Hello Everyone,

I have mentioned a couple of time about how busy my season has been…  well finally I have some pictures to share with you so you don’t think I have just been lounging around on the chaise eating bon bons all summer.

This was a lovely vintage style wedding I had the pleasure of creating a couple of months back.  The couple were just as sweet as the details!

The ceremony was held under the Oak tree at the bride’s family’s home.  We hung lots of whimsical ribbons from the branches.

The guests found their table number by looking for their names on cards clipped onto the “clothes line”.

This is the walk way to the backyard where the reception was held.  We hung lots of pretty ribbons some plain and some with flowers and lots of lanterns and candles.  At night it was lovely!

Some of the hanging posies…  (can you tell were in California by all the citrus?)

The table arrangements were lots of sweet vintage (some actually old and some just vintage in style) containers filled with flowers…

There were lots of fun details, this bouquet was tied to the entrance gate just for fun…

The cake was a flower covered delight!!

The back yard at night…

Some more of the fun hanging bits that were everywhere…

See…  I really have been working,  I will post more weddings and events very soon.  I can’t wait to show you the faerie woodland event I did.  That was crazy fun!!!

All these lovely pictures are from the most talented Katie Moos Photography

By for now…

Well my goodness…  I didn’t mean to take such a long break but I guess thats what I did!  Lots of weddings this summer and lots of other things going on too!

First I have to tell you I am deep in faerie heaven!

“Faerie Head Quarters”

There is a huge fund raiser for the local Santa Barbara Community Environmental council in October and they hired me as the designer of the event.  Now some may not realize this but when people ask me for a “green” party that means something a bit different to me.  Not only will the party be as environmentally friendly as possible but green to me brings in the mythological forest beings as well.  Soooo…  This party will be a beautiful celtic themed forest complete with hundreds of trees and a faerie queen and the green man and loads of faeries and elves.  Therefore I have been buried in making costumes and fantastical table top “trees” as centerpieces.  Lots and lots of fun.  Here are some of our lovely actors being fitted for their magical transformation.

“Indigo”   

“Moss”

“Moss’s” wings

Details of “Indigo” and “Moss”

The Birch Faerie Queen who rides in on a Unicorn.

Detail of a set of wings made from Indian saris.

In the center where the wings meet I tucked in a birds nest.

Here are some of the mossy eclectic “trees” that will be some of the centerpieces.  They will have hanging candles and lots of small ferns and plants at the base with the addition of mushrooms and more moss.

I love putting in lots of details, here is a birds nest along side a pine cone.

All the while we have been working on the faerie party the house was being re-plastered and painted (it looks a bit like it snowed around here what with the plaster dust and overspray).  This meant that I had to rip off all the beautiful flowers on the front of the house and then in the process of the men working on the house the remaining garden was pretty much trampled.  Now I love an overgrown packed full garden so everything only looked lovely and complete to me in this last year having planted from scratch 4 years ago.   Well I guess I get to have a “do-over” on the garden.  The men just finished last week so I went out and splurged on several large plants (I am impatient and do not want to wait another 4 years!).

I got the most lovely trailing rose called “Flutterby”  with the most beautiful yellow and salmon 4 petal roses.  I also got all my favorites like sage, lavender, rosemary, scented geranium, penstemon, jasmine and a few other goodies.

This is the most wonderful smelling flower called snail flower (I think).  I placed it right next to the front door so every time you come in and out the scent wafts into the room.  I will take more pictures as the garden progresses.

Well if the outside of the house was having a makeover I felt like I needed to address the inside.  I mean if you wash the outside of the car you kind of need to clean out the inside too or it just doesn’t feel right.  Soooo on top of everything else I started overhauling the interiors.

2 years ago we had to evacuate in one of California’s crazy wildfires.  We had enough notice so we literally packed it all up!  It went into storage and I have only just started puling things out bit by bit.  Reworking the interiors meant that I got to pull out tons of stuff and redecorate.  It has felt like Christmas as I open box upon box of my precious goodies that I haven’t seen for 2 years!

My vintage suitcases and fun trunks.  I hung lots of saris and a beautiful Indian lamp.

More saris,  a vintage lamp and one of my pastel and charcoal drawings.  I tried copping one of Brian Frouds art pieces…  boy is that man an artist!!

I also made a Birch branch garland with twinkle lights woven in.  I also tucked in a few hanging crystals and a faerie or two (of course!). It casts the most beautiful glow.

Yea my dragonfly lamp is back!!!!

I hung the Faerie Brides wings from my faerie and elf wedding photo shoot over a lovely cabinet my husband got me for my birthday which is sitting on a vintage trunk.

My Indian Lion chair…

Or should I say Cat chair…

As with the garden the house isn’t finished yet so I will share more pictures as I finish each room.

I have also had the pleasure of creating several fun weddings that I will share pictures of when the photographers give me copies.  Mostly they were wonderful eclectic vintage affairs (my favorite!).

Lastly I will leave you with a picture my girlfriend took of one of my all time favorite rock goddesses, Stevie Nicks.

Remember a post I wrote a while back about wanting more magic in my life?  Well I got it in spades.

I got to go to a Stevie Nicks concert at the Santa Barbara Bowl.  We had sixth row seats but spent most of the evening dancing right in front of the stage.  Very soon I will tell you the full story which involves a set of faerie wings that lead to another set of faerie wings for a very special girl and tons of amazing serendipitous moments.  For now enjoy this picture, this is how close we were able to get!  Can you believe she is 62?  What an amazing woman!

I mentioned a while back an underwater themed-merman party I had the pleasure of creating and I shared with you some of the night shots my husband took.  Well I finally received the CD from the photographer so today I will share with you the rest of the amazing pictures!

The photographer is Jethro Acosta from Infocus Studio.  His pictures are wonderful… judge for yourself.

This was for a fun gentleman who saw my faerie wedding on the internet and asked me to create a very special 60th birthday party for him.  He couldn’t have been more trusting and encouraging.  I kept reminding myself that he liked the faerie wedding so over the top was ok.  We chose the private beach on the ranch I live on and because it was by the ocean and a beautiful lagoon we went with a fantasy underwater theme.

I wanted the feeling of a coral reef just covered with lots of aquatic plant life in vibrant sea colors like what you would see when you dive at night with lights.   I also wanted it to sparkle so being a bit of a glitter nut I pretty much covered everything with glitter.

I started with Manzanita branches (covered in glitter) for the coral and screwed them to wooden planks.  On the planks I set a few rocks and oversize shells (also glittered).  Then I added tons of moss and smaller shells.

Occasionally I set in amongst the shells a beautiful glass float ball in the colors of the ocean.  I had also picked up at Michael’s right after Christmas some glittered foliage Christmas ornaments thinking I might use them on faerie costumes.  Instead they worked well as some of the sparkly underwater plant life.

The day of the party I added lots of beautiful cut flowers and foliage that were reminiscent of underwater plants.  I used chartreuse spider mums, Kermit Mums, (center of the picture above) Kale, blooming Artichokes (the purple bloom looks like a sea anemone on the left) purple Allium, Lilly grass, Silver Dollar Eucalyptus, green hanging Amoranthus (center right), and a few other bits and pieces.  The combination of the natural plant and flower elements and the glittered exotic items came together for a great effect.

This is a lounge I set up right by the table, you can see a bit of the lagoon in the background at the base of the trestle bridge.

A closer shot of the lagoon and some of the birds that call it home.

Imagine the sound of the crashing waves on the beach just beyond the table with an occasional seagull crying overhead.   Behind you is a beautiful large lagoon with Egrets in the huge Sycamore trees that surround it.  The trees right next to you are up-lit with soft green and teal lights and another light is casting water ripples on the ground around you.  As the night gently falls the table starts to come alive with lots of glowing blue and green lights nestled in the shells and under the glass balls.

I created this effect by placing dozens of LED lights in blues and greens throughout the tablescape.  The lights worked really well under the glass floats exaggerating their already blue or green color.  The table really glowed, the effect was truly magical!

That’s a large crystal geode on the right.

The birthday boy on his private beach for the day…   not a bad way to spend your birthday, don’t you think?

Just thought I would show you some beautiful summer floral arrangements that I have had the fun of creating.Fun, bright, happy colors!

This one feels cool and lovely.

I love the combination of purple or lavender with oranges and mustards.

Every so often I will take a close up of some of the flowers with the idea of painting them later on. I never seem to get around to it, too busy making floral arrangements.

Happy flower filled summer to you!!!

Here’s to wild abundant gardens!

No box cut hedges for me, just Mother Nature in all her glory,

All flowers are welcome, no discrimination with this flower or that flower being more important, all are beautiful in my eyes.

I adore vine covered walls and roofs, Mother Nature decorates so much prettier than most of us.

To look out my window and see such natural beauty is to experience magic and wonder.

I could easily live in a green house, a Hobbit Hole, or a Faerie’s den.

Just wild overgrown beautiful flowers and plants.

Remember I said that I had had the pleasure of working with Elizabeth Messina again?  Well here is the result.  A lovely bride and groom wanted to redo their photos only this time with Elizabeth and I got to make the bouquet and boutonniere.

Here they are…