WORKSHOP $40, INCLUDES SUPPLIES
Hope to see you there!
Yukiko
We have just finished the DECO annual newsletter and are really excited about seeing this printed… should be receiving these in the next 2 weeks and will be made available online and hard copy.
Will be sure to send out a notice once it is ready…
Christmas snuck up on me this year…
I have wanted to make a large Christmas wreath this year in a rustic feel. Making this 100% from DECO Clay posed to be a very ambitious undertaking and has kept me working for weeks… Thanks to Chenli and many others it has been completed!
We always learn so many new techniques by taking on these intensive projects and this one is no exception. The flowers created for this are dahlia, anemone, ranunculus, rose, thistle, air plants, hypericum berry and artichokes.
As well as flowers, I have been fascinated by all the different textures and shapes of leaves and used this as a good excuse to create lots of varieties to incorporate into this wreath. There are leaves from guava, eucalyptus and orange trees here. Each detail adds such a natural feeling.
To enhance the feeling of Christmas here in the studio Marlo and Kody have been working really hard on some DECO “gingerbread” houses.
All the “candies” look so real! Looking forward to displaying these right next to our
very first live tree here!!!
Hope all your Holiday plans are running smoothly!
See you soon,
Yukiko
Late last year, in December, we received an email from our friend Laura Plimpton, Martha Stewart’s sister, about her daughter Sophie’s wedding. Laura had wanted very much to present her daughter a replica bouquet which she herself had carried on her wedding day with Sophie’s late father. I also found out that this was a fresh flower bouquet that Martha had made. Laura sent a few photos of the bouquet and asked me if I could recreate it in clay flowers. Of course the first emotion was of joy to have this opportunity and then came the fear of this huge responsibility…
With the wedding being only a month away, I needed to focus on making the best flowers that I had ever made! No pressure… This meant over 100 stem flowers in varieties such as roses, tuberose (the wedding flower), and lily of the valley. The images I had to work with showed the most beautiful fresh flowers and I knew these were going to be a challenge. I really wanted to create this freshness of life in clay. I knew our clay could do it and I was ready for this challenge. I was really thrilled by this and not to mention how excited to be part of their special day!
The process kept me tirelessly busy for endless days and a few nights, but to be totally honest, I truly enjoyed creating all these beautiful flowers. Of course this was possible due to the wonderful assistance of Chenli with her amazing enthusiasm and talent!!! The bouquet turned out to be most gorgeous yet to date. I really love the traditional off white combination with just a tiny bit of pale pink and it had little bit of a weeping cascade feel.
Half way through the process of making this bouquet Laura sent us another email saying that this wedding would be featured in Real Weddings magazine! Seriously!!!? It has been a dream of mine for a long time that one day our clay flowers could be part of the Martha Wedding magazine. I still get Goosebumps thinking about the day I received this news. A dream comes true….
After what seemed like the longest wait the Martha Stewart Real Weddings Special Edition is out now! It will be on display until the end of January 2014.
Thank you so much to Laura and Sophie for trusting in us and our clay flowers for this very special wedding, we truly enjoyed making this for you! While we were at it we added a little something special for the groom; a matching boutonniere. We wish for your happiness and look forward to watching your family bloom endlessly.
Also, thank you so much to the MSLO team for assisting in all the fine details!
So grateful!
Yukiko
Recent Comments