Vintage Bottles as Wedding Centerpieces

I think I have become a little obsessed with using glass jars and bottles as part of the display at our sea themed wedding. I have been searching the internet for the last few days and it seems that antique and vintage bottles may be easier to source than I originally thought. I am very excited by this idea as they look fantastic and are appropriate for a wedding on the coast.

Old bottles displaying wild flowersFlower display using vintage bottles ~ found here at Eat Drink Chic

There are lots of old vintage bottles to choose from on ebay starting at 99p. Internet searches also bring up collectors websites, though these are much more expensive. To find these treasures in the local charity shops and cut out the postage would be the ideal scenario but I can imagine these being snapped up rather quickly.

I think these bottles look effortlessly sophisticated and are so shabby chic. The aqua blue and subtle variations in hue are reminicent of the ocean and its many colours and the rare finds that are sometimes found washed up on our English coastline are the biggest prize of all. Tumbled and textured and perfect for a beach and sea themed wedding. What a great way of introducing the sea without going overboard. (Sorry for the very bad pun!)

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Leap The Elk and Little Princess Cottongrass

I first came across the story Leap The Elk and Little Princess Cottongrass when I fell in love with John Bauer’s spellbinding illustration Princess Tuvstarr and the Fishpond, painted in 1913. There is something magical about this painting and I felt instantly attached to it. The story has become one of my most favourite and I have since grown very fond of John Bauer’s beautiful art.

Princess CottongrassPrincess Tuvstarr and the Fishpond ~ John Bauer

Being a great lover of folklore and fables, I felt compelled to find out the story behind this little princesses sadness. I managed to source the author Helge Kjellin back to a compilation of stories entitled Great Swedish Fairy Tales translated from Swedish into English as a second hand library book on ebay.

Leap the Elk and Princess CottongrassLeap sets off, surefooted, across the marsh

Sagan Om Älgtjuren Skutt och Lilla Prinsessan Tuvstarr as the fairy tale is originally known in Sweden is an enchanting story set deep in the dark woods about Princess Cottongrass, a tiny, vunerable little girl with long blond hair and a pure heart. One night she slips away from Dream Castle and meets Longleg Leap the Elk. He is strong and wise and is persuaded by the Princess against his better judgement to carry her on his strong back out into the big wide world. The elk is reluctant to expose her to the dangers and evils of the places that lie far from the castle but Princess Cottongrass is convinced that as she is warm and good, she can share this with those that she meets along the way.

Leap and Princess TuvstarrIt is almost midnight and a few small stars are shining

At first the Princess is delighted with the adventures that she encounters but little by little, the wickedness of the world robs her of her innocence. She ends up losing all that she has, including her fine white gown. The elk becomes anxious that he cannot protect her and so he takes her to the safety of a pool that no human has ever seen. Leap warns the little Princess not to go too near to the water and to be careful of the golden heart chain around her neck. However, the waters of the pool entrance Princess Cottongrass and she leans over only to lose her heart into the murky depths. The elk advises the princess not to dwell on this or she may forget everything else but it is too late. The Princess has stopped noticing the elk is there and sits at the side of the pool, gazing into the water in search of her heart.

Leap and Cottongrass in the ForestThe witch begins to slither from tree to tree, following the elk as it runs

“Many years have passed. Still Princess Cottongrass sits and looks wonderingly into the water for her heart. She is no longer a little girl. Instead, a slender plant, crowned with white cotton, stands leaning over the edge of the pool. Now and then the elk returns, stops, and looks at it tenderly. Only he knows that this is the princess from Dream Castle. Perhaps she nods and smiles, for he is an old friend, but she does not want to follow him back; she cannot follow any more, as long as she is under the spell. The spell lies in the pool. Far, far under the water lies a lost heart.”

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Woodland Wedding Save The Date Cards

I have just been taking a look through some of my initial woodland wedding theme ideas and found these save the date cards. I designed them when I first had the idea of a Midsummer Night’s Dream Wedding. They would also compliment an outdoor wedding, preferably in the woods or for a wedding with a fairytale theme.

Woodland Wedding Theme Save The Date Cards

These save the date cards were one of a few concepts and I came up with at the beginning and I had lots of fun researching woodland wedding stationery. I thought about designing matching wedding invitations and complimentary stationery such as place cards and table settings before I changed my own wedding theme to the sea.

I am thinking that they would have been nice printed on a vintage card stock or handmade paper containing flecks of plants or flower petals, possibly keeping the design as a monotone colour or maybe adding some extra shades of a woodland palette.

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Beware The Judderman, My Dear

Whilst on my web travels, I came across one of my favourite adverts of all time. Directed by Enda McCallion for Smirnoff Metz, Forrest got children and grown ups alike hiding behind the sofa and quaking in their slippers! Remember this one? Beautifully creepy!

Beware the Judderman my dear, when the moon is fat.
Sharp of tongue and spindle limbed he is, and cunning.
With sweetened talk of schnapps and Metz and the deliciousness of Judders – but schnapps though sweet has teeth my love, and sharpened ones at that.
Beware the Judderman my dear, when the moon is fat.

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Alberto Cerriteño

I have discovered so many new artists since writing my previous post, Terrible Yellow Eyes, and one illustrator in particular really caught my eye. Alberto Cerriteño.  His artwork is so vibrant and colourful, I can’t help but smile at his often humorous and completely wacky creations. From cute little critters and fun monsters to amusing animal and people portraits, Alberto injects such energy and liveliness into his work through rich textures and decorative patterns. His Mexican roots can clearly be seen with his artistic influences including alternative cartoons and pop surrealism.

Recuerdos by Alberto CerriteñoRecuerdos by Alberto Cerriteño

Alberto Cerriteño is currently working in Portland USA as an independent artist and his creative ideas are applied through many different mediums, from watercolour, pen and ink drawings and digital illustrations, through to paper work, packaging, installations and animation. An example of which I must include below for the short film to accompany Brian Vogan’s delightful children’s song That’s How A Pumpkin Grows.

I tend to be drawn towards illustration with a paper cut quality. I find coffee painted artwork and humorous designs appealing and I am often influenced by flat compositions loaded with texture. Alberto Cerriteño ticks all of those boxes for me so I am not surprised that I have suddenly gone ga-ga for his artwork. Take a look at his blog for instant gratification!

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Terrible Yellow Eyes

All good things must come to an end and unfortunately, this is true for the Terrible Yellow Eyes blog which was set up by artist Cory Godbey as a tribute to that much loved childrens book classic Where the Wild Things Are. This was one of my most favourite stories as a child and the facinating drawings and illustrations of the brilliant Maurice Sendak have imprinted themselves on my mind, recently awakened by the release of the film in the UK, December 2009.

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice SendakWhere the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Terrible Yellow Eyes is a collection of illustrations and artworks contributed by a number of extremely talented artists in honour of Maurice Sendak’s 80th birthday. The blog has been a great source of inspiration to me, through learning of new illustrators and immersing myself in their beautiful work, to the memories it has evoked in me of first discovering this enchanting book.

Terrible Yellow Eyes WebsiteTerrible Yellow Eyes as created by Cory Godbey

Where the Wild Things Are is a piece of genius. The plot is simple, yet spellbinding. The central character is Max, a young boy dressed in a wolf costume who one evening, is sent to bed by his mother for making mischief. In his room, his imagination creates a wild wood and vast sea in which he sails to the land of the Wild Things. Here Max is confronted with monsters with scary yellow looking eyes but he manages to conquer them by staring at them and not blinking. He is the made the King of All Wild Things and has a fabulous time cavorting with the beasts. Soon, however, he is homesick and returns to his bedroom to find his supper waiting for him, still hot!

Maurice Sendak at 80Maurice Sendak still wild at 80

I have just purchased an old 1963 hardback version of the book from Amazon to relight my Sendak fire. I hope one day to read this to my children and introduce to them the magic of this story and wonder of such imagination. This website features so many talented artists and awesome pieces of work, I am including some of my favourites here.

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The Mixed Media Art of Nagib Karsan

Nagib Karson is one of my favourite Artists at the moment. I have a great appreciation for his trademark mixed media style, which is a combination of paint and collage, using card, paper, magazines and print. The use of different texture overlayed with colour gives his work a wonderful depth and texture and I find myself wanting to touch and feel the paintings as well as enjoy them visually. I often lose myself in wondering where he got the each paper cutting from. What made him decide on that particular texture? Does the newspaper text mean anything and is it relavant to the picture or place itself?

Day Trippers, St IvesDay Trippers, St Ives ~ Mixed Media by Nagib Karsan

I haven’t found much information on the internet for Nagib Karsan. It seems he was born in Tanzania in 1955, and spent his childhood years in Africa and in boarding school in the UK. Nagim is said to have been inspired by the watercolours of Frank Webb and impressionism and influences can certainly be seen in his current works. Nagib currently resides in Surrey and is a member of the Dorking Group of Artists and the Guildford Art Society, amongst others. His works commonly depict harbour scenes, sea side towns and city scapes.

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How to make Paper Flowers Tutorial

Whilst browsing Etsy, one of my favourite websites for handmade inspiration, I stumbled upon this excellent tutorial for making elegant parchment flowers from the wonderful paper wizard, Jeffrey Rudell.

Pretty flowers and pretty simple to make. I am going to try crafting something similar, possibly using pastel blues, muted greens, creams and whites for a sea colour theme. I really do want fresh flowers and grasses for the wedding but as we have little budget for this and I really don’t want to use fabric flowers, I may consider paper flowers as part of the centerpieces instead.

Jeffrey Rudell Paper FlowersPicture via Craft Stylish DIY Wedding Blog Paper Flower Tutorial Page

There are numerous pictures of paper flowers on the internet. Here are a few of my favourites. Some are very life like and others more decorative. I am going to try experimenting with both, possibly using pattered paper for some. I have noticed that most of my favourites are from Martha Stewart Crafts but they don’t seem to be available anymore.

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