On Sunday bought this pretty spring dress for her and suddenly I had a stroke of inspiration! I have been thinking about her birthday party for a while, and this dress has given me a place to start.

I’m thinking turquoise, orange and white for the colour palette?

Patterns are also big this year and with the combination of pastel shades you can go bold, especially floral designs keeping your wedding classical. This is popular for table runners adding a touch of class. Floor runners are also getting more popular as you can request them to be custom-made with your names, initials, date of wedding; the choice is endless.

Candelabra’s and chandelier’s create a huge statement especially with the new trend of using them outdoors. Crystal appears to remain the most popular choice and you can hire them for a fraction of the price of purchasing them. I came across ‘Wedding Day Hire’ a wedding hire company based in the Cambridgeshire are: http://www.weddingdayhire.co.uk.

Rustic and vintage themes are also very popular this year. The Royal wedding largely influencing the use of lace both on dresses and wedding themes alike. Faux fur, antique brooches, pearls, vintage crockery are in and cupcakes are out, being replaced by dessert tables with bite size desserts and sweet treats.

The most interesting trend this year I find is making sure you leave your reception in style. I have seen examples of couples leaving through sparkler arch ways, quad bikes, horse, tractor and I could go on.

Are you daring enough to set any new trends this year, let me know!

I think of colours pretty broadly, not as broadly as a guy, who thinks in colours like this….

…but definitely in major shades.  So if we took the colours of my childhood colouring pencils….

…Black, Brown, Tree Green, Leaf Green, Light Blue, Dark Blue, Purple, Pink, Red, Peach, Orange and Yellow….only Red makes the cut.

I always knew that I’d have red in the colour scheme, but red and white is quite stark together.  Bold, but stark.  I needed a little something to soften the look.  That’s when I discovered the Aqua and Red colour scheme which is oh so popular in Weddingland!  Martha Stewart.com says “though unconventional, this warm-cool combination is surprisingly elegant” – I agree!  I like the crispness of the aqua against the warm red and love that it’s evocative of formal elegance with a hint of playfulness.  For me, the aqua would mainly be an accent colour for decorative elements, I would see the colour palette as 80% red and 20% aqua with a tiny bit of white and maybe even gold

There’s heaps of inspiration pics out there – here’s a few of my favourites:

I think it’s getting to the point where I can start blogging. Maybe not today though because i’ve spent ages playing around with it already. Soon though.

I also thought it would be fun to showcase a dessert table that would mirror the mood board!! The green may be a bit much but I think you will love it none the less!! Yummy macaroons!!

Have a great Tuesday!

{ photo’s from once wed, style me pretty, wolf&willow, wedding nouveu, martha steward }

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{ photos found on thecaketressblog }

Cover. © Melissa Stapleton

I used the Japanese stab binding technique for my final artifact, and I feel that only having used this technique once before it has gone very well. All the cotton is pulled tight and very neat and in line. To make the book more personal, I added a button so that I could close the book. I feel that this gives the book a little more detail, rather than just being plain. The button is also blue, I chose this colour so that the colour theme followed throughout.

As you can see I used a clear covering. I wanted to make my book look as much like a medical book as possible. I also used the covering so that you can see my title “Beauty”. I chose this title as I didn’t want it to become to complicated, or for the audience to over think. I thought about naming my book “Clinical Beauty”, however, I want my audience to be able to see that this was my aim.

I have left my book totally up to interpretation. I have no introduction, and haven’t titled my images in my book. I have done this so that the audience can take what they want from it. However, I have thought about the names of my images and thought maybe I would create a page online with all the information about my book, in case audience members wanted to find out more. Along with making my book more known, if people were to find online.

If I was to do this, I would write how I came about doing my project and why I did it like this.

For the pricing of my book I need to take in consideration of how much it is to print and gaining a profit. Therefore the price for these would be around £30 – £40. However, as this is a rare book, I feel I could charge as much as £100.

Jennifer
A 60 year old fine art collector from New York. She visits galleries regularly and has a large collection of prints and rare books.

As Jennifer is my intended audience, I feel that my rare book has really worked. I would also exhibit my work, where she could find out more about the artifact, and possibly see more work on the topic. And/or other works which I may have.

I believe Jennifer would be a Digital Settler (who were born before 1980 and have embraced the digital age and have chosen to live a digital life). I feel she would be put in this category because she is not too old to never have known technology, plus living in New York, she is around new things everyday, feeling that she would be keeping up with the media.

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Rainbow party in full swing!

There is only one rule when theming this event, use plenty of rainbow colours! This party is suitable for boys or girls and can be adjusted to accommodate your child’s favourite colour. For babies, make the colours pastel.

To do this party on the cheap, save up your leftover party supplies (plates, cups, decorations) to use on the day. If you are like me, you should have quite a collection.

Hire a face painter or ask a talented friend to help out.

Games: I held this party at the local park so the kids had plenty to do. Our only game was pass the parcel. You could have running races, a treasure hunt, piñata or hire a face painter for the party!

Invitations: Of course the invitations have to be bright and colourful!

These gorgeous invites are perfect for the party

Colours scheme: Red and yellow and pink and green, purple and orange and blue….you know how it goes!

The Cake : The cake was a lot of fun to make and very easy Rainbow Puss  (5yrs old) loved helping. ‘Rainbows End’ from the Australian Women’s Weekly Kid’s Birthday Cakes book.

'Rainbows End' from the Australian Women's Weekly Kids Birthday Cakes book

Food: Lots of brightly coloured food. Check out the photo below, an amazing but totally achievable tablescape from Anna Bartlett’s Shiny Happy Art.

From Anna Bartlett's shiny happy art

wrapping paper used as a table runner