Fab giveaway/competition!

Found a great little competition some of you might be interested in...


I sometime use punches for scrapbooking or if someone requests an emellishment and these make some very pretty little flowers!

Let me know if you are lucky enough to win!

Guest Contributor: Charmante Weddings

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we did a wedding fayre at The Frogmill Hotel last weekend, where we met the very charming Charmante Wedding Videographers. They kindly agreed to write an article for us to share, so without further ado I'll hand you over to Charmante...

The Charmante Story.

VibeTV, a family video production company, based in Swansea, South Wales, were asked to film a friends wedding.  A market that we never intended to go in to.  But an option we would always consider for a friend.  The friends wedding happened to land on the weekend of an ‘on location’ job, and therefore had to miss the day. 

However, as soon as we wrapped our shoot.  And the martini shot had been happily achieved, we headed straight to our friends wedding.  Another videographer had been hired to film the day, and so we thought as a gift we would take a more personal, upbeat short video, of friends and family within the evening.

The wedding was not a small affair.  From horse and carriage, to doves, singing waiters,  magician, chimney sweep and fireworks at midnight… they had it all.  And unfortunately we had  missed it all!  The pressure was already against us, with the razzle dazzle that had already been captured on film.

But with a little imagination, some beautifully crafted words from family and friends, good music choices, and wonderful editing.  We achieved the most watchable video.  We were assured by the bride and groom, that they used ours to show absent friends.  And this is where the adventure, of what is now known as Charmante weddings, began. 

We discovered, that a shorter account of the day was definitely beneficial.  A personal individual touch to the couple is highly important.  Comments, from friends and family, adds a huge emotional advantage to the film.  And providing a more artistic flare, to what is deemed as, the most important day of your life creates a more important influence on the beauty and magic captured.  Without realising it, we had created a Hollywood movie.

After discussing this concept at length within the VibeTV office.  A member of staff had a pre-arranged coffee meeting with a colleague and came back with an open invitation to film their wedding.  Game on!!  The only hold back was the groom didn’t want to be filmed, saying to our cameraman at the first meeting….”(excluding hello) If I see a camera at any point throughout today, my wedding will be ruined!”   ‘Charming’ (or ‘Chamante’, in European dispair! )  we thought!!    As the trauma and pressure ran through our veins, the rain started to pour!  Could we get a worst start?!  But like any true professionals, on with the job, venturing into the unknown of the wedding industry! 

And there we have it…  The Charmante story!!!

Charmante Web site

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/charmanteweddingvideos

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Charmanteweddin

Which reminds me... you can now follow us on Twitter @twolittlewordz 

A Wonderful Wedding Fayre!

We were working at the charming Frogmill Hotel last weekend and met some lovely people - couples, vendors and hotel staff.

I'd never visited the hotel before and was very impressed with the quality finish throughout and the staff all bent over backwards to make sure we had everything we needed! Lunch was beautiful and fresh, and the events manager, Carol, was easy to get along with and very efficient!

I'd be happy to recommend The Frogmill to anyone planning a wedding in the Cheltenham area.

Photo Courtesy of UK- Parties

This weekend we are hoping to appear at Hatherley Manor Hotel in Gloucester - another venue I've never visited!

Photo Coutesy of Hatherley Manor

They are offering couple's a chance to win a £3000 wedding, so if you live close enough it might be worth popping in and registering your details. Of course we'd love to meet you there too, so call to our table and say hello.

Another busy week ahead (or what's left of it) but watch out for our first post from a guest contributor Charmante - lovely ladies and great videography. As they say in the movies... Coming Soon!

Nikki

Where does the time go?

I can't believe it's been over a week since I last wrote! Things have been so busy, what with new designs and a tonne of samples going out this week on top of the orders we knew about! Mustn't grumble, as they say.

I really hope to get the web site updated tomorrow and write in a bit more detail about what I've been up to but for now I found another Martha Stewart paper flower that would make quite pretty table decorations. They could be scaled down and given as favours or used to decorate napkins - or even stationery (although they would have to be boxed invitations).

Follow the link to see the full instructions.

Martha Stewart Paper Peonies

Might have a go at these myself... if I ever get time!

Nikki x

Interesting centre piece?

I saw these on MarthaStewart.com and thought they might make an interesting centre piece for a summer wedding! You could make them up in your wedding colours and in various sizes and they'd cost pennies!

To see the full tutorial visit Martha Stewart site.

Nikki

Soap Sock Tutorial

As promised the first of our completely unrelated tutorials!

This soap sock is a neat way to make your soap stretch a little further while gently exfoliating your skin. You can knit them up in half an hour and use whatever yarn you have to hand. I'm told that felting wool is great because it actually shrinks with the soap as you use it, but my particular favourite is using string! Not the horrid nylon stuff but the old fashioned 100% cotton twine. It's a little strange, at first, knitting with something that has no 'give' whatsoever but it's a simple project so doesn't cause too many headaches!

First of you will need...

A ball of your chosen yarn (or string)
A pair of knitting needles - I use 8mm but play around to find what works best with your yarn.
A bar of soap - whatever you like best!
A pair of scissors and a cup of tea (all the best projects involve tea or wine and since I'm detoxing it's tea for me!)

Start by casting on in your preferred style. I've always gone for the 'Thumb' method myself! You'll need to cast on enough stitches to cover 3 sides of your soap - I have cast on 12 with this chunky string and 8mm needles. Just remember to cast on an even number of stitches.

Now this next stage could sound daunting if you've never tried double knitting but it's unbelievably simple and so quick to do you will be a pro in no time.

Knit your first stitch. Then slip your next stitch as if to purl - this means put your needle as if you are going to purl the stitch and then just slip it over. Carry on with knit one, slip one  until you reach the end of the row. You will always finish on a slipped stitch.

Once you have worked a few rows like this you will be able to feel 2 sides to your knitting and actually be able to separate them a little!

There is a great video explaining the method:

Turn your work around and repeat until your 'sock' is long enough to hold your bar of soap. Always start on a knit stitch and finish on a slip!

Once your sock is long enough you've reached the scary part! Leave a long tail - about 1.5 meters - and slip your work off your  needle. Yes, I said slip it right off without casting off.

Now gently prize your work open (like opening a bag of crisps!) and carefully thread your long tail through each of your stitches, starting with the last knitted stitch.

Be careful not to drop any stitches as you thread your tail through them!

Once you have caught every stitch on your tail you can turn it inside out, pop your bar of soap inside and pull the tail to tighten around the top of the bar.


Now the reason for the extra long tail...  We're going to make a handle to hang your soap from so it can dry out and not go all squishy between uses!

Make a slip knot in the yarn, as close to the sock as you can get it. Form a loop and tuck it into the noose. Make another loop and tuck it into the previous loop. Keep repeating. When the chain is long enough, lock it by passing the end through the final loop. See here for animated instructions.


Tie the loop to form a handle and you're done!


Please let us know what you think - it's my first tutorial - and feel free to ask questions or show us your finished soap socks!


Nikki x