Monday 31 May 2010

EVER AFTER - DAISY VINTAGE BROOCH BOUQUET

This bouquet looks so happy - so I call it 'EVER AFTER', just as a fairytale's happy ending!

...and they lived happily ever after...

ived happily ever after... If you've read my previous blog posts you might have known by now about my obsession with Sarah Coventry signed Vintage Jewellery. Here is another bouquet made of Sarah Coventry signed stunning 'Fashion Petals' collection.


The main colours are Pink, Milky white and Peachy Orange. Every flower has a layer of petals and a center in sparkling gold colour.

The bouquet is made out of 9 huge flowers (each one measures about 3" across) and 12 matching flower earrings. I handwired some Czech glass preesed flowers in pale gold/champagne and pale lime green/citrine Czech tear drop glass beads to use in the bouquet as flower filler. I also added some artificial grass to the bouquet for a pretty natural look.


The bouquet was then backed with foam dracena leaves and the handle was wrapped with pinky peach exquisite lace.



A light green wired tafeta ribbon bow was finally attached to the handle to complete the pretty, girly look!

I've currently seen these two beautiful Peach Inspiration Boards and thought how well my bouquet would match.



Source : The Bride's Guide 'Pretty as a Peach' Inspiration Board


Source: The Perfect Palette - Just Peachy : A Palette of Peach and Shades of Green

If you like what you see here, why don't drop in my Etsy shop (http://www.hairbowswonderworld.etsy.com/) to have a look! This bouquet will be on sale soon :)
Have a great day, everyone!

Saturday 29 May 2010

Pretty as a PEACOCK or Proud as a PEACOCK :) !!! Here is my PEACOCK PRIDE Vintage Brooch Bouquet

So as said before I am in love with Sarah Coventry signed vintage flowers (brooches, earrings, necklaces, bracelets well ... anything :) ) So a while ago I started to collect her enamel flowers. I came across this stunning line : Fashion Petals which came in different colours : Pink, Orange (more of a Peachy Orange) Lime/Apple Green, Turquoise Blue, Black and White. What a feast for your eyes.

Green Fashion Petals Brooch - Sarah Coventry


The only problems are they are so hard to find and so expensive. I saw it's sold on Ebay at $48/set of a brooch and a pair of earrings and the price can be much higher at a collector's house. So I started looking for bargains. It's quite a hard job and time consuming. Sometimes I found some sets at a reasonable price and in fine condition but sadly the seller won't ship to the UK Grrrr! So I bought some here, some there, sometimes I asked the sellers to ship it to my friend who lives in Miami and she helped sending it over to the UK for me. After a long time with lot of patience I found enough flowers for a bouquet.

It didn't come to my mind first to use peacock feathers with the bouquet. I was in fact intending to group all the green flowers with those pink, white and oranges one for a spring bouquet. But one day white trying to tidy up my drawers I accidentally put those green, black and turquoise blue flowers together and suddenly I saw my bouquet in my head and I knew at once what I was going to do. It was so easy when you saw it so clearly in your head and there was so much fun bringing that vision to life. I just needed to add some more rhinestone vintage brooches and earrings in complimentary colours here and there, arrange some hackle feathers in spruce blue and dark emerald green , lots of peacock swords with eyes on top. Then I finished off the backing, wrap the handle and embellish it. And voila`! I loved how luxurious, rich and exotique it came out. And I loved how it sparkled under the light.

Peacock Pride Bouquet
One day while wandering on the internet I came across these two beautiful peacock wedding inspiration boards and I thought how beautifully my bouquet will match! Thought I'd post the here :)
Peacock Green and Blue Wedding Inspiration Board




Source : Inspiration Board 8 - The Southern Wedding Magazine http://www.swsmag.net/blog/2008/10/3/fuss-jewelry-contest-finalists-vote.html?currentPage=2


If you are interested, this lovely bouquet is currently available in my Etsy shop : http://www.etsy.com/listing/48040788/new-peacock-pride-vintage-inspired
Have a great Saturday everyone!

Peacock Hair Fascinators

Here are just some of my new Pecock collection. More to come soon :)


Golden Charm

Pretty Purple


Angel's Song


Peacock Carnival



Blue Lagoon Glitz


Friday 28 May 2010

GARDEN OF HAPPINESS - A serie of flower brooch bouquets

The last winter in the UK was just too long. It was still cold after Easter - I just couldn't believe it! So, desperately longing for the sun, the warmth of Spring/Summer when flowers blooming everywhere in your garden, I made this vintage brooch bouquet and called it 'Garden of Happiness'. I tried to include in it all possible fresh, cheerful colours and gave it a neat and innocent round shape, immagining about a happy, bubbly bride walking down the aisle. Soon after I listed it in my Etsy shop it's sold to a nice guy from the Netherlands who wanted to give it to his wife-to-be in a late May wedding.




Garden of Happiness I

The next day I received an convo from an UK bride from Brighton. She was watching that bouquet and she said she was 'gutted to find it's been sold' and she asked me if I can create another bouquet of that kind for her July garden reception. This lady will be wearing a red dress.

I planned to make a similar bouquet for a comming photoshoot anyway so I said yes. I just needed to change my plan for the bouquet a little bit, adding some red to include her colour in the bouquet and eliminate all the baby pink because this lovely lady doesn't like pink. She said she just loved colour and sparkle and that she loved the shape of my bouquet and the fact that I used colourful flower brooches, not just any shape sparkly brooches. I added a layer of blue tulle backing to the bouquet which shows a bit under the flower cluster, that reflected some blue flower used in the bouquet and softened the look of very bright colourful colours. That's how 'Garden of Happiness II' was born :) I loved it when it came out and more importantly, my bride loved it when she received it.


Garden of Happiness II



I made the 'Garden of Happiness III' between filling orders. Tiredness can make you so uninspired and believe it or not, my brides are too important to me and every item of their order should be a work of art, so I tend to stop when I feel uninspired . Playing around with those brooch bouquets with so pretty colours always makes me feel fresh again and I can work much better after that.
This bouquet number three is the one I love the most amongst those three. I am totally in love with its colours, the pins and earrings I used in it are close to perfect. My favorite are all the gorgeous and tiny glass lampwork rosebuds which I handwired into small clusters. These make the bouquet so lively.



Garden of Happiness III

If you like what you see here, why don't check my Etsy shop
http://www.hairbowswonderworld.etsy.com/ the Garden of Happiness III is still there...for a while...

Thursday 27 May 2010

KRISTINA'S ORDER - BRIDAL AND BRIDESMAID BROOCH BOUQUET AND MATCHING BOUTONNIERES

Back a while ago, this lovely lady bought my 'Treasure' brooch bouquet - A symphony of amber gold, rust, orange , brown and a tiny bit of green. The main elements of this bouquet are Sarah Coventry signed 'Sun Flower' Brooches and Earrings, in beautiful pale gold tone with a gorgeous amber glass stone in their centers. Together with these stunning brooches and earrings are amber/topaz rhinestones vintage pins and brooches with a dash of lime green / citrine colour. To make it look more like a real treasure, I added plenty of very pale bright gold fresh water cultured pearls and top it off with the most gorgeous vintage rhinestone pin bumble bee.

The backing was made of luxurious soft saddle coque feathers in matching colour. The handle was slightly padded for extra comfort while holding ( and for a perfect smooth and round look), then wrapped with gold satin ribbon with a charming bow accent. In the center of the bow twinkles a cute vintage rhinestone button.







Treasure

After checking this bouquet out of my Etsy, this lovely lady convoed me for a custom work of a bridesmaid bouquet (for her sister) which should be a little smaller and two boutonnieres for her fiance and his brother. Of course all should match the bridal bouquet and her wedding colours are bronzes, golds and rusts.

So here are what I came up with : two boutonnieres each made with a Sarah Coventry 'Sun Flower' earring. To gain a consistency, I handwired some cultured pearls ( the same with the ones I used in the bridal bouquet) with gold plated wire to add to the flower earring. added a stem, added gold goose spike, natural coque saddle, natural/gold hackle feathers, some burnt peacock herl for more texture and finally wrapped the stem with beautiful pale gold satin ribbon.




Boutonnieres
And below is the 'Little Treasure' - the Bridesmaid Bouquet. It's made the same way I made the bridal bouquet but in order to make them different yet still matched, I used different feathers for the backing (gold hackle feathers) and wrapped the handle in brown.

My most favorites in this bouquet are the vintage copper stamping I used to embellish the handle and the beautiful vintage scorpion brooch (against the bee brooch I used in the bridal bouquet)



Little Treasure
I sent Kristina the photos of her completed items and I was so thrilled she said she loves them. Now her order is on its way to her across the pond. I can't wait to know what she thinks once she receives it.
Hope everyone will have a nice weekend, here in the UK it'll be a long weekend - monday is a bank Holiday. I know I'll have a very busy weekend finishing a huge order of Maria from Norway, doing some final touches for another 'Magic of Love' bouquet for a Birmingham bride, finishing some 'Vintage Chic' feather boutonnieres and 'Shabby Elegance' bridesmaid bouquet to take some photos to send to Brittney from the USA and may be with a bit of luck starting on a new order sample flower for Kieran from Australia...

NEED A WEDDING DRESS WHICH DRAPES PERFECTLY? A FLIGHT OF FANCY IS HERE JUST FOR YOU!

**************If you want to have some information about Tonya's commission work here you are : http://aflightoffancy.com/commissionwork.html

When I first got to know Tonya of A Flight Of Fancy I always asked myself how on earth she can be so creative??? I learned to know her on a public forum on which she posted new ideas almost everyday. Back at that time I didn't know she sews. But she posted photos of her different craft projects and the first thought of many of us on that board was : everything she touched became unique and pretty! And she kept posting new, fun ideas, it seemed she never ran out of them...

A while later Tonya showed us her webpage and I totally fell in love with her madrigal costumes. Look at the pictures below to see how a vision came to life under her worth of gold fingers. Her attention to details is amazing! Sewing with Tonya is undoubtedly a passion!










Bringing all those precious skills into making wedding apparel, her products are obviously top class. I love the way how her wedding dresses turn out, they drape perfectly and compliment the figure.





Need a bridesmaid dress, too





Or one for your flowergirl? ( and a bow or a crown to match???)


just talk to Tonya of A Flight of Fancy ( can be contacted at http://www.aflightoffancy.com/ ) she will help you out - Tonya can do everything :) - If you are in Texas why not make an appoitment and have a chat with her you will find this lady the most pleasant lovely person.

EDEN OF EVE - Vintage brooch bouquets with SARAH COVENTRY ' Flower Flattery'

This bouquet is now on its way over the pond to a Minneapolis bride. I was almost sad to let it go. You can laugh at me but I love it so much I can't help but bragging about it here :)


I call it Eden of Eve, I don't know why, that name just came to my mind when I was making it and sticked there. I had the vision for this bouquet long long time ago when I first saw this Vintage Flower Pin 'Flower Flattery' signed Sarah Coventry and couldn't help buying it. Then started a long time patiently and enduringly looking around and collecting these very hard to find flowers - brooches and earrings.

And finally I found enough for a bouquet yay! Almost all of the brooches and earrings are the 'Flower Flattery' but I did use a 'Black Diamond' (again signed Sarah Coventry - it's so beautiful) Flower Pin in the center for diversity. To add more texture to the bouquet, I used several vintage flower pins and earrings in matching colours, some are with rhinestones to add more sparklies, I also handwired plenty of Czech gold glass pearls and natural cultured pearls with gold plated wire .


The effect was surprisingly great. The bouquet was then backed with hand ruffled gold satin ribbon, the handle was lightly padded for more comfort while holding and wrapped with beautiful jacquard ribbon with floral pattern. A sheer irridescent wired ribbon bow finished the look.

I almost forgot about the beautiful bee fluttering above the bouquet on a wire stem. That was the most beautiful vintage openwork bee brooch I've ever seen. After the wedding my bride can easily remove the bee pin (which is in perfect working order) and wear it while still keep the bouquet for a great lovely memory...



I hope my bride will love this bouquet as much as I do - I can't wait for it to arrive in her hands.

Thursday 6 May 2010

TROPICAL RAIN FORESTS

I always dream about them, wishing I can go exploring them some day and get to see and enjoy a wonderful world of exotic flora and fauna.

A few weeks ago I saw these beautiful lady amherst tail feathers and could help myself buying them. Then I received these beautiful pink fresh water cultured pearls in special shapes from a very special order. I started to hear an improvisation in my head, and it sounds : 'tropical orchids'

Above is the bridal bouquet which I came up with - ivory silk orchid flowers with ivory lace lips and the pink pearls centers, graceful leaves made of light gold/champagne dupioni silk, salmon pink hackle feathers and burnt peacock herls for extra textures and 'forest' feeling, and of course the magnificant lady amherst tail feathers for the exotic factors.


More lace to wrap the handle and of course beautiful ribbon to finish it off. This bouquet is super light weight and I found it kinda charming. So glad to see how it came out, I went on to make this below mini hat/fascinator to match.


Both are available in my Etsy shop now, so if you like them, come check them out!