A New Blog

Hello! I have recently started a new blog for my little design studio, It's A Date, where I will post our design projects, inspirations, and photography. The blog will be concentrating on event design, predominantly, as well as creative projects I'm involved with. If you'd like, please feel free to check out http://www.itsadatedesign.com/blog - I'm currently updating it with everything I've been working on over the past few months now that we're winding down for Christmas. I hope you will enjoy stopping by!

Pink

I'm working on several very pink projects at the moment, lots of weddings and 21sts are using pink as their main decorative colour. I thought this was a rather fitting inspiration post for a Friday. Image via Mika78.

Meet Me On The Equinox

I must admit to having not read the "Twilight" books, or seen the films. I'm slacking off a bit on the blockbuster magic/fantasy quota having still not seen the last Harry Potter film.

However, the new Twilight movie, "New Moon", features a rather astounding soundtrack with some great artists penning original songs for the film: Thom Yorke, Bon Iver & St. Vincent, OK GO, Grizzly Bear, and Editors, to name a few.

The first single is from one of my absolute favourite bands in the world, Death Cab for Cutie, who have created a beautiful, haunting song by the name of "Meet Me on the Equinox". The video for this song has just launched for all those lucky enough to be in a country which will allow you to view it! This song is on very high rotation today.

EDIT: Yay!

One Year Today

I love you more than I have ever found a way to say to you...



I truly am the luckiest. Happy Anniversary James.

Antique Brooch Bouquets

Amanda Heer of  Fantasy Floral Designs is the artist behind these amazing bouquets made of antique brooches. Each is a work of art and whimsy. Link via Wedding Chicks.

A Mini Celebration

This is so adorable I think I'm going to have to try it someday - even if the only 'co-worker' I have near by is my husband in his studio on the other side of our home! Link via How About Orange.

Making Roses out of Maple Leaves

I bookmarked this project a little while ago with plans to try it out, and thought you may like to too! I just love how the completed roses look and badly want to try it out with a material such as leaves or maybe some kind of thick card stock. Link via iDIY blog.

Mélangerie's Wedding Genealogy Charts

The most amazing Wedding Genealogy chart designs can be found at very talented Mélangerie's Etsy store. I encourage you to take a look, they are so detailed and beautifully designed, and would make great conversation starters at a reception.

Image by Mélangerie.

Such a Simple, Perfect Idea

... when I saw this image of a lovely group of bridesmaids, I thought, why don't more people do this?? Skirts and cute shirts = such an amazing, simple idea and one that I'm sure would mean great comfort (and style) for the ladies. One for the inspiration folder, that's for sure! Photo via With This Ring by talented Rebekah Westover.

Dream Venue

Taking a break from my hiatus (?) (a break from a break?) to mention this gorgeous venue I saw on Elisabeth Anne Designs blog. I'd be such a happy camper if those coloured panels lined my walls everyday.

HomeMADE: Final Post

I feel dreadful I left updating this poor little blog so long: I was going so well whilst HomeMADE was on, it's left a rather large hole in my viewing schedule! To wrap that particular issue up (in case anyone was sitting on the edge of their seat to find out what I thought?!) I am very happy Jason won. He consistently created beautiful rooms throughout the whole HomeMADE competition. If I were a betting woman, I would have probably put my money on Richie, but I think, in reflection, Jason was a more consistent candidate and was just such a gentleman throughout. The room Chontelle and Richie put together in week seven was just fabulous - all black and white French chic, and I loved it.







If you are looking around for some interior decorating inspiration, flicking through the picture galleries on the HomeMADE website is a great way to get some ideas for simple design concepts and how to really pull together a room with accessories and styling. I know I walked away from watching the entire series with lots of ideas for decorating our own home and I honestly learned quite a lot about the decorating process in general. I tuned in to this series with great interest as generally, I don't watch a lot of television and I was excited to see something relating to serious interior design made by an Australian network. I hope this is the first of a few more shows like it.

The big news, in a non-television front, is that two exciting things have happened to my little business over the past month and I will be elaborating on these over the next few days, but thought my blog in desperate need for an update!

More regular blogging from now on, it's a promise!

HomeMADE Week 5

Week 5 eh? Yikes! I think everyone saw it coming this week re: elimination episode. Oh well. On with the rooms highlights (there's only a few this week)!



Jason put together a GORGEOUS bathroom (which actually involved a bathroom/study room swap, which was ambitious but worked out to be a great idea). I love the dark walls, the clean white details, the gold mirror above the sink. It was really really lovely.



Leonie's kitchen was amazing - a risk that really paid off - it was this dark dark charcoal/black on one side, paired with lots of clean white and grey. The chalkboard was such cute idea. Leonie's style is distinctive, very modern, even artistic with a few feminine touches - and more often than not, it works SO well.



Richie's guest bedroom was funky - I liked the over-saturated cream/champagne and blue, I think it worked against the white of the furniture. The little nook near the window was lovely too.

2 designers against 3 next week and the show will now only be shown on Tuesdays (well, I THINK, after last time, well, I will tune in Sunday just in case!). I think poor Darren will cop it this week. Seems hard to come up against the cool kids of Chontelle, Leonie, Richie and Jason. Will be sad to see this show finish in a few weeks time!

Working out your Interior Design Style

At Sproost.com, you can find a Furniture and Interior Design Style Quiz, which I actually did a few months back and found to be pretty spot-on in terms of a style that I knew I tended toward, but had no idea what it was called! The quiz takes you through a series of photos, of which you rate, either that you love, like, feel neutral about, dislike or hate, and narrows down your taste accordingly.

I just did the quiz again, for fun, and this was my result: My style is a combination of French Eclectic, Classic and Modern Elegance.



French Eclectic: "Parlez-vous français? Even if the answer is no, you can confidently say your home does! French Eclectic somehow manages to be both formal and casual, classy and unassuming at the same time. You like your spaces to feel inviting from the moment you (or your guest) opens the front door and this feeling should continue even after you've entered your most formal room. Even though there are French antiques here and gold details there, the rustic country elements provide a balance and warmth that seems to say, "come in, relax and stay a while." Your love of antiques leads you to flea markets, garage sales and hours of eBay hunting."
(Source of image above: Sproost.com and http://www.sunset.com/)



Classic: "What's old is new again! The beauty of Classic style is how well it takes all of the beautiful forms, colors and textures of the past and reinvents them in a way that feels both fresh and inspired. The style itself is a mix of European influences and French, English and Italian antiques and replicas are often used together. Furniture is well proportioned and comfortable and the rooms give off an air of sophistication and grace. Oil paintings depicting still-life or nature scenes and emphasizing symmetry of pairs helps maintain the traditional nature of the room. Windows are often covered with opulent fabric shades and/or drapery.
Traditional rooms give off an air of history that seems to say "I was here long before you, and will remain long after you've gone." And yet, even with this level of sophistication, the rooms are soft and inviting."
(Source of image above: Sproost.com and http://www.traditionalhome.com/)



Modern Elegance: "Variety is the spice of life! And nowhere is this truer than in the design of your home... You either love contemporary but wish it wasn't quite so cold and austere; or perhaps you've always been drawn to more traditional rooms but are now at a point in your life where you'd like to pair down a bit or want to create a less cluttered and busy space. Transitional Style is here to marry those apparent contradicting designs. And guess what — it's the contradictions that make the mix of contemporary and traditional so successful. The result is an elegant room that appeals to young and old alike. A sofa with modern lines blends seamlessly with a pair of traditional chairs. New fabrics work so well on antique pieces. It turns out that modern art looks even more exciting above a collection of traditional pieces. The room feels simple and sophisticated, elegant and hip."
(Source of image above: Sproost.com)

Try this quiz and see what your style is, it may guide you through future design endeavors!

PS. Feeling a little disgruntled about the way HomeMADE has been advertised on television over the past week. Promos had seemed to have said that the show would only be "now on Tuesday nights" from last week onwards, so when I happened upon the show last night (Sunday night) by chance, I had missed ten minutes! I wonder if anyone else did the same thing?

Updates to Flickr and It's A Date Event Design websites

Just wanted to also note that I've updated the It's A Date website, did a little bit of house-keeping and moved some things around! I'm getting excited about the launch of this year's I Do I Do Creations Magazine, which will include a few of my designs - I have also been flat out with 21st invitation designs and some really beautiful wedding projects which will be uploaded after the respective events take place.



Also, I just uploaded a few photos that my talented husband took of our wedding invites up on my Flickr photostream. More about the process of designing these can be found here.

HomeMADE Week 4

It's that time of the week again - how quickly it rolls around - I happened to miss HomeMADE when it screened Tuesday night as I was out of town at a client meeting, but made up for it on the BigPond site the next day. To be honest, I wasn't a huge fan of much of the work this week - not sure why that was, I just couldn't imagine it in my own space, but I think it worked well in the identical homes. Here's a handful of highlights:



I really liked Darren's remake of a study space - the Audrey panels and the lush rug.



Matt's bedroom makeover for little Sophie was a great one: very bright, fun, lots of attention to the little details. The surfboard above the bed looked really cute too. I'm sure she'll love her new room. I was sad to see him go this week, he seemed to be an earnest and hardworking designer who perhaps just got a bit of a case of the nerves.



Chontelle's bedroom makeover was another highlight: very soft, romantic and restful. Candles above bed were really lovely. Chontelle is very consistent in her rooms and always does a great job, she's leading the pack in terms of delivering beautiful rooms every week.



Jason's kitchen was immaculate, another leader. I'm starting to think that he's a bit of a dark horse to win - most seem to discredit him based on the fact he's been designing for 10 months but he's proved he should be in the competition over and over and over...



It's no secret I'd like Richie to win - he's lovely and a great designer - and I think I am including his bathroom as I like him as a designer, even if I don't absolutely love his room this week. A touch of green always looks lovely with that colour scheme. I actually just read on the HomeMADE website that Richie is an interior decorator with a degree in graphic design AND a landscape artist! Pretty impressive.

I guess it's getting down to the business end - three designers each team - it seems apparent that Annie will get voted out of the competition at some point soon as no one wants to work with her, but I believe they'll probably keep her in for entertainment value!