Working Tuesday: Garters. The reveal!

A couple weeks ago I showed you some of the garters in process and I wanted to follow up with the big reveal! Here's my current crop of garters for the bride looking to fulfill the "Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue" tradition.

I use vintage and antique ribbons, trims and buttons and combine them with new lace, beads and some newer buttons to create these beauties.

I've tried to be conscious of a range of sizes - because not all of us are a size zero!! Sometimes the size is also determined by the amount of lace I have to play with - like the third from the bottom in the picture to the left. That's a gorgeous old collar that has raised roses on it.

Anyway, it's off to add these to the ones currently in the shop (a couple of which are included in this picture). Do you know a bride who needs a garter? Remember I do custom orders!

Working Tuesday: Wedding Bells Are Ringing!

Well, June is a comin' fast and furious. And you know what June means... June brides! I've been working up a batch of new garters in several different sizes - petite to plus. Usually the size depends on the amount of antique lace I have on hand. I'm busy dreaming up flowers made with rhinestone buttons and something blue beads. I've even managed to go a little non-traditional. I know, those of you who know me are gasping in shock... but I am!

So stay tuned to see the finished products. For now, you'll have to make due with bits and pieces!

Inspiration Thursday! UK Wedding Flowers Magazine

I'm going to try to share something that inspires me every Thursday. Since there are many things that inspire me, I'm hoping I can keep this up for a while!

This week, I present the British magazine called Wedding Flowers. Available at Barnes and Noble and sometimes at Michael's each issue is a treasure trove of flower arrangements, wedding tips and snippets of real weddings.

Occasionally, I help friends with their wedding flowers and stumbled across this particular magazine when I was looking for a portable resource to show brides which flowers I was describing. Each issue focuses on a season - usually a season ahead - and gives layouts that contain new and interesting arrangements that follow the trends of that season. I've often found that this alerts me to trends a little ahead of the bridal magazines here in the US, which inspires me to make arrangements that are ahead of their time!

Every issue contains an article that highlights a particular aspect of a wedding. For example, one might have a section on wedding cakes. Another might have an article on scents for your special day. Others might talk about trends in bridesmaid gowns or new trends in favors. Each article, though, is beautifully laid out and truly inspirational.

My favorite section, however, is always in the center of the magazine - the arrangement

section. There are always flowers that would be readily available in that season and each is more creative than the next. Sometimes it's an interesting vase, sometimes it's what they put into the vase or the way they arrange the flowers in the vase. Bridal and bridesmaid bouquets often have interesting wraps or ribbons. And each is photographed on a white background so that there are no distractions from the beauty of the arrangement.

This month in particular, there's an article on the current trend of personalizing a wedding by using a variety of containers for centerpieces, such as old tins, teacups, tiny creamer pitchers or silver pieces. An example of this concept is later included in the center arrangement section. And at the end of each magazine is a color coded flower guide to help explain a bride's choices. It's helped me explain more than once the difficulty of finding a true blue flower!

So that's one of my creative inspirations. Do you have a magazine that inspires you? I'd love to know what it is! Share your inspiration in the comments below!