Snowflakes and butterflies

Hello ladies, I know the Christmas season is over, but as I type, snowflakes are tumbling past the window and the whole world is silent and white.  If you're into the idea of a winter wedding one of the simplest and prettiest things you can make are snowflakes.  They look beautiful as place settings or can just be hung amongst the flowers.  Here's how to:

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1.    You need: A4 paper, scissors and a pencil

2.    First, make a square, to do this take one corner and fold diagonally across the paper so that you make a triangle and the edges of the paper line up

3.    Cut off the spare rectangle - along the line where the fold meets so that you’re left with a square when you open the paper out

4.    Fold the triangle in half at the shortest point

5.    You need to make a circle so now draw a curved line from the folded edge to the other side

6.    Cut along the line, if you open it up now you should have a rough circle

7.    Now for the pretty bit; whatever you cut out from this shape will make your final design.  Little snips out from the folded edges will give you a lacey effect, long spiney cuts will back delicate spikes. 

Remember whatever you do will be mirrored along the fold when you open it out.  For the butterfly design cut out one half of the butterfly shape, and when you open it up you’ll have a whole one.

A whole year later

Well hello there guys and dolls. Can you believe it's a year since I last posted? I can't.
I've spent the last year studying on a Masters in Fashion Merchandise and Management as well as lecturing in fashion, developing a new product (stuffa.co.uk), building a shop as well as moving house and being a mum.
I'm telling you this by way of apologising for not being so quiet, I have genuinely not had the time. So by way of apology here are some pics from the beautiful boutique I designed and built in Southampton, with the help of some incredible people.

Re:So Gallery

Home made wine bottle lights

Re:So shop

Hanging bottle lights

It has been the wine bottle lights that have been most marvelled at and they are so easy to make (you tube how to cut wine bottles) and the flex and fittings are from Wilkinson. Super cheap, relatively easy and and incredibly effective.

If you are in Shampton and fancy popping in, the shop is situated on the first floor of the Marlands centre opposite Costa. It sells unique fashion and art and is really worth a look see.

I promise not to leave it so long next time.

xkt

House Of Eve

So sorry for the delayed post, i've been working on a rather exciting project. I have been helping some very lovely people set up their new boutique in Clifton, Bristol. It's called House of Eve and they stock designer and vintage women's wear. I've been doing their windows and floor plan as well as a bit of buying - it's been brilliant fun.

House of Eve - Window Design

Labels wise we're selling Danish designers Numph;

Numph

 

And Laundry Room;

 

Laundry Room

And some handpicked vintage dresses, shirts, shoes and bags (we've only been open 3 weeks and we've had to do a second bag run already as everyone has gone crazy for them!)

Vintage 

These pictures were taken just before we opened and in the last two weeks we've added a lot more vintage and have some super soft scarves and very cool jewellery. Next time i'm there i'll take some pics but you can also see what bits and pieces there are via face book - House of Eve and fingers crossed there will be a website soon.

Official opening is 5th November and the address is 91a White Ladies Road, Clifton, Bristol (next to bar humbug). If you're around come and say hi for your free cupcake (with any purchase) and if you're not around then come say hi anytime!

Averys - For all you Wedding Wine needs

I've wanted to blog about Averys for some time now for no other fact than when we were organising our wedding they were beyond superb!
Apart from the gorgeous and unique environment;

wine tasting table

And the obvious experience and expertise;

 

 

They were open and made us feel totally relaxed when we said we had X amount to spend and we needed X amount of bottles (and trust me it wasn't much!)
They got out a selection and let us taste and decide for ourselves - without any of the hideous wine snobbery - which wines would be best for our day and our guest.

We were so delighted by the whole experience that we also treated ourselves to a little something special;

 

 

We have been to Averys on and off since, whenever we have wanted to buy a friend something that you can't get in the supermarket or when we have wanted to treat ourselves to the experience of feeling special without breaking the bank - their good basic wine is the same cost as supermarkets but the quality is so much better.
Go and see for yourselves, it's totally worth the trip: Averys Wine Cellars, 9 Colver Street, Bristol, BS1 5LD  www.averys.com

Vintage Tea Party Co.

For those of you that have never been to Carmarthen in Wales it could be described as "up and coming" in terms of fashion so I was thoroughly excited to see a Vintage Crockery shop pop up on Mansel Street just off the main high street.

The Vintage Tea Party Co. hire Vintage Crockery for weddings and special occasions and are doing so well that they have opened a little boutique selling pretty home wares to accompany their vintage china

 

 

If you're in the neighbourhood you could drop in or alternatively look them up at their tranquil website http://www.thevintageteapartyco.com.

Street Art in Bristol

Again apologies for not posting anything dressy but I've been making and making and I can't let you see the dresses until the weddings happen next year (they will be worth the wait and I'm already hatching a plan to get some lovely vintage dresses headed your way so please hang on in there!)
So for now I thought I would share with you some spectacular street art that is on display near the Old Fire Station in the centre of Bristol. It really is breath taking, and if I was looking at having an urban wedding this summer I would make everyone head down there for some amazing and unique wedding photos;

Family day out!

Hanging plants for an Urban Reception?

I really like the idea of hanging plants within an urban environment to take the grey edge off. I think it could work really well if you had an out door space for your inner city wedding reception.

 

 

 

 

There is a whole lot more and I can't recommend enough that you pop down to see it if you're in town as the scale makes it really amazing.

Something vintage next time - promise
xkt

Rob Ryan

This is possibly the most romantic card I have ever read in my life and if I was getting married again I would not hesitate to give this for my husband to be;

London Dresses

This is going to be short and sweet as we've only been back a few ours and i'm wiped out but I really need to share these with you! Vintage wedding dresses at there best, being worn by their original owners;

from the Tate Modern

 50's dresses by Candy Anthony http://www.candyanthony.com/ (sorry about the appalling picture) but OMG how excited was I to find this!

Candy Anthony

Something a little different a dress made from sugar;

Sugar Dress - Science Museum

Or one from paper perhaps;

Paper Dress - Science Museum

And finally something totally unrelated - my favourite Barbie from when I was a child!

Wedding Theme Inspiration

I'd like to start by apologising for not posting many dress pics or 'how to's' recently. I've been doing a lot of making and it's my policy not to put any pictures of wedding dresses or bridesmaids dresses on the blog until after the big day (I would hate to be responsible for ruining the big surprise) so i'm afraid we're just going to have to wait for those.
But hopefully this may make up for it a little bit!
Whilst we were away in Sheffield we took a visit to Yorkshire Sculpture Park which not only has some phenomenal art pieces but also a phenomenal shop, with some beautiful one off art pieces. I thought they would make beautiful Artsy Wedding gifts that would be totally unique or alternatively they were great inspiration pieces in relation to decorating a reception or themeing a wedding.

Table Centre Piece?

http://www.johndilnot.com/

John Dilnot has used antique maps as a background in this beautiful box and has mounted and cut around the bird images. Both of these things are very simple but also work really well if you wanted to create a soft vintage look at your wedding reception. For example you could use old maps as a table runner and rather then flowers as a centre piece maybe try and recreate the birds on the trees. It would look so unique and could be a real talking point.

Suzie McLaughlin has created some stunningly delicate art pieces by cutting out floral and butterfly motifs from the pages of books. (She has obviously been doing it for a while so her's are extremely involved) Why not create a simple design (or borrow one http://melstampz.blogspot.com/2008/09/butterfly-template-tutorial-like-one-on.html) and see what you can come up with. Again this could work really well as a table centre piece or laid out in the entrance to your reception.

Red Riding Hood Wedding theme?

This is less about ideas for decorations to enhance your wedding day (though you could) and more about an idea for your wedding theme. Les Contes have created some gorgeous jewellery pieces centering around fairy tales. What could be more apt for your wedding day?! If you focus on silhouettes and well placed props you could very easily recreate a fairy tale setting without going too overboard.

We're off on holiday but I promise to come back soon xkt

Antique Wedding List

I love and despair about Sheffield Antiques, love because it is a cavern of joy and delight and despair because it's in Sheffield (which is a long way from my house)!

 

If you know some one who is getting married I can't advise you more strongly then to take the trip up there as you will find 101 original wedding gift ideas. They have such a huge range of vintage and antique goodies of every shape and kind that if you don't come away with more than you intended to get i'll eat my new 70's, turquoise, leather jacket that I accidentally bought on this visit.

For them;

cute and kitsch

I would get married again just to receive this!

Babycham Deer

Another idea is maybe finding your thank you gifts for your bridesmaids here, they have such a huge selection of vintage jewellery and accessories;

You never know, you may also find a little something to make your own wedding day that little bit more unique;

1920's veil and tiara

If you don't live in Sheffield it may feel like a long way to go but it really is so worth it, you really can spend the day there - they also have a lovely little cafe on the top floor which is never a bad thing.
And don't forget the surrounding area, we spent the afternoon at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park (i'll post about that soon) which was beyond fantastic.