ALBUMS WITH PERSONALITY

I've admired these albums for quite some time. What I love about them is that they are handmade and each one is completely unique. Lacunawork on Etsy makes these fabulous albums in Portugal from old pieces of furniture that have already served their first purpose and are destined to be cast off. From there she lets the material guide her and aid in the final design. These are just amazing! When I look at them, I imagine future generations poring over these books and knowing just how special the contents must be by the grand treatment they have been given.

NICOLE AND DAN

If you were able to catch a couple of my other posts you may know that I love to hear the story of my clients. The natural progression of creating something is wondering about where it is destined to be once its time in the studio is over.

These pieces are intended for the wedding of Nicole and Dan who live in Seattle. Nicole's known story starts out in a way that is pretty amazing. Nicole is originally from Korea where, when she was about three years old, a policeman carried her into the White Lily Orphanage to live. No story is available about where she came from or why she was taken there in the first place. She was soon adopted by an American couple. Many events have taken place since then to bring her to where she is today and this fall she will be returning to that orphanage in Korea to be married to Dan. There will be a beautiful reception after they return to Seattle for friends and family that could not travel to Korea.

Now Dan happens to be an amazing artist and he drew this picture for their wedding announcements. Art and stories of love. Not sure if there is anything more powerful than that.

FRENCH SILK BROCADE PILLOW

Just a fun little post about a new ring bearer pillow I would love to share with you. This is created out of french silk brocade and backed in black silk taffeta. It borders on the masculine and I think it is quite fetching. The center of the pillow has stacked vintage buttons of abalone and glass with a rhinestone on top for good measure.

DESIGN STORIES

When I dream up a design idea the immediate payoff is my concept coming to life, holding it in my hands and feeling like its time in the studio has come to an end. The second part (my favorite) is that I know it has a whole new life meant for it now. Everytime a box is packed I picture the person opening it, that is when the new life for my designs begins. There are so many beautiful weddings and happy events that I get to be a part of this way. Here is just one of those stories.

Meet Amber and Adam. Amber wrote me asking for a custom purple silk flower bouquet and shared that she and her soon to be husband Adam were flying to Ireland to elope at the stunning Ashford Castle. Her custom bouquet would be a part of the select few things they would take for this beautiful expression of their love together. Imagine how happy I was when she sent me these gorgeous photos! I feel supremely lucky to have client photos sent to me. These are so precious and I truly adore each and every one.

Amber described her time in Ireland as magical and I can certainly see it in these images. The photographer is Pink Posh Photography based out of Austin Texas. You can check out her website here. Thank you so much Amber for sending me these photos and giving me the honor of working with you for your magical wedding!

NEW VELVET LEAVES

There are some new additions that are now available at Emici Bridal. I have sourced out the prettiest velvet to create two new leaves for you! These are my version of dusty miller and rose leaves. Each is hand cut and formed in the studio. I love the way they shimmer and move. Above you see the ivory and cream Silk Catala and Jeweled Bloom Bridal Bouquet with dusty miller leaves as an accent.

The Jeweled Rose flower has never been available as a single stem before now. This is the Jeweled Rose in champagne silk satin with pink freshwater pearl accents. I paired this stem with the new silk velvet rose leaves and an ivory luxe satin bow. These are perfect for bridesmaids to carry down the aisle and also make really special gifts. Each flower is made completely by hand.

NEW YORK BOUQUET ON GRACE ORMONDE WEDDING STYLE

It is a great honor for me to be able to say that my New York Bouquet is featured in the Inspiration Gallery for bouquets on Grace Ormonde Wedding Style! This website and publication provide some amazing wedding inspiration. For me personally, magazines provide so much inspiration for my work. I picked up the last copy of Wedding Style Magazine when I was on a flight. If I recall, so many pages were folded down because I wanted to mark them that it looked more like an origami project than a flat magazine. Thank you Wedding Style Magazine for placing my work on your website. I am over the moon!

GIVEAWAY TIME!

I am super excited about this new giveaway! First of all because it is for the new Hera flower that I love and because I have a wonderful partner in giveaway goodness to share this with. Emici Bridal is teaming up with LuxeFinds for this one. LuxeFinds is a highly curated luxury search engine for women. There are so many fabulous finds there. Talk about inspiration, you can get lost there.

These flowers start out as light ivory silk chiffon fabric that is hand cut and pressed into petals. Once that is finished the petals are painted to fade slowly to a center of pink, champagne or lavender (if you prefer you can also get classic all ivory).

The centers are beaded with genuine crystal quartz and white topaz gemstones along with rhinestones to finish off the sparkle.

Perfectly soft in every way.

Flower measures about 4 inches in diameter or about 10 cm not including the feathers and is attached to a comb.

Please note that these are custom made and require a two week lead time.

To enter the giveaway,

1. Like LuxeFinds on Facebook

2. Like Emici Bridal on Facebook

3. Leave a comment on the LuxeFinds blog post here as to why you would like to win this!

Winner will be randomly drawn by LuxeFinds on October 15, 2011! Good Luck!

THE SECRET KEEPER

This very special ring pillow has a secret. The flower on the top is actually a fascinator hair clip that easily clips into your hair for a different look at your reception.

This fascinator is handmade out of various silk fabrics like chiffon and silk satin with hand colored accents to add a subtle variance to the fabric. Beaded with genuine crystal quartz, white topaz gemstones and rhinestones. Simply gorgeous!

Let's not forget about that ring pillow either. It is created out of silk dupioni and ivory vintage alencon lace for a little romantic charm.

ALL BLUSH LULY BOUQUET

Wanted to take a moment to share with you the latest bouquet to leave the studio. This is the Luly Bouquet in all blush silk fabrics. These bouquets are made entirely out of silk fabric that is cut and formed by hand. Flowers are then embellished with various rhinestones and pearls to add more dimension and sparkle. Each silk wrapped stem is its own piece that you can mold in any direction.

NO WHITE AFTER LABOR DAY

Kidding! As you know, wearing white after Labor Day is completely fine. In spirit of this old time saying I thought I would post some new things that have popped up using our dramatic friend, the color black.

Above is the Noir Rose sash that I created for a photoshoot. It is constructed out of silk satin and chiffon petals. The soft petals frame a vintage silver rhinestone brooch that is beaded with genuine pink freshwater pearls. One of a kind and sure to make an impact!

Yesterday I launched several new flowers. This is the Black Raven Hera flower that is beaded with freshwater pearls, crystal quartz and white topaz gemstones along with rhinestones for even more added sparkle. Black feathers seduce your inner dark side. Simply gorgeous!

DREAMS OF ROMANCE

What dreams of romance do you delight?

What flights of fancy do you take flight?

Do you walk in gardens laden with blooms,

flitting about to take in the perfume?

I really wanted to depart from the usual with these new items while remaining classic. Of course you start with the best materials available but that is not enough. It needs more, something to set it apart. So I settled on using gemstones for these new offerings. The small flower comb above is handmade out of silk chiffon fabric with sterling silver handwired white topaz sprigs. The center is beaded with crystal quartz, white topaz and rhinestones for even more sparkle.

These fluttery soft chiffon flowers are available in several sizes and for different uses such as sashes and fascinators. They can easily be sewn onto a dress. Don't have time? Just order them as a brooch!

The brand new Lana pleated silk chiffon beaded cuff makes a great statement peice and is also available in champagne, silver, light pink and black. I also will be offering this style as a headband. Fancy a fascinator instead? That brings me to the piece on the right. The Bevin grand sterling silver wire branches of crystal quartz and white topaz gemstones flank a gorgeous soft bloom.

Feathers, flowers and sparkle is such a classic combo. Designing all these pieces and then pairing them made the possibilities endless! Sometimes during the design process you create things that are really concept pieces. The one below is one such piece.

One of a kind Minova flower. This large silk bloom is made out of various silk fabrics. Heavily beaded with dozens of gemstones in the center because I just simply could not stop myself and that is a good thing. One more here and there turned into a lot! Can be used as a hair fascinator or as a sash flower. Off to the next, it's COLOR!

Experimentation in the studio is a beautiful thing and you never really know what you will get. I wanted to create some colored flowers for my brides. These are hand painted to achieve this look. Color slowly fades to soft light ivory. Available with feathers or by themselves, either way a unique addition. If you would like a custom color please contact me, we will have some fun!

Would love to know what you think of these new offerings or if you have a favorite. Please do leave a comment below! There will be lots to look at over the next few days so please check back. Sharing with you is one of my ultimate favorite things!