P.R.E.C.I.O.U.S

There is just one little girl in this world who I would do anything for. Just an itsy bitsy thing who makes my heart melt every time she says “aa-aaunty”. My niece, Shruthi, celebrated her 4^th birthday this October.

She loves twirling around in poofy dresses till she’s dizzy! So my sister decided that Shruthi would enjoy a ballerina themed party. Here are some details!

I really wanted to try the ‘Rose Cake’ in a light pink shade with the new Americolor food colours a friend brought from the US for me. So I used this opportunity and made one.

The ‘ballerina’ unfortunately didn’t come out as well as I'd hoped. I piped it out with melted white chocolate and dusted it with silver luster dust from Wilton. Though it didn’t look great, it was delicious! Obviously! It’s chocolate!

My sister made a gorgeous cupcake stand. Unfortunately we didn’t get any pictures of just the stand.

The cupcake toppers and birthday banner is TomKat Studio inspired! I downloaded some of her free templates and changed them around to suit the ballerina theme.

I used some of the remaining toppers on straws for the kids. Also in the last minute I came across some party hats in pink. The kids loved them!

We found some white paper bags for party favours for the kids. The silhouette was my sister's idea. So pretty!

The cake was chocolate with buttercream frosting.

Shruthi loved her cake…

...and all the presents!

Gettin' Hitched!

A friend of ours got married this June. Her sister-in-law threw her a lovely bridal shower... and... I was in charge of  decorating! Well technically, I kind of kept asking if I could help and me thinks I put her in an awkward place and she couldn't refuse. So much for wedding etiquette huh? I wonder if they were planning to invite me in the first place... hmmmm.... food for thought.

Her wedding colour palette was ivory, brown and pink. I simply love damask and decided to use it on the paper products I designed for the shower.

And now onto a whole bunch of pictures with bad lighting. The bride-to-be was welcomed in with a banner that read 'Blessings!'.

Martha Stewart's pom-poms were everywhere. Obviously!

I love perfume bottles! The clear shimmering glass and beautiful shapes make me feel like a child at Christmas. I have collected a few over time and used them here to put in a couple of pink Dutch roses. The tall vases are drinking glasses with shiny silver pebbles and twigs. To add to all that shimmer, we (my sweet assistant a.k.a husband and I) strung little crystals (fake plastic ones) on them. The dry rose petals are from a whole lot of potpourri the bride-to-be supplied.

The glass votives with pink tealights were the bride's sister-in-law's idea. They were so pretty all lit up. This was one time I wished I had an awesome fancy schmancy camera.

And finally, favour boxes!

Not quite there

I've made so many less than perfect photo frames.

With no training or background in art or anything remotely related to paper craft, everything I've created so far has been trial and error. The internet helps a whole lot, but still there's only so much help you can get right?

I remember not being too happy with a photo frame I made with blue ribbons. I fortunately have a wonderful family who treasures every piece of below par product I craft. I know this frame is happily sitting somewhere in my mum's house.

Say Boutonnière

Boutonnières, as it turns out, are what I've always called 'button hole thingys'. Weddings come around and make you learn the real names, though pronunciation is a story for another day. I was asked to make a few of these by a bride who generously supplied me with a ton of potpourri. Again... pronunciation for another day. Armed with an extra large plastic bag of dried everything and ribbons and beads I attempted some 'Bouts' as I fondly refer to them now :)

Here's a picture overload!

Packed and ready to go. 

Getting ready for action at the wedding. 

Photo credit - Arpiture Photography 

* all images except the last one are mine.

Sugar and Spice

... and everything nice! I know you completed that one in your head.

Little girls just tug at my heart strings. They all remind me of my brat of a niece who I adore. So when I was asked to make a picture frame for a 4 year old girl, I jumped at the opportunity.

There had to be pink of course; with some orange accents.

Ribbons and Cards

A friend asked me to make birthday cards and blank cards (that she could use for any occasion) drawing inspiration from some Easter giant note tags I made a while ago. I whipped up these cards overnight and thoroughly enjoyed making them because I finally got to use all those lovely ribbon scraps that I have been saving forever. I was spoilt for choice when it came to ribbons and all that obsessive and impulsive buying finally paid off!

Ice Man

The funny/ fun thing about customizing photo frames is that it runs from baby names to super heroes. And when I say super heroes I mean even the not so popular ones. A recently engaged friend of mine asked me for an Ice-Man super hero photo frame for her fiancé. I didn’t know there was an Ice-Man superhero but apparently X-Men has one.  

I had to get my sister's help on this one. She painted the Ice-Man. 

Four little photo frames

My sister-in-law bought me a bunch of stickers from Canada. They are just so ridiculously cute and I decided to use them on a photo frame for her soon to be born baby. 

With cuteness and a baby involved, I couldn't stop at just one frame. So I made four little ones instead.

And tied them all together.