NEW Pantone Inspired Floral Combs

I am absolutely in LOVE with the new 2016 Pantone colors of the year! When they were announced, I knew I needed to create a couple new pieces inspired by this palette. So, I recently created some new floral combs to do just that.

These are not yet available in the shop but they will be at The Swoon Event next month and you can send me an email (lovesparklepretty@aol.com) until then to order!

Photo by Lauren Balingit

Rose Quartz Floral Comb

Serenity Floral Comb

Visit the shop to see more pretty pieces!

{Personal} SNEAK PEEK of my Secret Garden themed Baby Shower

This past weekend was my baby shower for our second little love, Lyla Rose whose expected arrival is just next month! Since finding out we are having a girl, I have been wanting to plan a secret garden themed baby shower with lots of flowers-so I did just that! With the help of my mom, mother in law, step-mother in law, aunt in law and my dear friend Crystal, the shower came together perfectly.

I am SO thankful for everyone who came to the shower as well as those who couldn't make it but still celebrated and showered our little lady with love.

I am still going through photos from this day and will post the full post by the end of the weekend but I wanted to share a little sneak peek of  the event because I just couldn't wait. ;)

The full post will be up by the end of the weekend!

Have a beautiful Thursday friends!

{Ethereal Woodland Bride} New Mini Bridal Collection

I've been working on new bridal pieces for the shop for quite some time now, on and off. I've had some ideas that I really wanted to create and be inspired upon but it has seemed like a little roller coaster to actually finish these pieces among lots of trial, error and creative blockades. That's the thing about coming up with a completely new collection-inspiration, above all, is KEY!

So far, I've completed a few pieces which will serve more as a "mini collection" rather than a full collection. None the less, I'm excited to bring new pieces to Love Sparkle Pretty and I'm so thankful to Kristen Booth for capturing these new adornments!

Here's a little peek at what's to come.

Poetry, the newest bridal crown created with white and ivory blossoms amongst pretty greenery. I will also be adding soft english net veils to the shop that pair perfectly with floral crowns as well as by themselves. Each are attached to two small beaded combs that make it easy for adornment.

Lina, a shear, dainty capelet with hand stitched rhinestones, beads and pearls gracing the neck, shoulders and back.

Alia, a stunning shoulder piece carefully created with rhinestones to grace the clavicles and take place of the traditional necklace. Working on a few more of these designs as well.

All of these pieces and a few more will be added in the shop by February for Pre-Orders. I will be taking maternity leave from March-May to welcome our second little baby so these pieces will ship once the shop has reopened.

Photography credit: Kristen Booth
Bridal Adornments: Love Sparkle Pretty
Dress: Simply Bridal

Recent Custom Pieces {Floral Crowns, Bridal Veils and Newborn CUTENESS}

Hello friends.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a beautiful holiday. I certainly did with my family! We were exhausted by the end of the day but I am so thankful for the love of our family around us! That's what truly matters most.

Now that the holidays are drawing to an end, I have quite a bit of catching up to do with sharing what's going on with the shop. I haven't shared any custom pieces recently so I figured I would start there. I get quite a bit of custom requests and I don't get around to sharing them very often so I compiled a few recent pieces for this post. 

enjoy

This custom floral crown was created for a bride getting married in April 2015 in beautiful Riviera Maya, Mexico. The bride wanted a piece similar to the Everly Crown but with more ivory/white hues and just a touch of peach/pink and sage green in her piece. She was so amazing to work with and I'm loving the way this crown turned out! So excited for her!

I know I shared this piece via social media a while back but I realized I never shared it on the blog! I created this custom crown and english net veil combo for a bride getting married this coming June. This is definitely one of my favorite custom pieces I've created yet! For the crown, I hand beaded and wired the front of it with rose gold wire with an assortment of shades of gold, bronze and pearl beads and rhinestones. For the back of it, I used ivory hues with pops of blush pink blossoms.

The soft english net veil was created at fingertip length with two beaded combs sewn to the top to match the crown. The veil can be worn with the crown during the ceremony and taken off afterwards for the reception.

Seriously in love with this combo! Thinking about adding it to the shop this coming year.

Back in October, the sweetest bride got married to her prince charming. I was contacted by one of my best friends to create this piece for her dear friend, Jess. I was so happy to create this custom piece for her fall wedding. Jess seriously made one gorgeous bride!! 

I wish you and Eric the very best and may the Lord bless your marriage immensely! 

Camarie Photography

Camarie Photography

Camarie Photography

This crown was recently made for a bride getting married in New Zealand this coming February. I used shades of white, peach and sage green with a bit of babys breath for this design. Can't wait to see photos of this piece on the bride!

I created this patriotic crown a while back for a birthday of a sweet customer and I realized I never shared this one! She wanted a piece similar to the Amelia Crown design but in shades of red, white and blue. Loved the way it turned out!

I also recently created a couple newborn crowns. I never thought I'd see such tiny flowers halos!! SO CUTE!!

This newborn crown was created for a sweet little girl, Kennadie. I created a matching one for her big sister a couple weeks prior for her 4th birthday so of course, her little sister needed a matching one!

This newborn floral crown was created for a precious little love to match her momma's crown that I made for her maternity photo shoot (the Harlow Crown). They now have mommy and me crowns!

Wildflower Mama Photography

Wildflower Mama Photography

 I also made this pretty lace bow headband for her little lady, just because. Gah! She is so adorable!

Wildflower Mama Photography

If you'd like a custom piece, please send your requests to lovesparklepretty@aol.com or visit the shop and send a convo. I'd love to work with you!

See a few other custom pieces posts here.

Shop posts coming soon:
New business cards, FINALLY and maternity leave

The Shop has REOPENED + New Logo + Blog/Website Design

The shop has REOPENED! 

Since Monday morning, I've reopened the Etsy Shop after a month and a half long shop vacay. During this time, I was catching up on orders, reevaluating plans and creating new ones, making a few design changes and resting while spending much needed time with my family.

You can read about a few things I've reflected on and learned here and here in previous posts.

I've also been making some new design changes to the website and blog (logo, headers, colors, etc). As far as navigation goes, I'm trying to make it easier to look through different blog posts by subject-since I'm a momma, wife, shop owner, creative, etc....I share quite a bit of different topics so you can now go through my TABS at the top and see different drop down menus to browse by. I'm still categorizing posts but many of them are complete so you can ponder and read away! Let me know what you think too and if it's pretty accessible.

I hope you adore the new look as much as I do, I wanted a clean, elegant yet clean looking logo and space to share my little world. Now, it's time to create new labels, tags and business cards! 

Photography Credit: Kristen Booth

Floral Crown: The 'Charlotte' by Love Sparkle Pretty

Floral Adornment: The 'Julia' by Love Sparkle Pretty

Model: Julie Story She's an amazing graphic designer for photographers!

DIY: At Home Steamed Lavender Facial

If I were to guess was heaven smelled like, I think it would smell of Lavender-the most relaxing, therapeutic and enchanting aroma I've ever encountered. Needless to say, it is my favorite scent that takes me to childhood memories where stress and worries didn't exist.

Yesterday, I visted my grandmother for a bit and before leaving, she snipped handfuls of fresh Lavender from her garden for me to take home. I love to have bundles of it throughout our humble abode where you can catch a lingering scent from any room in the house. I also like to use it in my weekly steamed facials to unwind from a busy schedule.

Here's what I do to create a quick and relaxing steamed facial right at home.

I use a 3-qt saucepan (large enough for the round of my face), place about 4 cups of warm water in the saucepan along with about 6 sprigs of fresh or dried Lavender (I've also used rose petals). Heat the water and Lavender to a simmer-just until you can see steam coming from the pan. Do not let it boil. Once you can see steam, turn off the heat.

Place a CLEAN face carefully about 6" away from the rim over the pan. Remember that the pan is HOT so do not touch it by any means. Use a small towel to drape over your head and around the pan to trap the steam inside. If the steam is too hot, drift further away from the pan until it feels right. Let the steam embrace your skin for about 10 minutes (you may need to take a little break in between if the steam is too much at once). During this time, the steam will open your pores and cleanse your face of impurities and the scent of the Lavender will relax you as you drown out the days to-do list.

Once you are done, cleanse your face with your usual face wash and add just a bit of baking soda (I use ~1 tsp. because I have sensitive skin) to act as a natural exfoliant.

Your skin will feel so soft afterwards and you will feel rejuvinated! Remember to drink planty of water as well throughout the day.

How do you unwind at the end of the day?

Happy Earth Day! Bringing the outdoors inside today...

Happy Earth Day!

I went outside this morning with my son and picked some pretty garden roses that just bloomed right by our front door. He helped me put this little arrangement together so we could bring a bit of outdoors inside today.

I think we will do some relaxing on this windy and chilly day. Hot tea, vanilla candles, fun songs and yummy Annie's Mac n' Cheese...

Have a beautiful Tuesday my friends! 

How will you spend today?

{Creative Tea Time} Peek at Floral Crown Giveaway

It's been a whirlwind of craziness lately! I've been so busy in and outside of the craft room. I'm certainly not complaining though because it's all been really good. I've had meetings with brides for coordinating their 2014 weddings, cranking out floral crowns for the new line and the photo shoot this Friday (received 60+ model applicants in one day!!), birthday celebrations, family reunion, house work, yard work, running around with baby love, working on shop orders and everything in between.

Today though, I'm giving you a preview of some giveaway pretties I just shipped out for Creative Tea Time next weekend. Remember that uber pretty and super fun craft event I attended back in September? Well, I'm going back for round 2 this Saturday! So excited to sip tea, eat YUMMY food and work on some fun crafts with inspiring ladies once again!

This is my contribution for another lovely day.

I created 2 floral crowns to giveaway (one for Saturday and one for Sunday) to 2 lucky ladies. I also finished a total of 71 business card sets with promo codes, glitter and lace.

Will you be there? If so, come and say hello! I'd love to meet you!

Sneak Peek of the Craft Studio

I have been working on organizing the new craft room since we've moved into our new home back in November. For the longest time, I had no motivation to create anything within the bare space and I know it was because the room was so uninspiring to me...yet I didn't want to organize or clean to fix the problem. Go figure right?

Well, as of a few days ago, I have been completely wrapped up in getting this room decorated, organized and 'encouraging'. I still have quite a bit of work to do but I'm pretty proud of it's progress.
Here's a little sneak peek of some details within my new craft studio.

Enjoy.

What's on the craft table...

I painted a closet door with chalkboard paint to fill with inspirational quotes and 2014 business goals.

The 'work desk'. Usually this space is full of papers, shipping labels, reminder post-its and new ideas.

As I organize this room, I feel the need to create. This gives me the most inspiration when I need it. Although I had surgery two days ago, I have been in this room at my craft table several times because I gravitate towards a clean slate that begs to become a creative mess. It's this longing in my DNA. It's just a part of me!
Where do you reside for your creative outlet?