Blue Button

Afternoon all! Thanks to Tanya at Blue Button
http://bbluebutton.blogspot.com/2010/03/folksy-friday-weddings.html

She has kindly done a nice little post on her blog featuring Silver Sixpence in Her Shoe's products!

Check out Tanya's Folksy shop
http://www.folksy.com/shops/BlueButton

She makes really unusual and individual wedding bouquets for all you people out there who like something a bit different!

Have a nice weekend!

Folksy.com

I am really loving this whole craft route for promoting and selling my product as the things on the sites out there are so inspiring. I would recommend having a look at www.folksy.com and also please feel free to visit my shop on there

http://www.folksy.com/shops/Silversixpence

Us crafty people are going to take over the world you know!

I love these little bunnies on there, I bought one or my friends little girl the other day. They are so cute as Easter presents

http://www.folksy.com/shops/TheWarren

UK Handmade posting

I am yet again very excited today as UK Handmade have profiled me on their blog in a MEET...special- all publicity is good publicity or so people tell me!

Please feel free to have a look and let me know what you think!

http://ukhandmade.blogspot.com/2010/03/meet-nicola-wellard.html

My first beautiful bride!

I am excited today as I have been sent these lovely pictures of my 1st beautisul bride! She lives in Sydney and after a traditional Korean wedding in Seoul she then had another party in Sydney. I think her choice of fluffy fur stole with the feathers is perfect for a late winter wedding!

A frustrating week! But quite productive after all.....

I am slowly realising that running your own business doesn't just involve the nice bits like being your own boss and creating lovely unique pieces to sell! There are various nightmares that go with it. Mostly down to modern technology and also needing to be a whizz at just about everything! I am someone who loves product and creating things. However, I am going to have to become someone who knows how to market, use paypal, update websites, link facebook pages/blogs and various selling sites together...blah blah blah! I guess if I was a child of the technological era it would all be in my blood but sadly I was born in 1978 and it all has to be learned!

Not that I would change it at all. It's a challenge and is exciting to be doing all this myself (with just a little bit of help from friends in the know, I hope...any offers readily accepted!) I think you could say this blog is going to become a little bit a like therapy for me. A place where I can vent my frustrations at taking time to understand it all! Maybe it is destined to become a blog about starting your own business!

It's been an exciting week though and I have found out lots of new things. I already posted that I was now available to buy online at http://www.fashionexchange.co.uk/boutique/fashion/silver_sixpence_in_her_shoe/ but not to be one to miss a marketing opportunity I will just mention that one again! I am planning to get onto Etsy.com and Folksy.com next week too.

Being the handmade crafty geek that I am, whilst browsing I have found loads of fantastic craft forums and blogs out there for people like me. There is such a revival of things being British and handmade going on right now. Look on http://ukhandmade.ning.com/profile/NicolaWellard
Next week they are profiling me on their craft blog as a MEET..... type feature. I even had to do a mini interview! So I will post it up as soon as it is there. Really recommend this site too for any other fellow geeks out there.

Right, to do list for next week done and business cards arrived so I am raring to go and off to start the weekend (minus a glass of wine being pregnant and all that) Next week will be a creative one I promise!

Fashion Exchange

My products are now available to buy on a lovely website called Fashion Exchange

http://www.fashionexchange.co.uk/boutique/fashion/silver_sixpence_in_her_shoe

How exciting!

The Fabulous 50s- todays bridal style tip!

There is a huge trend towards the 1950's for bridalwear now. It has always been there bubbling under the surface but seems to becoming more mainstream now, rather than just for those alternative brides. I think it throws up lots of colour options for brides too that can otherwise be limiting. This is a real favourite look of mine and I tried to incorporate a little of it on my wedding day last year wearing little ladylike gloves, with a mini beehive hairdo and flicked cat like eyeliner and my lovely bridesmaid Helen wore a strapless 50s style taffeta dress with net petticoat and waist bow tie. The good thing about this look is it can be blended with other looks/themes too, for example it fits well with a vintage theme.

Here are a few favourite dresses I have found whilst browsing the net today on this theme

Candy Anthony specialises in these styles http://www.candyanthony.com/contact.htm and they are absolutely gorgeous!

In order from top left, Circa Brides, Eternity bride, David Fielden, Ian Stuart and Sara Treble

Accessories options really open up too with this look A short veil looks cute but with so many other options out there you can afford to experiment.....which you know I love to do! Below dress and bow detail coat by Stewart Prvin and oversized pink hairbow by Edwina Ibbotson.

Here are a few of my more retro, quirky pieces from the collection that work well with this 50s look.



From left to right- The Lola lace head-piece, the Rita birdcage veil headpiece and the Maddie bow hairband.



50s dresses tend to be shorter so shoe clips are a great idea with this look!

Prices on enquiry and on http://www.fashionexchange.co.uk/boutique/fashion/silver_sixpence_in_her_shoe

I am sure she won't mind me sharing this with you. My friend Becs rocked her 50s bride look at her wedding last year! It ws one of the best weddings I have been to and the theme extended into her village fete style bunting and retro ice cream van she hired! We even did welly wanging on the green opposite the venue. Brilliant fun!

Floral Fiesta

When doing my trend boards for my customer consultations I couldn't get away from how many flowers are around this season. It's kinda obvious isn't it, weddings and flowers but they are all
over the high street in general and things are looking very pretty and feminine in the shops. here are a few of my favourites I have seen while browsing the wedding sites, ranging from classic to ecclectic


Photos by Charlotte Balbier/Pronuptia and Stephanie Allin in order

Photography by unknown and Shelia Rock in order

So naturally my SS10 collection was heavily influenced by this idea- just a reminder below of some of my floral fiesta products that could be great for your wedding day!

Vintage look floral shoe clips

The Nicola headpiece- soft silk chiffon and pearl embellished flowers with a birdcage veil

The Daisy- silk chiffon, goose feather and seed pearl embellished mini comb

This was my first order of the season for a Korean bride! Just awaiting her photos opf the big day to upload. It was a silk chiffon and lace hair comb. Embellished with ostrich feathers and pearls- gorgeous!

I was also experimenting, thining how cool it would be as a really oversized wrist corsage




Please contact me direct for prices and any other enquiries

nicolacarroll@hotmail.co.uk

Autumn catwalk trends for brides to be

I may have moved from fashion to the bridal market but that doesn't mean I want to miss out on looking at the new shows! I have pulled out a few highlights that work well for brides to be. Not everyone wants a traditional wedding dress- I know I didn't. There are so many options out there now for brides such as vintage, custom made and designer. If you are confident enough and want something a bit different...why not go for it? There should be no rules.

Marchesa always do fabulous show stopping evening dresses. I love the ruffle effects in tulle here- almost feather like. I will definitely be doing some experimenting for new pieces along this line. I love the flashes of black too- very chic and cocktail party -esque. Would be my choice for sure!

If you are planning a summer wedding these maxi dresses have such a nice boho feel to them. Great mixed with crochet and lace accessories I think. FYI left is Temperly, centre is Philosophy and right is Dior

If glitz and glamour are still your thing there are tonnes of designer dresses that still offer something different. I particularly love the Colette Dinnegan on the right- very on trend with the tulle and assymetric shoulder but still daring. left is Oscar De La Renta, centre Jason Wu and right Colette Dinnegan.



I think the Lydia large flower comb from my SS10 collection which incorporates crystals and lurex lace is a perfect match for this sort of dramatic look

This Jason Wu babydoll above is so cutesy. I can imagine this looking great at an outdoors summer wedding. Something like my quirky Maddie silk and lace hairband would work well. If a flower bouquet looks too much with this style, a wrist corsage would look great

Carolina Herrera has used silk organza in a really dramatic way here

And finally I love the retro 60s look of these Valentinos- dare you get those legs out?