blair britt events {wedding + event design}

Merry Christmas + Happy New Year!

2011-12-29T23:34:00.000-08:00

it's hard to believe 2011 is already coming to a close... i know i've been a little absent on the blogging front, but i've had lots of paper design orders occupying my time, which i'll post about in the new year... but i thought i'd leave you with a little reader treat since i'll be technology free, ringing in the new year in Lake Arrowhead this weekend...

my gift to you - New Year's Eve + Bonne Annee DIY banners!

they come in either {fuchsia + silver} or {black + silver}... all you have to do is visit my scribd page to download your own! here i paired them with a gold glitter ribbon,

but get creative and use whatever your heart desires! =)

NYE - banner in fuchsia + silver

NYE - banner in black + silver

NYE - Bonne Annee banner in fuchsia + silver

NYE - Bonne Annee banner in black + silver

oh, and while i'm posting, i thought i'd share our christmas + nye card i designed {it's really hard to design for yourself especially after designing for clients 3 months straight}... but i absolutely fell in love with the metallic sheen of this card stock and the linen finish sealed the deal and i knew i had to use it! i hope you like, i was very pleased with how they turned out despite almost being at designer burnout mode =)

:: the britt 2011 holiday card ::

and the coordinated return addy label of course!

.... everyone, have a wonderful and safe new year's eve, an i'll see you in 2012 with some fun new things to share!

*blair

{holidays} photoshoot inspiration

2011-11-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

i thought i'd drop by to show you an inspiration board i whipped up for a holiday family shoot i'm styling next week. the family is so cute and stylish and have the most adorable baby girl named Ava, i swear i could laugh and play with her all day long, she's the cutest!

they'll be taking their family photos for christmas along with baby A's 6 month photos, i really can't wait to show you how it all pulls together! but for now i'll leave you will some of the eye candy that's inspiring the shoot's decor.... it'll involve kraft paper, twine, + burlap... navy blue + sea glass greens... touches of vintage book pages + newsprint... and of course some capiz, shells + star fish details.

nautical elements make my heart so happy, i can't wait...

{happy anniversary} to my parents

2011-10-26T22:21:00.000-07:00

wow... today my parents are celebrating 43 years of marriage, something that is not a common thing these days! here are my folks at my wedding 3 years ago, it was really cool to be married the same year my parents celebrated 40 years and my grandparents celebrated their 70th, yes, you read that right 70 years together!

mom + dad - although we didn't get to celebrate this big occasion together as a family i just wanted to say a few words on your anniversary {uh oh, i'm turning into dad} =).... but seriously, thank you for being the examples you've been to me the past 28 years. i know that if ever i need counsel, support, or just a hug i can always count on you both. i know these past 43 years have involved a great deal of work to juggle your marriage, your family and all the other things that life has thrown at you... but thank you for continuing to honor the commitment you made to each other and God the day you said your vows. your marriage {no matter how perfect or imperfect it is at times} is an inspiration to me in my marriage and i'm sure to many others who know you. i love you guys and i'm so thankful that you are the parents God blessed me with!

and yes we will happily cat-sit should you decide to go away for the weekend =)

love, b.a.

oh and PS. dad the 43rd wedding anniversary gift is travel!

{crafting} an inspiring studio

2011-10-19T23:35:00.000-07:00

if you follow me on pinterest you know that i've been pinning inspiration for my dream studio workspace... well i thought i'd post about what i'm planning to do to create an inspiring workspace for myself. i really like the look of grey and white, it's very clean and a great way to mix in pops of color without really committing to a firm color scheme. and since this room has primarily become my room for working in i want lots of color, something that wouldn't really be approved by my hubby elsewhere in our place.

so without further ado, here are some of the grey + white spaces i love...

Source: homemadeinheaven.blogspot.com via Blair on Pinterest

simply adore the pattern on this wall, but i think i might get really dizzy with this on the walls =)

Source: betterafter.blogspot.com via Blair on Pinterest

if i did do a pattern, this would for sure be the front runner, it's tres chic!

Source: google.com via Blair on Pinterest

love the subtle blue and the stripes, but i think horizontal isn't quite the right approach

Source: None via Blair on Pinterest

i just LOVE these bold colors of bluey-teal and coral, and of course the vertical stripes would make any room feel instantly taller! but this is too much color for the walls...

Source: hayleyhurst.com via Blair on Pinterest

now for the major room accessories....

would love to incorporate geometric patterns maybe on the floor in the way of a rug and possibly on the windows too!

Source: pudel-design.blogspot.com via Blair on Pinterest

i certainly love these pillows, and these are the colors i'd love to splash around the room

Source: bdgstyle.blogspot.com via Blair on Pinterest

i also really need a space to display my work since it's all so unique and colorful, yes i create it and want to admire it... it's fun to reminder of what you've created!

Source: re-nest.com via Blair on Pinterest

and here's the actual grey i think i'd like to use on my walls

Source: gillygrey.com via Blair on Pinterest

if you are a hoarder of ribbon and trim like myself, you must add this storage project to your DIY list, i currently have the raw materials all cut and waiting to be assembled, i so can't wait!!!

Source: nicholeheady.typepad.com via Blair on Pinterest

well that's all the sneak peek i'm going to give you, i've gotta save the whole vision for my reveal post that i hope to show you in the next month or so! so excited

{things that make me happy} my hubby + Maison Ladurée {NYC}

2011-10-10T23:34:00.001-07:00

you're probably wondering about this post's title... well, i'll explain... my husband just got back from a trip to NYC, which sadly i couldn't join him on. being the oh so subtle wife that i am i said if you have the time PLEASE go to the new Ladurée shop in the city, and IF you stop, can you bring me back some macarons, PRETTY PLEASE! it was pretty much a request not a suggestion... you see, i've always dreamed of visiting Paris, and a few years ago my mom + i adventured off to europe, even made it to London... and the day before we were set to fly to Paris, she fell and broke her wrist and after a looong visit in the ER, we were reworking our itinerary to come home for her to see a specialist here. we were so close, yet it just wasn't what God had planned apparently. so needless to say i saw my hubby's trip as an opportunity to get a "taste" of Paris {if you will}. =)

here is the window display from outside Ladurée

so being the totally francophile nerd that i am i documented my souvenir that he returned home with =)

isn't the shopping bag beautiful? i'm so lame, i'm in love with the bag and this totally chic branding

and then he told me he "upgraded" and got be one of the limited edition boxes, go hubs!

he had them packed in this awesome kalidescope butterfly patterned box w/ the gold foil text

{can we say collector's item?!}

....opening it up...

seriously Ladurée, you and your beautiful gold leaf details... so in love with the packaging!

and there they are, my adorable little "taste" of Paris...

courtesy of my sweet and very kind hubby who lugged them all the way home

to make his wifey happy, what a guy! =)

{inspiration} from Steve Jobs

2011-10-05T23:46:00.000-07:00

{this is a copied post from my JoiedeVie design blog, just wanted to share it with my BBE readers too}

not to sound dramatic, but today is a day that will be remembered by many due to the passing of Steve Jobs... he no doubt has touch many of our lives through some capacity of Apple's innovative technology. i ran across this great quote from the commencement speech Jobs gave in 2005 at Stanford. sadly it took his passing for me to stumble upon it, but it was inspiring nonetheless. his words really encouraged me, as i am working to build my own little business, so i thought i'd create and share a 8.5 x 11" sign for my readers to download and print at home. i hope you enjoy it =)

if you'd like this inspirational sign in another color scheme just email me at JDVpaperie@gmail.com and i'd be happy to shoot one to you.

Steve Jobs' Stanford Quote

i pray that Jobs' wife and kids find comfort and strength during this time of loss in their family.

{recent events} retirement party

2011-09-30T08:02:00.000-07:00

i'm back and i'm come bearing a gift in the form of eye candy!!! this summer i had the pleasure of working on a retirement party thrown for a school principal + the special ed teacher, both of which were retiring.

since the school's colors are blue and yellow, i thought it would be nice to center the color palette around those along with adding some white, khaki, and red accents. another fun aspect of this event was that i was going to be working for my mom {who has worked with both of the women for a number of years} as she was helping host the party. because of that i immediately thought of my parents' antique collection of tins for decor... i know i've mentioned before that they used to deal antiques, and when it comes to tins they have A TON!

it was so fun going through the tins and pairing them up for the centerpieces!

here are some of my favorite collections i put together for the event....

i kept the florals pretty simple, i used puffs of white hydrangea, sprigs of baby's breath to "spill" out of the terra cotta flower pots, scabiosa pods and queen anne's lace for texture, and of course billy balls for extra yellow!

i've always been a fan of vintage tins as vases, and looking at these two do you see why?

isn't is great how each centerpiece...
and really each side of the centerpieces has a personality all its own?

... i totally dig the femininity of the antique glass perfume jars wrapped in the crocheted trim ...

in case you don't know me, it's ALL ABOUT THE DETAILS for me... the blue dairy creamer pail in the photos below has total sentimental value for me. it's a family heirloom, yes i think of it as an heirloom, it belonged to my great grandma who lived and worked on an Ohio farm {which still belongs to my great-uncle}. i just love the stories that antiques have to share and can be enjoyed generations later.

next up, the beverage station... we served iced tea, lemonade, and citrus water in my glass beverage dispensers {which can be rented}, guests could pour their drink in a mason jar and write their name on the little tag so their drinks wouldn't get mixed up!

above is yet another rental piece, the antique tub makes a great ice bath for beer, wine, or even water bottles... it certainly added a touch of "backyard charm"... also doesn't that tea look so refreshing?

here's a close up of the mason jars in use with the cute color coordinated paper straws!

the custom chalkboard menu

a big shout out goes out to Chris of Rancho Rocke BBQ for the amazing barbeque... in case you haven't tried his BBQ, you really should! Chris is the chef behind the Rancho a go go food truck, you can find him, his truck and food here. also, a big thanks to my hubby for playing grill master and cooking that amazing corn, it looked and tasted sooo good!

and yes i did hand tie all the silverware in that adorable gingham ribbon...

i can't resist, the details are so fun!

and of course there was dessert! we had bite sized brownies, lemon blossoms, blueberry/coconut cheesecake bars, and Nothing Bundt Cake mini-bundts.... i kept the table pretty simple but i did hang some awesome mason jar luminaries from the tree behind the table

i couldn't pass up the opportunity to use that gingham ribbon again... so i created some dessert flags =)

the piece de resistance was bringing in two antique school desks to flank the dessert table...

and yes there's a story to these babies too....

my grandma {mom's mom} was a school teacher back in the day... and i guess when her school went to ditch these desks she wrote her last name "Anderson" on them in Sharpie. which if you're like me you're thinking "dumb move using a sharpie!" well because she did that she save these two desks, which my family now has and it has her signature, a little piece of my grandma permanently affixed on the wood.... thanks for the killer event pieces Grandma! {and yes these can be rented as well}

here's a shot above the dessert table...

i hung some fringed + ruffled crepe swags with the mason jar luminaries.

here's a final shot of some of the coordinated paper details my paper company

{Joie de Vie paperie} whipped up for the event... it's so fun to make every little detail count... down to the salt and pepper shakers, i adore cohesive details!

... and speaking of those, i think i'm going to have to start making/offering custom salt + pepper shakers =)

i hope you enjoyed this very personal and personalized event, i know i loved planning it, and being hired to work for my mom for the first time!

:: :: vendor shout outs :: ::

{event + floral design + rentals} Blair Britt Events

{party + paper goods + crepe swags} Joie de Vie paperie

{food} Rancho Rocke

{dessert} Nothing Bundt Cake

{new etsy shop} Maison Blue

2011-09-15T16:35:00.000-07:00

well i know most of you saw that i participated in a flea market back in august, while it was a wonderful learning experience, we had hoped to sell out of the massive quantities of pillows we had made for the market... but since we didn't, i decided to finally open up my {Maison Blue shop} i'd been dreaming of doing for quite some time now... having this inventory left over from the flea market was the motivation i needed to make it happen!

to start i've listed some of our pillows, in the future i'll list some of the smaller furniture and other accessories, but i'm very impatient when it comes to drafting listings so this is all i could stand to do today. but, expect more items to appear in the future!

i hope you love what has been listed so far =)

maisonblue.etsy.com

{before and after's} furniture

2011-08-17T00:24:00.000-07:00

so if you follow along with what i'm up to on facebook, or if you follow my tweets, you know i was putting in quite a few hours working to spruce up some of the antique furniture i've accrued over the past year... i was doing that for the flea market i was selling at with my mom. she and my dad were looking to unload some of their antiques, so i figured i'd sell some of my cute little tables... so here are the before + after's of some of my stash....

horrible little orange table, but i saw past it and thought she had cute legs + lines

here she is all cleaned up

the whole table was stripped, sanded, then the top + shelves were stained a very dark mahogany brown and the skirt and legs were painted a milky white and to give the paint an aged look we went over it with some brown glaze to add character!

don't you just love the shape of the top?!?

she didn't sell, but i was secretly hoping i could take her home to my house if she didn't

{like how i'm talking like the table is part of the family?} =)

next up was another super cute tiered table....

and here it is distressed with a dry brushed coat of pistachio paint base, then glazed with some antique white, and then glazed with a a little brown for antiquing.

close-up - aren't the curves of the trim sooo cute?!

and here are the legs, we left the feet the oxidized copper {i think it's copper at least?} but i just love the color of this table, it's enough to accent a room, but not super bold either!

sadly, this table didn't sell either, so she's looking for a new loving home to show off in... or perhaps you'd like to rent her for a wedding or event... she's an orange county native right now, so if you're local you could make her yours for $70

{please email me if you want dimensions, rental price, or any other info}

here's a cute little drop leaf side table, it was solid mahogany...
....had so much character for such a small table!

this one did sell to a really sweet customer and her mom,
here's an after photo i snapped before it went off to its new home!

next is this nice coffee table... it was a little beat up, but i loved the legs {i'm a sucker for nice legs}!
and i really liked the little shell/fan detail on the legs...
:: :: before :: ::

and... after!

i used it as my coffee table in the vignette with the daybed behind it that was filled with our throw pillows, i topped it with some antlers and that enormous glass cloche!

close up of the leg

the table top was really pretty, we sanded off the ugly reddish stain, gave it a new coat of stain so you could really see the detail and pattern of the wood... happy to report this table went to a new home that day too!

here's another great table, didn't manage to get a before photo of this one, but it had a REALLY red colored stain on it and so we sanded it down and gave it a more "today" colored finish

in case you haven't noticed... i'm seriously drawn to table tops with something other than a square or circular shape =)

and last but not least here's another one of my FAVORITES!
here is this solid pecan table before....

and here it is after! the top + drawer front are stained the same color and the body, skirt + legs are painted a light sea-foam that's been topped with a antique white glaze and then given some tiny splatters to give it some character!

and a close up... you can see the splatters here

she also needs a good home, it's a great size to be used as an apartment-sized coffee table
{and yes all my pieces are females, haha}
she's available for pick up in orange county for $120

i had a few other pieces that i didn't get finished so i'll save those for another post!

again if you are interested in purchasing a piece you saw in this post, or if you'd like to rent one for an event feel free to email me!

sorry to miss {thursday + thankful}

2011-08-05T09:45:00.000-07:00

sorry everyone, if you happen to look forward to my {thursday + thankful} post, it didn't happen yesterday because i was working the better part of the day to get furniture pieces finished up for the flea market this weekend! i can't wait to show you everything, it's so exciting... but in the mean time i did want to give you another sneak peek at a few other things we'll be selling at the flea market!

if you've ever seen me in action at a wedding while i'm setting up you can usually find me wearing one of these....

it's a girly tool belt, or you could call it a crafting tool belt, or it could be a domestic goddess' housework tool belt... whatever floats your boat, you can call it that! anyhow, i love these, they are so handy. you can carry around a pair of scissors and floral shears, pens + pencils in their own pocket, a note pad or two... and there's a little front pocket that'll fit a cell phone perfectly! i've even clipped a walkie onto the waistband before too!

on the right side you have one loop for scissors or another sharp object, and there's a pocket that it sits in, so the blade isn't moving around, then next to that is the pocket for your paint brushes, pens + pencils... next to that there's two 5" pockets for note pads, i happen to carry fishing line in there or adhesive or floral tape usually...

then on the left side you can see there's the other 5" pocket for larger items, another loop + pocket for any other sharp object... and of course the pocket for your cell phone! i love having a place for my phone because i can sit it there, throw on my headset and i can keep working if i have to take a call. which on a normal wedding day you have vendors, bridal party members, and family calling you for random things throughout set up sometimes!

here are a few more colors/styles we'll have with us on sunday!

i love the pattern combos as well as the teal + brown together

they have long ties that are really sturdy for helping bear the weight of the stuff you carry around!

coral, animal print + rusty stripe

a flat view of all of them...

teal ticking, ikat, and graphic pattern

teal + brown geometric pattern, w/ the graphic and funky print

red, khaki + navy typography - for the font lover {like me}

wouldn't this be so cute for a teacher's gift for back to school?

in case you're wondering about measurements - they're approximately 20" wide x 10" long
{not including the ties of the waistband}

hope to see you sunday!

3 years + counting...

2011-08-02T23:48:00.000-07:00

it's that time of year that i get a little personal... today is my 3rd anniversary! and it's amazing to think that three years ago i was celebrating my new marriage with my hubby and our friends + family... it's only been three years but it's nuts to look back and realize how quickly the time flies!

here we are on 8.2.08 and us in 2011 after enjoying our anniversary dinner

although he and i have been together eight years {married three of those} i've learned a great deal about us together, myself, and about marriage... i really do look forward to learning more, to working to build a home together, and someday starting a family to fill that home. marriage isn't always an easy thing, but here are some great "marriage tips" that have spoken to me over the past year that i've been following the very wise Mike Glenn on twitter, i hope they speak to you too!

"us before me"

"fight the problem, not each other"

"Make substantial deposits of love before you make a withdrawal.

Bouncing checks of the heart are hard to cover."

"Be proactive in helping your spouse achieve their goals. If they win, you win."

"Write letters to each other. Pen and paper, envelope and stamps...that's what makes it unforgettable."

"Remember when you were dating? Couldn't wait for Friday.

Do what you have to do to make Fridays that way again."

"Your spouse isn't clairvoyant. If you need something, ask. If you feel something, say it."

"Love is spelled 'T I M E.' You spend time on who and what you love.

What does your time say about your love?"

"Big things are little things put together.

Want the big thing to work? Do the little things well and often."

"Every man has to be someone's hero. Make sure your husband knows he is yours."

:: :: :: :: ::

and the marriage tip that really impacted me to understand that you need to "work" on your marriage every single day, was the following tip....

:: :: :: :: ::

{sneak peek} more items for the IVC flea market

2011-08-01T18:21:00.000-07:00

i know i posted last week saying that i'll have a booth at the Irvine Valley College flea market on Sunday, August 7th... well i wanted to show you a few more goodies that we will have available at the market...

lots and lots o' throw pillows!

{left} red + tan ikat linen pillow {right}cute tan + cream stripe w/ red stiched burlap cross

Source: instagr.am via Blair on Pinterest

{light blue + white geometric linen pillows} there will be coordinated lumbars too!

Source: instagr.am via Blair on Pinterest

{black + tan} preppy plaid pillows

Source: instagr.am via Blair on Pinterest

{and here's my absolute favorite} vintage inspired union jack accent lumbar- it has a heavy linen backer
with white stripe fabric, blue canvas, and cream crochetted trim... i think the next go around i'll get some made with lace, how cute would that be?

Source: instagr.am via Blair on Pinterest

sorry about the funky looking photos, these were all taken on my ipad via instagr.am... but, if you see anything you'd like maybe for your wedding or upcoming event, or even for your house... feel free to email me {blairbrittevents@gmail.com} and i can get you set up with some cute pillows!

also, i'll have more photos coming after this weekend's event, so stay tuned!

*blair

{announcement} new venture

2011-07-28T23:25:00.000-07:00

in lieu of my {thursday + thankful} post i'm making a rather important announcement:

Blair Britt Events will be a vendor at the upcoming "Groves" flea market which is held on the campus of Irvine Valley College the second sunday of the month, and this month will be August 7th!

as some of you may have noticed...

recently i've taken a fancy to antique + antique-inspired pieces such as these little tables

it's only natural that i enjoy antiques since early on in my folk's marriage they bought, sold + refurbished antiques... i guess i've now got the itch too!

and wouldn't these awesome tables be the cutest for a wedding lounge set ups?

fun claw footed tables with neat beveled glass inserts in the table tops!

i'm starting to pick up more furniture pieces in hopes of refinishing them to rent or sell to interested clients... or how cool would it be to buy a piece you can use for your wedding, and then later use in your newlywed nest!? that's where these pieces tie into my wedding business =) i totally can't wait to reveal the before and after's of all the pieces we've collected

we will also have some one of a kind letter-pressed posters from Hatch Show Print in Nashville, Tn.

here are just a few sneak peeks:

we'll have some other fun antiques, decorative items, and some great cash and carry items made from these cute fabrics we picked up awhile back

i hope you come out and say hi, we would love to meet you! here's the info for the flea market, oh and it runs from 7am-2pm... just a little warning, i may look like a zombie because of the early morning =)

hope to see you soon,

*blair

{thursday + thankful} support and encouragement

2011-07-21T23:26:00.000-07:00

hey there everyone, sorry i didn't write last week, not to worry i was flaking on last week's post

only because i was en route to this gorgeous place...

... unreal right?? so on thursday i took a break from "my blogging schedule," since it's such hectic schedule {oops just a little sarcasm there}, to get to the above location... i'm pretty sure you would scrap blogging for that view too right?

.... ok, so the reason i'm writing these {thursday +thankful} entries is an attempt to be real with my readers and to share a little bit about who i am for those of you who haven't had the "pleasure" of meeting me in person {uh oh, there goes that sarcasm again} =)

but seriously though i truly love when i am given a chance to "get to know" the bloggers that i enjoy following, and when they share about themselves it gives me a glimpse into who they are as people and makes me feel like i'm reading an update from a friend... so my hope in sharing these things is that those people that google analytics swears visit my blog every week can get to know who blair britt is just a little bit better.

this week thursday july 21st i'm thankful for:

of course returning home from vacation i needed to get my bearings again life, family and of course business-wise... which if you're a small biz owner you know how hard it is to take any time away because you always seem to pay for it after you come back... anyhow, i figured since i had such a wonderful trip i'm paying for it now.... after an emotional week, a series of frustrating events in the past few days i reached my boiling point today! go figure i would "break down" on the day that i post my happy thursday + thankful post.... after getting out of the house for a few hours and getting away from the things that were threatening to rob me of my emotional stability {well not totally}, i realized as i have many times before.... i am SOOO incredibly thankful for the support and encouragement i get all the time from my amazing friends and family. God really, truly has blessed me with a pretty rad support group {that sounds odd, huh?} scratch the group, make that support system! when i had reached my limit today i called my mom and she helped talk me off the emotional ledge, consoled me and helped try to encourage me through what i was seeing as a MAJOR disaster, but was really just a minor blip in the big picture.... she's done this repeatedly throughout my life and has been my perma-cheerleader, and has believed and encouraged me in everything i've ever pursued... and i know that's not just the case with my mom, but it goes for my whole family. we may have one big crazy family, but we all love, care and support each other.

after i got out of the house i talked to a friend, one that i know i can always confide in and i told her about the past few days i've been having and she was so positive and complimentary of some recent projects i've worked on and offered to pray that the rest of my day would go uphill... it's one thing to have the support from your family, but they're family you would hope they'd always be there... but friends get busy, you don't talk as much as you'd like, but it's so humbling to know that i have friends that i can be 100% myself with, loose it for a few minutes and they'll still love me even if i am having a "moment." again its such a huge blessing to know that i have strong friendships to the point that they'll help get me back on my feet after falling down and going boom.

i figure i could be headed off to bed right now saying how brutal today was, but ending on this note helps try to even out the tone of today from one that caused me to be super bent-outta-shape to one of thanks and gratitude.... not for the negative in today, but the positives that seem to be forgotten on the "good days."

i found this quote on pinterest recently and "blair-ified" it, i thought it was pretty relevant to the topic of this post.

{pre-vacation distractions} pins of interest

2011-07-13T13:49:00.000-07:00

i have to say i absolutely have a love/hate relationship with my pinterest account... so thankful for all the amazing images, ideas, and inspiration that site provides me with... but.... i hate how much time can be consumed by scouring the site looking for fun new things, discovering new blogs i had never stumbled upon before, and obsessing over finding every known washi tape pattern under the sun!

i seem to do a lot of my pinning right before bed, which i'm very seriously considering changing that habit seeing how i have a very creative brain and here's what happens when i sift through hundreds of images that get my creativity going right before bed.... story of my life!

Source: allamaduck.tumblr.com via Blair on Pinterest

since i'm getting ready to head off to Jackson Hole tomorrow, i of course would rather do anything but pack {i.e. blog, pin, go to the pool} so i thought i share some of my favorite pins from my pinterest account... lucky you =)

here's something i'm hoping to try out for an upcoming event i'll be vending at

Source: bungalowblueinteriors.squarespace.com via Blair on Pinterest

i absolutely ADORE these shelves constructed of crates, so much visual interest!

Source: greenwellies.tumblr.com via Blair on Pinterest

i just love all the quotes and statements i find to pin, especially this one... there's something to be said for an "old school" work ethic... i know it did my self-made grandpa a lot of good as an entrepreneur too!

Source: google.com via Blair on Pinterest

while i do love the South, i don't believe it'll rise again =)... but there is something really special and beautiful about this feminine union jack pillow - love it!

again, another inspiring quote, this one is showing off on a favorite of mine {a gold ornate frame w/ a chalkboard in it} i also dig the roughed up dresser, and the awesome little accessories used to

style the shot

Source: missmustardseed.blogspot.com via Blair on Pinterest

and now this one.... now that i'm off to take a break from some work {poolside} i'm going to paint my nails like this... but with blush pink polish + gold glitter

Source: tickledwhimsy.blogspot.com via Blair on Pinterest

.... and i'm going to make one of these for myself by the pool!

Source: designsponge.com via Blair on Pinterest

i hope you enjoyed all my random pins, and if you'd like to follow me on pinterest you can {find me here}... if you need an invite to join just leave me a comment with your email address and

i'll shoot you an invite!

happy wednesday,

*b

{thursday + thankful} vacations and relaxation

2011-07-08T00:06:00.000-07:00

{PS. i'll have you know that i posted this at 12:02am... man i missed "thursday" by 3 minutes, maybe next week i'll get this written in time!}

today, july 7th, i'm very thankful for:

while these two words may see a little frivilous, but to a self employed individual the are not, they are actually two things that are very hard to come by... any other self employed folks who agree that when you decide to create a business to call your own that you find yourself caring and working so much harder than you ever did for a J.O.B.? i believe because we are so focused on building something of our own that we pour 110% of ourselves into our little businesses... and that's not even counting the other areas of life for us multitasking ladies... you might be married {so there's a hubster and a relationship that needs your daily attention}, you might be a mom {with little ones who need attention in addition to your hubs}, and then there's your household {which i think we all know is no easy task to keep up from one day to the next}.... the list could go on to list a day job, pets, carpool, etc, etc, etc...

needless to say after rambling off that list of life's areas where you commit yourself, your energy and attention... it's hard to imagine anything else sometimes! no matter where you find yourself i think we can all agree that vacations + relaxation are essential from time to time! everyone needs to take some time for themselves to sit still and recharge the batteries. for some reason when i think about vacay + relaxation i'm always reminded of the verse in Pslams that says "Be still and know that I am God..." and in a place like Jackson how can you not to that?

and.... for me vacation and relaxation is one week away! hooray!!! this time next week i will be en route to my husband's family's place in Jackson Hole, Wy... if you've never been, you must! it is amazing there and so different from the hustle and bustle of southing california, and that my friends is a wonderful thought right about now. Jackson is such a special place, since my hubby grew up visiting there every summer of his childhood, and then when we began dating i too fell in love with it. then in summer of 2007 my family and his were there when he asked me to marry him in that special place... and sadly i've only made it back once since 2007, since summers have been getting busier with weddings and events, so i'm beyond excited to get there and do a little relaxing.

here's the view from where we stay/where my hubs + i got engaged...

photo shot by my BIL, he takes pretty sweet photos!

yeah, i know... it's a rough view =) i'm so thankful to be visiting again this year, i can't wait!

new blog topic {thursday + thankful} healing + remission

2011-07-01T00:39:00.000-07:00

so in an attempt to create better blogging habits for myself {since i post so randomly + not so consistently} i thought i'd post about what i'm thankful for... i think it's way too easy to look around and make note of the things that aren't going right in life, and it really takes a BIG effort to notice the things in our lives that we're thankful for! i know some people do WIWW {translation: what i wore wednesday, check out my SIL's posts, i admire her for posting about it, but that's a whole other blog post} and so on, so i thought i'd start {what i think to be} my own little creation, "thursday and thankful"... it has a fun ring to it!

so like i mentioned, sometimes life and circumstances can really get you down... but after doing a little reflecting {and listening to some advice from mom} i agreed i've gotta focus on what i have, rather than have not, and i encourage you to do the same as well... your outlook will be so much healthier for doing so!

this thursday, june 30th i'm thankful for

those are two very important words to me especially today because last year on this date i was with my mom in the mall going for our mani + pedi date when she got a phone call that she had been diagnosed with lymphoma.... that's one way to ruin a mom + me date! needless to say we still went for our girl time, and cried most of the way through it... but even in those first moments that seemed so scary and so uncertain while my mind was racing a million miles a minute, i had to remember that God has the power to do anything, including healing my mom!

i know i haven't really mentioned much about this on here, but this past year has been quite interesting because of this, it's put a lot n perspective for me, and it's made me even more thankful for the parents i've been blessed with and the relationships i've made. and i'm even more thankful that fall of 2010 we got the news that a healing had taken place in my mom's body and that her stage 4 lymphoma was already in remission... we don't know why God allows us to go through certain trials, but we do know that when we get to the other side of them we can be thankful that He carried us through it.

i love you mom, and i'm glad we could celebrate this milestone with our mani + pedi date without crying our way through it! =)

and because i can't help sharing a photo, here's one of my mom and i on my wedding day in 2008.

photo courtesy of memories by michael

{happy anniversary} josh + marci 6.26.10

2011-06-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

seriously... it's already been a year since you guys became man + wife??!?!

where's the time gone? and how has it taken me this long to blog their wedding...?

better late than never right?

... on to the real message of this post ...

:: Josh + Marci ::

like a said above, how has a year already zoomed past us since the day you two said your vows?

i sure don't know, but what i do know is that my life has been greatly blessed having the two of you in it! not only did i have the honor of helping plan your most special day {to this date at least}, but i am even more honored to have gained a friendship with you both. Josh, i know how valuable your friendship has been to my hubby through the stressful law school years and now carving out legal careers for yourselves. and Marci, you have been a bright ray of sunshine in my life ever since we began planning your big day, i thank God that our friendship continued on past our planning together, you make me laugh and i love that we can spend hours on end chatting about life, marriage, future plans and our terrible addiction to wedding blogs! ok, ok, enough with the sappy stuff, but honestly thank you both for the opportunity to not only take part in the planning, and to be able to witness the start of your marriage, but to also have the great pleasure of watching your marriage grow this past year... love you guys!

now here are some highlights from their wedding at Rancho Capistrano on 6.26.10

....and the piece de resistance, their dessert table =)

i'll leave you with my favorite two images of j+m on their wedding day....

....here's to us all growing old together!

{vendor talent}
*photographer: Hugh Forte {and some images were from a personal friend who shot for me that day}
*catering/cake/desserts: the fabulous Jay's Catering
*floral designs: Jayne at Bits of Whimsy
*dj: Goodtimes Entertainment {my favorite, Tony}
*videographer + love story: Tom from AquaVivus
*all paper goods + jewelry + bridal hairpiece: Joie de Vie Design

{features} thanks to the following bloggers for featuring this wonderful couple's event!
*Amy Atlas - Sweet Designs - p. 1, 2, 3
*Mary Lalande - Jay's Catering
*The Wedding Chicks

{come check us out} the confetti lab @ the party pantry

2011-06-21T00:04:00.000-07:00

hey folks, i just wanted to give you heads up that if you're in the LA/OC area this thursday, june 23rd you should head over to the Wedding {party} Pantry in Tustin. Lauren of a fabulous fete and Brittany of Spruce PR are hosting an event all about throwing parties... Confetti Lab!

they've asked some "party people" {sorry couldn't help myself} to come lend some creativity and help supply you and inspire your next event! here's the info

i'll be setting up shop with some of my current favorite party supplies for sale to help accessorize your upcoming summer parties, showers, etc! and speaking of, need to get back to prepping for it....

see you thursday =)

*blair

{behind the scenes} ruffles!!!

2011-06-13T00:48:00.000-07:00

hey there folks, i've been behind my new addition to the craft room... my new husqvarna sewing machine and i've been obsessed with crepe paper ruffles! i used them for my event yesterday and they'll be incorporated in a photo shoot this week too, here's a peek at some of each...

{blues + yellows}

{blush, aqua + white}

i also have my girl friend's "big kid" camera and did a little playing around with it today using kitty as my test subject.... now for the gratuitous misty photos

{love kitty's tufts of fur between her toes}

{half asleep kitty}

thanks for humoring the cat-lady photos =)

{101 goals in 1001 days} goal no. 28 - Nashville, Tn - part 1

2011-05-22T23:43:00.000-07:00

well, as promised i said i'd be back after yesterday's wedding, and here i am... i wanted to catch you up on my trip to Nashville, Tennessee... which is also my goal #28 in my 101 goals in 1001 days.

last month my mom and i took a girls trip to Nashville, a place i've dreamt of visiting for a very long time, i'm a HUGE fan of country music, and so a trip to music city sounded like such a great idea! so here are some of the highlights from our trip...

broadway - the main drag in nashville where all the honky tonks & bars are

{the stage is actually in the movie Country Strong}

we took a carriage tour around downtown with Bill and Blondie

{i trust you can figure out who's who} ;)

she was such a pretty and sweet horse

the country music hall of fame museum is neat... the windows are meant to look like keys on a piano

inside this rotunda of the museum is the actual CM hall of fame where all the plaques are hung...

and the notes around the top are the chord to "may the circle be unbroken" which has become the anthem for the music city since the big flood the city experienced this time last year.

below left is the Hard Rock gift shop {had been totally flooded out} below right is also a street where all those bars, restaurants and shops had been flooded out too, so sad

at Roberts you can buy boots, a meal, a beer and take in live music

also on broadway is Hatch Show Print...

one of my favorite stops during our whole time in Nashville!

Hatch is one of the oldest letterpress shops in the country and specialized in posters for the music industry, any artist who has posters pressed by Hatch knows they've "made" it once they've had Hatch make a concert poster for them! i seriously was in heaven in here since i do design paper goods in addition to my events business... and i would LOVE to have my own letterpress to work with. so needless to say we spend some time in here watching and even getting an awesome behind the scenes tour from Cathy {their accountant}.

since i'm such a paper nerd, here are some of the shots from our little tour

they have posters all over the walls showcasing work they've done over the years

below left: the walls are filled with tons of vintage wood carved blocks of type in all sizes and typestyles... this is what attracts clients to Hatch... below right is one of their many small presses

here are some of the plates set with the type for each job... you can see who these jobs are for

{not just country music stars, they had just finish lady gaga posters for her upcoming show in nashville}

one of their old, old presses which they run the old school huge hand carved wood plates from

vaudville days, this place really is a studio and museum! and true to form, artist work here obviously given away by all the piles everywhere {that's just how us creative people work}!

one of the employees inking the plate prior to running it... what i would give to be able to have had an internship with Hatch!

this poster was way in the back of the shop and it was for a taylor concert than happened last year on my hubby's birthday... i love taylor's music, loved the colors, and the awesome orchids and when i asked if there was any way i could buy it they said the boss man keeps extras to give away to charity auctions and couldn't sell it... i was bummed, but totally understood... so i took a picture hoping that would help...

we went back in the day we were leaving town to get something we had been thinking about, and one of the employees that i had been chatting it up with on our first visit saw me on my phone in the crowd upfront and came and asked if i got the Taylor poster, and i knew he knew i hadn't, so as i started to tell him "no they wouldn't let me buy it..." he was rolling it up to give to me! i seriously was ready to cry, that was so cool that he had asked and just gave it to me because he knew how much i had wanted it so badly! the people who work there are so nice... and that's really true of pretty much everyone we encountered while we were in nashville!

to find out more about Hatch Show Print go here

well, that's all for part 1 folks... i'll be back soon with the plantation tour and tour of President Andrew Jackson's home, the Hermitage... and of course our trip to the Grand Ole Opry!

i'm still here!

2011-05-14T01:44:00.000-07:00

i'm stopping by real quick to show you what i'm working on at the moment...

here's the inspiration behind the wedding i've been working to design

for the bride Tracy + her groom Lee... congrats you guys!

i just adore all the color and the fun details we'll be showcasing, i'll be back after next weekend to start catching you {my fabulous readers} up on recent events, since so much has been going on!

hang tight till next week =)

{sneak peek} project in the works

2011-04-12T18:47:00.000-07:00

just wanted to pop in to show you a little sneak peek at something that i'm working on, it should be ready just in time for summer! but that's all i can share for now...

hope you love the color combos, i know i do! =)

{101 goals in 1001 days} goal no. 47

2011-04-06T23:52:00.000-07:00

so a little while back i posted about the 101 goals in 1001 days that i'm doing and here's my first official post about one of the goals i've accomplished... this isn't my first of the 101, but this is a quick post so i thought i'd throw it out there for you all!

as some of you may know, i was wanting so very badly to get my hands on an ipad 2...

....well yesterday was my day!

after quite a few days of calling the apple store when they opened to check to see if they had stock and hearing "No" everytime... and after calling Walmart, Best Buy, AND Target almost daily checking to see if i could avoid a really early morning waiting in line at the apple store... i set my alarm for 5:45, yes that's AM for those of you who know i don't enjoy mornings =) it felt like Christmas morning so i shot outta bed, got ready, grabbed my laptop and a jewelry order to work on and headed to the South Coast apple store to wait it out with lots of other folks. i said a prayer as i walked in the mall around 6am that went something like this: "Lord, i know this is a really silly prayer, but it would make me so happy to only have to do this once, and please let it be your will that i get the one i want."

... real mature prayer Blair...

the apple crew rolled in around 7am for their daily Fed Ex shipment inventory, then came out and proceeded to go down the line with these cards that corresponded to each unit they had in the store that morning... i was about 30 people back so i figured i was sitting pretty....

not so... they ran out of these cards at the couple in line right in front of me... i was about ready to flip my lid when a man got out of line handed the above card back in and the apple dude gave it to me... it wasn't the unit i wanted, but i was back in the game!

at this point everyone behind me in line had gone home and didn't know they could've lingered and potentially snagged a forfeited card! so then about 10 more minutes go by and another guy pieced out of line and gave his card back, the apple dude looked at me and said, "it's your lucky day" it was the exact model i had wanted and in white too! WAAHHOOO

here's my little card, or answer to prayer as i'd like to think of it! i know it was a silly request, but i do have to say God is good, and He did answer mine and my hubby's prayers.

after this happened, i called J at home and told him what had happened and that he had a happy wife, and he then told me he had prayed the night before that it'd work out for me...

such a silly thing, but so neat to know God's there and dialed in, and understands how powerful of a business tool this little ipad will be!

Goal no. 47 - check!

since you've been gone.... may i introduce the 4 hour body

2011-03-17T00:47:00.000-07:00

i mean... since i've been gone =) it's been yet another whirlwind month of client orders for my other biz - Joie de Vie Design, and mixed in with those orders i've taken some much needed personal time to tackle some cleaning and organizing projects around our place {with a lot more work left to be done}. another fun challenge that's been thrown into our everyday life mix is that a few weeks back my hubs and i decided to make a huge lifestyle change, i had been reading tim ferriss' book the four hour work week {which was recommended to me}, along with ferriss' newest book the four hour body... which the hubs and i have both been reading and a week and a half ago began the journey to a huge lifestyle change for us!

not to bore you all to death with the details, but i think there comes a time in most people's lives when they aren't satisfied... not satisfied by a job, not satisfied by your lifestyle, not satisfied by your health {or lack thereof}... you fill in the blank. well, we decide that we had grown a little complacent in the way we eat and the overall lack of a healthy lifestyle. needless to say we started reading the four hour body and realized we needed to make the lifestyle change it talked about... so now we are living the "slow carb" life! if you're interested in knowing more about the four hour body diet and lifestyle here's a blog that we enjoy and find really helpful.

this is probably boring some of you at this point, but i feel that posting this is a means of accountability for me and a few posts ago i shared with my readers the 101 goals i hope to accomplish in 1001 days, this new lifestyle change is what i hope will be the means to accomplish a few of my personal lifestyle/weight loss goals. to show you little of what this change entails here are some photos of a few slow carb meals...

pork chops w/ asparagus and zuchinni

rotisserie chicken {from costco} w/ red spilt lentils and asparagus

the costco chicken makes dinner super easy and quick

and in honor of st. patty's day today...

a corned beef brisket {in the crock pot}, some cabbage and carrots... this is one of my favorites!

basically the rules are as follows:

nothing white - no flour, no sugar, no rice, no processed carbs period!
eat as much protein as possible - eggs, egg whites, chicken, pork, beef, fish {organic when possible}
eat as many veggies as you want {we happen to love asparagus, carrots, baby spinach, celery, green beans, brussel sprouts, and cabbage}
eat slow carbs - beans, lentils, edamame, any kind of legume {really helps with filling you up}
drink tons of water, have limited diet beverages {such a killer since i'm a diet coke addict}
follow these rules 6 days a week
here's the kicker - make one day a BINGE DAY, yes i said binge day! you can pig out on anything and everything you want, sugar, carbs... you want it, you eat it {sounds like a dream right? if you do it right it will leave you with a killer food hangover that makes you yearn for the clean eating of the other 6 days}

and that's it folks - doing this for a month and you can see great fat loss results... which is what i'm testing right now....

and to bring this all back to my point in sharing this with you all... i'll be using myself as a guinea pig to test this "diet" or as i like to call it "lifestyle change" to hopefully be able to recommend to my readers and the brides out there following along!

ps. if you'd like more insight into the 4 hour body lifestyle, here's another great post about it!

{featured} by Hostess with the Mostess

2011-02-18T19:25:00.000-08:00

if you haven't seen it yet, yesterday BBE was featured for our design contributions to the ever so fabulous Kacee Geoffroy's baby shower for sa deuxième fille {her second little girl}... just a little of my high school french skills for you! =)

anyhow, i was so thrilled to see that the shower was featured yesterday over at one of our FAVORITE event hosting blogs - Hostess with the Mostess... thanks Jenn!

kudos go out to all the other wonderful vendors who worked on Kacee's shower, the vision really was pulled together beautifully and seamlessly by everyone, and of course Alice Hu Photography's images made the event look picture perfect!

feeling so blessed to have been apart of Kacee's special party!

{vendor team}
:: photography :: Alice Hu Photography
:: catering & cake :: Jay's catering
:: floral designs :: Floral Elements
:: fragrance station :: Kamilyin
:: design & paper goods:: BBE & our sister co. {Joie de Vie Paperie}

{the wedding pantry} valentines windows

2011-02-16T16:05:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines, I know I really enjoyed ours especially after how crazy the past few weeks have been! this post was originally posted on my JDV blog, i had featured it before Valentines over there... so just in case you missed it or don't follow my other blog, here's how the displays turned out!

this month i had the opportunity to style the windows of a local bridal shop: the wedding panty... and it just so happened that i was able to incorporate my sister business' recent valentines diy printable files into the designs {with a little customized tweaking}. if you're in need of some quick, easy and cute shower decor, check out these printables, they can easily be customized for a bridal or baby shower... and without further ado, i think the images pretty much speak for themselves, enjoy the colorful eye candy!

{printable cupcake toppers} find them in my shop here

They can be customized too... like this cake topper that says la-la-love!

Isn't this cake from Jay's cute?!

Again, the flags are customized as dessert tags letting guests know in a cohesive way what the item is

More custom dessert tags...

I crafted two interlocking paper heart chains to swag behind the hutch that houses the dessert display, and thanks to my fab intern Chelsea for helping me hang it!

{a close up of one}

In love with the perfectly matching aqua colored french macarons

{thanks Jay's}

In the other window I created a "love note" station with three types of little love notes,

which are a fun alternative to a guest book

Here's a close up of the coordinated bridal sash to match the style and colors of the widow displays,

i/my sister biz {JDV} can customize materials to ensure your vision is tied throughout your look too!

The ball jars tied in perfectly color-wise...

I also crafted these coffee filter puffs and adorned some with aqua gliter, so worth it!

Close up of the glitered clothespins holding the custom "love notes" banner

which you can find in my shop as the "be mine" printable banner.... looove glitter!

Love notes window

...recongnize that little white desk? =)

dessert display window and a view of the desserts

custom vinyls from Wonderfully Wordy added a special touch!

"All you need is love..."

"... Love is all you need"

I'll have more diy printables coming soon to my etsy paperie shop! and please let me know if you'd like some created custom for a special event!

{photo credit} marcella treybig photography - thanks friend =)

{sweets} mary lallande at jay's catering, they're the best!

{sneak peek} window display at the Wedding Pantry

2011-02-07T18:32:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone... and happy February! Valentines is quickly approaching and I thought I'd give you a sneak peek at one of the big projects I was working on last week...

{love my little vinyls with the Beatles lyrics, purchased from Wonderfully Wordy}
click the image to make them larger

I did a February window display for Eva at her bridal shop, The Wedding Pantry! Since Valentine's and love is in the air this month, I thought I'd give you a quick glimpse of the windows. Eva showed {part 1} of the windows today on her blog, so go check it out! and she'll be posting part 2 tomorrow... such a fun project. I can't wait to share more of the details and the sweets from Jay's Catering with you!

photos courtesy of my fabulous friend - Marcella Treybig Photography!

{personal} 101 goals in 1001 days... here we go!

2011-01-21T08:27:00.000-08:00

I found this idea on one of the blogs I follow and thought "this is the kind of goal setting I can do!"

The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria: Tasks must be specific with a result that is either measurable, or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of stretching on your part.)

Starting Date: February 9, 2011
Completion Date: November 15, 2013

I can do that! So.. here's my list:
{I will add a link to all the posts about the completed goals}

Refinish my cute tiered flea market table.
Read the Proverbs 31 woman 6 months out of the year {each year}.
Scan and burn to a CD our College party pix.
Get back to my goal weight of 140.
Do some form of exercise 3 days a week for 2 months straight.
Have a baby by 30.
Keep a pregnancy journal when that time comes.
Organize a business photoshoot.
Create 4 Business Christmas card designs in July 2011.
Post Christmas Designs in September 2011 in my paperie Etsy shop.
Organize all my iPhoto images. {florals, attire, cakes, wedding decor, home dec, etc}
Collect 10 friends or family recipes and try each of them.
Create a "important docs" binder w/ my mom
Visit Temecula. {post coming soon}
Visit Napa
Vend in the Local Irvine Farmer's Market.
Make Lasagna.
Make dinner 5 nights in one week.
Finish living room curtains
Start "top secret project" with my SIL Lisa.
Buy a deep freezer for meets and frozen meals.
Take my mom on a girls date and actually pick up the tab for once!
Go to a daddy and me breakfast with my pops... like old times.
Go to Hawaii with the hubby.
Build the neat-o shelf/display pieces for our dining area.
Babysit for my girlfriend so she and her hubby can go on a date.
Babysit for my brother and SIL, so they can go on a date.
Visit Nashville, TN. {part 1 post here}
Sit in the audience of the Grand Ol Opry. {post coming soon}
Grow my dahlias again and get them to bloom.
Have the hubby's best man and wife over for dinner to our place.
Fit into my lucky jeans again... huge stretch!
Get our carpeting cleaned.
Visit the Nixon and Regan libraries with the hubby.
Finally make a date to go to lunch with the 3 college girlfriends I haven't seen in over a year!
Clean out, update, and organize the hubby's filing cabinet.
Clean out, update, and organize my filing cabinet.
Visit Vegas in the Summertime again.
Take a Weekend Tip to Santa Barbara.
Host a seasonal party at our place.
Go for a walk on the beach with my hubby 3 times summer 2011.
Buy a new mattress.
Buy a gas grill for me to cook on.
Blog 10 times in one month {on one of either blogs}
Get my jewelry into 3 boutiques.
Get the hubby's life insurance taken care of {sounds so morbid}.
Purchase an iPad2 {for business}. {post here}
Go to the Stagecoach festival.
Burn all our pictures by year onto CD.
Go through college junk that's in my parent's storage, sort, and purge.
Become homeowners.
Frame my USC diploma w/ my stole.
Read the 4 hour work week.
Plan my 10 year High School Reunion. {in the works}
Attend my 10 year High School Reunion.
Attend my hubby's 10 year High School Reunion.
Drive the speed limit for one day.
Finish decorating our place.
Give my BBE blog a make-over.
Overhaul the furniture and layout of our study/my studio.
Re-paint the studio.
Attend a USC Weekender in 2011 or 2012.
Finalize and have our wedding photography book completed {yes we were married in "08}.
Get all of my bank accounts, gym membership, insurance info changed to my married name.
Do a 500 piece puzzle by myself.
Buy a sectional sofa... no more his and her's sofas.
Majorly clean out the refrigerator.
Finish organizing my business storage unit.
Get pro photos taken of all of my event props, and put together a website for my rental pieces.
Do a MAJOR clean up/back up of my laptop.
Take my laptop in to have the casing fixed & recover my iTunes password, all prior to my apple care running out.
Do it again like a year later. I'm sure it will need it again.
Go to a pumpkin patch.
Go to a Drive-in movie.
Put up our Christmas Tree by December 1st, 2011
Do a major cleaning overhaul in our place.
Do it again a year later, again I'm positive it'll need it.
Have fondue with the family for dad's birthday.
Get 30 sales in one month in either of my etsy shops {not counting outside/referral orders}.
Have a professional bra fitting.
Write to our adopted World Vision child.
Serve a meal in a shelter or soup kitchen {once a year}.
Read 10 new books.
Get a new dinning room table.
Learn to drive a stick-shift.
Drive/show my hubby Silverado canyon.
Get a flipCam {for business}
Learn how to make tiramisu.
Find and bake a great red velvet cupcake.
Pay for someone behind me in a drive-thru.
Get our taxes done on time.
Buy a "big kid camera" and SLR to shoot biz stuff and personal ~~Buy my hubby his voice recorder.~~ {5.22.11 scratch this one since it's now obsolete, he got an iphone}
Collect all close relatives, friends and families birthdays and anniversaries, and addresses to keep on file.
Find a new home church.
Go hiking when in Jackson or visiting in Utah.
Wash my hubby's car for him.
Stop drinking diet soda.
Spend a day with my mom watching Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea series again.
Save $10 for each item completed.
Make a new list of 101 Things to Do before I complete this one.
Give thanks to God for the willpower and determination to complete these tasks on time!

If any of you want to join in.. feel free. =)

Happy New Year! Happy Marriage!

2011-01-13T22:34:00.000-08:00

2011... wow, that just doesn't sound right, but it's true, it's 2011!

My hubs and I just returned back from visiting his family in SLC, and also our trip with friends to ring in the New Year in relaxing Lake Arrowhead... it was a great way to end 2010.

I'm not really one for resolutions, but I do like goal setting... it's been inspiring to see all my favorite bloggers posting about their goals, and it's made me want to do some serious goal setting for me, my marriage, and my businesses {yes you read businesses right}. Since I work in the wedding industry and I am a married lady, I believe it's really important to not just focus on all the fun things about weddings and planning them, but to also remember that once that fabulous day has passed, there's a marriage that needs to be tended to on a daily basis! My mom actually gave me a great book for Christmas and I wanted to share it with all of you - it's a very informative read even if you aren't married, or if you're engaged to be married, or if you've been married for 20 years this book is great! While the title sounds a little odd, it's a fantastic read, and it's a WONDERFUL insight from a man's perspective on how men work in life, love and marriage in particular.

I read this book in two plane flights {and I am SOOOO not a reader}, it's a fun read, the author will make you laugh out loud and really inspire you to work harder in your relationship with your knight in shining armor, or your couch potato {soon to be knight} =).

I encourage you all in this new year to go out and find

"Have a new Husband by Friday" by Dr. Kevin Leman

Hopefully it'll change your life and your marriage!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T13:46:00.000-08:00

I hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas! Here's the Christmas card I designed for us this year... sorry I couldn't send it to each and everyone of you... so I hope this will do!

I'll be off the grid for the next week, enjoying a little break with family and friends!

Have a happy New Year!

all i want for christmas...

2010-12-25T02:56:00.000-08:00

... Well, I just finished my Christmas shopping tonight, yes if you're thinking, "wow, that's pretty last minute Blair," well yes my dear readers it is! But I have good reasons for it... the first is that I've been swamped with orders for my other business Joie de Vie, and second is that more often than not my most brilliant ideas come in the final 20 minutes before Target closes. Maybe it's the thrill of knowing I'm racing the clock, but I can honestly spend the next 12 months thinking up gifts for my loved ones for Christmas 2011 {wow, 2011's around the corner}, and I most likely will still need that 4th quarter shopping to come up with some gems.

Anyhow, I know lots of bloggers create Holiday shopping guides well before Christmas eve, but I am not them and even though I've been thinking about this post for a few weeks, I thought what the heck it'd be fun to share my "wish list/favorites" from 2010. If Christmas were all about shopping for myself, which it so is not, I would spoil myself with these fun things, but Christmas isn't about these things or me, but just because... I'll go ahead and share a few of my favorite things. =)

:: the Bakerella Cake pop book ::

These dern {yes I said dern} baked goodies continue to elude me, I can't seem to master them, so why wouldn't I want a book full of inspiring photos, tips, and tricks to try and master these puppies!

:: the Ford Edge ::

A new crossover to help with lugging my props and other various business things to and from events, and hey maybe one day soon it'll come in handy for driving around a little one or two.....

Hey! wait a second, Christmas came early and I am the proud new owner of this very Ford Edge as of a few weeks ago! And the people rejoice... or maybe just me...

:: a super cute, super girly workspace ::

No description necessary, now if only I can remember where I stumbled upon this photo in the blogosphere....

:: kitchen aid glass mixing bowl ::

Now this one's really a gift to my stand mixer, not me, I would just gladly reap the benefits of seeing if ingredients were stuck to the sides, would love the measurements on the side, and oh my gosh there's a lid! Because goodness knows I... I mean my stand mixer...

who am I kidding, I can't stand using saranwrap!

:: silicon scraper blade ::

This would be SO handy, I can only dream of a day baking where I don't have to flip up my stand mixer to scrape down the sides like 5 times... hmmm that'd be so nice!

......and the creme de la creme.....

:: the ever amazing iPad 2 ::

Yeah, you read right the iPad 2, not this one, but the next one... my pops and brother talked me off the ledge of jumping to buy this generation for business purposes. They convinced me to wait for the second generation which most are hoping will be announced by Mr. Jobs in January... PLEASE!

This would make client presentations so seamless, I can't wait =)

Well that concludes this tour of my favorite things from this past year... by now most of you probably have visions of sugar plums dancing in your heads... I guess I should hurry up and get to bed too!

And to all a good night!

{inspiration} black, gold, & white wedding

2010-12-18T14:37:00.000-08:00

This week was our floral meeting for my upcoming January Bride's wedding... I love when we do the floral meeting because I believe that the floral design elements play a huge role in communicating what the overall personality of a wedding will be. In the case of this wedding it will be a sleek black, white and gold affair with elements of timeless glamour... with some hints of the show Mad Men to further communicate this wedding vibe.

After the meeting I pulled together a lot of the eye candy the bride, her mom, and I have been sifting through and here's what I've put together!

Just to give you a little bit more of a sneak peek at this wedding I'll share with you the wedding invites, which were created by my sister business Joie de Vie Paperie. They're keeping the event primarily black and white with touches of gold, so we did the same for the invites.

The monogram tag shape was a last minute change up, we had originally planned to use a circle shape, and then I realized this bracketed frame die shape would be far more swanky... and then their monogram was stamped onto it.... I just love the way the gold pops off the black!

And here's the whole suite laid out... sorry these photos are just from my digital camera right after production.... I really need to have them professionally shot to do them justice!

Their invites were initially inspired by Kristina's invites {of Lovely Morning and 100 Layer Cake}... but we made some modifications and voila!

Now I don't want to spill all the details about the event, but I really am falling hard for this wedding style... the floral designer said it best the other day...

"I seem to fall in love with the wedding I'm currently working on"

.... and I am falling hard for this one!

:: :: photo credits :: :: left to right, top to bottom

{1} Martha Stewart Weddings

{2, 5-6, 8, 10-14,} Jl designs

{3} Lori Beth Events

{15} OC Prop Girl

{16} Ikea

thanksgiving sweet potatoes

2010-11-22T07:43:00.000-08:00

So our family does Thanksgiving and Christmas meals in a sort of potluck style... my brother and sis in law host since they have a great house for our whole family to gather together in. The usual Thanksgiving protocol is they do the turkey{s} and host, then we all sign up to bring the rest of the goodies... this year I volunteered to change up my usual green bean casserole and unicorn casserole {it's a cornbread casserole that has been dubbed unicorn in my family, but that's a story for another time}... so this year I opted to step outside my comfort zone and do the sweet potato casserole and dessert. I did a scouring of the internet and here are the potential candidates that intrigued me....

sweet potatoes with cinnamon pecan crunch

cranberry glazed sweet potatoes

classic sweet potato casserole

Florence Mama's candied yam's

Traditional sweet potato casserole

hmmm... can we just eat sweet potatoes for thanksgiving this year?... This'll be a touch choice, but it think I'll go with the last recipe as that photo speaks to me most... It's all about the presentation on what recipe I'll try! =)

come see me this weekend!

2010-11-18T02:04:00.000-08:00

I know i've been pretty quite on the blog front recently, but that's because I've been busy prepping for an event this weekend... Just wanted to let you all know that I {and my other business, Joie de Vie} will be selling my jewelry, accessories & paper goodies {think event banners & cupcake flags} this weekend and the holiday boutique being hosted by Eva of the Wedding Pantry... here are the details! Hope to see you there! =)

{baking adventures} pistachio french macrons

2010-10-27T23:57:00.000-07:00

I posted this past month on my BBE Facebook page about attempting these amazing little cookies, and I realized after making my third batch yesterday that I never posted about the outcome of my first attempt... well, I'm happy to report that my first attempt was pretty good for a so-not-professional baker!

If you'd like to try these out as well, here's a tutorial of how I baked mine. . . .

Here's a shot of everything I needed corralled
{I like to get everything organized before I start baking} things move along quicker when I do this!

Pistachio Cookie recipe:

*3 egg whites {from large eggs}

aged in fridge seperate from the yolks for a few days

*205g of powdered sugar {grams are more precise}

*115g of shelled, unsalted almonds

*65g of shelled, unsalted pistachios

*30g granulated sugar

{optional - green and yellow powdered food coloring}

: : : note about egg whites : : : most recipes say to let the whites "age" separate from the yolks for a few days in the fridge, and then when you're ready to bake, pull them out and let them come to room temp on the counter for up to 5 hours... I have cracked my eggs and gotten to work right there without "aging" them and it appears to not really matter... so it's really up to you!

Pistachio Cream Filling:

*45g shelled, unsalted pistachios

*1 cup powdered sugar

*6 tablespoons of butter

*1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Now onto the production and assembly!

Combine the almonds, pistachios, and powdered sugar in a food processor and blend them together LIKE CRAZY! ... and I really mean it, most recipes call for almond and pistachio flour {which is way too expensive for me to justify buying} so this step is essentially "creating" the two flour elements and mixing it with the powdered sugar.

Once you've ground the heck out of the nuts and powdered sugar, make sure you sift the combined ingredients into another container {the finer the dry elements the better your cookies will turn out... and yeah... don't worry about my broken plate {broke it getting it out of the cupboard, sad} and the mess: let me just warn you, all the powdered elements sure do make a mess, which I hate creating when baking, but these are SOOO worth it!

Once you've sifted those, if there are any larger chunks left, process them again and sift again, repeating until you've gotten it totally smooth and powder-y!

OK, now grab your egg whites and dump them in your mixer and beat them on medium to high speed till they look foamy and frothy... then add your granulated sugar and it's time to start creating a meringue!

You'll notice the whites will start beating and rising into a fluffy texture, you'll want to beat them until they create "peaks" - basically to the point you can stop the beater and pull it up and the white will form a peak that doesn't fall... if it falls, keep mixing!

Next you'll want to add your food coloring {I will say that I just made these again, and you really don't need to add the coloring, they will have a pale greenish-white color if you don't add it} If you do add coloring, be careful not to add too much, like I did, and making it look Slimer green... Like below =)

After folding the food coloring into the meringue, add your dry elements by folding them gently into the meringue till it looks like the above photo.

Next you want to add the batter to a piping bag... I use a freezer size ziplock bag with just the connector piece from a piping tip {you want it to have a decently large opening}. To use a ziplock, just snip a small part of the corner off the bag and insert the connector, and you're ready to fill your "piping bag."

Go ahead and cover your baking sheet with parchment paper, and then pipe 1-ish inch circles {yeah, these were my first attempt, kinda sloppy looking} be sure to leave space between the circles, as this batter will spread once it's on the paper... which I wish I had known that ahead of time.

After piping the cookies, preheat your oven to about 310* and let your cookies sit out for about 20 - 45 minutes to sit prior to baking... doing this will allow the cookies to develop a "skin"... sounds odd, but you want this... I usually wait about 20 mins, since I get pretty antsy to want to eat them!

Give them about 11-14 minutes in the oven, I'd start checking them at 11, you don't wan to overcook them, but you don't want them to be underdone either... basically you want them to look like this...

You want them to pop, and have what are called "legs" thats the part that's below the shell of the cookie - where it looks cracked-ish... but you do want to make sure that the tops are not browned... finicky little cookies I know! =)

Let them cool on the paper completely before you pull them off the sheet, if you don't they WILL stick to the sheet and you'll loose some of the undersides... Once you pull them up, match them up according to size, like you see below.

To make the filling - food process the pistachios to a fine powder again and set aside. Next you want to cream the room temperature butter you have set aside by beating the butter and powdered sugar, and then combine the vanilla extract and the pistachio and continue mixing it all together.

Once that's finished, go ahead and spread it on in the middle of the cookies and then store them in the fridge in an air tight container, and good luck not eating them all in a few days! =)

About the filling, it's said that the perfect macaron you need to spread the filling from edge to edge, or coast to coast as I've come to know it... and it should be able to stand on it's edge without the filling running out... I'll keep dreaming and keep making this, and as long as they taste good, that's all that matters to me!

Good luck baking everyone,

*Blair

la vita e dolce

2010-09-27T07:14:00.000-07:00

.... the sweet life or life is sweet ....

I have to say a big thank you to Carlie of gabriel ryan photographers for posting the photos from last month's wedding, they just made my day! Meagan {the bride} is a long time friend of mine, who married her knight in shining armor on 8.28.10... I had the honor of being one of her maids for her wedding day, but I just couldn't help myself, my design business did their paper goods for the big day, and you know I had to assist in throwing in a little event design love too!

So here's the dessert table we did for their big day

The overall wedding look was very classy and elegant, and since Meagan had spent a summer in Italy, she really wanted to bring a few touches of Italy to their day. So JDVpaperie created the banner, which we attached to the frames, along with photos from Meagan + Erik's {sweet} lives, and then of course the table was finished off with the actual sweets!

And since I can't just post about the dessert table, here's one of my favorites of them...

a big shout out goes out to

* Lisa of Double Take Interiors/ jomestic doi for creating the gorgeous silk overlay

{she's my fabulous SIL and interior designer}

* also, to Collette's Catering for the sweets and pretty cake!

And if you're ever in need of some awesome and large vintage frames I have both of these babies {and one more} available to be rented for your upcoming event! =)

{DIY} another man's trash is my treasure

2010-09-01T11:20:00.000-07:00

Hello, I'm here, trying to come out of blogging hiding... this has seriously been quite a summer!

I thought I'd come back with something I have been wanting to share with you for a long time... if you've been keeping up with the sweet blog features showing Marci + Josh's wedding dessert display {amy atlas, wedding chicks, and jay's catering}, you'll remember there was a cute shabby chic-y desk at the center of that design... now if you haven't seen those posts,

this is the cute little desk I'm talking about:

Now, would you believe that this is that same desk... the day I found it calling my name in a local antique store!

{sorry for the shot from my camera phone}

Even with all the junk piled on it, I new that it was special and that it could serve a very important purpose in the upcoming wedding dessert display. So, I called my mom over to the shop for a second opinion {she's my shopping buddy and confidant}, and she saw the potential that I did. After mom's approval it was time for the real critic, my pops to come check it out. He and my mom used to deal antiques in the early days of their marriage, so I knew if he thought it was tacky, I just wouldn't go there. I also wanted him to kinda assess all the work we would need to do clean it up... as you can see it was in need of some MAJOR TLC and maybe even a tetanus shot!

After some back and forth, a little price haggling, we got a great deal and she was mine. Here it is right after clearing away all of the junk.

So upon getting the desk home to work on it, my pops said we needed to take the desk totally apart so we could stabilize it. We took a leg off, detached the hutch, sanded, painted, sanded some more, nailed, painted and then sanded some more.... I think you get the gist =)

Here's the desk in the middle of the process laying in the driveway, missing limbs and it's hutch...

Getting fairly close to finishing up the TLC process my engineer{dad} and I decided to add this fun little contrast detail to the back edge of the desktop, just incase I ever wanted to use it without the hutch

{you can see it's the only part not painted white yet at that point.}

I will tell you that when I bought this desk, I hadn't planned on keeping it, but after the labor of love it was to work on and dress up, I couldn't bear to part with it, after all, as a friend said "she does have nice legs!" =)

Here's the desk again at bridal shower, being used with out the hutch for a totally different look... {yeah, and if you're wondering what the banner said... "showered with love"}

If you're looking for a fun prop like this for an upcoming event, I'd be happy to rent her out to you for a day, evening... er, wow this sounds like a escort service... but, seriously if you are looking for a rental piece like this and you're in the LA, OC, SD areas, feel free to email me and you can rent her for your special event - BlairBrittEvents{at}gmail.com

i want my old layout back...

2010-08-10T01:15:00.001-07:00

so the other night i accidentally messed w/ my template design... now i can't get my old layout back... i know it wasn't much different but now all these dumb thin lines appeared around the different sections of my blog... so lame! wish could get it back to the way it was before!!!

in reference to: Blogger Template Designer - Blogger Help (view on Google Sidewiki)

cheers to 2 years!

2010-08-05T07:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm a little belated on blogging this, but ehh, what's new, I'm not a very regimented blogger,

but I'm trying =)

This past weekend, my husband and I took a much needed stay-cation in Newport Beach, we hung out by the pool, went to two great anniversary dinners, and just kicked back a little. It really is hard to believe these first two years have flown by so quickly, so much has changed, and we have both grown so much... I don't want to bore you about our lives, but I did want to say that to all you newly engaged couples, newlyweds, and those planning on wedding someday:

*take the time to stop an smell the roses, enjoy each other's company,

and really, I mean it, really don't sweat the small stuff*

As cliche and common place as that advice sounds, take it to heart, this is the person who's in it for the long haul with you! Cherish them, because they will be your best friend, confidant, advisor and a great many other things through out your marriage - don't take them for granted for one second of your life together! =)

And since I'm big on before and afters, haha, joking...

Since I can't stand blog posts without photos, here's a photo from our day on 8.2.08 and us on 8.2.10.

Stoked{dot}com... Wedding Chicks feature!

2010-08-05T01:07:00.000-07:00

Wow, so stoked to see our clients, Josh + Marci up on the Wedding Chicks blog today! I really can't begin to describe how much I enjoyed working on their wedding, and now to see Hugh Forte's images gracing the first page of one of my favorite wedding sites today - that took my wow to another level, so flattered and so beyond blessed!

I was also so happy to see that they posted Aqua Vivus' work too, seriously, if you haven't considered having a videographer... go take a gander at their work - whatever your thoughts were, you'll not only want a videographer... you'll want them!

What a great day!

exciting times

2010-07-16T00:26:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been so absent this past week... lots of new things going on right now in my personal life and my business life. While things are really busy and exciting right now, I do need to say a huge thank you to Amy Atlas for the wonderful blog features last week! No doubt some of you reading my blog have found us because of seeing my dessert feature on Amy's blog. So, welcome to my blog!... feel free to visit us on our facebook page... as well as my other FB page for my jewelry, accessories & paperie.

Last weekend we attended a family wedding in Park City, UT and {don't get me wrong} I love being a part of the behind the scenes of weddings, but it was such a treat to be a guest last weekend! Looking forward to being a guest again at a friend's wedding this weekend at the Four Season in Santa Barbara... as guests we're totally getting spoiled! =)

Be back soon with some fun things to share!

*blair

{real wedding sneak peek} marci + josh 6.26.10

2010-06-30T15:31:00.000-07:00

Ok folks, this past weekend I had the honor of designing and coordinating this wedding for a couple who is very special to me... here are the newlyweds

Josh + Marci

I can't even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed planning their big day with them... they are so mellow, easy going, and fun; which made them a dream to work with! Josh + Marci are college sweethearts who were looking for a very Anthropology and eclectically inspired day... I'm happy to say we succeeded in that! They were married at Rancho Capistrano in San Juan Capistrano on a gorgeous day here in So Cal, and we were blessed with such beautiful weather!

{none of the june gloom we've been having here recently}

Anyhow, while we're waiting on the no doubt amazing photos from their photographer Hugh Forte, here are some sneak peek shots captured from their day. I hope you enjoy these glimpses of their wedding!

gorgeously eclectic bridesmaid bouquets

{dusty miller. cabbage, wild peonies, painted scabiosa, hydrangea, and many other wonderful blooms}

Marci's monique lhuillier dress was gorgeous and so was her bouquet filled with ruffled tulips, dusty miller, freesia, garden roses, peonies {just to name a few} =)

and LOOK at these phenomenal shoes!!!

I melt just looking at them...

the centerpieces incorporated 5-6 different containers filled with all sorts of florals, and the centerpieces sat on piece of burlap to anchor them - all the tablescapes really were a feast for the eyes.

We used three varying sized vintage frames, which we attached chicken wire to and painted white,

then clipped on the vintage shipping tag escort cards with painted mini clothes-pins.

This is one of their 3 cakes, Jay's catering did such a wonderful job implementing the style we were going for.. we gave them burlap to cover the cake bases so that it would coordinate with the burlap on the tables and to echo the brown tones from the wedding invite envelopes {which were made from kraft paper}. Also, the crocheted ribbon was a used to secure all the pieces of the invite suite, so we used it again to help add some interest to the satin ribbon wrapped around the base of each cake tier!

Don't you just love that sugar flower peony?!?

Here's a little look at some of the mini desserts that were served in addition to the cakes!

Jay's really outdid themselves with the color coordinated lollicakes, petit-four-esq cheescake bites, and chocolate covered cream puffs! Trust me, they tasted just as yummy as they look - yep,

I had to sample of course!

And here's a glimpse of the sweetheart table - we used the "M and J" initial mugs as containers for their table... We also plopped these amazing dinner plate dahlias around to help give texture and color to the table... I also added this pedestal & cloche to give them their own little dessert display, that way they could have their sweets without having to leave their table!

Well, that's all for now, but I hope you enjoyed this glimpse of the wedding... I still can't believe how wonderfully well all the details pulled together for such a truly beautiful day!

Big thanks go out to the following wonderful vendors I was so blessed to work with that day!

Catering & desserts: Jay's Catering

Photos courtesy of Mary Lallande

Paper goods, jewelry & bridal accessories: Joie de Vie

Floral Design: Jayne Hallaian of Bits of Whimsy

DJ: Tony Boldi of Goodtimes Entertainment

Cinematography: Aqua Vivus Productions

Professional Photography: Hugh Forte

{sneak peak} 6.26.10 - Rancho Capistrano

2010-06-27T09:17:00.000-07:00

Ah... I'm still so overjoyed with the way yesterday's wedding turned out, and how we made the bride & groom's vision come to life, but for now I'll leave you with yesterday's {love story} created by the amazing Tom of Aqua Vivus... I think this sets up and introduces yesterday's couple so perfectly...enjoy, I know I did and so did the rest of last night's guest! I'd like you to meet this wonderful couple... Josh + Marci

Josh + Marci Love Story//Same Day Premiere from AQUA VIVUS on Vimeo.

"oh boy" baby shower - 3.10.10

2010-04-15T00:04:00.000-07:00

So this past Saturday was the "oh boy" themed baby shower for Wendy who is a very special friend of mine... she also happens to be the first to become a mommy of all of my close friends! You can view the invitations and the inspiration used to help plan and design this event in this previous post.

We had been experiencing some great weather prior to the weekend we had scheduled the "oh boy" shower... But became a little nervous with the looming, gloomy weather forecasts for the weekend.

However, we were truly blessed with perfect weather for our event!

We hung light and airy lantern and tissue pomander decor from the patio covering
for additional bursts of the blue color scheme.

Here's the mommy-to-be modeling the "oh boy" drink flags

and coordinating mason jars for shower beverages.

I also created this banner using complimentary cardstock and my handy cricut machine.

We displayed the banner near the area where Wendy opened the gifts

she had been showered with.

Another view of some of the decor details - you might notice the various children's books displayed... we surprised Wendy by asking all of the guests to bring a favorite book to help stock their nursery for future story time. For an extra special touch, we asked the guests to write a special note in their book that Wendy & her hubby can read to their son in the future! {sigh} =)

Here are the florals we put together for the event - they sat on a gingham fabric square with a pinking edge. I had originally planned to have 3 components - but after finding these daisies with

blue centers{of all things} I scrapped my idea to fill the galvanized buckets with white carnations and decided to use these cute daisies, paired with some vintage bottles filled with white ranunculus, bud vases with fresh picked sweet peas, and grouped with the ribbon tied hurricanes

topped with a button mum pomander.

We also incorporated some of the smaller books in each table grouping.

Here's another view of the tables, I just love those little daisies! You probably will also notice there are silverware rolls at each place setting, we wrapped those with a striped band

{which actually happened to be the striped pattern from the shower invitations!}

Lots of love... and LOTS of gifts!

Grandma-to-be saying hi!

Two of the three games are shown below:

At one point we passed around a ball of yarn and asked each guest to guess/cut a piece that they tought equaled the circumference of Wendy's tummy! Below: Wendy with the winner and one of the other soon-to-be mommies using her tummy to help!

We also purchased a variety of baby items and played "the price is right." We gave out game sheets and asked everyone to guess

the prices and the closest without going over the real price won.

We also created these coordinating pennant banners which hung at the dessert table and near the gifts. We also chose a burlap fabric as the backdrop to help ensure the banner colors would stand out.

Wendy's a big fan of sweets, so we made sure there was an ample amount of goodies!

We served brownies, Chicago carmel corn {her mom brought those as a treat as her parents currently live there}, red velvet mini cupcakes, lemon bars, coconut blueberry cheesecake bars, wite chocolate dipped pretzels, animal cookies, and the desserts wouldn't have been complete without.....

the "oh boy" cookies from Ethel O's... Loved them!

Gift time! This will be the baby's USC exit outfit from UCLA Med Center, where she will be

having the baby. Being a fellow Trojan, I just think that's hilarious =)

Opening her Harvey's Seatbelt Diaper Bag

Testing out her new rocking chair which had been re-upholstered in her nursery

colors and given to her by her sis-in-law & mom-in-law, so sweet!

I have to say a big THANK YOU to my friends, fellow hostesses, and soon to be aunties...
Thank you gals for your help assembling and setting up this shower for our friend, thank you
so much for helping to make this event a reality - we make such a great team! Love you girls =)

Also, thanks go out to Shayna of Huff Photography for the photos, thanks for capturing the event lady!

{sneak peek} oh boy baby shower - 3.10.10

2010-04-12T00:52:00.000-07:00

Just got my first peek at the photos from this weekend's shower - I'll give you a taste by showing one of my favorite details from the party... now let's be honest, I loved lots of the details from the day, especially the desserts....

But these cookies... were just oh-so-cute! Thanks go out to Ethel O's for the adorable treats!

Not only were they cute and went with the party's theme of "oh boy," but they tasted great too! I'll be posting more info for Ethel O's cookies in my full post about the party.

happy easter!

2010-04-04T01:36:00.000-07:00

Nothing says Easter like fabulous spring colors.... and take a look at these!

Isn't that dessert table awesome? I just love the patterned backdrop, to me it says "move over spring, HELLO summer!" Wondering where I found it? Well a wonderful mommy named Kim {she's not just a mommy, she's the force behind TomKat Studios} created this for a recent birthday party she threw for her little girl's third. I just couldn't help but share even though I'm patiently waiting for more details from her party. =) While we wait, if you'd like to see the slideshow the photog put together - check it out here.
And more about the party, check out her blog.

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you get to spend the day with those you love =)

boy baby shower inspiration

2010-03-13T00:23:00.000-08:00

We're planning a baby shower for a soon-to-be mommy, Wendy, and her baby that's due May 30th!

the inspiration for this shower is being drawn from the

Pottery Barn Kids kiddie quilt she is registered for:

here are the invitations we {my other biz: Joie de Vie Paperie} designed for the event

Since we really dig the contrast of the blue stripes on the kraft paper, I think we might like to contine that look at the baby shower - here are some ideas that we love!

{do something similar with kraft paper letters & more blue tone ribbons and accents}

planning on creating a paper banner, maybe incorporating stripes like the one in the photo above

and using the shower invite slogan "oh boy"

Also, since the home where the shower is being hosted has a gorgeous pool,

this could be a cute way to decorate the pool

{help me out if you know where this photo came from, i forgot to save the link, oops}

I found these galvanized trays at Target last year for $1 a piece, and I think this would be a great way to help decorate the tables at this shower, especially using hydrangea or carnations like these.

While the photo below isn't in the right color scheme,

we are planning to have a dessert bar, and finger food station... since the shower will be at 2pm,

we aren't planning to have a full lunch, just a spread of munchies.

{source}

We're planning to have a wide assortment of things for the goodie bar... but these are an absolute must!

{just in one of our blues... and will also read "oh boy"}

However, we haven't decided if these cookies will be part of the dessert bar, or maybe sit at each guests' seat looking like this... hmmm?

If we do place them at each seat, then we will probably package them in a cute way like these cookies!

I can't wait till the shower, to see all these ideas pull together, it's so great seeing a vision come to life!

So, until then, I'll leave you with the inspiration board I put together

of just some of my favorite ideas for the party!

sources top left to right

{invite & envelopes: jdv paperie, sweet stylings, pottery barn kids quilt,

hoola hoops & flowers not sure?, amy atlas treat table, 24 carrots, coffee filter garland not sure?, pinwheel cookies & packaging}

*blair

{featured} by Style Unveiled

2010-03-04T11:49:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to say thank you to the fabulous ladies behind Style Unveiled for featuring mine & Justus' wedding {the event that inspired me to create Blair Britt Events}. They put together a gorgeous spread of photos from that day... made me really wanna relive our wedding day all over again! =)

I just love the above photo {of our ceremony arch}, the way they cropped it looks so cool!

Thanks Heather & Kim for all the great things you contribute to the wedding world, and I know I've said it before, but keep doin' what you gals obviously do best!

sweetheart dinner party p.3

2010-02-28T21:14:00.000-08:00

Ok, as promised here are the prom style photos of the couples we had with us that night - our little dessert spread came in handy as our impromptu photo backdrop!

Now, on to the DIY projects - below is the dessert station backdrop again, I'm sure you're sick of seeing it, but I wanted to share how to do this on your own!

* tissue paper pom poms: i followed the Martha Stewart tutorial of course

*paper lanterns w/ hearts: I just used lanterns from Ikea, and then used my cricut die cutting machine to cut out various colors & size hearts, then used adhesive to stick them onto the lanterns.

all of these items were floating above the table thanks to some specifically placed hooks we screwed into our ceiling and hung clear fishing line to suspend the decor from.

forgive my lousy photo, I took this one w/ my camera

*sweet treats banner: yet another project that was created by using the cricut machine - I picked out teal paper w/ white details and white paper w/ teal details to create the hearts, then cricut cut out the coral letters, adhesived them together, did a little hole punching, sparkly gold ribbon stringing, and then voila they were hung on the wall.

{I do offer these banners in my etsy shop & would love to create a custom one for your next event!}

*a little note: i hadn't planned on having a teal fabric hanging behind the table, but the day before I really wasn't feeling like the look pulled together well - so I was at the mercy of Jo Ann's & while I would've preferred a pale pink to hang behind the table {allowing the banner to pop} it still looked cute and help unite the decorations.

The next DIY was this pleated doily swag which replaced our

Christmas card swag for this holiday occasion....

Remember from my first post about this party, that I had been inspired by the cute doily swag from

One Charming Party's valentines party? Well, I tried and tried to recreate that swag, and I couldn't because it turns out it was a Martha Stewart kit offered at Michael's... so I played around with it and figured out if I halved four doilies, did some paper airplane-like folding and then adhesived them all together I could create a complete fan folded doily... I was so proud of myself, haha!

I know I've already shown you the bottles, but I wanted you to know how easy it is to create stickers like this at home... I just made all of these on the computer, printed them, cut them out, then I ran 'em through my handy xyron machine... what's that you ask, well it's a fabulous tool in the crafting/scrapbooking world - check it out here. Basically it can create magnets, laminate things, and create stickers; which is what I did in this case just turned these little print outs into stickers I then stuck on the jars as labels!

again, you can find great jars like this at local flea markets or antique shops - i think I paid a buck per 3 bottles {great deal}!

Below are those bottle again along with one of my little floral "quasi-arrangements"... but what I'm showing you this photo for is the glass that flowers are sitting in... they look an awful lot like these cups from anthropology, but they're actually from Cost Plus {one of my other fav shops}. At $2.99 they're a deal compared with the $6 you'd cough up at Anthro - while that may not sound like a huge difference, to me it's all about getting the most for my money!

While I'm show you those cups & the flowers, here's another photo of all the pretty colors, again, forgive me, these photos aren't as great because they were shot on my camera

- oh ranunculus, you make me smile!

But people, you don't have to go out and spend a ton of money on flowers - go to a local wholesaler {if available} or Trader Joe's usually has some great bunches and just cut them yourself at home and just put them in a cute cup and you're good to go!

We also scattered occasional blooms for subtle bursts of color around the house in these great little bud vases I found while at Target one day... I wanna say they were like $2.99 for a 4 pack - I'm always looking for fun new decor goodies.

My last DIY project that came in handy for the party were the cake stands you see here with the cupcakes, haystacks, & lemon blossoms on them!

I found these great plates at my local Home Goods and the candlesticks - just use your imagination and you'll find some great ones! Here's where my inspiration came from to create them... Truthfully I hadn't made these for the party, I made them to sell, and then after making them I couldn't bear to part with two of each of them because I thought they'd be great for our Valentines get together. And they totally did!

Here's a view of them sans desserts {sorry for the doily in the foreground} oops!

Well, that brings my party recap to a close... I hope you enjoyed the photos, and my rambling, and are inspired to take on hosting a fun event for your friends & family - I promise you it's a LOT of work, but very rewarding!

*Blair

sweetheart dinner party p.2

2010-02-25T00:15:00.000-08:00

Ok I have to say a BIG HUGE thank you to my friend Shayna of Huff Photography for bringing her super fun, nice camera to take some great photos of the party... otherwise I might not have even posted them!

Withought further ado here are the rest of the party pics...

Above was the focal piece of our little shindig - we hung red & coral-y pink tissue pomanders mixed with paper lanterns covered w/ paper hearts

{the hearts I cut using my handy dandy cricut machine, love that thing}

they all hung in front of a cute light aqua patterned panel of fabric.

Me mixing up a glaze before our dinner for our lemon blossoms,

one of the many desserts on the dessert menu!

We wrapped some aqua grograin ribbon around some pint sized mason jars for our fruity water {pictured} and our pink lemonade... I also brought another insect out of the craft room for the heart drink flags - the cuttlebug is an embossing machine which I used to give the pinky hearts flags a swiss dot texture {cute raised bumps}... of course keeping in mind the color scheme!

Here's one of my not-so-pro photos of the beverage area...

I promise we did actually eat a meal, not just drink colorful beverages and eat sweet treats... everyone helped by bringing apps, rice, salad etc... the main course is hiding inside the chafing dishes.

I highly highly recommend these chaffing dishes

{they're from Costco and usually show up in the store around Christmas time}

but they are so handy at all our our family functions and they're not half bad to look at too!

We set a long table down the length of our dining/living area

{apartment living isn't the MOST ideal for entertaining, but hey, we made it work... sort of}

I found this awesome sparkly aqua ribbon which I used to roll all the silverware up in, placing them at each spot - along with a box of sweethearts and a vintage bottles which had each guests' name & acted as place card which held a flower to help add a little color on the table.

Side Note: the day of the party I went to my then trusty florist to pick up my ranunculus, peonies, and other flowers I had pre-ordered to find that not all of them had come in and the ones that had were hardly open... so we improvised and picked out all the open white ranunculus and snatched these red & very fun coral carnations {which are one of my least favorite flowers usually} but looking back the colors were wonderful and I am now singing a different tune about carnations... btw, some of them are still thriving 2 weeks later with a trim and fresh water every few days!

Back to the details: here's a close up of the place card labels I created for each of the bottles, we had a great mix of bottles {which we found at a local flea market} they were old listerene, baby food jars, and apothecary jars {shown below too}

After dinner it was time to head to the bowling alley, so the plan was for everyone to pack a goodie bag of whatever dessert items they wanted to take with them. Below is a view of the spread - mini snickerdoodle cupcakes, mini red velvet cupcakes, white chocolate dipped pretzel sticks,

m & m's, paula dean's lemon blossoms {to die for}, and of course brownie bites!

Above you'll notice the goodie bags - which had a matching label to the evite graphic, the place card labels and read "sweet treats" which is also what the heart shaped banner above the dessert table read. Also the hearts on those bags were embossed like the drink flags were with my handy dandy cuttlebug... these bags were pretty helpful since we were all stuffed after dinner and not ready to enjoy the treats yet!

Here's the mommy-to-be showing off the goodie bags!

Her little tummy makes me smile every time =)

ok folks, I've gotta call it a night, but next up I'll show you my DIY crafts and our impromptu prom posed couples photos from that night!

sweetheart dinner party p.1

2010-02-19T10:20:00.000-08:00

J and I hosted a valentine's shindig over last weekend, and since I have so many photos from it I'll begin with the inspiration...

Since most of our friends are married couples we decided to host a valentines party - but not your average one, we wanted it to be fun and not devoted to the "typical" valentines where you HAVE to get a reservation at some uber fancy restaurant and spend a ton of money just for one night... instead we thought we'd host a casual dinner and then head out to go bowling as a group {what's better than a little healthy guys vs. girls competition?} Events that create memories for us to cherish are far more important to J and I than going out to a fancy dinner, so that's why we came up with this event for our close friends, I guess you could think of it as our Valentine to our friends.

A few weeks ago, when I really started planning the details I stumbled upon this photo from the

Tom Kat Studio blog and I just loved the hearts on the lanterns in the photo... that was mental note #1.

Next I was on the One Charming Party blog and spotted these cute photos from her past valentines event - loved the doily swag... mental note #2.

Then when creating our evite I thought, why not throw together two color combos I've always loved - aqua & red and aqua & pinky-coral... so I put together this little pdf to help theme the evite and our night.

And that folks is how this happened....

To be continued...

Happy valentines day...

2010-02-14T02:53:00.000-08:00

Here's some pretty for you to enjoy today...

Don't you just L.O.V.E. Jeff Leatham's work?

{meet} Josh & Marci

2010-01-07T11:38:00.000-08:00

One of my 2010 brides just shared some of their awesome e-pics with me! Not only are they a cute couple but their fantastic photographer {Hugh Forte} captured some beautiful shots, even considering the gloomy weather we had been having in So Cal last month.

We're working to create an Anthro-styled wedding with touches of their Japanese and Mexican heritage throughout their day... I'm really excited to see the whole day pulled together, it's going to be fabulous!

Thanks for the honor of working with you both to create your special day! I can't believe you two are only about 6 months from becoming Mr. & Mrs. =)

here are a few more of my favs of Hugh Forte's shots from that day:

{vendor spotlight} aqua vivus productions

2010-01-05T19:19:00.000-08:00

I found out about this videography vendor a few months back from one of the couples I'm working with... and I'm really hoping we get the opportunity to work with this talent at a future wedding.

Aqua Vivus does this neat thing called a "love story" - think of it as a e-vid kinda the way e-pics are to your wedding photos! Think about it, if you get to know your potential wedding photographer by having them take your engagement pics, why wouldn't you wanna do a trial run with your videographer to test out their personality, shooting, and editing styles?

Check out this love story they have featured on their site and blog:

Heidi + Brian Love Story from Thomas O'Hara on Vimeo.

I especially love it because I was a Hume Lake camper from Jr. High all the way through High School... I find their love story to be absolutely adorable & a great alternative to the standard wedding slideshow!

Aqua Vivus team, keep doin' what you obviously do best!

{sneak peak} 9.19.09 - Saddlerock Ranch

2009-11-24T01:29:00.000-08:00

Nope... I haven't forgotten about this blog, I've just been awaiting the arival of photos from the September wedding we did in Malibu... While I'm trying to decide which photos to share I'll leave you with these which are some of my stand-out favs... thanks to Brent & Mel's fabulous photog Lawrence Lau {of Havard Photography} for sharing!

love, love, loved the parisols!

isn't the sky just amazing in this ceremony shot? btw, that tree played a very important role in inspiring many of the personalized details of the day.

reception under all the lit oak trees

Loved being able to tie in the vineyard style by using wine bottles

to display the custom menus & table numbers!

and lastly, when I saw this photo it gave me goosebumps!

just beautiful....

More to come soon.... =)

*blair