LMS

A New Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsay) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 07:37:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsay) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:34:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsay) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:19:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsay) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 12:21:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsay) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:07:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsay) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:39:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsay) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:52:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsay) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:11:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsay) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:34:00 +0000

... 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

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsay) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 06:27:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsay) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 03:26:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsay) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 08:33:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsay) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 01:30:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsay) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:08:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsay) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 09:39:00 +0000

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!

HomeMADE Week 3

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsay) — Tue, 26 May 2009 12:46:00 +0000

I keep hearing mixed reviews of how the Australian viewers are enjoying "HomeMADE", I hope it doesn't get canceled due to poor viewing statistics! Another week, another episode, here are my highlights:

Jason's becoming quite a dark horse, another beautiful bedroom makeover pictured above, I think if it were me I could have gone crazy in that room with greenery, palms, etc. I love what he did with the picture frames (painting gold frames white to match the room) and also the cushions were a great choice that really paid off. He also did a wonderful job in his living area, by placing two blue-striped wicker chairs which just popped - I agreed with the judges, they were a great choice.

Here you can see Jason's living area and part of Richie's dining area. I wasn't a huge fan of Richie's room this week (which feels bad considering I love all of his work so far) but I think turning a little room into a scullery was a great idea!

Chontelle's crisp bathroom makeover - such an improvement on the small lavender bathroom originally! Chontelle used really large glossy tiles which she said gave the illusion of making the space bigger - which was a good tip.

Annie re-designed the kitchen, which made the space very big and stylish. I think a kitchen island in the middle would have finished it off and made the space more practical, but she did a great job. Also, the wall colour was more of a rich brown on screen, which I adored against the clean white.

Leonie's 'white on white' bedroom makeover was another highlight. She re-arranged the bed on David's suggestion and it vastly improved the room.

It was a shame to see Stacey go - although I wasn't crazy about either of her rooms this week, I think she acted with a lot of dignity and professionalism during the show. She seemed to speak from experience a lot of the time, and really focused on working as part of a team, rather than an individual designer. She also wore really cute dresses to each of the elimination shows! I'm sure she'll go on to great things.

Looking forward to the next episode, as always. This is becoming such an interesting show to watch in that I'm learning a lot about interior decorating. It would be lovely to have a $50,000 budget to work with, but even the little tips in re-using what they've already got are appreciated.

Wishing Trees

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsay) — Mon, 25 May 2009 05:18:00 +0000

I'm looking into making one of these for a client, and I am completely inspired by some of the beautiful ones on the Internet:

Images above from Here Comes The Guide

Image above from Cristalier.

This is an 'escort card tree' I found on the amazing Michelle Rago's blog: "It was a tree-like structure created from hundreds of stems of white cherry blossom branches sitting on a base of hybrid white delphinium, hydrangea, and white macarena roses. The actual cards were cut from decoupaged skeleton leaves and loosely strung on ribbon so the guests could easily pull them off as they found their name."

Images above from Michelle Rago, Ltd.

HomeMADE Week 2

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsay) — Wed, 20 May 2009 04:21:00 +0000

As you may have guessed, I'm really loving HomeMADE, which is currently airing on Australian television, both shows have become regular viewing. Here are some highlights from last night's show that I really liked and will use as inspiration into my own home:

Chontelle's dark kitchen and Annie's choice of wallpaper - just gorgeous and worked really well side by side! I can't say I'm a huge fan of either, but I think they made great choices for their rooms this week. For those interested, the wallpaper is ‘Lace’ by Catherine Martin, from Porter's Paint.

I really liked Leonie's bathroom renovation - it looks bright and airy thanks to putting in a skylight (a great idea for any dark spots). Leonie is a favorite of mine as she seems to keep her head well during the stressful moments of the show.

Jason's canvas artwork above the bed - such a simple idea but really well executed and the red looks great amongst the grey, white and champagne. I love the palette of this room!

Richie's room made my heart sing for that amazing wallpaper (something that I'm sure many viewers also hated!) and also the wall of photos of the homeowner's homeland of Ireland - such a lovely touch! Richie is proving to be a favourite of mine for his amazing style and that lovely Queensland drawl of his!

It should be interesting to watch the show as it progresses, I think there is going to be a lot more competition, less 'We all get on great!' behind the scenes!

First Dance

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsay) — Mon, 18 May 2009 09:07:00 +0000

I must admit, at our wedding, James' and my 'first dance' was entirely unplanned. We're not dancers by a long shot, and whilst a lot of thought went into the song that we'd play (for those interested, it was this one)*, we had given very little thought to HOW to dance. We ended up swaying about trying to remember what we knew about slow dancing, fun, but a little awkward! Still, I wouldn't change it for the world!

But, should the thought have occurred to us, along with some coordination on my part, I would love to have rehearsed and performed a quirky reception dance. Here are a few of my favourites that I've seen on YouTube recently:

Song: "The Way I Are" by Timbaland:

Song: "Thriller" by Michael Jackson

Song: "California Love" by Tupac

Song: "Better Together" by Jack Johnson/"The Way You Make Me Feel" by Michael Jackson

And my all-time favourite:

Very fun and a great way to relax after the thrill of getting married.

* My husband and I had our first date at a Josh Pyke concert in 2007, and not long after we were married, Josh recorded a live version of "Under the Milky Way Tonight". If he had been a few weeks earlier, this would have been the perfect wedding song for us.

HomeMADE

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsay) — Sun, 10 May 2009 14:34:00 +0000

The first episode of HomeMADE, a new series about a weekly suburban home makeover challenge for 10 aspiring interior designers, was on tonight and I loved it. There was lots of cute, trendy designers, stress at not meeting deadlines (a lot of "We're running out of time" type lines were said, which is fair enough under such tight deadlines:2 days for bedrooms, 3 for kitchens, lounges, bathrooms...), unusual room makeovers and the crucial tell-it-like-it-is designer host, David Heimann, who did a great job of convincing me that any home can be made over with a limited budget. His best line, and I paraphrase, was something along the lines of, "A good designer can get the effect of silk on a canvas budget" and even though our current home decorating budget is more akin to sandwich bags rather than canvas, I still found the show inspiring.

I wish I had thought to apply!

For a sneak peak at the rooms these guys made over, you can check out the current issue of Real Living magazine.

Updates to It's A Date Event Design Website

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsay) — Mon, 04 May 2009 03:21:00 +0000

Just added two new projects to the It's A Date Event Design website - Taina & Tamara's gorgeous purple Winery themed wedding invitations, and the first of four stationery suites I designed for the Bridal Expo - Laura and Jacob's red/purple/cream wedding invitations. Enjoy!

Paper Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsay) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:29:00 +0000

Such beautiful works, which make me want to get out the craft paper and scalpel:

Amazing Wedding Paper Flowers (can be used as Cupcake Toppers) by Millalove.

Cardstock and glue on paper, an inspiration of Jeff Rudell, created by Tara Donovan.

Time, Or Lack Thereof

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsay) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 12:35:00 +0000

Time has gone very quickly since my last post - so much so that I feel like I've come up short several days, I have no idea where they could have gotten to because surely it couldn't be April already? We had daylight savings to blame for some confusion - but it also was a lovely reminder that James and I have now been married six months - we became husband and wife the night the clocks switched forward last October. We celebrated the milestone with red wine (both the regular kind and in my case, delicious sparkling), a grazing plate and Harry Potter (IV), cuddled up on the couch under a quilt, enjoying the first cool evening of the season.

Time has been playing on my mind, because I always feel like I would like more of it. More time to create, mostly, but also more time to do nothing, like sleep (oh, how I could sleep for days if I got the chance) and time to sit and simply be quiet. I swap many things for time: money, getting paid projects finished, worry, travel, chores. I wish I had the time to achieve many different things to what I do, or maybe in addition to what I do? When I was asked as a kid what super power I'd like, I think I always wanted the ability to pause time, and I know through my years as a student, and now a small-business operator, I still find myself sometimes pondering how great things would be if I could just squeeze a little more out of each hour.

If I had more time I would hunt for second-hand furniture and refinish it with paint and fabric and sparkly handles and put more character into my home. I would learn to sew and knit like the talented line of women I have come from. I would go for walks with James and Oscar and kick at the autumn leaves that are going to start falling soon. I would spend some time looking for better quality shoes that wouldn't hurt my feet quite as much as the cheap ones I've been wearing for too long. I would read a book, a proper book, for the first time in over a year. I would put ideas I've had about creating DIY-projects on this blog into fruition, I would start designing for the sake of designing, I would remember my love of illustration and perhaps begin to draw again. I would bake a sponge cake like I've always wanted to, and enjoy eating whatever results would come from it. I would paint... something. I would learn to take photos with a DSLR. I would go and pick up my Kozyndan prints that have been waiting at the framing shop for almost four months (and whilst I was at it, finally get the glasses I am well overdue for). Somehow, I think that if I start to achieve these things, I will have worked out a way to slow down time enough to get the level of quality out of my days that I know is possible, if only I could make headway on the "everyday stuff" that manages to capture my attention just a little more successfully.

The Expo

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsay) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 23:04:00 +0000

It was, easily, the most fun, fulfilling day I've had since I started It's A Date Event Design a year ago.

The feedback we got was amazing, it was such an honor to be able to see so many people interact with these little products I had been creating, trimming, assembling at night for the last two months... And, also, I got to talk about weddings all day, which is probably, if I'm going to be honest, one of my absolute favorite topics and one I could have probably talked about for the rest of the night too. We made lots of new friends, both with visitors and other suppliers at the expo, which will prove invaluable, I'm sure, when we get the chance to recommend other services.

Renate, my partner-in-crime for the It's A Date Event Design stand, was unbelievable. She effortlessly charmed everyone that came into our stall, talked the talk like she had been doing it for years, and was the best support to me all day, as well as making me laugh laugh laugh! My family were also amazing: both with the set-up and pull-down. I know I was a ball of nerves the day before and they humored me, buckled down and just got the job done, and done beautifully. I'm very lucky to have such great people around me!

Here are some photos my husband took at the beginning of the day of our finished set-up stall. This first one is of our entire stand. We were stand number 4, which meant visitors will still pretty fresh when they got to us - after the next few rows of stands, I'm sure it was another story!

You can see the Wedding Arch I created in this image, I mentioned it a few posts ago. This is my second wedding arch, and my favorite so far, I just adored the colors we used.

Set One: Designed after a rather inspiring chat with Renate! This was one of two elaborate sets, and featured a Wish Tree! Colours were yellow, burnt orange, brown and white, with a bit of sage green thrown in for good measure!

Set Two: Colours were aqua, black, white and silver. I went for a lace motif with this set which I think worked well against all the black!

Set Three: My favourite set, the Sweetheart Table. Colours were Baby blue, Gold, Brown, Cream and everything had a travel theme, right down to the Passport invitations.

Set Four: Colours were Red, Purple, Slate Grey and Cream, and this set had a culinary theme!

You can find out more about these projects here.

All photos © James Sann Photography and It's A Date Event Design.

Rabbits and Sleepyheads

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsay) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 06:42:00 +0000

I had a little downtime today between projects, and got the chance to create these rabbits for a table display at a home wares store. The rabbits are about 250mm tall and are constructed out of card stock, cardboard and this awesome sticky-backed velour that I had purchased a few weeks ago without any particular project in mind. I printed a silhouette of a rabbit out and cut it to shape in the card stock and cardboard, and then wrapped the velour over the shape. I cut another copy out of the cardstock and stuck it to the back, just to neaten up where I had wrapped the velour around. A purple ribbon completed these cute little rabbits.

I also created some wrapped eggs out of purple tissue paper and thin black ribbon (which haven't been pictured as they were a very last minute project!) The rabbits and eggs will be paired with a black and white dinner set for an Easter-themed display and, I think, will look pretty cool with such a monochromatic scheme. When I delivered them, the manager mentioned that they were Cadbury colours, which I hadn't realised! I guess I was subconsciously thinking about chocolate all along!

In other news, I have not been able to stop listening to "Sleepyhead" by Passion Pit - quite the corker of a track! Its one those songs I'm sure will always bring back happy memories of sitting amid piles and piles of cut paper and glue tape, eating blue M&Ms* with the two loves of my life and feeling like I'm at the most productive and creative I've ever been. Bliss.

PS. I finally have gift certificates in my Etsy store! Yay!

* I have a blue tongue and blue teeth thanks to these little guys! Blue is the only colour I can't use for my display, so these are the only ones we can actually eat for the moment!