Posts Tagged beautiful things

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!!!

One of my all time favorite stories (both the book and the film) is Practical Magic.  The story is wonderful and sweet and I seriously covet that house!!!!!

The clothing the Aunts wear, the incorporation of magic into everyday lives, serendipitous moments that mean something.  It is all so rich and wonderful!

The kitchen and the room right next to it that has all their potions and plants and tools in it are I think my favorite rooms.  They are light, airy, full of wonderful vintage items and magical things.

I love how the room is open to the outside with lovely blooming branches both inside and out in the garden.  There is a promise here of wonderful things to come.

But then I love the darker richer salon room with all it’s lovely leather and candles and old wallpaper.

The house is both dark and light…  like life and people I guess.

Can’t you just picture yourself curled up in this chair, with a cat on your lap, the blustery wind and rain pounding on the roof a fire in the fireplace, a cup of tea, and a good ghost story?

I have the tea, tea cups, cats (a plenty!) and ghost stories (anything by Barbara Michaels)…  I just need the house.

Every detail is perfect!  I think I could loose myself in here for hours.

All these lovely pictures and thoughts make me ache for more…  not sure how to put it into words, just more…  more richness, more meaning, more magic, more serendipitous moments.  I want to feel full with life’s magic, heady with it’s perfume.

I am working on more wonderful faerie costumes for a huge magical celtic forest themed event coming up soon but I am feeling not truly full and magical enough.  I want to be working with spider’s silk thread, gossamer fabrics and faerie dust.  I want to hear the faeries whispering in my ear.

I go to the beach and I want to get into the water, immerse myself in it, breath it, taste it, see the fish and the coral with all it’s magical color.  But then I want to swim like a mermaid not as I do in my human form.

I want to fly like the birds, play in amongst the tree branches.

I want to see stronger colors… like the mood and color palette of the 2006 film Peter Pan.  The colors in that movie were so surreal and dreamy.

I want to go to a school like Hogwarts and learn…  everything!

I am so blessed in my life, I do not want to sound ungrateful.  I live a life most people would be thrilled with, and I am.  I adore my life, my art, my work, my husband, my kitties, I just want more.  To feel like a child again and run and jump with abandon, loose myself in my imagination and playing.  Do you know what I mean?  Do you ever feel that way or am I just in a funky frame of mind.  My girlfriend and I are planning a trip to Sedona soon.  I have a feeling that will help.  I know all this desire is just a need to be more deeply connected with the universe and my soul, my inner muse.  Just can’t seem to get there.  Wow… cosmic stuff, thanks for listening.

Anyway, I promised several days ago to post my mermaid party pictures, I still haven’t got them from the photographer yet.  As soon as I do I will share them with you.  It was so beautiful.  In keeping with the sentiment I expressed above the centerpieces of this party were so scrumptious, so wild that you just wanted to crawl in them and LIVE there.

To tide you over I will show you these two pictures that my husband took at the end of the party in the dark of the night.  The table glowed with the little lights I set into the centerpieces.   The pictures are a little hard to make out but they convey the feeling well.  Very fun!

See you in my dreams, hopefully it will be in technicolor!

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.

Some lovely summer solstice faeries for you…   have a mystical, magical faerie filled summer!

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.  It is the source of all true art and science.”

Albert Einstein

I am such a mix of styles and tastes.  I love layers of beautiful things, the more layers the better.  I adore lace and velvets, tapestries, fringe and anything gypsiesque.  I have always loved Stevie Nicks’ style.  Bohemian definitely suites me.  However I also love Victorian, shabby chic and anything vintage.  This applies to both my clothing as well as my home (even my car!  I will show you pictures of the Purple Morris at another time).  I have often felt slightly schizophrenic in all the different things I love,

I love everything about this picture, the clothes, the chair and especially the setting.

I adore everything about this picture, the fabrics are divine, her dress and hair are so romantic!

Corsets are wonderful, love them with a pair of jeans

This jacket is lovely

I am drooling right now, sooooo beautiful!

Well if I am crazy then I am in great company.  This fabulous woman below is Robin Brown of Magnolia Pearl.  Whenever I am feeling doubtful of my style or insecure of my rather unorthodox ways I go to her web site and am reminded of what a beautiful free spirit looks like.  She started as a designer of handbags and has now developed an entire line of clothes and furniture.  She is an amazing talent with an enormous heart!  I admire her greatly and I strongly suggest you have a look at her web site.  Her art is so luscious, layers upon layers of beauty.  I have to say I have never encountered a more down to earth person, deeply grateful for all that she is blessed with.  She is a huge inspiration for me.

I love how she mixes elegant items like velvet, jewels and tapestries with more Victorian romantic items like lace.  That is one of her gorgeous bags on the left.

She uses anything beautiful even if it has rips in it.  Imperfections do not matter to her, they actually make something even more lovely.  I will hold my rambling to fashion for know but I will leave you with a picture of an incredible Magnolia Pearl couch.  More on home fashions later…

Remember when I wrote a while back about the wings I was making for a lovely bride?  Well I have finally finished them along with a beautiful cloak and wreath to complete her wedding ensemble.

I am so pleased with the results, and I can say that as they are now in the bride’s hands and she seems thrilled too.  I had my friend Nancy Little Moon come over and try everything on for me so I could take a few pictures.  She is so beautiful inside and out.  I just love to have her model for me (she was the high priestess in the faerie wedding photo shoot on my web site). By the way she is also a wedding officiant who preforms the most beautiful and meaning full ceremonies. You can visit her web site Blessings in Paradise.com for more info.

(above) detail of the beading on the cloak.

I split the cloak up the back so it flows around the wings.  The wings are on a padded metal brace that slides between the skin and the corset.  They are remarkably light weight for being so large.

(above right)  detail of the wreath

I used a vintage Indian Sari and then glued to the edges moss, beads, jewels, bugs and all manor of magical things

My bride wanted it to evoke not just faeries but mermaids as well so I gave it a bit of a fish tale look.

(above) detail of the wing root.  (above right) a lovely dragon fly just for fun!

What a magical way to start a marriage!

As promised here are the latest barn wedding pictures, please know I am a designer not a photographer so pardon the horrible pictures.  If the photographer gives me some better ones I will post them…

The ceremony was across from the barn at the base of a 300 year old Sycamore tree…

In an earlier post I had shown you a few ideas for hanging windows from the trees and setting the pews outside, the bride liked the ideas so that’s what we did.  We also added straw bales as more seating

The vow site,

We used some old fence gates as the entrance to the aisle.

The welcome beverage table,

Really fun beverage signs,

The check in area with vintage trunks and hang tags with buttons which told the guests where they would sit.

Inside the barn,

Containers were an assortment of vintage boxes, wooden buckets, jars and bottles, old tin, and cast iron.

I made candles covered with copies of old French letters and ledgers as well as some covered with burlap with buttons…  very fun!

they used mason jars as drinking glasses,

At the entrance to the barn we hung up old keys, hang tags with the bride and groom’s names, old door handles, latches, locks, silver ware and all manner of eclectic items.

We set the cake on a glass table top which was placed on a couple of straw bales with a funky old wrought iron chandelier with crystals hanging overhead.

Another old, fun chandelier with crystals, and behind on the wall are a bunch of photos of the bride and groom.

Below is an old wooden grain trough that my husband turned into a couch.  I am having huge overstuffed white denim cushions made for it, they just were not done in time for the wedding so I used foam and an old quilt.

Another view of the barn…   it really is set in the most beautiful glade of Sycamore trees,

There were lots of fun and sweet details, almost a sweet as the couple…   Hope you have enjoyed the pictures!