The Renegade Craft Fair: Los Angeles

I caught a glimpse of heaven yesterday. Heaven, to me, comes in the form of over 200 incredibly talented and undeniably creative crafters, apparently. Los Angeles was happily invaded by the Renegade Craft Fair, and sponsored by my other true love, Etsy, I had to attend! In short... it knocked. my. socks. off. I was able to meet a few faces behind some very familiar names and I was introduced to a TON of new Etsy vendors that will probably be popping up in my upcoming As Seen on Etsy & Etsy Wedding posts. Luckily I had my resident photographer along with me to capture a few of my favorite {and wedding perfect} booths.

I made my first purchase at by belinda, who makes the sweetest hand embroidered cards for her Etsy shop (Perfect for thank you notes and bridesmaid gifts!). At the craft fair she was also selling scrap packs, which is what I purchased with all sorts of little scrapbooking goodies like ticket stubs, paper swatches and ribbon trimming. How could I resist?

Chandra Abel Designs had a booth that caught my eye. She was showcasing her sustainable terrariums, in all shapes and sizes, and all I could think about was a Palm Springs wedding with these as centerpieces. That is, centerpieces that don't get tossed in the trash after the wedding. Bonus!

These next few pictures are a little blurry (I pulled them from my Flip cam) but I just couldn't leave this booth out! I was so surprised and ecstatic to see Oh, Hello Friend, a blog I have long been following, with a booth of their own! I found these buttons and pocket mirrors and would love to see them used as placecards turned favors or goodies in a bridesmaid gift basket. 

I flipped over these place mats from i am dorkas! Hello outdoor picnic wedding! 

Ticings was a product I was longing to see in person. They are essentially edible stickers that you can slap on top of cupcakes, cookies and other confections for the perfect finishing touch. Guess what? They are even customizable!

The Poster List has been popping up at many events I've gone to this summer and I finally got the chance to purchase something! The prints are so original, one of the large ones would make a great guest book alternative, or buy several small ones to incorporate into your table numbers!

Yup, I had to include that Frenchie! But seriously, you have to, have to, have to see the rest of Sycamore Street Press's products, it was hard to resist all the letterpress awesomeness!

If you are so upset you missed it after seeing this post (or, if your so sad its over, like me), have no fear! The Renegade Craft Fair will be continuing its tour this summer and fall in San Francisco and Chicago! If you don't live in or near those cities, get those tickets booked or that road trip planned because you really cannot miss this!

Aspiring to Inspire,

Kelly

A Day with Martha Stewart and Vera Wang

If you follow me on twitter, you know I had quite the exciting day on Wednesday when I ventured to my {second} favorite city, New York! I thought it would be fun to take a step out of the wedding inspiration world and share my day with you all! In fact, it may not all be wedding related but the day ended with quite a bang when I got to sit in on an event with the one, the only, Vera Wang. Now, I may not have unleashed my obsession, admiration and total I-worship-the-ground-she-walks-on love for her, but I guess no better time then the present! Before I start gushing and gushing about her (and sharing a few videos of her interview!), lets start at the very beginning, The Martha Stewart Show!

It was a bright and early morning (5 am wake up call!) but well worth it! The studio was essentially my dream world complete with a prep kitchen, TV kitchen, craft area and gardening station!

Martha did a little cooking, a little crafting and a how-to for a gardening apron and as soon as we knew it the show was over! It was live, and in fact I was chosen to ask a wedding question on air, but due to the live nature of the show, they ran out of time! Martha stuck around after the show and answered several audience questions and well, it was pretty exciting to be in the same room as the queen of crafting!

We took a little Soho snack & shopping break before we headed uptown to Bloomingdales. If you are in New York, and haven't tried Baked by Melissa yet, close the computer and head over there now. Right now. They are the most moist cupcakes I have ever tasted, and they are bite size (literally), so you can try a more than one!

Now for the best part, and the part you have all been waiting for! The event I attended was in celebration of Vera Wang's 20 years in the wedding industry (both fashion and fine china) and it was held at the Bloomingdales NYC flagship. We first checked out the 11 Vera dresses that were chosen to be displayed at Bloomies, and one of my all time favorites was included! In my opinion, Vera's fall 2010 collection was one of her best, ever, and my favorite gown from the line was on display...

Did you pass out from sheer amazement yet? Ok, stay with me!

A few of my other favorites...

The event culminated with a "conversation" with Vera herself (Oh. Wow.) and lucky for you all, I took a few videos of her answering questions about her experience in the bridal fashion industry! I suggest you turn up your volume because they are may be a bit hard to hear!

Vera on her favorite dress {and her very own wedding dress!}...

Vera on her black wedding dress...

Vera on dressing celebrities on their big day...

Seeing one of my biggest idols and most adored individuals in the industry, in person, was utterly amazing and I am so glad I got to share a piece of my exciting day with you! If you are lucky enough to live in, or around, Manhattan, the Vera Wang gowns will be on display through June 6th on the 4th floor of Bloomingdales (59th & Lex) and they are really worth seeing! Enjoy your beautiful weekend!

Aspiring to Inspire,

Kelly

Notables: Red Gingham & Aqua for a Good Cause

In case you missed my tweets yesterday, I was helping out Janice Carnevale of Bellwether Events with a very special tablescape. She is a part of Relay For Life and one of the fundraising events leading up to the walk is a tea. Any team participating in Relay For Life is able to buy a table at the tea and decorate it as they please. Now, of course we didn't just do any ordinary tea setup... we did iced tea, inspired by this color inspiration I posted a few weeks back...

{See the original post here for image credits}

Yep, we chose red gingham and vibrant aqua and the table turned out fantastic! But the best part is, it was for a great, great cause.

We simply hemmed gingham fabric for the tablecloth, trimmed the votive holders with ribbon and served iced tea, sweet tea and lemonade!

Berry cartons trimmed with mini gingham ribbon!

I DIY'd the cupcake stands... look for a full tutorial later this week!

Of course, we had to incorporate my favorite Ball jars, filled with simple white florals...

And last but not least, who could resist a little Georgetown Cupcake?

Now that's an adorable twist on a picnic if I've ever seen one! Don't forget... look for a tutorial on the DIY'd cupcake stands later this week, come back Wednesday for Notable's first ever giveaway (you're gonna want to see this one!) and check out Relay For Life to find out how you can get involved too!

Aspiring to Inspire,

Kelly

Notables: The B-List Meet and Greet Event!

I left you on Friday with some of my favorite inspiration and told you I was headed to the B-List Meet and Greet Event to finally put a name to all the blogging and twittering faces I admire and interact with everyday! Well, to say it was a success is an understatement! It was so great to meet all the creative ladies behind my favorite wedding blogs and to meet some new ladies I hadn't known before too! The best thing about the wedding industry? They really know how to throw a party! I mean, that kind of goes along with the job description, right? And the B-List didn't miss a beat on this one. There was great food, great drinks, a live b-list twitter feed, and best of all, great people! Here's a few pics courtesy of Elan Artists who were nice enough to pass them along to me to share with you!

Of course, the cake was my favorite part...

Every B-lister had a dish named after them!

The champagne bar!

The awesome decor with flowers by the amazing Holly Chapple

Myself with Courtney of A Sweet Soiree, Janice of Bellwether Events, and Jessica from The Budget Savvy Bride!

{All Photos by Shane Carpenter and Carlos Andres Varela for Elan Artists}

A special shout out to some of the great, inspiring women I was able to meet: Amanda from Ruffled, Jen from Green Wedding Shoes, Jillian and Amanda from 100 Layer Cake, Harmony from The Bridal Bar, Ami from Elizabeth Anne Designs, Dana from The Broke-Ass Bride and many many more! 

Aspiring to Inspire,

Kelly

Notables: "Washingtonian Bride & Groom: Unveiled"

Hello all! I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend, I know I did! Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending Washingtonian Bride & Groom: Unveiled, a wonderful wedding showcase here in Washington, DC. The event was fantastic, great food, great drinks, and best of all, great people! So I decided, what could be better for this week's Notables than to introduce you to some of the amazing vendors I met and provide a little wrap-up of all the event's festivities!

Below is a collage of my photo's from the event, please excuse the poor Blackberry-quality photos (it's certainly no iPhone!). I spent a lot of time in the Hitched suite at the event. Hitched is a fabulous bridal salon in the Georgetown that carries some of the best bridal gowns you can find and they hosted some of my favorite DC vendors for the event! Hitched provided the gowns and Maria from Ritzy Bee designed too-stunning-for-words tablescapes around them! Below is my favorite- I couldn't handle my excitement over the bird's nest chargers and the stationery by Simplesong Design. I was also lucky enough to meet photographer Kate Headley (see her stunning photo's below!) and stop by the Design Cuisine champagne bar. The picture of the drink below doesn't even do this delicious champagne cocktail justice: POM, orange juice, peach puree and fresh mint leaves, topped with prosecco!

Amsale herself was at the event to present the Kenneth Pool spring 2010 collection and Ted Gibson (the hairstylist on What Not to Wear and the man responsible for Kate Gosselin's new locks) was there to introduce her, along with Washingtonian Bride & Groom's editor-in-chief, Jill Hudson Neal.

Now take a look at the work by my favorite vendor's of the event!

Maria at Ritzy Bee, a DC event planning company, has a style that I envy... and it's all about the details. She also has one of the top wedding blogs (in my opinion!) with segments such as Vintage Wednesdays (are you excited yet??)

Kate Headley is a fine art wedding photographer who's work was recently chosen as the cover image of the Washingtonian Bride & Groom's newest issue! I picked a few of my favorite shots she's snapped, but be sure check out her blog for the rest!

The Dandelion Patch is a custom stationery company who's style really appealed to me. Every invitation starts from a blank piece of paper, so it certainly is one of a kind and they offer numerous different methods and options!

I've been a fan of Love Life Images for awhile now and was thrilled to meet the photogs behind the unbelievable emotion-capturing pictures (and those great photo booths!). Here's a few of my favorite black and white images from them!

And last but not least is green wedding guru Katie Martin, who's recently launched an online eco-friendly wedding magazine, Eco-Beautiful Weddings. It's a beautiful publication, and she also runs an event planning and floral design company, Elegance & Simplicity, which is environmentally sound as well! Look for more from this e-zine when I host an "Eco-Friendly" week here on Notable Inspiration (details to follow!)

Well, that's a wrap! The Washingtonian sure knows how to throw a great party! It was great putting some faces to the names of companies that I admire and I hope you check out their websites (and blogs!) to learn more!

Coming up later, a preview of tomorrow's eggplant and charcoal color inspiration! Stay tuned!

Aspiring to Inspire,

Kelly