♥ WEDDING WEDNESDAY - Bridesmaids ♥

Wedding Diary #4 - Bridesmaids

So everyone knows that you are getting married, all your closest girlfriends will be being extra nice to you hoping they may be one of the lucky ones to get picked to be a special part of your big day by being a bridesmaid.  How do you choose? How many bridesmaids should you have? Family? Friends?

Only you can answer these questions.  It is hard to choose as you don't want to hurt anyones' feelings.  One way is to ask friends to make a reading or be a witness instead.

When you have decided here are a few really cute ways of asking...

Bold, simple and to the point cards...

 Beautiful, with a personal touch and also a vintage keepsake.
You can buy this handkerchief from here

Love this idea, it's clever, fun and sooo pretty.
DIY guide here

Cute boxes full of goodies and info for the big day...

May have to copy this one as I will be 'Super obsessed' when the time comes 

 here is a 'lookbook' to give to your girlies including styles, colours etc.

A tiny bridesmaid invite inside this gorgeous charm ring

I will be featuring Bridesmaids dresses and gift ideas at a later date.

Homebird House

There is a fabulous new shop opened up in my hometown and I just had to tell you about it. It is called HOMEBIRD HOUSE and if you are familiar with Scarborough it is opposite the entrance to the Market on St. Helens square.

It's a home & body lifestyle store and stocks a wide range of products from window boxed cupcake bath bombs to really pretty lazercut cards, bunting, creative colour in wall paper.  You can get the perfect present for kids, mum, best friend or granny.

The shop is owned by a very friendly interior designer Alex Anderson.  It's a real breath of fresh air for Scarborough, as we are overun with tacky souvenir, charity and poundshops.

There is a great range of Christmas Decorations and gifts...

Love these frames...

...and these fellas...

...and LOOK they also stock my Rankidoodle cards and Teacup candles too!

For more info and pictures visit the website here and the facebook page here

★ INSTAGRAM FAVES ★

As you know I am completely addicted to instagram, if you are new to it and unsure who to follow I will be regularly sharing with you my favourite people to follow, here goes...

Sesame and Lilly grew from a little box of antique trinkets and

vintage french fabric, creating beautiful cushions,vintage journals and jewellery.

You can visit their website here

Sueshine is Mama to a brilliant & beautiful lil' gal who happens to be Autistic.

 Wife to a kind hearted & tech savvy man.

Dottie Angel is a big fan of 'Granny chic'.

She makes beautiful handstitched vintage inspired creations from the 

airstream trailer in her back garden, you can visit her blog here

Doodle_do is a collection of Collage Mashups/Visual Remixes

All created on the iphone, I'd love to learn how

Flashesofstyle is Bonnie Barton. 23 year old vintage lover.

Newly based in New York City and always finding beauty in everything.

You can visit her blog here

You can see some of my other fave instagrammers here

★ NEW TEACUP CANDLES IN MY SHOP ★

Please take a look at my New teacup candles in my Rankidoodle etsy shop.

I love vintage crockery and have been collecting these teacups for a while now from antique shops, charity shops, car boots and generous friends and relatives.  Eventually I got round to making something pretty and useful out of them, they would make great gifts for friends or relatives and for

£5 - £8 a bargain too!

             

I can also personalise them with names (see pic 4) or "Happy Birthday" etc.

For 20% discount on all Teacup candles type the code BLOGFRIEND at the shop checkout.

★ ETSY FRIDAY ★

#ZINES

Instead of featuring single shops each week on Etsy Friday I may also feature different product catagories or a particular trend or theme.

I am going to share with you my NEW obsession with ZINES!  A zine (pronounced "zeen") is a small circulation self published magazine usually reproduced via photocopier.  Zine content is very varied and can range from art and photography to fiction and poetry.  

As these zines are self published anything is possible!

Here are a few of my faves currently on sale on etsy...

A crafty collage zine from Kelly Zarb.

This little zine is jam packed full of great little crafty projects you can make including collaged gift tags, cards and much more.

A funny illustrated zine from willyoumarryme

A lovely vintage photography zine from paper boy press.  

This is a collection of 9 house fictions. It took over two years to write.

Beautifully illustrated travel zines from hello jenuine

Check out Small ghosts for lots of great zines including this book guide...

I fancy having a go at this zine making myself but what to do???

Here is a little fun video showing how to make your very own...

♥ WEDDING WEDNESDAY - Venue ♥

Wedding Diary #3 - VENUE

Soooo... you have been asked the big question Or asked the question yourself you have a beautiful new(or old) engagement ring and are now starting to make plans for the big day!!!  

I personally am not a big fan of the big, plain white marquees or big hotel weddings as I think they can all seem a bit samey and your memories blend into one.  So here are some more unusual and unique WEDDING VENUE ideas for that special day.

I recently went to a wonderful wedding in a Papa Kata bell tent which was amazing, so different and full of character!  Papa Kata specialise in hiring out Kåta tents for parties, weddings, festivals and events - teepee style tents pioneered by the Sami people of Lapland. They're utterly gorgeous, and make for a very different sort of party space than a run-of-the-mill marquee.

We hung bunting and fairy lights to decorate and there was a huge fire pit in the centre to keep everyone warm

How about an outdoors wedding with wonderful sea views?  I would love to get married at Scarborough Spa in the famous sun court (featured in the film "little voice")

Vicki & Matt Stephenson's summer 2011 wedding at The Spa was recently featured on the website lovemydress.net, please click here for a wonderful insight into the perfect wedding day at The Spa.

I have always dreamed of getting married in a castle!  Castle weddings are becoming more popular and there are plenty to choose from in England, Scotland and Wales.

Allerton Castle is a grand venue sure to to impress and inspire your guests, perfect for weddings, private parties and corporate events. Located on the outskirts of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, this magnificent 18th Century gothic castle is surrounded by 200 acres of breathtaking parkland and tranquil formal gardens and is the ancestral home of the Lord Mowbray, Segrave and Stourton.

Tullibole Castle in Scotland is a lovely, smaller wedding venue

These ideas are all very grand, if, like most of us you have less cash to splash these days how about hiring a local village/church hall/scout hut.  This gives you a blank canvas to decorate however you like at a fraction of the cost, here are some lovely examples...

OR how about a lovely barn wedding!  Slip your local farmer a few quid and give your wedding a real rustic country feel...

♥ WEDDING WEDNESDAY - Rings ♥

Wedding Diary #2 - RINGS

Soooo... you have been asked the big question Or asked the question yourself and hopefully have a lovely new, or vintage ring... or you maybe still have a ring to buy...

...here are some lovely vintage style engagement rings, ranging from very affordable to just a dream...

I just love the simplicity of this ring which looks almost handmade, it has a 1 carat, rose cut diamond and you can purchase from Sarah Perlis for $6,300 (just over £4,000)

Going a little more detailed now, this has a 0.12 carat diamond.  I love the delicateness of this ring from rust for £1995

I really like this unusual hexagonal setting for this half carat diamond from twist.  It has a hefty price tag of $7120 (£4554)

Here are some more lovely vintage style rings, unfortunately I can't find the original sources or prices for these images, but enjoy anyway...

Latest Instagram likes

Here are my latest Instagram likes.  Like them all LOVE some, comment and tell me your faves...

LOVE the butterflies (4), Deer (9) & camper (12)

LOVE the penguin books (1) & Bee pic (7)

LOVE Shelves (9) & Calender (13)

LOVE Anchor shed (2), fox (7) & stripes (12)

LOVE Cupcakes (8) & cake (14)

LOVE Lights (6), wire house (9) & Lemonade stand (12)

★ Etsy Friday ★

SignoraBonBon is my latest favourite etsy shop and is owned by
FRANCESCA CAPELLINI from Paris.  She writes on her profile page...

I'm a sweet girl looking for the poetry in life.
I love to walk in old things market on Saturday morning and find beautiful pictures,
I love brunch on sunday,
I love to cook bread in my kitchen,
I love to caress my cat while I work at the computer,
I love to read in the bed
I love to put parfumed oils on me
I love to smell the air in a summer night.


I enjoy to produce my personal creations with a particular attention on details.  There is nothing more important for me than entering in our souls and express our emotion through art and creativity.


I opened my etsy shop with the proposal to give some more sweetness to the life of people...

How cute are these collaged pictures?!  I love the colour palette and the mix of graphic retro style images with black and white photography.