An Interview with a Photographer and How I Started Love Sparkle Pretty

A couple months ago after visiting the Creative Live studio for a marketing class, I was contacted by sweet photographer and filmmaker, Sarah Shotts from Arkansas. I was so happy that she reached out to me about doing a little interview and becoming a Preferred Vendor on her website. Honestly, it's amazing how the internet can connect people in positive ways!

Below is just a peek of the interview. Read more about my story, what inspires me, what I love most about what I do and more right here.

How did you get started making floral crowns & bridal accessories? 

Back in 2009, my husband and I got engaged and once I started planning the wedding, I realized that I craved a creative outlet. From doing all of the floral design with my centerpieces, bouquets, corsages, etc. to creating coordinating flower hair clips for all of my bridesmaids as well as my veil, I fell in love with all of the different pieces you can create to bring a wedding together.

Once my husband and I got married in 2010, I kept creating flower clips for friends and family as a hobby and first opened up my Etsy shop with floral hair clips. During this time I was also attending school full time to become a nurse. Once I got accepted into nursing school, I had to completely leave my craft room to focus on my studies as well as our brand new little baby.
After several months, I realized that I intensely missed my creative outlet. After much prayer and support from my husband, I decided to leave nursing school to pursue my first passion and reopened my Etsy shop.

I started working with photographers which allowed me to expand and cultivate my design ideas. From these photo shoots, I was able to start re-branding and learning the path that I wanted Love Sparkle Pretty to take.

I found my niche in designing pieces that make romance dance in photos and bring special moments together. I love sending these pieces to others around the world that will adorn them on days they will never forget.

Hop on over to Sarah's blog, A Love Letter to Adventure to see the rest of the interview here.

Boho-Inspired Styled Contest with $30 up for Grabs!!!

Photo Credit: Kayla V Photography

Tara from Laila's Charming Pieces is hosting a styled contest that I am pretty excited about! Her crochet headband with wooden beads and guinnea feathers is up for styling with your favorite attire for a chance to WIN $30 credit to her shop! You can use this $$ towards one of her fringe cross body bags, a warm scarf for the fall or lots of other handmade accessories she has. 

Photo Credit: Kayla V Photography

Here are the deets:

1) Purchase this Crochet Tie-Back Headband from Laila's Charming Pieces (P.S. Get FREE shipping on this piece until Aug. 15)

2) Style this piece however you'd like that best describes YOU

3) Take some cute photos

4) Post your photo(s) via Instagram using the hashtag #styledcontest and tag @lailascharmingpieces

5) Take a yummy sip of fresh lemonade, put your feet up and relax patiently for the winner to be announced the first week of September!!

You can enter as many times as you'd like all month long by styling this pretty headband with your favorite wardrobe pieces!

Photo Credit: Kayla V Photography

Here's how I styled my boho-inspired headband:

Good Luck! Can't wait to see everyone's different styling ideas!

{For the BRIDES} NEW Indie Wedding Collection

Most of you may know, I am a wedding LOVER. I mean, I am a part-time wedding coordinator, creator of bridal adornments and I adore pretty details and romantic love stories. That said, I wanted to share a little treasure that I have found just for my brides and brides-to-be.

I know it can be a bit hectic running around and browsing so many different details for the big day-especially when it comes to your attire and the look of your bridal party. Graffiti Beach, a local So Cal boutique has just launched a new collection, "Indie Wedding" which is filled with gorgeous styles, textures, shapes and color palettes. Each dress is "vintage inspired for the modern woman" and "emphasizes classic, timeless charm with notes of feminine sophistication." Not only are these pieces perfect for a beautiful bridal party but they are all very affordable with prices ranging from $48-$84 each! You can shop in store or online for these looks as well.

I seriously wish this collection was available when I got married almost 4 years ago!

Here is just a little preview from the new collection now available at Graffiti Beach. See the full look book here.

Complete your look with a floral crown or headpiece from my new Victorian-inspired collection now available in the shop!

SHOP FROM GRAFFITI BEACH'S FULL CATALOG...book an appointment or call the store to place a special order 858-433-0950.

Photography: Krisnoff Padua / Model: Mia Maguire / Styling: Colleen Ordonio / Hair: Robyn Oakes / Makeup: Chelsea Conlkin / Florist: Hey Bud by Julia Long

What is your favorite dress in this collection? This would probably be mine.

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?

DIY 'CREATE' Glitter Banner

This year, I wanted to have a craft studio that inspired me. With a larger space, the creative possibilities are almost endless! 

The word, "create" seems to bring inspiration and I wanted to display it not only for myself but I wanted to share it with a couple of friends as well. So, as a part of a few Christmas gifts, I made some of these "create" banners to serve as reminders throughout this new year.

Here's what you'll need:

*6 pieces of cut (~4"x3") fabric. I used muslin.

*Elmer's white glue

*Hot glue

*Glitter

*A scratch piece of paper

*A pencil

*Lace &/or trim (or any other type of ribbon or twine you'd like to hang the letters from)

First, you will lay your cut pieces of fabric out and if you need to, trace your letters onto your fabric (one letter to each piece). Next, take your Elmer's glue or any other white school glue and trace one of your letters you wrote. *If you are confident in your handwriting, you probably don't have draw the letters first with pencil.

Next, pour your glitter carefully over the letter you just drew. Once it is covered, gently pat the excess glitter onto your scratch piece of paper. Set aside to dry.

After your first letter, write your next letter with the glue. You can use the excess glitter from your scratch paper to cover the rest of your letters by creating a small crease in the paper to let the glitter slide down easily. Use the glitter from your jar/tube when needed.

Also, you can use the tip of your pencil to smooth any edges that may be uneven from the glue.

Once all of your lettering is finished, set aside to dry for about 10 minutes or so.

If you are using lace fabric (like I have), you can cut a strip about 1" by 26"-30". Your letters will hang from this strip of lace. If you are using ribbon or trim, just cut it so the length measures about 26"-30".

When your letters are dry, you can now attach your letters to your trim/ribbon. Leave about 3"-4" on the end of your trim and start to glue the top of your letters to the trim about a .5" apart. You can use the white glue if you prefer but I find that hot glue works best for this because it dries much quicker.

If you are using lace fabric, you may see the glue show through so for my solution, I used another lace trim to attach to the top of each letter and folded over.

& your banner is done and ready to hang!

What's your word of 2014?

Have a beautiful New Year! 

A little home makeover

A few days ago, I went a little crazy with redecorating our home. Most of this creative rush was brought on by the Creative Tea Time event I went to this past weekend. While I was there, I made a few pieces that had to be showcased in our home so how. Thus, the small home makeover.

I created the "choose joy" wooden plank at CTT. It was a bit larger but the top piece of it had broken off which is why the letters don't look very centered. I still love it anyway!

The "my cup runneth over" print was in our swag bags donated by the ever so talented Rebecca of A Sweet Little Note.

I still have to paint the book shelf. Not sure what color yet...

This frame used to be black and have chalkboard painted glass inside. Well, the glass broke and I painted the frame the same color as our refurbished coffee table. I love it! I'm not too sure what I'm going to put inside the frame just yet. Antlers? The letter L? An old book?

I received the "Happy Days" banner from my friend Aurora of Unconventionally Vilchis. Cute right? Sorta matches the DIY home banner I recently posted.

These shelves used to be filled with modern teacups and random decor. I took all of that down and added the letters "EAT" which I spray painted gold, my succulent terrarium I made at CTT and added the cutest mason jars ever created by Beach Blues.

I'm thinking of adding a collection of vintage forks spoons and knives to each jar??

I also want to paint the shelves but since there is some black decor in the kitchen...I'm not too sure yet.

I took the large frame above our mantel (which used to be a bright teal frame) and painted it ivory with gold trim. I'm going to distress it a bit so you can see the details in this pretty frame a little bit better. I also painted the inside of the frame with chalkboard paint. Since my other chalkboard decor broke, I needed a new one.

I love the clean look of all of this. Makes me look forward to the cold months so I can light some candles (see the pumpkin spice one on the mantel?!) and cozy up on the couch with several knitted blankets!

I'm still in the middle of  repainting things and decorating which is a little strange, I think, since we should be moving soon (hopefully). I love the ambiance of a newly re-decorated home though. Makes the home feel refreshed. I think our bedroom will be next!

Have you re-decorated recently? Even just for the change of seasons?

A Beautiful Reminder

GOOD morning and HAPPY fall my friends!

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:14 

What are you most looking forward to this season?

Our Summer into Fall Mantel

Yesterday, I decorated a little bit differently to bring in some of the fall ambiance. I was given a really pretty floral arrangement from my mother as well as a gorgeous vase to go with it. The flowers though, didn't all fit in the vase so I recreated a few different arrangements for our mantel.
I realized how much I miss playing with flowers since I decided not to take the advanced floral class this semester. This brought me to a relaxing creative place and gives our home more of an "inviting" feel.
The mantel right night now has a summer into fall presence. As much as I'm hanging onto my warm summer days, I'm definitely awaiting fall's humble welcome.

{enjoy}

What are some of your favorite ways to decorate for fall season?

A Fall Inspired Tablescape

Last night, I dubbed myself a little crazy (you may have noticed on my Instagram). After not being able to turn my creative brain off, I decided to create a little fall inspired tablescape (at 11pm nonetheless) "just because."
I rounded up a few things I had around the house and put it all together to speed up fall's welcome. It is my favorite season and I am definitely looking forward to it's cooler weather, changing leaves and the pretty cardigans that arrive this time of year.
With airy florals, glass bottles, wood details and a bit of gold sparkle, this pretty set up is easy to recreate as an inviting touch to any home.

{enjoy}

At dusk, the glow of the candles are just heavenly. Makes me want to curl up in a cozy blanket and sip hot chocolate.

Awaiting Falls arrival...