New Item of the Day with BelleJouJou
From time to time, we will be posting newly created items from members of our Etsy Wedding Team. Today, we are featuring items from BelleJouJou. BelleJouJou creates custom bridal and bridesmaid clutch bags as well as evening and daytime clutch bags. She is introducing us to her knew monogrammed clutch below and says “It’s a great new way to personalize your wedding”. To learn more about this personalized handmade item, click on the pictures below.
Inspiration Friday: Great Gatbsy
Here at the Etsy Wedding Team, we are very excited for the theatrical release of The Great Gatsby. If you’ve never read the book, The Great Gatbsy is set in 1922, during the “Roaring Twenties”, a time of great prosperity in the US after WWI. That era is also known for the evolution of jazz music, flapper culture along with bootlegging and other criminal activity. The main setting for the book is at the lavish mansion of Jay Gatsby, a mysterious millionaire who holds extravagant parties in hopes of his first love, Daisy, by chance appearing so the two can resurrect their former romance.
Often times, our Etsy Wedding Team members get requests for Great Gatsby themed wedding products and now, due to the movie, we have even more visual inspiration to help make our brides weddings a dream come true. Karen of ItTopsTheCake put together these amazing inspiration boards curated from items made by the EtsyWeddingTeam. To learn more about these items, click on the links below each picture.
1. Amanda Archer – Beige Lace Enchantment Dress
2. Fancie Strands – Champagne Wedding Head Piece
3. ANGEEW - Ivory and Champagne Bridal Clutch with Alencon Lace
4. Lavender Paperie – Wedding Lace and Glitter Program Cards
5. Originals by Lynette - Glamorous Vintage Rhinestone Bauble Hair Pin Set
6. BellesandCrystals – Art Deco Rhinestone Bridal Garter
7. Powder Blue Bijoux - Crystal and Freshwater Pearl Bridal Bracelet
8. Empress Bride – Silk Bridal Dress Sash Belt
9. Beadz2pleaz – Wedding Cake Server Set and Crystal Toasting Flutes
10. LaceyClaireDesigns – Couture Dupioni Silk Card Holder
11. Natalie Briggs – Vintage Style Brooch Heirloom Ring Bearer Pillow
12. Alisa Benay – French Alencon Lace Wedding Bolero
13. Serephine – 1920′s Inspired White Feather Wedding Halo
14. Mikiye Creations – Bridal Crystal Cubic Zirconia Drop Earrings
Real Weddings With Cottontail Press
I am so excited to be sharing this blingtastic wedding that comes courtesy of Adrianne Curran of CottonTailPress! Her clients, Shayla and Erik were married in Los Angelas, CA on May 4, 2013. They worked with Adrianne on custom invitations, signage and paper decor to match their bling wedding theme, and WOW, the results were amazing. To see more of what Adrianne of CottonTailPress can do for you, click on any of the images below to visit her Etsy Shop.
Stationary and Custom Paper Goods provided by CottontailPress
Stationary and Custom Paper Goods provided by CottontailPress
Stationary and Custom Paper Decor provided by CottaintailPress
New Item of the Day from the Etsy Wedding Team
From time to time, we will be posting newly created items from members of our Etsy Wedding Team. Today, we are featuring items from LavenderPaperie!
AnnMarie from LavenderPaperie says “We are excited to share one of our hottest designs this season, lace with GLITTER wedding invitations. It’s all about the glitter this season. Take a look at our etsy shop for some of our other glitter invitations.” To shop this design and other items from LavenderPaperie, click on the picture below.
Coco Glitter and Lace Wedding Invitation by LavenderPaperie
COCO Glitter and Lace Wedding Invitations by LavenderPaperie
Stop back again soon as we post more new items from the talented members of the Etsy Wedding Team!
The Great Gatsby (Wedding) Treasury
EtsyWeddings Treasury by LaceyClaireDesigns
Click Photo to access
Inspiration Friday: Romantic Wedding
Today, we are featuring items from the Etsy Wedding Team for a wedding full of romance.
1. Crystal and Pearl Bridal Headpiece by Hairbows Wonder World
2. Large Wedding Bird Cage Card Holder by Mackensley Designs
3. Vintage Lace Wedding Invitation by Appleberry Ink
4. Bridal Clutch with Embroidered Organza by Belle Jou Jou
5. Photo Thank You Post Card by Mavora Art and Design
6. White Winter Rose Clay Floral Bouquet by Parsi
7. White Lace and Pearl Hair Comb by One World Designs
8. Lavender Rose Silk Wedding Bouquet by Kate Said Yes
9. Vintage Garden Wedding Invitation by Sunshine and Ravioli
10. Wedding Garter Set in Ivory with Swarovski Crystals by Sugarplum Garters
*Created by Karen from It Tops The Cake
WorkSpace Features: Lacey Claire Designs
Lacey the creator of Lacey Claire Designs based out of Cleveland, Ohio has been designing and making wedding card boxes for 3 years.
view of cutting table, fabric and ribbon shelf
Describe your workspace and/or tools or machinery you use.
I’m lucky in that my workspace is huge. My husband and I bought a larger historic home last year where the third floor was originally a ballroom. The previous owners put in a kitchen and refinished the entire third floor which is now dedicated solely to my business. I have a room to make and produce my items, a supply storage room, and a room for shipping (as shipping can take up a ton of space). My main work area is where I spend all of my time – I have a table for sewing, a large table for cutting all the fabric and organizing orders, shelves of fabric, flowers, and a huge custom made shelf of ribbon.
Custom made ribbon shelf
What inspires you or compels you to stay creative?
I try to stay on top of the bridal trends by following designers and planners on Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook, however, my biggest inspiration is my brides! Often, many come to me with an element of their dress or decor that they want incorporated into their wedding card box, and it inspires me to create a new piece. I’m grateful for all of their ideas.
Flowers, flowers and more flowers
Tell us about your most recent project
I had a customer who bought their card box, program box, guest book, ring pillow and flower girl basket from me, and after she received all the items, she came back to see if I could help carry the look of my items into other decor she was looking at. She asked for my help in decorating three escort card trays. These trays were huge – about 3 feet by 2 feet. It was a time consuming project but worth her positive reaction.
Working on the final touches on todays orders
What is your typical day like from the time you wake up until you go to bed?
I usually wake up around 7-7:30 am but get ‘caught up’ on my email in bed until 8am on my I-Phone. At 8, I get up, feed my two cats, Lucy and Elle, then I grab one, two or three cups of coffee. My husband is wonderful in that he makes the best coffee in the world and makes it every day. From 8-10, I am usually responding to all the emails I reviewed earlier that day, relisting sold items or adding new items to my Etsy shop.
From 10-4, I work exclusively on making products and answering emergency emails in between. I have to work hard at not responding to emails at times just so I can get work done. From 4-5, I become frantic as it’s shipping time and it always takes me longer than what I think it will. I usually have to rush to have it all finished by 5:00 and in time for FedEx to pick up. All of my friends and family know not to bother me during this timeframe as I am usually stressed out.
After FedEx picks up my packages, I usually work for about 2-3 more hours either responding to emails, scheduling/confirming orders, or making items. At about 8:00, I have dinner and spend time with my husband and cats.
It’s pretty chaotic most days, but I am working hard at trying to achieve a work/life balance and hope to be there soon.
Shipping time!
To learn more about Lacey Claire Designs:
website coming soon: www.laceyclairedesigns.com
etsy: www.laceyclairedesigns.etsy.com
facebook: www.facebook.com/laceyclairedesigns
twitter: www.twitter.com/laceyclairedsgn
pinterest: www.pinterest.com/laceyclairedsgn
Inspiration Friday: Purple Wedding
Today we are featuring items from the Etsy Wedding Team in shades of purple! This selection is created by Kate Said Yes, to view more purple wedding inspirations check out her treasury.
1. Wedding Brooch Bouquet by Hair Bows Wonderworld
2. Glitter Wedding Invitations by Lavender Paperie
3. Wedding Garter in purple and white polkadot by SugarPlum Garters
4. Bridesmaid Hair Clip by Mikiye Creations
5. Purple Bridal Clutch by Angeew
6. Violet Purple Bridesmaid Dress by Amanda Archer
WorkSpace Feature: It Tops the Cake
Karen Rowe based out of Rome, New York is the creator behind Etsy shop It Tops the Cake. Karen has been designing silk flower wedding arrangements for 3 years.
Describe your workspace and/or tools or machinery you use.
My workspace is essentially a bedroom, and a small one at that! I have two 4′ x 8′ tables on either side of the room, one for working and one for photography. With the exception of a desk that we picked up at a garage sale, every other inch of the room is used for storage – flowers, boxes, Styrofoam, ribbon, pins, etc. The closet door can barely open! This large amount of inventory provides me with the opportunity to be creative on the spot, as well as have supplies on hand for a custom order. It does make for a rather tight space, but I am hoping to expand once we move into a new house. I use basic tools – a glue gun and hand held fence cutters. Yes, fence cutters! It’s pretty incredible how thick some flower stems are, so I found that regular wire cutters just weren’t, well, cutting it!
I also have tubs of cut flowers that I keep on hand. Since cake topper don’t require stems, I often have left over pieces that need to be stored. I keep them in tubs by color so I can quickly access what I need without searching through tons of small pieces.
What inspires you or compels you to stay creative?
I often go online and do a lot of research. Being surrounded by hundred of silk flowers is great for my personal, on the spot kind of creativity, but that isn’t often realistic for actual customers. Each bride usually already has an idea in mind of what she wants for her flowers – colors, flower types, style. Since I wasn’t born with ESP, I can’t predict what my customers will want unless they ask for something custom made. So to give myself a little bit of help, I go online and look for trends and color schemes that I know are going to be “popular” for a particular part of the season. It was just my luck that Emerald and Mint were this year’s colors, because those aren’t really flower colors! But there are always classic styles and colors that brides are drawn to, so I always have those on hand.
Tell us about your most recent project
While I am waiting for wedding season to gear up, I am taking all new pictures of my current inventory. This meant getting my dummy cakes covered in fondant to make them look more realistic! This will hopefully be eye catching and draw people in. So far the pictures have been turning out great, and when I need a break from being a photographer, I get back into the trenches and start creating toppers.
What is your typical day like from the time you wake up until you go to bed?
My typical day is often very busy, but I rarely work on my business until 9:00pm. I have a 14 month old daughter who is very active and curious. Ever since she was a little thing, 2 or 3 months old, she refused to be in one spot for more than a few minutes. Before she was born, I thought “I’ll just put her in the bouncer or the pack and play and I will get work done.” Nope! She refuses to let me do creative work while she is awake, and unfortunately my office is so small that if I attempt to let her roam free, she creates a huge mess! Sigh.. alas!
I wake up between 7:00 and 8:00 to get Keira out of her crib and we eat, play and read until nap #1. I use this time to get dressed, do an assortment of chores like laundry or dishes and have a snack. By the time she gets up she’s ready to get dressed and have lunch. The afternoon is usually reserved for running errands and doing my other job for the YMCA, which involves handling their scheduling and payroll. This can be hard because it means a lot of time on the phone, which can be hard for a baby who always wants to know what’s going on and be in the thick of things. Nap #2 is often reserved for any extra chores and then perhaps some time on the computer to resize some photos, post on FB or the Ning or just surf. Once my husband gets home around 5:45, I either get right to work making dinner or head to the gym for an hour of Zumba!
Bed time for the baby is 8:00 or so, and then we clean up toys and sit down to a couple of smores before getting to work. Around 8:30 or 9:00 I head up to the office and take stock of what needs to get done. Usually this involves taking pictures, bookkeeping, creating new cake toppers or packaging up recent items. Around 11:30 I decide whether or not I have another 30 minutes in me to keep going or if I should call it an early night! The best part of all is going to sleep knowing that I will get to stay in bed asleep the whole night through, which only started about 6 weeks ago.
The weekend looks VERY different from this because my husband is home to share some of the responsibility of watching Keira and my YMCA job doesn’t go on weekends. I can spend much more time in my office working, creating and hopefully growing It Tops the Cake.
To learn more about Karen from It Tops the Cake:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ittopsthecake
https://www.facebook.com/ItTopsTheCake
