A round up of the last few months at Silver headquarters

It's been a busy few months at Silver Sixpence in Her Shoe headquarters. The autumn has seen wedding fairs, a new collection launch, new stockists coming on board and a big expansion of our craft workshops. Ontop of that I have been meeting some fab new industry people, always a pleasure! So I thought I would do a little round up of what's been going on.



Sept and Oct was all about the fairs for me. I travelled to Harrogate and Chester for the Vintage wedding fairs. These are always great, full of demos and unusual treasures. For the first time I ran vintage headpiece workshops in Chester and this will be continuing into the 2012 fairs alongside exhibiting my bridal collection.



My new mirror- I love!







I loved meeting some of the brides to be and seeing their ideas on what they wanted to make for their own wedding day! And so organised too. One lady came and made her very own mini headpiece complete with orange polka dot theme tied in ( always something to suit everyone in all my jars and pots of haberdashery!) She wasn't getting married until 2014! I was never that together about my own wedding!

So I am looking forward to getting going on the consultations and bespoke pieces for the brides to be once 2012 kicks off!

In addition Silver Sixpence in Her Shoe parties and workshops have been going from strength to strength. We ran a mini headpiece class back in October - a new idea for thise who want to keep it simple. Then on 29th November the Xmas extravaganza vintage headpiece class was a roaring success at Airyfairy cupcake boutique. I was getting all sorts of excited emails in the run up- would I have things in red/purple/gold for a moulin rouge theme.... even a bride to be wanted to come and have a go at something for her wedding. I was joined by Rachael from The Social Butterfly. She runs a great events company and wanted to profile the classes. I will be running workshops at their White Memoirs Vintage wedding Fair in Stockport townhall in february 2012.

Thanks Rachael for supplying me with the pics below and writing a lovely blog piece about it all.












2012 is getting really booked up with excited groups of hens wanting to make their own headpieces to wear to the wedding and a range of classes will be on offer soon. A lovely way to pass a dreary Jan/Feb evening as lets face it, it's a miserable time of year!

In other news I have started to get a wee bit of press which is super exciting for me! You and Your Wedding and Perfect Wedding mag both ran features on my product/brides and I took the plunge and took out an advertorial in the fabulous Brides magazine

I chose this fab picture taken by the talented and very lovely Katy Lunsford to feature in the ad as I felt it captured the essence of the new collection and Silver Sixpence in Her Shoe's handwriting perfectly. More on her amazing shoot in my next post but I owe this lady a debt of gratitude for her skills!







So onto 2012, there will be lots of new things going on here at Silver Sixpence headquarters in the coming months so watch this space!

Holly, just in time for Xmas!

Ah, such a massively overdue post tonight. I don't even like to think when I last updated the blog, it's shameful. However on the plus side I have been very busy- full update post coming soon.....don't quote me. So that is my excuse.

The lovely bride featured tonight is Holly from Sheffield. She has kindly sent me some of her gorgeous wedding day pics to blog. I first met Holly back in February this year at my very first day back at work post baby, and my very first wedding fair! The Vintage Wedding Fair in Harrogate to be precise. Loving the idea of a birdcage veil and all sorted with her stunning Justin Alexander dress we made a plan to meet post fair for a consultation. One Saturday morning later, Holly decided on her veil for the day ceremony and the Daisy flower comb for her evening do. She also wanted a bespoke garter to match her vintage lace with a tiny hint of sparkle theme. Off I went to source her fabric. Holly's dress was a lovely ivory silk dupion so I sourced to match. 6 weeks later the result was a silk dupion and vintage lace flower headpiece with a birdcage veil with just a hint of sparkle.

Doesn't she look stunning? A bit of a 40's starlet I think! I love the picture her with her mum, it is so natural! It is also the first time a bride has been brave enough to send me a picture of her actually wearing her garter. I have been dying for one so thank you!

The pictures are just lovely Holly thanks so much for sending them and for your kind words about the pieces. I wish you all the luck in the world as a married lady!
















Holly's modern yet vintage inspired look fitted perfectly with my brand ethos. I was so inspired I created the Holly veil below- a version of Holly's headpiece only larger for the 2012 accessories collection- just launched yesterday on the fabulous Love My Dress.




If you would like to achieve Holly's look I have a number of birdcage veils within the range and also work on a bespoke basis with brides



The Daisy flower comb- Holly's choice for her evening do




Holly's garter was created as a bespoke piece for her but if you would like something similar the Allegra ( above) is perfect!

Thank you again to Holly

Nicola
x

The Importance of garters and a 15% off treat

I wanted to share with you a bit about wedding garters tonight, so often the forgotten last minute accessory for a bride. I often get a look of panic from a bride when I ask has she thought about a garter yet. And still they remain the best selling item for me as lets face it ladies, tradition is important to us on our wedding day no matter how modern we may be.

The origins of the garter are fairly bawdy. Traditionally the bride wore this and it was removed by her groom as a symbol of her lost virginity on the wedding day. It was tossed to the male members of the wedding party to bring them good luck. A bit like the tossing of the bouquet tradition. Anyone remember the horrid scenes at Brittany Spears wedding when Kevin Federline removed her garter with his teeth??!!




I like to think that my brides prefer to keep it a little classier- like Hatty pictured below in her gorgeous Claire Pettibone dress and alongside her bespoke garter I made to match.



So on Sunday 18th SeptemberI will be at the Vintage Wedding Fair in Harrogate and I am offering all you lovely brides to be who visit me 15% off my handmade garters all day. I will be in room 2, pretty much as you come through the doors so pop in and say hello. Do bring cash please as we are unable to offer card transactions that day sadly.

I will be unveiling the brand new collection on Sunday but here are re a few treats from last season to wet your appetitie.



The above collection exclusive to the White Closet. West Didsbury, and displayed in their lovely windows








The Sian Silk- oyster silk taffeta with vintage lace trim, grosgrain ribbon and pearls.




The Lucy May- Satin ribbon and gold vintage lace with a cute covered button and bow trim




The Evelyn garter above is available to buy the the wonderful White Room in Sheffield's georgian quarter. It is a great style for your ladies with slimmer fit dresses.

Garters make lovely mother-daughter and bridesmaid-bride presents and are an easy way to incorporate your something blue. My sizes are standard but if you prefer I can make to measure a special bespoke piece for you. Remember they are all one off unique pieces anyway!

Looking forward to meeting you all on Sunday!

A yummy afternoon

Just a quick post tonight about a lovely surprise occurence today. Whilst spending a bit of time tweeting at lunch, the wonderful Dish Ran Away with the Spoon were offering a box of their new recipe cakes for autumn to the 1st 8 people who tweeted back. I jumped on that, never one to pass up cake. So later that afternoon armed with 2 friends and 3 babies we descended on the shop for tea and cake. In between ensuring out little ones didn't completely wreck the gorgeous shop ( I must say the lady in charge was very very tolerant of it all!) We managed to sample a lovely Blackberry muffin and an Apple and custard muffin (my fave) I still have the 2 delightful looking slices above at home to sample. I think one is choc and mint and the other is a spicy honey buttercream cake. Hubby is off out, what is the bets when he returns there will be nothing left!! I can confirm the cupcakes were delicious!

On a more serious note I do know the owner Anna Gill and in fact work with her so I feel bad that I won the cake! Anna does wonderful afternoon teas and I work with her on my private and hen parties in the northwest. Along with Sharon from For the Love of Vintage, who provides the full vintage crockery tea set, Anna can whip up an amazing spread to compliment your afternoon of vintage fascinator crafting avec moi. My pics above hardly do her cakes justice so here are a few more professional shots!



We are already getting 2012 bookings so get in there quick you brides to be. If you want to know more about what we can do for you please feel free to visit me at my upcoming wedding fairs for or take a look at the website.

Cake is calling me...shhhhhhhhh

We continue to fascinate with the fairies this Autumn

Afternoon all, a post about my new class schedule today. I have been spending a little time streamlining the classes of late based on all your lovely feedback forms you have so kindly filled in for me! So here is what I will be up to in the next few months

I am continuing to work with the wonderful Airyfairy cupcake boutique and be a part of their programme of classes at The Classroom on School Lane. There are so many to choose from so do have a look at their website. My vintage accessories based classes are scheduled in as follows

7pm Wednesday 12th Oct - Marvellous Mini Vintage Headresses
A 1 hour 30 mins class where we learn some basic sewing skills and ways to embellish a mini fascinator base/comb to create something kitsch, cute and unique.
£20 inclusive of all materials and your finished piece.
This is a perfect introduction into how to make headresses and is great for the not so confident or never sewn before kinda gal. Look at what you could take home with you!





7pm Wednesday 2nd November- Shouting about Shoe Clips
A new 1 hour and 30 min class where we use vintage clip on earings to make unique updates for those plain ballet flats you are sick of the sight of!
£20 inclusive of all materials and your finished shoe clips
Shoe clips were really popular in the 50s and 60s, favourite eras of mine when ladies where so elegant. Used to embellish and update plain shoes. No need for a new pair for this year's Xmas party girls- just update with shoe clips! Take a peek at some of my bridal shoe clips below for inspiration of what you could make at the workshop. You are very welcome to bring your own earings to use if that is what you would prefer.






7pm Tuesday 29th November- Fabulous Full On Vintage Headpieces
A 2 hour 30 min class just in time for the Xmas party season. This would make a brilliant girly Xmas present or party activity too for the Xmas period. We go more in depth in this class into how to fabric cover your fascinator bases, make birdcage veils and use millinery finishing techniques in addition to using fabulous feathers and sparkly buttons and trimmings
£35 inclusive of all materials and your finished pieces

All the classes include all threads, needles, scissors and fabric glue and we have loads of fun trying things on, looking in the mirror and posing retro style! Tea and yummy cake is available from the Airyfairies at the start of the class. Please enquire if you would like me to run a private party for you at the Airyfairy boutique- I can do so alongside their afternoon tea service. Great Xmas party idea!

Talking of parties, I am already getting bookings for March 2012 Hen parties! Take a look at my webpage here for details on this and how to book.

Putting faces to names at the Love My Dress Soiree

Wednesday night was a real treat for me...a rare night out at the hotly anticipated Love My Dress Soiree. Iwas so excited to not be at home in my joggers chasing after an increasingly curious 1 year old or working ( again in my joggers!) on my sewing machine/going squared eyed on the computer. Working for yourself doesn't offer too much time out! That said I was nervous to be going to this event quite blindly, knowing only a handful of industry peeps that were going.

This really didn't matter in fact it was the whole point of the event, to get to know others and have fun in the process. The wonderful world of twitter meant I was offered a car share with the lovely Michelle from Pocketful of Dreams. I met Michelle a while ago when I was doing my very first wedding fair and was thrilled when she asked if she could blog about my little old brand. You can read one of her lovely posts here. She is a local northern girl but it would appear that neither me, her nor her friend have any idea about how to drive in the northwest area given we turned south onto the motorway and ended up nearly at Alton Towers- the party was in Newcastle in case you were wondering. The next 3 hours were a little white knuckle and reminiscent at points of a scary taxi ride I once took when travelling in India as Michelle hogged the fast lane in an attempt to get us there in time. I can see why, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do when a hairdressing appointment is involved!

Slightly shell shocked I dropped some headpieces off with Abbie from The Vintage Hen House. Abbie runs a fab vintage hen party directory website and had organised a vintage inspired shoot at a local retro venue just before the Soiree kicked off. I can't wait to see the pictures.

Turning up at Malmaison I met my roomates for the night Katy Lunsford a friend and one of the fabulous official photographers for the Soiree. Cat Hepple also a photgrapher and widely acknowledged as having the best outfit of the night and Hayley from the Harrogate Wedding Lounge with the best false eyelashes I have ever seen.

The best move of the night for me was spontaneously deciding to get my make professionally done especially given how hot and sticky the weather was. A big thanks to Leeanne Bennett for doing my make up you did exactly what I wanted and took a big weight off my mind!

I had decided on a 40s/50s look and found a sequinned and pleated dress in a fab vintage shop down in Kent. I of course made a matching 40s style embellished headpiece in a dusty pink. My fave bit of my outfit were my back seamed love motif tights from asos.com as were my shoes. A good excuse to buy a new pair!










Tottering in very high heels over the amazing Millenium bridge ( I have to add I thought Newcastle seemed like an awesome city as I have never been before) we arrived at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Arts and were given name tags and a glass of champers as the Soiree was kicking off. I loved how the more we drank, the more we approached each other with a good old point at our twitter name tags first. Putting faces to names was definitely the goal of the night. I just wished I had talked to more. There was so much to take in, burlesque dancers, great music, yummy cakes, the snaparazzi photo booth, beautiful vintage props adorning every corner of the room and loads and loads of amazing dresses. It is good to see us wedding peeps are such a glamourous lot! I am pleased to say I made it to the end of the night still in heels but caved in and the ballet flats went on for the walk back over the bridge at the end of the night. My journey back was with Katy Lunsford and a double bass- some things are never straight forward!

Thank you Annabel for organising such a brilliant and decadent party. Sure, it was a networking event but it really did feel like a party. I was having so much fun I hardly took any pictures- gutted. And I left my goodie bag behind. Double gutted.

There have been some great reports of the night you can read Annabel's own here. WE are awaiting the full report on friday apparently!through here. Hopefully they will offer a lilttle light-hearted relief from the horrible events that have been on the news of late


http://www.lovemydress.net/blog/2011/08/the-love-my-dress-summer-soiree-the-people-that-made-it-happen.html