the party...

after months of planning and a saturday evening set up in the rain, sunday saw the community summer party executed in the glorious yorkshire sunshine.

after the last minute emails were exchanged earlier last week i was actually getting quite exciting about the weekend. but nervous. so nervous because actually was putting the new street- food court in a separate are of the park really good idea? will party goers find it? do people really just want burger and chips? but it gets to a certain point and you cant change your decisions you just have to run with them and hope for the best...

so first decision of sunday was what does one wear underneath a high- vis vest for a day? i opted for practical double denim with a splash of colour.

first job of the day. coffee. our local park has the cutest little cafe with a library  and serves the most delicious coffee and breakfast products. so after coffee i made my first realisation of the day. decorations.

i live for decorating stuff. i thrive on decorating projects of the home or any form of event. and id forgotten to make any decorations for my food area. the so- named food court was behind a hedge, away from the lake and the hustle and bustle of the main party area. so making it ideal for families to sit and relax but not so noticeable behind the flipping high hedge. so first note made for next year; make some form of pretty bunting/ banner for the high hedge...

i threw up the little bunting we had left round a tree and continued set up...

the party started at 1 but the crowds were building far sooner than that. the main area was buzzing with community stalls, charity stalls and all sorts of weird and wonderful activities to try. there was a climbing wall and blow up rugby game and the usual bouncy castle and spinning tea cups to keep the children entertained. a particular favourite of Seb's was the miniture railway.

i held off going back into the food area for a little while, nervous that it would be quiet as there were so many people everywhere else. but when i walked in it was fantastic. there were people milling around and queuing to try out the culinary delights. families has set up camp in the gardens on picnic rugs and were happily sampling what was on offer. 

the whole afternoon flew by in a whirl of talking and directing and eating. feedback on the day was majority positive for the party overall and i was delighted that from my street- food traders it was purely positive. we left buzzing about ideas for next year. for a first insight into event management it was great. i was fortunate to be able to concentrate on one area of the party so as not to get overwhelmed with admin and headaches. last week i was umming and ahring as to whether i wanted to commit to another 6 months of planning next year but i think these things are kind of addictive. if it goes well then you want to build on that success no matter what kind of work is involved.

wedding details...

the last time i wrote i was about to attend the wedding of one of my best friends (and then jet off to a little week of sun with my family...)

anyone who knows me, or who has read old posts on here, will know im a sucker for a bit of decor. home decor and especially party and event decor. i still follow style and wedding blogs back from when i was planning my own wedding and the love and back- catalogue of ideas has just grown.

my friend's wedding was a perfect example of rustic prettiness with cute and colourful touches that really showed off the brides creative and fun personality. set in the beautiful North Yorkshire countryside, the service was in a little church literally down a dirt track and the reception afterwards in a stunning barn style building connected to a popular golf club just outside of York. 

i wanted to share a few of the details and touches... 

the groom's family are farmers and the happy couple are just about to move into their family home, complete with fields and sheds and cows. so the farming and country living influences were clear to see...

hilariously, and very much what i would expect of my friend, she had no idea who designed her dress. but it was beautiful. traditional to an extent, so so pretty, and pure bridal. she looked a million english pounds. the groomsmen were simple and modern in deep blue slim fit suits with pale blue ties. the look definitely worked for men more used to wearing overalls than a suit...

beautiful headpiece...

sandburn hall is famous locally as the perfect venue if you are looking for rustic simplicity where you can put your own stamp on the room... the bride made all of the decor herself...

simple, charming features on the card table...

love a letter light to mark out the disco area from the seating area...

and the most important of these is love...

samuel's big day...

over the last few weeks i have been busy designing and, with the help of my lovely creative assistant (aka Mum, creating decorations for a little boy's christening that went ahead this bank holiday sunday just gone.

what made this event extra special is it is the first one I have done for someone not friends or family, purely though word of mouth and the samuel's lovely mum spotting my work at a friend's birthday party. so special, but scary.

after initial chats I put together two mood boards with themes chosen by the client, thomas the tank and ipswich town. as is the case with a lot of my ideas, there was an element of the vintage and/ or nature to them, with features such as hessian table runners and old school colour pallets. not only is this typical of my work but it also compliments the venue, the local village hall. the ipswich town theme was picked and I set to gathering further ideas and prices.

the general idea with this theme was to stick to the team's colours as apose to emblazoning their logo everywhere. anyone can go out and buy a football team table cloth and napkins, what makes something special and unique to your party is creating something new and bringing together a range of ideas, or getting someone else to do that hard work for you.

so with old school royal blue and white stripe material and red material here and there, we created bunting to hang down the two lengths of the hall (keeping costs down) and a table runner for the cake table to add a splash of colour. bunting really is a tried and tested great way of decorating a party venue, it's traditional yet fun and it adds colour to otherwise drab walls. and especially with this colour pallet of red, white and blue, it oozes good old fashion British fun.

an initial idea for the table centre pieces was to attach a big perfectly spherical ballon to a little tin bucket filled with sweets. but to keep costs in line we changed the idea to little flags made out of surplus bunting material with a little ipswich town logo attached. flags are sinonimus with sport and football and again have an old school, childhood memories touch. the tin buckets were sprayed royal blue to bring colour to the tables and then filled with little chocolate footballs.

for the cake table with its stripy runner I hand painted a wooden toy tractor (for those not in the know with ipswich town their nickname is the tractor boys) in team colours for an additional feature and designed a framed sign with sport style font to direct people where to leave their cards. finally, we created additional bunting with samuel's name hand stitched on. this hung above the cake table and made a nice focal point. one great thing about going that extra mile with your decorations is that, if well planned, you can re use for further dos or use in your home. the name bunting might be something nice to hang above the cot maybe?

as ever, you could always go further with these things, the possibilities are limitless but I was really pleased with what we achieved and I left a happy lady. later that day I received some positive feedback and today a lovely thank you email. hopefully this event will translate into some more word of mouth recommendations and I just might be able to run with this...

                 

time flies...

i don't know where the time is going at the moment; we are absolutely rushed off our feet with life. as well as work, social activities and sporting hobbies (Dave is training for triathlons and  i am keeping my toe dipped into the gym and have taken up swimming again)we are getting the house baby ready and trying to make the garden something like. i am working towards a qualification through work, even though my maternity leave is looming and i've also decided now is a cracking time to try and launch a new business venture. 

you might remember in march i helped a really good friend pull together her disney themed 30th? well i got such a buzz doing it; planning, making, doing and setting it up, i posted on twitter and facebook that i would happily help anyone out with any ideas, advice, right up to the full doing everything decor wise for any kind of event. for free. i did my wedding and this party, plus a few other do's here and there and decided that I might as well start building up a portfolio. so it's as much a help for me as it is for them.

the good news is that a couple of weeks later I received a request to do the decor for a little boy's christening. a lovely lady who had attended the disney do, dressed as Belle I seem to remember, got in touch and away we go.

on top of this I have a possibility of some typography printing for a company looking to decorate their new offices. so lots of little pots bubbling.

and despite running round like a wild woman whilst trying to relax and put my feet up as all good mums to be should, i'm feeling the need to spend a little bit more time on here. i feel i've neglected things a little with everything life is throwing at us right now. so  I think i'll embrace the changes and the busyness and just start writing about it. so expect a lot more postings, and things probably taking a bit of a turn away from purely the creative. after all 'they' say the best writing is what you know, and live. whoever 'they' are. another blogger who I have just started to follow offered some advice in that writing is easy if you enjoy it. and it is.

so expect a bit more general musings, baby talk, fashion mumblings, skin complaints, dog stories. you know the stuff. life.

and if you need any help or advice with the creative doings of an event (birthday party, wedding, christening, anything...) or you know someone who might, point em in my direction. anywhere in the country, no job too big or too small. and just the cost of material whilst I build up my portfolio and my name.

it's exciting when something fun might turn into something more...

and it's like Bruce says...

things to come...

so this weekend just gone we decided to put our best feet forward and start clearing our my study/ creative lair/ junk room. i visualised this day would come in about June or July but I guess it makes sense to do it now and get decorated so as not to fume out the new arrival.

so my things are being boxed, i can't say have been, the contents of my room are now on the spare bedroom floor and will no doubt stay that way for a few weeks. and my paints and sketch pads and everything else Dave doesn't know what to do with will live in the kitchen. and the kitchen table will be my office. i hope to be one of those kitchen table mumtrepreneurs i've read about.

we had talked about when the time came for a little one and that the logical room for it to reside in would be my room, and i had pictured clearing it, boxing away my things, ready to replace with babies and toys and nappies. but the time has come and it's so exciting. and not just because i get to decorate another room in the house.

but i'm not ready to swap my things for baby things. i'm very ready to mix it in with my things though. a great big mixing pot of Dave, Lucy, lentil and Penny the dog. i'm still going to be me, just me covered in baby sick and with bags under my eyes not seen since the wedding.