America. . . I salute you!

Two weeks ago I received an order for 2 Festibelle headbands from a lady in America- my FIRST official festibelle order that wasn't a) through my mother b) through my friends or c) through my work colleagues....Not that I am not grateful for all the sales and kindness people have shown me but having a random sale was a truly ecstatic moment. . . Especially when realising that my Festibelle page on Etsy had been clicked on over 100s of other headbands; thought about and chosen.

The lovely American lady and I discussed at length what colours to go for - ribbon wise -and she sent me a picture of what her two young bridesmaids would be wearing. After making up two different coloured bands and sending photos of them to her she decided on the ivory ribbon with baby pink flowers. Pretty and very feminine for the little girls.

As with my usual pattern for bridesmaids headbands I finished them off with synthetic pearls and heart shaped buttons with a pearly lustre.

I believe packaging is very important and for me it is the icing on the cake. It  finishes the product off, consummately;  all of the hard work that went in to creating them, set in some beautiful homemade wrapping paper and cord. 

On this occasion, I even had a little helper to choose which wrapping paper was best! In the end there was a little bit of "pass the parcel"  and  we agreed to use both pieces.

All bubble wrapped and packaged  ready to be sent! Hope it arrives safely and in time for their mid-October wedding. No doubt the sun will be shining- unlike here (the rain's currently slamming against the window). I really hope they send me some pictures of the bridesmaids. I've seen them on the adults at Hannah's wedding, so it would now be lovely to see them on the younger girls too!

 Will keep you posted with any reactions and any pictures I receive! :)

Emi x

Update 20 December 2012: 

A couple of weeks ago I received this precious photo of the two beautiful little bridesmaids wearing my headbands at the wedding in The Hamptons, USA. It looked like a magical and unforgettable occasion. I am so proud to see the Festibelles looking so perfect. Beaming! 

A Beautiful Welsh Wedding in the Wye Valley. . .

On Saturday 8th September 2012 our wonderful friends Hannah and Richard married in Trellech Church, Monmouthshire.  With hardly a cloud in the sky the Wye Valley was flooded with sunlight and warmth as the newly weds posed for photos.

This was also a very magical day for me as not only did I get to see my dear friends get married,  I also saw my very own "Festibelles" in action for the first time on four of Hannah's bridesmaids.

In the weeks running up to the wedding we had spent some time discussing the colour scheme  for the dresses that the bridesmaids would be wearing. On deciding to match the bridesmaid's dresses I sourced some beautiful sage green satin ribbon from the John Lewis haberdashery department, along with some synthetic pearls and pearl heart buttons.  

When the doors opened at 2pm on Saturday 8th September and we saw the beautiful bride enter arm in arm with her beaming father, I was so proud and relieved to see the bridesmaids, each wearing a Festibelle headband; better than I could have ever imagined.  The whole outfit worked so well and the colours blended perfectly. Success. 

Arriving in style

The girls wore the headbands throughout the day which was a great relief to me and they  gave me very positive feedback. I try, when making them, to coat the wire in as much cord and ribbon as possible to improve the comfort.

Beautiful Bride and Bridesmaid

Having  seen the success of Hannah's wedding and how beautiful all the girls looked I am very excited to progress my range and hopefully do more weddings. I am in the process of looking into winter flowers and headpieces to see what I can create for the coming season.

For any more information, pictures or my range of jewellery please see the following:

Etsy

Twitter: @emiloudesign

The morning after. . . and the sign of an incredible Welsh countryside wedding! 

Below are a couple of the proto-types I trialled before creating the final Festibelle headbands. 

Emi xx

A Quintessentially English Summer's Afternoon.

A summery Sunday afternoon. . . 

Sunday 12th August and a sunny 24 degrees, summers bliss. With a drowsy kitten on one knee, elderflower cordial on hand and all my materials in front of me I spent the afternoon creating my biggest Festibelle band yet. 

I have to admit that I was slightly afraid at how it might turn out; a giant sprawl of potentially blinding leaves and head sized flowers swamping facial feature one might have. . . However I am proud to announce that my anxiety was very much proved wrong and I was extremely pleased with the outcome!

In creation I used pale green ribbon to bind the cord covered wire and then used pastel yellow silk roses -which I tear dropped a glue type substance on to in order to create a delicate water drop effect- to finish off the dramatic head dress. I think pale green ribbon helped to create the most natural and organic look, however depending on the colour of ones hair you could use blond / brown / auburn coloured ribbon to make the floral band look even more natural.

My inspiration for all my Festibelle bands and particularly this one would very much be A Midsummer Night's Dream come "in to the woods" wedding. In fact I am very fortunate and excited to be making up some floral head dresses for a great friends wedding in the Welsh Valley in September. . . More on that next week. 

Emi xx

"I feel like the summer could finally be on its way!"

I thought I should write something as it’s been a while. Since I last blogged I’ve moved house to a new area of London- Barons Court. It’s such an amazing place to live and we have really found such a beautiful home (My boyfriend Ports and I). I have already gained so much inspiration from our flat and garden and the gorgeous stucco fronted buildings which grace the Kensington Borough.

Having experienced the usual “broadband” issues, we are finally online, up and running so I hope to be much more active.

One of my best friends Kate came around today and we ended up photographing her with my festibelle bands. I think they have come up so so well and have proved to me that the pale flowers and colours work well on blondes too.  

Would love to hear your thoughts and will blog again very soon! 
Lots of love, 
Emi xx

www.emiloudesigns.co.uk 

Introducing . . . Festibelle Bands!

"Think. . . Pretty Flower Girl meets Bohemian bride"

With the sun shining (in between the sub tropical rainstorms) the summer season is fast approaching and I have been creating a new piece for my Emi-Lou Designs collection. Not quite in the ‘jewellery’ category, however this, my friends, I have named my ‘Festibelle Band’. 

(Picture of: Emi-Lou Designs “Festibelle Band” 2012)

(Picture of: Emi-Lou Designs “Festibelle Band” 2012)

(Picture of: Emi-Lou Designs “Festibelle Band” 2012)

The inspiration came from being told to ‘sort out my room’ by my mother back home in Wales a few months ago! Whilst ‘sorting’ (ie reminiscing over old diaries and childhood love notes, yellowing with antiquity… and trying on old plastic multi-coloured jewellery that was never in fashion then - let alone now)…  I came across an ivory and green garland headband that I wore as a 10 yr old bridesmaid- 14 years ago! Still brilliantly intact I tried it on (obviously) and although a little garish for a rainy Sunday afternoon in Wales there was something incredibly romantic and organic about this head dress. 

(Pretty little flower girl garland head band. Google images).

No sooner did I come back to London I started experimenting with my own garland headbands. By utilising lengthy ribbon at the back, 10 yr old bridesmaids and ageless summer lovies alike can wear them… floating around the 2012 summer festivals. Interweaved with fresh water pearls, sequins and vintage style flower garlands, each handmade headband is unique from the next. 

 

Think Kate Moss’ wedding meets A Midsummer Nights Dream… Glastonbury meets Soundwave (Croatia). What ever the occasion I hope I have created something for everyone, a summer of individuality, youth, love and happiness.

Emi-Lou xx 

N.B. All photos taken from google images. 

ps. I will be adding some more photos of my “Festibelle Bands” very soon.

Emi-Lou Designs, Chapter 1

Hello and welcome to my blog. Somewhat ambitiously and a bit like a New Years resolution I have decided to try and write something at least once a week. Even if no one reads this but me, it will be chance for me to look back in years to come and hopefully see what I've done as a bit of a visual diary for my jewellery and any other experiences along the way.

14 k gold filled with turquose stone and fresh water pearl earrings

Anyway, the last few months jewellery wise have been great. I have had one event which was hosted in the Gold room at Embargo59 in Chelsea. I was so nervous but it was a great location and I got some really positive responses from girls looking at my range (plus a few sales…which was a huge bonus!). I just really enjoy seeing people trying on my designs, it's such a lovely experience

14k gold filled turquoise stone ring.

I also attended an amazing evening event at the Stafford Hotel in September to listen to  “Patrick Wyatt” talk about his life as a bespoke Hatton Garden jewellery designer.(http://londonhotelsinsight.com/2011/09/28/bespoke-jewellery-pub-talk-at-the-stafford/

) He was a great inspiration for me and has really fuelled my want to learn as much as I possibly can about areas of higher end jewellery production/ making etc that are still unknown to me. I am currently looking in to starting a gemology course which will incorporate diamond grading… so all in all very exciting!!!

Following on from the Embargo59 event I excitedly founf out that I'd had my very first media mention here in the monthly online magazing DV8. lthough only a tiny mention I am so happy to see my little jewellery company mentioned in an online publication. We can only go up from here!

Anyway, I think this is enough for now, as not too sure what is to be expected by these blogs, but hope this has been an ok start!

Please follow me on twitter @emiloudesign or visit my website http://www.emiloudesigns.co.uk/

Lots of love

Emi x

 

Embargo59 event, Chelsea.