Holidays and anniversaries!

Today is my last day before my holidays! Tomorrow myself and my hubby Ben are flying to Lisbon and travelling around Portugal for a couple of weeks. We'll be celebrating our ten year anniversary and a much longer 'being together' date... romance is definitely in the air!

Before I go, I thought I'd share a commission that I'm currently working on. I am designing a crochet hair-wrap to be worn with a gold Johanna Johnson dress called Satine. The dress is embellished with intricate embroidery which inspired me to sketch these drawings. The main fabric is a pale gold satin, featuring hand-beaded Parisian lace accents and a plunging back. You can see how the fabric in the dress floats and moves in a beautiful way.

Aoife has chosen a soft, half-up hairstyle and wanted something like a decorative ribbon to wear across her hair. Some of my beaded hairwires would have been lovely with this dress but the crochet wrap really brings out the sumptuous embroidery detail.
 

Rangoli sketch of Satine dress by Johanna Johnson

If you don't know already, I am a big fan of gold and this dress allowed me to delve into my collection of topaz and citrine coloured beads. The crochet, beaded vine, was inspired by the lace embroidery on the dress. The beaded vine tapers to one side of the head and will be worn like a hair-band.

Sketch of Rangoli crochet headpiece detail inspired by Johanna Johnson 'Satine' dress

This commission will have to wait until I get back from Portugal to be finished! I'll miss you all but will be back to share some photos and stories in a couple of weeks. If you want to see what inspires me while I'm on holidays, you can follow me on Instagram.

 

The studio will re-open on Monday 10th September. For anyone with an up-coming wedding, I have plenty of pieces available to purchase from stock on my return.

Gold - my favourite 2012 wedding trend

I'm going to let you in on a big secret... I've been in business for fourteen years and I've been waiting for this moment to come.

"One of the big trends for 2012 is metallics; gold in particular."

Little known facts about me - I have a rose gold wedding ring and a bathroom with gold leaf wallpaper. That's not to say that I don't love silver and platinum, it's just that I'm monogamous in my metal choice!

So are any of you choosing a dress with gold detailing or including some precious metallics into your colour theme? I'm already seeing lots of dresses with touches of gold embroidery or fabrics with a golden hue. The gorgeous gown above is by Badgley Mischka, (full credits below).

My sister Tara is looking into metallic icings for her cakes this year. I'll keep you posted on all developments and tasting sessions :-)

Let 2012 be the year of metallic opulence! Please indulge me by sending me pics of your favourite golden moments x

Image credits: 
Clockwise from top left - Rangoli bride Aisling wears a delicate crochet headpiece to match her Claire Pettibone gown, a glimmering cake to melt my heart, a set of Rangoli pale gold and pearl hairpins and a stunning Badgley Mischka gold and white gown.