Spring is in the air!

Well the last couple of weeks have been very busy on the emsOriginal calender! Not just with the approach of wedding days for my lovely wedding customers but also i have been doing a spot of traveling! I have had an absolutely fantastic weekend in Rome and hands down I think it is one of the best cities i have ever been too! It is a city full of stories, adventures and amazing food, and provided me with inspiration for the rest of the year I think!

For the first time in years I even had time to send postcards home from the smallest city in the world - Vatican City!

So what did I see that inspired me on this trip! Well all the "have too's" when roaming in Rome! The Vatican city, museum & the Sistine Chapel, we walked to Colosseum as the sunset on ancient Rome, a spot of anti-pasti and a cheeky beer Morretti sat on the Piazza outside the Pantheon, tossed a coin over the shoulder into the Fontana de Trevi, and climbed the Spanish steps to look out across the city!

We also had a rather memorable cappuccino in a little cafe called Caffe Fasse, where we met a older Italian man who we could have sat with for hours and listened to the history of Rome -  who needs tour guides when you take time for a coffee with the locals! He was more interested in the difference of the regional accents of myself and my friends!

It was a fantastic trip! A great chance to see great works of art by Michelangelo, Rafael & Bernini, and even historical philosophical texts of Aristotle! - I could totally have settled down in this city!

angels fighting demons, a beautiful dome in the vatican

i love Rome!! xx

Another seller of this trip was the sunshine! Spring came a week early for me! But luckily it arrived at the Cherry Tree today too! And we had the door open as we gave the shop a good spring clean and got crafting for Easter! - If you haven't popped in for a while, come and visit us soon!

At the moment everything about Spring is getting me excited! Today I saw a bunch of Daffodils and couldn't stop myself eating a creme egg for the season! :)

So what have I got planned for Spring! Well I have some lovely weddings to complete over the next couple of weeks to take me right through to the end of April, but then I think emsOriginal will be taking a little time to refocus in May, Iv got some big plans for my card ranges and wedding styling and really want to take some time to concentrate on putting these plans into action so hopefully will be able to bring you a blog soon on what I plan to do!

For a sneak peak... here's somethings I've been buying ready for projects!

Speak to you soon!

xxx

Inspiration then innovation...

emsOriginal has been having a fab time over the last few weeks! It seems that the little studio down the stairs at the Cherry Tree really has been discovered and I'm busy with lots of orders and wedding stationary right through to the summer! Which is absolutely more than I could wish for and would like to thank everybody for their support!

Special Christening Cards from Godparents

Amongst orders it was my gorgeous nephews christening at the weekend and I had been busy working to create some bespoke designs for my family and friends to give to Little ajsOriginal at the Weekend!

But it seemed my illustrations were out done as Little ajsOriginal loved his little music box I had given to him the most! Giggling away as the little monkey and giraffe swirled around! Thank you Cherry Tree gifts for a beautiful present that really does now have treasured memories attached of our gorgeous little man!

Talk to the Animals Music Box

On another note this week aside from the creation of special commissions and wedding stationary at emsOriginal illustration! The other side of the process is the research and innovation of ideas that transforms a something simple into something that really is a brand new bespoke design for the most individual of weddings! Sometimes after a busy day at the studio in the Cherry Tree Gallery and talking about weddings it feels that my business as an illustrator is really only a small part and I feel I am ever expanding into the design and planning of weddings too and it really is something I love to do!

Back in my university days I have the full intention to become a fully fledged set designer, and somewhere along the way I found me, my style and love of creating illustrations, however it is true that sometimes first loves really creep back and within my current work I have been enjoying getting back to planning and designing on a larger scale!

So in the next few weeks I am doing my research collecting and collating all unusual bits and bobs and will be transforming to show the unique ideas I have for different wedding style and plans... so watch this space for transformations!

"A pinch of creativity"

The things we find in the garage!!

We all come across beautiful images that inspire us and drive us to create new and innovative design and if we are lucky enough to be an artist we can claim that we have been inspiration to others! In the past week though unfortunately i have been subject to what is becoming known across the social networking channels as the 'Kirstie Alsop Curse' where somebody has see my designs and instead of being inspired has logged onto my website and literally copied one of my designs a 'DIY' attempt and, completely oblivious to this faux pas came to ask me where I source my materials from to create there own wedding stationary! This is obviously such an upsetting incident as it is hard to explain as an artist we don't come up with our style overnight - it is a process of years of training from our childhood which is constantly evolving! I really am quite open with all my techniques and my ideas but perhaps I do need to be a little more careful in future! But I am never down for long and there is always a silver lining to these things and lucky enough for me I do also meet some lovely people who understand the work and time behind my designs and one of which recently has asked me to design a wedding guest box from an old vintage suitcase!

So I have a long way to go before I can say it is in tip top outstanding condition for a wedding at the end of march! Bitten off more than I can chew??! Never!

Starting my research I found this beautiful website http://www.oncewed.com and it hasn't only inspired me for this project but now I have a whole new to do list as well! It really is a inspiration and really somehow drummed into me it is soo important to be innovative with ideas and constantly creating new things!

Taken from www.oncewed.com
Photography by Tec Petaja
Event Design by Joy Thigpen

I think the lesson to be learned from this is when people want some different, something beautiful and un-mass produced they seek people who can help them achieve the dreams in their imagination and they appreciate the work we do to help create the fairytale for them!

I will definitely keep you updated on the success with the vintage luggage case! I am looking forward to the challenge too! xxx