Etsy UK Brings A Little Magic To London

This weekend saw Etsy UK’s first ever wedding event in London – an interactive, vintage-themed weekend for those looking for creative ideas for their big day.

Held at Gallery Soho, the intimate setting boasted two floors of gorgeous fashion, stationery, jewellery, home furnishings and craft workshops. There was something for everyone, from Hollywood-siren oppulence in the form of a show-stopping, sequin-covered, gold, vintage gown to the endearing charm of handmade cushions, adorable wedding cake toppers and button-decorated, pastel-coloured bouquets.

For vintage lovers like myself, it was an intoxicating way to spend my Saturday morning, putting me in a joyful mood for the rest of the day.

The downstairs showed off a range of wears from Etsy sellers and there was a free hair consultation and styling session for any girl wanting to see which vintage look would be the most flattering at her pending nuptials. Like a magpie, I found myself drawn to the sparkly antique hair pins and rhinestone combs being used to create the beautiful styles. Art deco hair accessories are definitely the most impressive but, let’s face it, if it gleams and sparkles, you can’t go wrong!

The upper level of the gallery heaved with gushing future brides eager to try their hands at the craft workshops being offered by Parapluie Events. Armed with a fabulous free cocktail from St-Germain – a light, breezy concoction blending the French liqueur, Prosecco and club soda – I got to try my hand at making clay wedding favours and place settings as well as frilly, paper doily pom-poms to use as hanging decorations. The cackling heard from the photo booth provided by LookLook was testimony to how much fun was being had by all the guests.

The entire session was a blast and I walked away with not just a renewed love for vintage but also the uplifting sense of accomplishment; showing my creations to family and friends triggered a gush of compliments and admiration. Not bad for a mere £5 entry fee!

Parapluie Events are definitely worth booking for hen-dos and parties – get all your bridesmaids to help craft your wedding favours and you’re not only quids-in, you’ve also managed to involve your nearest and dearest to help create the most special day of your life!

Hopefully, Etsy UK will repeat the event next year, perhaps with a few tweaks to help drive more revenue sales. That said, everyone at the event received a fantastic goody bag – which included a special code for 15% off buys on Etsy. Given the wonderful stuff we saw on display, I imagine many will go on to use the generous discount. Etsy UK deserves to do well from this first foray into events – it was awesome fun and the quality of handmade and vintage goods on display were genuinely breathtaking.

To see more pictures and news from the event, social media users can search for #etsywed on Twitter or check out the Facebook page for EtsyUK.

New British Film Director Showcases First Movie

This one is for all the movie fans out there…

Check out my Q&A with up-and-coming film director Tyrone Samuels on http://www.projectskylinemovie.com

It’s great to see homegrown talent chasing their dreams, making movies and helping other rising stars, like actors, get some exposure.

Wedding Favours – Homemade Macarons

As much as I love vintage and antique wedding features, I do like the idea of making homemade Macarons to give out in pretty bags as wedding favours.

They’re really simple to make, taste great and, depending on the filling, can be made in advance without requiring refrigeration. They also bake really quickly and are a doddle to assemble. Lovely!

Can A Friendship Survive Without Trust?

They say “keep your friends close and your enemies closer”. Such is the world in which we live; a place where smiles mask hostility and people willingly hide behind a veneer to keep up the illusion of ‘friendship’.

Imagine someone you have been ‘friends’ with for over 5 years is suddenly revealed as someone to have routinely lied to you, made fun of you behind your back, used you for their own gain and took pleasure in repeatedly humiliating you? What would you do? Would you forgive, forget and give them a second chance? Would you secretly regard them as a ‘frenemy’ and resort to playing them at their own game by pretending to be friends? Or would you turn on your heel and walk away?

It’s a taxing dilemma. In our current society, many will veer towards keeping up appearances – say nothing and feign friendship. Others will feel outraged and hurt by the deception and unceremoniously  kick the culprit to the curb. But what of the rest? The compassionate folks who are willing to give the person another chance? Are they the weak or the strong ones? Walking away vs. trying to forgive – it’s one hell of a bitch fight for your conscience. Both options are draining and take a lot of resolve and inner strength.

What would you do? And what do you think of those who would do the opposite?

The Maze

Beckoned eventually by absolute loneliness. A life will extinguish without a last flicker of fight. Surrounded by shadows, possessions and emptiness, look back on a life steered by a hand that squeezed too tight. Every pathway hid not a door but a wall. The desired opening most impenetrable of all. Fists banged and punched until they bled. Legs kicked with an anger that burned a scorching red. Now gone forever as a body lays still, cold to the touch if there was someone to feel it. Passing on from this life with no legacy in place. A lifeless seed, a hope gone to waste. What joy can there be if we never bear fruit? What use is living when living is the end? Where was the path with a different route, instead of the maze that had a wall at every bend?

Who Am I?

In the greater scheme of things, I am a nobody. I’m not powerful, popular, famous, celebrated, accomplished, successful, gifted, a role model, icon, spokesperson, mother, teacher, life saver or the holder of any other status that holds mass market appeal or admiration. I am, by comparison to most definitions, an insignificant nobody. I exist on the fringes of acceptability. I matter only to those that selflessly love me despite my lack of recognisable achievement. That, I feel, is an achievement in itself. It’s a testament to the kindness of others in a world where the ‘ordinary’ are often ignored, the ‘average’ are treated as examples of what not to be and the ‘different’ are regarded with suspicion – until they become YouTube hits. After that, they’re either described as ‘amazing’ or ‘freaks’ depending on media and celebrity judgements. It’s a weird world.

I like being me. My invisibility is actually a superpower; there is nothing I cannot do because there is no-one looking long enough to judge or condemn me. I get love from family, which I return in spades. I get encouragement from friends, who accept me as I am… ordinary. I offer these people nothing incredible or coveted. I give them, instead, something unique. I give them me – all 100% insignificant, un-inspiring, un-employed, un-attractive me. And yet they love and like me.

Next time you say you don’t believe in miracles, just look in the mirror. Then ask yourself, is there someone that loves and likes you just for being who you are? I think this may be the biggest miracle of all. There is always someone there to accept us. Even if we don’t always understand why.

Love Lost

Love rises like a sun to give warmth and light,
Feelings start to grow like delicate flowers,
Colours are vivid and unnaturally bright,
In a body so charged with amazing superpowers.
Eyes dance and glow like firefly swarms,
Cheeks ache from smiling for hours unbroken,
Every beat of your heart miraculously warms,
Ailments are cured with words unspoken,
Love is a wonder more devastating than war,
The most dangerous risk offering the biggest reward,
There isn’t a moment you don’t hanker for more,
For time spent in love before your heart was cruelly broken.

Are you a Builder?

Life is a wonder to destroy or build;
Its beauty and shape for all to admire.
In this endeavour we don’t have to be skilled;
All we need is will and a burning desire.
Ignore the urge to cower and bow;
Our job is to build, that is our calling.
There’s no need to train or try to learn how;
The skills are ingrained so we need to stop stalling.
Procrastination, self-doubt and pity,
Tear down walls of our own clumsy making,
Emotions are wrecking balls in a world aready gritty;
A devastating ruin so vast and deflating.
Tools lay discarded, paralysed by rust,
Yet Utopia’s a paradise so easily erected;
When we look into our soul and find self-trust;
Faith and belief are the gateways selected;
Brave the path, it’s your world your shaping;
Temples, roads and neighbourhoods in a personal map;
The world at your feet is now so engaging;
Because life is our own – the world rests in our lap.

Beautiful Grief

I had to attend a funeral today, held in a very old Orthodox church. As the mourners piled in, I found my grief numbed slightly by the beauty of the church. It made me more conscious of the beauty of life. All life. Especially mine. I wondered what I would hope for if I lived long enough to see death coming. Would I make it to old age, where the whisper of the wind becomes a faint calling from the other side; every passing Winter is a warning, every Summer a blessing, every Fall an omen and every Spring a re-birth of the will to live longer to see it all again.

The 94 year old great grandma being buried today was a lucky woman… She made it far longer than most and leaves behind a joyous legacy. Even in me for, as I sat there in the beauty of the church, grieving her passing, I found a will to live my life not for the better but for the moment – the here and now. My life, my present, my here and now, is blessed and beautiful. I just never saw it before. Thank you great Grandma and God bless you for eternity.

Happiness

The colours of happiness will never appear without a border;
The darkness of sorrow, without which we’d know not joy.
Elation, it seems, is like an obsessive hoarder;
It hangs on to the fragments of life like a child clutches a toy;
Memories shade every section of our lives;
Childhood to present are strokes of a brush;
Every new colour the result of how one strives;
Blocked out with black to symbol death’s eternal hush.
Before the blackout comes a swathe of light;
See colours dance on a canvas of our making,
The dark border is there but rarely captured by sight;
Look at the edges for inner awakening;
We are framed by the dark to make more vibrant the bright.