Busy Busy Busy

Where has the time gone?!

I've been so busy lately. My house had become wedding stationery central, whilst I designed and produced a varied library of invitation samples as well as producing a large display frame of matching 'save the date' designs.

These were met with plenty of positive ooohs and aahhhs at a recent, local wedding fayre. A first for the Pure Grace team. We had a very enjoyable and busy day! Thank you to all of you who stopped by our table, its was great meeting you.

A report and more pics of the day can be found here at Design and Elegance.

Gill x

Butterflies at the Wedding

Thankfully, not too many of the nervous kind!

As promised here are a few photos from the recent wedding. Emma and Leigh made a lovely Bride and Groom, and everyone enjoyed sharing and celebrating their special day. The setting was quite magical, the wedding venue overlooked a quiet lake and we were lucky enough to have sunshine on a chilly February day.

The wedding breakfast room was set out beautifully and my stationary looked the part. I know Emma was very pleased with it, which pleased me immensely.

We did, however, have a small laugh together when we saw the alternative way that the place name butterflies had been placed on the glasses. We didn't worry, they still worked well and impressed the guests.

The food was scrumptious, the wine and bubbly flowed, we all enjoyed the speeches and toasted the happy couple.

It certainly was, a lovely day to remember.

Anyone for Tea?

The wedding stationary is just about done and I have to say I’m very pleased with it, and so is the Bride and Groom. I’m looking forward to seeing the wedding breakfast room dressed in all its glory. I’ll be sure to post a few photos after the big day.

Now, my thoughts turn to my friends, especially those whom I haven’t seen since before Christmas. We love nothing more than a good cup of tea and a catch-up natter, oh, and a generous slice of cake is always welcome!

With this in mind I doodled a teacup, similar to one of the ones my Nan used to use.

It’s a china one, with a pretty pattern – tea always tastes better in a pretty china cup!

I, originally, decided to set it in a simple, squared shaped, background using different shades of the coral colour, used in the teacup pattern.

I wasn’t too sure about the square format, so I tried a rectangle in landscape orientation, and a different style  of text.

Also, a change of background colour.

 Much more preferable! Just a couple of things missing now…

 a good friend and a generous slice of cake!

Beautiful Butterflies

My partner's daughter and fiance are getting married, they are a lovely couple. The wedding is at the end of February, and they are at that stage where all the details of the day are being finalised. I've been asked, if I wouldn't mind helping out with the reception stationary, place names, table numbers, menus etc. Wouldn't mind? I was really pleased to be asked. Baking cakes? I can't do, but stationary...I can!

I was invited round for a lovely Sunday lunch and the opportunity to discuss the theme and what was required. The theme is black and ivory using butterflies and swirls. First job was place names. Then she said, I've been looking on the internet and I like these, can you do something similar. The images that came up were of beautifully intricate die-cut butterflies that perched on the edge of a wine glass. My heart sank, I do not have any die-cutting craft machines or large fancy punches. As I explained this we came up with the idea that if I can design a simpler, smoothed shaped butterfly, then maybe cutting out with a pair of scissors is not beyond my capabilities.

So, I set to work on the design. I finally came up with a smooth shaped butterfly, that also, wasn't too basic. To this, I then added some swirls for decoration and, of course, a name.

I have to say, I was very pleased with the look of it. I then swapped the colours around to come up with a Groom's version.

The Bride to be, thought they were amazing! That was good enough for me.

After printing onto card, I fold them down the center and cut them out. They do look very effective once they are perched onto a wine glass.

I can't wait to see all the place names in position, with the rest of the table decoration, they are going to look magical. I just hope my fingers have recovered once I've cut out enough for eighty guests!

The Doodle Room is Done!

At last, the Doodle Room is done, finished, complete! Hooray!
And I'm very pleased with it. Let me show you round....

Here's the 'before' pics.

It wasn't bad, a bit cluttered but functional. My biggest problem with it, was I didn't enjoy being there. I didn't find it a nice place to be inspired or creative. So, it had to change...

Into this...

A bright new space, with a lot less clutter and plenty of areas to pin inspiration to get the creative juices flowing. I'm so happy with my new Doodle Room.

The details:

1. The shelves got a make over too. They were painted to blend in with the white walls.

2. My pens and brushes in their artist made pots are given pride of place on the desk. An old cork pin board was covered in some graphic patterned material to give it a more updated look. The picture is out of a magazine of a couple circa 1950's/60's laughing whilst on a seaside holiday, you can't help but smile when you look at it.

3. Another pin board. Homemade using corrugated board and material to cover it. It measures nearly a metre and a half in length and takes up the room on the wall opposite the desk.

4. A few of my favourite old cameras, which I had collected from car boots and flea markets. These have been stuck in the loft for quite a few years.

5. A new chair and desk from Ikea, with a homemade cushion. I managed to find some orange/red material to match the light shade and mixed this with some of the material that I used on the pin board above the desk.

6. Another flea market find. Its an old cutlery tray which is perfect for pens and pencils etc, and a copy of the Hello Sunshine print to add a splash of colour.

7. New knobs for an up-cycled cabinet. This cabinet was one I had downstairs and was originally dark wood until I painted it with the same paint as the shelving.

8. I now have lots of room for new (or old) postcards and inspiration.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of my Doodle Room, I'm looking forward to spending time there, being creative and sharing some new designs and doodles with you.