Katie Vale Designs

Theo Paphitis just retweeted me.......

2010-12-21T10:36:00.000-08:00

Ok so the title might sound a little confusing if you're not a twitter fan, but I'll just explain how this all works...............

(apologies to those one twitter who know this) we all have followers on Twitter, some more than others. At present I have just over 1000, Theo has just under 70000, slight difference. And we can all post messages, similar to your Facebook status's. If people like, or agree with your tweet, they can then retweet it themselves so that all of their followers see it too.............you with me?

Anyway a few months ago Dragon's Den Theo Paphitis, an avid twitterer started up Small Business Sunday (#sbs). You have to send Theo a tweet between 5pm - 7pm on a Sunday. He then reads all of these tweets & chooses 6 small businesses to promote that evening.

So you can imagine how excited I was on Sunday evening to be awoken by a text message saying you're one of the chosen #sbs's. Theo's retweeted you!

Since then I've had over 150 new followers on Twitter; hundreds of hits on the website; several enquiries & £100 Ryman vouchers too!

Thanks Theo! It's great to know you're backing the smaller businesses that work their arses off to do well!

twitter@katievaledesign

twitter@theopaphitis

I'm In The Twitterarti.....

2010-12-16T13:55:00.000-08:00

I've been pretty slack & have blogged for a few months. I've been really busy with things, and unfortunately this has taken a back burner.......but hopefully I'm back and will blog a lot more now.

Anyway there was some very exciting news which I just had to tell you all about......as some of you may know, I am on Twitter........come follow me: twitter@katievaledesign .................and each Friday the Top 100 Wedding Twitter's are announced.

And I'm extremely pleased to announce that I have been in the Top 100 for 4 weeks running now! And therefore have this wonderful badge on my website to prove it too.

Competition!

2010-09-13T13:13:00.000-07:00

I've decided to run a competition for a whole week and the prize is...................to have a bespoke design created & made just for you.

This can be anything from a lovely tiara..................

To some delicate pins.....................................

An elaborate fascinator...............................

A fashionable alice band..............................

The choice is all yours.

I will work with you to design something totally unique for you; taking into consideration the outfit & occasion you want to wear the final design to.

I'll sketch some designs & send them to you, and once you have confirmed what one you like I will begin making it.

The final design will then be wrapped, boxed & sent recorded delivery to you.

All of this unique process is included in the prize; however there are a few rules...................

The winner will be choosen at random for all those that have re-tweeted my competition message
The competition ends on Monday 20th September at midnight (GMT)
I will only pay for recorded delivery if you are a UK resident; if you live outside the UK you will need to pay for your own delivery
Once I've contacted you to say you have won this prize, you have 6 months to begin the design process
Once you have confirmed which design you want to have made for you, there will be a 6 week completion period for you
I will write a blog on the design process & final item, including photographs of it

So if all this sounds good to you, all you need to do to enter is follow me on Twitter; wait for my tweets regarding this competition & re-tweet it! Simple!

Best of luck!

Katie

The Perfect Wedding Abroad

2010-08-29T03:08:00.001-07:00

Having just got back from the most incredible wedding in Italy, I feel complelled to tell you all about it!

It wasn't so much the fact that the two girls that got married are so in love & incredibly perfect together that made me want to shout from the roof tops my joy at their wedding...................

well that too, but primarily I feel as though I've been introduced to a secret location that no one else knows about! And for that reason I need to let you all know about Isola del Garda.

Isola Del Garda in Lake Garda, Italy, hasn't been having wedding ceremonies on the island for long; and Christine & Laura's wedding was the first gay wedding they've had there. So to try to find information on it at the moment is easier said than done. But try you must..........

On the morning of the wedding we all got ready; ensuring the girls didn't see each other until they were ready to leave the hotel. So we had a milliatary operation of timings for breakfast & an hours sunbathing by the pool!

Once dressed & ready to go, the girls were given a moment to themselves to say "hello" before they greeted all their guests in the hotle lobby. We then had a 3 minute walk to the marina where we boarded a book & set sail to the Island.

This picture was taken at dusk a few days before the wedding, and you can just make out the Island on the horizon.

The Isola del Garda is an exquisitie island with an Italian villa built in the centre of it. Christine & Laura had the ceremony in the tower to the left of this picture. It shows the incredible beuaty of the building too.

Inside the tower the ceremony took place, over looking the lake.

We were served canapes & champagne in the tower, before the girls were whisked off to have some professional photographs taken around the villa & Island. During this time all of the guests were lucky enough to be taken on a guided tour also. This really added soemthign specail as we were able to see the true beuaty of the villa, as well as learn the histroy of the family who still live there to this day. I also feel hugely honoured to be there, as it was explained to us that there are few people who get amrried here & they do not have hundreds of tourists over every single day; the villa is still very much a family home.

Once we'd all had lots of photograph's taken we headed back on the island to a lovely restaurant over looking the lake. The speaches were extremely emotional & heart warming, as well as a poem read out by their read Kathy.

The poem Kathey read was I Carry Your Heart by E.E. Cummings This is their favourite poem, hence the love heart gift from Christine to Laura on their wedding day.

The restaurent over looked the lake, and we sat looking out onto it, with the large patio doors fully open. The food was amazing & we couldn't fault that.

I would highly recommend that you ensure that all of the finer details with the restaurant are confirmed though. Unfortunately there were a few problems at the end of the night with the restaurant where the manager was attempting to "add" extra charges for wine that hadn't been agreed or drunk etc. This can of course happen anywhere but being in a foreigh country is a little more difficult to argue the point when you have the language barrier. It was also apparent that us wedding guests were getting charged more per drink than those who were just "normal" guests at the restaurant.

These little things certainly didn't spoil the day, it was totally unique & perfect in every other way. Just like the gorgeous couple Christine & Laura.

I was totally honoured to be a part of their magical day & I wish them every happiness in their future together. As the best man said: they deserve everything they have more than anyone else I know.

Love you both.

Ladies Days 2010

2010-08-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

So we all know that Ladie's Day is more about the hats & fascinators than it is the actual horses, so I wanted to give you a few thoughts of my own on the designs we've seen this year.

I know some people really want to stand out in the crowd with an interesting or intriguing hat, and I'm no shrinking violet, so totally appreciate this, however the outfit still needs to work as a whole. Take Amanda Holden this year; she went for a quirky unusual hat, that if teamed with any other dress really wouldn't have worked, but because the hat & dress one one plain block colour, the whole outfit works really well. She has managed to work a fun, quirky & original look.

And I think in complete contrast to Amanda's lead, these 2 designs below show that just because you have a gorgeous delicate & unusual hat, it doesn't give you a fashion license to team it with anything!

This pink hat of Calla lilies is stunning! No doubting that! But I just don't see how something that is floral & has a flow of energy that cirlces the head; all of a sudden stopping dead at a square cut "office-style" plain grey dress. Both items are lovely, but neither works with the other.

And this geometric pattern dress has lots of wonderful colours in it....................except orange! The dress is square in shape, with angular patterns on it, so the hat is round in shape with a flower on it. Am I the only one that's thinking this is 2 very separate outfits here?!

Now I'm not a royalist, however I think Queenie has done well here. This structured style hat suits her very well, and she knows it. Her hats are all primarily this shape & brim style, just with slight differences for different outfits. If you are having a hat or fascinator made for you the Queen has shown how lovely it looks to have something made in the matching materials of your outfit.

If you get the chance to do this, do it! It looks lovely!

There are 3 outfits which I think are all gorgeous, and probably my favourites out of the one's I've seen so far.

The first one is of this beautiful red combination. This outfit is completely on trend; the one shoulder strap dress is lovely & the fascinator compliments it perfectly.

The fascinator is of a large red corsage, totally Summer 2010 & we will be seeing well into 2011 too. And the black loops echo the movement of the frill of the dress. It works so well, because she has the one shoulder strap on the right & the fascinator on the left of the head, thus keeping her totally balanced.

Unless otherwise stated, traditionally a fascinator is worn on the right side of your head; & this is a prime example of why we are allowed to break this rule!

I also love this white lace combination. Lace has been around for several seasons now & I don't see it going anywhere soon; whatever colour it is in or however it is worn it gives vintage connotations.

I love that this dress & the structured bolero & hat that go with it. Generally we see this is a flowing, soft material; yet this outfit has given it strength & stability. And because it is just the one colour it works perfectly! 10 out of 10 from me!

And finally I sort of feel as though this couldn't get any more perfect. Floral patterns on a dress (key summer prints). Large over sized asymmetrical brim (practical to keep the sun of, as well as eye catching). Complimented by floral corsages to match the colour of the dress perfectly. As well as this, the corsages have white veiling protruding from it; veiling is everywhere this year! And this just shows that it doesn't have to be used just as a birdcage veil!

All I can say is..........ladies take note!

Sinead's Something Blue

2010-07-10T13:59:00.000-07:00

About 8 weeks ago I got an email from a Bride-to-be, Sinead, saying that she'd found my site & had a rough idea of what she wanted, but wasn't 100% sure......and can I help her. I have to say that I love designing & making new items & letting my imagination run wild, but what I love more is when my client is really involved in the design process too.

I sent her several various sketches of designs; and she'd send back her thoughts & feedback. And eventually we agreed on a design that would suit her dress, theme, hair style & ideas.

Sinead had seen another of my Happy Clients, Robyn's fascinator, and loved the large crystal flower:

But Sinead wanted a smaller flower, to wear at the back of her head; and wanted more than just a flower on it's own. As her main colour theme was olive green it seemed the perfect solution to add some leaves to the design too. Sinead also requested that the centre of the flower remained blue, to represent her "something blue". I thought this was a lovely idea!

Sinead also has quite fine hair, and therefore wanted the flower to be set on a flamingo clip. I assured her that if on a comb it would hold in her hair sufficiently, but obviously as I can't see her hair it was & always is the bride's choice. It's paramount that my client's are 100% comfortble throughout the whole day & Sinead say's she wears these types of clip's a lot. I've never worn one myself or used one in a design either, so I was intrigued to see how it would work out.

And so off I set to make Sinead's fascinator with my Swarovski crystal & pearls to hand I began making the slide we had spent weeks designing together....

And finally it was finished...............

I really enjoyed making this slide for Sinead. Because we'd spent so long emailing each other back & forth, & Sinead had a nice amount of input too, it really felt special & personal for me to be making it for her. And hopefully on her wedding day she'll feel happy knowing that her slide was designed & hand-made specifically for her, and there will never be another one the same agian!

I got a text today from her saying: "It's absolutely gorgeous. It's arrived and it is amazing. Thank you so much Katie."

:-) so I reckon that was a pretty successful outcome!

All the best for the wedding Sinead!

Chrissy's Wedding!

2010-06-14T13:52:00.000-07:00

In 2003 I worked away from home, & consequently moved into the Farmhouse at work. I was going to be sharing with 5 other people; one of which was one of the farmers, Chrissy. I didn't really know Chrissy but I'd seen her around a bit & I didn't really think we were going to gel!

Chrissy was one of the head farmers & doesn't suffer fools gladly. I, on the other hand, was at the opposite end of the spectrum, I was a performer in the entertainments team (or as Chrissy liked to call me "one of the lovies!").

Within 36 hours of moving in I realised I'd found one of the funniest people in the world! One of the most genuine people! And who has turned out to be one of my closest friends!

That year that we lived together was hysterical!!! We had so much fun & had so many giggles! We would have BBQ's in the sunshine; sleep overs in the winter; house parties after our staff parties; too many nights to mention were spent down the pub! But always we laughed! That's all I remember of living with Chrissy is laughing!

I would often crawl into Chrissy's bed in I felt unwell & would bring biscuits & tea. We'd then put on a film or watch morning TV, until we needed to get up. One morning I went into Chrissy's room & there was this man in there too.......so I told the pair of them to budge over & all 3 of us sat watching morning TV.

That man & Chrissy got married last weekend! :-)

I was so touched to be able to spend the day at their wedding & I spent the entiriety of it crying tears of joy! I hope everyone has some special friends in the world like Chrissy; because she's a star!

Nature is my inspiration.....some tiaras.

2010-04-24T15:20:00.000-07:00

I love nature!

The flowers. The trees. The grass. The sun. The colours created. The beauty of it all. And I love that we have no control over it all!

And so when I walk around from day to day, it's nature that gets me excited & intrigued. And lots of my creations are based around flowers that I have seen. Or images that I have found of incredible sunsets, beaches, mountains, rainforests. And I'd like to think that people can see the influence of nature in my designs too.

Dawn Tiara

We've all seen those stunning pictures of the most incredible, breath taking sunrises, where you look out across the horizon, and you can literally see the egde of the earth as the sun spreads out inch by inch across it.

Well that's the image I had in my head when I designed & made this tiara. It's only about 2.5cm's tall, and it sweeps across the head, giving a beam of light from one side to the other. It's delicate & pretty; & yet draws attention to itself in a subtle way.

Icicle Tiara

Icicle's are fascinating things! They are so clear & crystal like, they look as though they should be man made glass! I love that each & every individual icicle is different & unique to the one next to it. They are not all uniform in size & shape; and whilst they all work together to create an overall image, each one is special & beautiful in it's own right.

Ok, so I know my icicles are really stalagmites in the fact that they grow upwards, but I'm allowed a bit of artistic license & trickery. And if nothing else "stalagmite tiara" doesn't sound quite so intriguing.

I think this tiara really suits it's name; with each and every icicle being an individual twist, with a crystal sparkly at the end of it & demanding attention.

I hope this has explained 2 of my more popular designs; and if you are a bride who will be wearing one of these tiara's, at least you can hopefully see why it was designed as it was. And will wear it with a tiny bit more pride, as you appreciate the importance of mother nature in your special day.

I'll show you some more examples of designs which have been influenced by nature soon.

My First Blog!

2010-04-18T14:54:00.000-07:00

Hello all.......so this is me!

I have decided to set up a Blog, as you can see; and thought it would give people a chance to get to know a bit more about me & my thought processes!

So I thought my first post would be about how I got started as Katie Vale Designs. Well I've always been Katie Vale.....so it was just adding the Designs part that you are probably interested in. From a young age I've always been found making things (quite often just a mess, but not always). And when at senior school I really began enjoying art, spending a huge amount of time drawing, and creating pieces in mixed media. I've always been inspired by my Mum, who is incredibly creative & talented, and can create amazing curtains/clothes/soft furnishings from any sort of material she comes across. So I suppose being creative was always in me!

By my early 20's I'd got a bit bored, & thus signed up for an evening course in Floral Design & Floristry. My reason being that I love flowers & art, so thought the 2 went together well. I did a course for a few years, and during this time I had to create some floral head-dresses, as well as wire button holes. Before long I was adding wired beads & crystals to lots of my college work. My items were always the wacky designs, with flowers protruding from twisted metal; or strands of bear grass with wire wrapped around it, beads added to the tip & a "cage" being created over the flowers. Before long I'd fallen in love with the flexibility & durability of wire work. And so when I finished this course, I took my self straight back to college & did my first wire work class. That's where it all began.......