One major celebration we skipped over this week was only one of New Orleans’ biggest parties they put on each year…..

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There are so many wonderful, colourful traditional elements to Mardi Gras!!

1. Beads, beads and more beads!! The more beads the better!

2. Masks are traditionally only worn by the entertainers on the floats but it has now been commonly embraced by everyone. These bird masks are incredible, yet kind ofcreepy.

3. It’s all about location. Mardi Gras was originated and is held in New Orleans but it is celebrated throughout the world! Just another reason to throw a great shindig!

4. One of the most intriguing part of Mardi Gras are the Costumes! They range from bright, shiny and sparkly to ball gowns and tuxedo’s to clowns and animals!

5. There are tons of traditional New Orleans dishes jambalaya being one of my faves. These cupcakes are decorated with a Mardi Gras pizzazz!

6. One day I would love to dance around holding a parasol on the streets of New Orleans with trumpets and trombones playing, while fireworks go off in the background!

All this talk of New Orleans, beads, costumes, masks and dancing make me want to watch one of my favourite movies, Divine Secrets of Ya Ya Sisterhood!!

Did you you throw a Mardi Gras party this year?

Hope you all have an amazing weekend!

YA YA!

-Robin

We know Valentine’s Day is over, but we couldn’t help sharing this wedding, from Green Wedding Shoes, with you.

First of all, the wedding took place at the Smog Shoppe in LA - the absolute best venue there is, in my opinion!

Second, the details are just so perfect!

See for yourself….

See the little peak of the bride’s shoes? Red hearts!

The colours in this bouquet are just gorgeous! And I love that ribbon!

A big reason why I love the Smog Shoppe - the greenery!

Love the heart balloons and that pink and red bridesmaid dress!

Okay, now, this is where it gets crazy! Look at the gold, sparkly tablecloth!

The gold with the pink and red totally works. And I love the mis-matched chairs.

Some more visual pretty!

One of my favourite parts of the wedding…the bride and groom had photos of all their guests in their Instagram account, so they turned them into cards with Prinstagram (my new favourite site) and wrote their names and table #s on them. Genius!

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And who doesn’t love a treats table with donuts!

Hope you enjoyed!

-Shannon

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Recently I have been visiting the Hermes site quite frequently. They have an amazing interactive section where you click on pictures, then toggle over it, and the most wonderful things happen! Below are just a few snippits of some favourites that I came across.

You must see this in motion!

These beautiful purses twirl and mesmerize you!

Shannon and I are loving any type of cording, braiding and tassels right now! Low and behold, so is Hermes. I have downloaded this as my screen saver.

Love the horse.

If you have a couple of minutes at some point take the time and visit their website. They also do a lovely feature on their creative artisst that contribute all of their wonderful designs and hand-crafted purses, jewelleries, scarves etc.

One of my favourite videos to watch was the feature on Maguelone. She is one of their young leather craftsman. The video depicts her journey in creating and designing bags. It is refreshing to see how much Hermes appreciates their staff and love to share with everyone their wonderful craftsmanship.

Hope you all enjoy this site as much as I do. If you get a chance to visit it let us know what you thought!

Happy hump day!

-Robin

Welcome back after a very nice long weekend!!

As I mentioned here, I am expecting a little baby in August

Since I found I was pregnant, my head has been swimming with ideas for the nursery! I have gone through a couple of different schemes, but have poo-pooed them days (or moments) later. I think I have finally come across something that I will not be wavering on. In fact, I think I’m going to order it today!

It’s a Happy New Year Dragon Mobile from Etsy seller, Jikits. It is the perfect mix of whimsy and fun and it’s not totally pink! I have been having issues of trying to think of gender-neutral room ideas because we aren’t finding out the sex, but it is hard!!

Yes, I know this mobile isn’t screaming “boy”, but I don’t really care about that stuff. Keaton had a bright pink dresser for the first two years of his life for crying out loud!

It also marks the baby’s birth into the Year of the Dragon, which I hear is very lucky!

So, what do you think? Too weird for you or perfectly cool?

-Shannon

Wow, we haven’t done one of these in a while, but we have pinning like crazy and have seen lots that we want to share!

This week, our post is dedicated to colour! You probably already know that we love colour (hello, look at our logo!), but we have just been really drawn to bright, saturated colours lately…maybe it’s the drab February weather.

Anywho, here is our bright and colourful moodboard:

1. Just saw this insane backdrop this morning on Green Wedding Shoes. The whole wedding is pretty spectacular, but that rolled-up paper backdrop takes my breath away! I wonder how long it took for the bride to make that….

2. Just a picture of some folded up blankets, but darn it’s a good picture - so much colour and texture!

3. I fell in love with this bouquet by Ella Bella Floral via Lovely Little Details. I need this in my house!

4. Have you ever heard of Antiquaria? Basically they source really pretty mis-matched, vintage plateware and create amazing place settings. These beauties are from the Chesterfield Collection.

5. I am so drawn to floral wallpaper, just like this one. Which is a problem because I have a gender-neutral nursery to decorate soon and all I can think of florals, gold, red and pink!

We have a long weekend here in Canada and it couldn’t come soon enough! I was definitely feeling the winter blahs and need a chill Monday at my home.

Robin and I have been crafting and planning this weekend to present our plan to our September bride, Michelle, on Saturday. Hope she likes it!

Happy weekend!!

What could be more enticing than sleeping under some comfy quilts, in a beautiful log cabin, waking up to a stunning scenery of trees and mountains away from all the hustle and bustle of the city. On top of all that eating fresh organic meals, taking creative workshops and doing yoga! HEAVEN!

The Makerie is a weekend getaway that does all of that!

Located in Chautauqua, Colorado, you couldn’t ask for a better location. It is absolutely breathtaking.

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Ali Dejohn is the founder of this dream getaway. She has a long history in event planning, marketing and print production but at some point of her life she decided to focus her attention on setting up a retreat where people of all different creative levels can come, relax, create and eat!

This retreat is amazing and offers so many different courses for you to choose from!!

Everything from crocheting, to letterpress to A-line dresses - choosing your courses could be tough!

Crocheteologie Class

Pretty Pressed Packaged Class

Lovely Letters Pressed Class

Lisette A-line Dress Class

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Unfortunately we can’t make it this year, but one day we will get there!! in the mean time Shannon and I are looking forward to Avril Loreti’s Tea Towel workshop being held at the Design Exchange in Toronto in March! Anyone signed up for any workshops lately?

Happy Hoopla Thursday everyone!

-Robin