Stamping Bella July 27, 2009

Day two of green bachelorette inspiration and product hunt lead me to Stamping Bella in Thornhill.

One of the components of the party is a scrapbook (I hope the bride does not read my blog!) and a friend of mine recommended I check out this three year old business and going concern in the scrap booking world beside my favourite natural health food store, Ambrosia located on Doncaster Avenue.  It is funny how you can go to a place so often yet not notice something.  I shop quite often at Ambrosia and when my friend was recommending the visit to Stamping Bella, I could not place where the store was located, especially when she said it is right next door to Ambrosia in the same plaza.  I could not believe my eyes when I pulled up in my car to find the Stamping Bella sign staring me square in the face.  I had never looked for scrap booking products beside the health food store so my eyes did not register that it was there.  Interesting how visible a business really is to a potential consumer if they are not reminded they need you.  I digress.

Back to my review:  Stamping Bella is owned by Emily from Montreal and she has a collection of scrap booking products and accessories that anyone would go crazy for.  The store also does parties or if you feel like dropping in to nurture your inner scrapbooker, that is okay too.   The colours, the assortment of products, the things you think you don’t need but realize you do; are all there merchandised from floor to ceiling of the small retail shop.  I picked up some cool paper for the creative exercise at the party this week and a heart shaped paper punch. 

Emily and her assistant Deena are both very knowledgeable about paper, design and scrap booking and are a pleasure to speak to.  Emily also maintains a blog which is very “forward thinking” for a small Toronto business.  While the rest of the world has jumped on the web 2.0 train, I still meet people all time who have yet to embrace social media as a means to enhance their brand and business experience be it product oriented or service based and I don’t know what they are thinking.  Good job Emily!

Tissue Paper Pom Poms July 27, 2009

I am working on a green colour themed bachelorette party this week for a friend and I am in the process of brainstorming ideas on how to decorate a dining room area.  I have been turning to my favourite blogs and online photo sites for inspiration and have been having somewhat of a difficult time.  To tell you the truth, if green is used, it is used as an accent to another colour such as pink, purple, yellow or white instead of on its one.   The other issue is when you search for green parties, you are bombarded with environmentally friendly ideas.  Nice, but not my mission for this week.  So I ditched searching for green ideas and moved over to ideas on how to create an inviting environment for the guests.  What vibe did I want to create, how did I want the guests to feel, what is the personality of the bride to be and how would she envision her party? 

Taking all these questions into consideration, I stumbled onto the tissue paper pom pom idea on the Martha Stewart Wedding site and have decided to dedicate my post today on different visions of tissue paper pom poms as they relate to events!

First and foremost- the Martha Stewart site gives a great how to on making these spiffy looking globes of colour.  So if you are up for a DYI project, check it out here.  This is what I will be following this week to create the pom poms.   They look easy enough to make- famous last words.

Tissue Paper Pom Poms via Martha Stewart Weddings

Other pom pom ideas I found (I even found a green example!):

 

 

 

Rainbow Colour Board July 26, 2009

Southern Weddings Magazine is a go-to, never fail resource when looking for some colour inspiration for an event.  I found the ultimate colour board today that isone big board featuring every colour split up into sections.  It’s for the “I need to see all the choices laid out in front of me in one shot” type person!  (aka me)

I love this magazine so much.  

Enjoy the weekend.  I am off to go join a friend for dumplings downtown.

via southern wedding magazine

Better Bit of Butter Designer Cookies July 25, 2009

I just found a new designer cookie maker out of Cleveland thanks to some cookiesChristine Mehling, created for an event Amy Atlas of took part in called Sunday Suppers (It was Moroccan themed and Christine’s cookies are in the picture below top left). 

via Amy Atlas' Blog

Christine Mehling, owner and chief designer of Better Bit of Butter started out as a BFA grad turned jewelry designer and later crossed over into the world of designer cookies.  Applying her talent in jewelry design to sugar and butter,  she hand-designs and embellishes each cookie with bold graphics, colour and repetitive images, producing some fabulous looking cookies if I do say so myself.   As her designer cookies began to take off as gifts, and treats at weddings, and showers, she chose the Better Bit of Butter from an old nursery rhyme and was off to the races building her business.

Better Bit of Butter Cookies (photo via Busy Mommy)

photo via daily grommet

photo via better bit of butter website

Sweet and Saucy Online Cake Tutorial July 20, 2009

This is a quick post I wanted to share before going to bed after a long day of work that I thought you might enjoy.

The every so talented, Melody Brandon, owner of Sweet and Saucy in Long Beach, California has posted a cake tutorial on her blog for this elegant circle wedding cake below.  Her blog is filled with helpful hints, how to’s and of course, great photos of Sweet and Saucy products and parties.  Something for every baker/event planner at heart.

Enjoy and good night!

Tutorial Cake Decoration photo via My Sweet and Saucy

Graffiti Happy in DUMBO July 19, 2009

Pictures that I snapped while walking around my old neighbourhood in DUMBO that make me happy:

La Bergamote Patisserie July 17, 2009

I was back in New York again for a couple days this week and while checking out the new High Line with my father (in the Meatpacking District),  I stopped by La Bergamote Patisserie for a cup of tea.  To my surprise, in addition to having a display case full of decadent french pastries and cakes, La Bergamote Patisserie also had macarons.  I sampled a bergamot flavoured macaron and it was so-so.  The outside case was a bit too chewy and the inside was over loaded with butter cream.  However, the bergamot flavour was excellent.

My dad also said he had one of the best latte in the city at the patisserie, and there is something to be said for that coming from someone who drinks three to four a day.  

Soolip Wedding Event July 14, 2009

Soolipis a company out of LA that hosts events for soon to be bride’s and grooms who are looking for inspiration, vendors and a creative cross section of what LA has to offer those in the planning stages. 

I came across this photo on the green wedding shoes blog and had to post it.

Just look at the tired dessert on the right side of the photo!

photo via green wedding shoes blog

Tatte Cookies July 13, 2009

I first read about Tatte Cookies, a bakery in Boston on the Cannelle et Vanille blog.  CV blog author, was in Boston attending a food styling and photography conference and wrote about Tatte as one of her stops in the city.  As a sucker for a new bakery, I could not help but click through and take a look at the Tatte website.  To my surprise, the website was fairly evolved with tons of pictures and information.  After another search on Google, it seemed that Tatte Cookies has been gaining its much deserved traction since its opening in 2008 in Brookline and well commented around the blogsphere too. 

The story of the owner is a classic tale of a girl who grew up baking at home with her mother.  As her passion for baking grew, so did requests from family and friends to supply holiday festivities and events with sweets.  Only when demand was steady did Tzurit Or make her move to open a retail store and expand supply and distribution around Boston and eventually NYC landing shelf space at Dean and Deluca in SoHo.  I love this simple, passion driven entrepreneurial story.  Her signature product, “nut boxes” (two pictures below) are rectangular pastries filled with toasted nuts and caramel are visually stunning as are the rest of her pastries.  Great article from Boston.com (Boston Globe) here to find out more about Or, the owner of Tatte Cookies.

photo via simplesong.typepad.com

photo via hungrybella.blogspot.com

 

photo via boston.com

Antique Wedding Theme July 7, 2009

A childhood friend of mine is getting married in about five weeks time and I spent the afternoon with her today browsing for place cards and thank you notes. While we did not find anything that stood out, she did share her desire to create an antique theme or antique colour palette look at the event.  When I think of antique colours I think of pastels, golds, silvers, deep blue, deep purple and black.  So there is quite a range to play with if so desired.  My friend is sticking with a silvery, grey, violet colour from what I can gather from our conversation today.

When I got home, I thought about her theme some more and decided to do a bit of digging to see how an antique theme is interpreted online?  What does antique mean to people?  What colours do they choose to embody a vintage feeling?

Here are some ideas and colours that I came up with in my research:

photo via southern weddings magazine