Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Sally & Dominic - The Perfect English Wedding

Earlier this summer I had the pleasure of working with Sally & Dominic (actually, mostly Sally) on creating pinwheels for her perfect English wedding. When the original color palette was forwarded I must admit that I was a little concerned, but the more I began working to create these papers, the more I fell in love. How could one not? The color palette is just so fresh and fun! And I must admit that these are probably one of my favorite custom pinwheel creations ever! I did do some major sweating over the shipment of these fragile items all the way to England - I tend to worry about shipments arriving safely, and thankfully these did!
I was super ecstatic when I received a message from Sally (pictured above with her new hubby Dominic) earlier this October with links to her wedding and specific links to the pinwheels. Not only do I love seeing how my pinwheels are used, call me nosey, but after working for brides for such great lengths of time, I also love to see how all of their other wedding details. And of course, finally getting to put a face to a name is also nice. :)

Sally chose to use the pinwheels as place cards as well. I love her silver tins and it appears that the sand filler worked perfectly.

Pinwheels spin, spin, spinning away. Love it!

And also loving the building in the background. So reminiscent of the English countryside.

Thanks so much Sally for sharing your pinwheels and wedding day with me.
It was a wonderful pleasure working with you.
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Photos courtesy of Helen Maybanks Photography.





Sunday, October 25, 2009

Sarah & Kevin - Wedding Pinwheels Featured on Snippet & Ink

Earlier this spring, I had the pleasure of working with Sarah & Kevin to create custom pinwheel place cards for their end of May wedding. They are pictured above - aren't they the cutest? I'm referring to the couple, not my pinwheels, of course.

I worked with them to create custom papers in their color palette and personalized the upper right hand corner of their pinwheels with their names and wedding date. They had our place card flags hand lettered with their guests' names and table numbers and stuck them into containers of sand. I love this photo as it captures some of the pinwheels spinning in the wind.

And this shot, what can I say? Also very clever. It turns out that their wedding was really spectacular - enough so that it was featured on Snippet & Ink (one of my favorite blogs). Click here to see all of their fabulous details.
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Photos courtesy of Josef Isayo.
A special thanks to Sarah and Kevin for forwarding photos.
I hope you are enjoying being newlyweds. :)

Friday, October 23, 2009

Do-It-Yourselfer Creations - Carnival Themed Party

There is only one thing I like more than creating my own pinwheels and that is seeing photos of how others, who've purchased my DIY Pinwheel Assembly Guide and DIY Products, have used these items to make pinwheels for their very own parties.

While browsing the web recently I ran across a blog that featured the most fun and festive Carnival Themed Party utilizing pinwheels (my favorite just in case you didn't know)! As it turns out, the pinwheels were assembled by one of my former Australian clients, Prue of GiGi & LuLu. I couldn't wait to contact her and was thrilled when she graciously agreed to allow me to highlight her party on my blog and was even more overjoyed when she forwarded these photos. (I have the best customers!)

Aren't they gorgeous? And in this photo I'm actually talking about the cupcakes and not the pinwheels. You don't see cupcakes like these in the US - or at least not in Indianapolis. They just look so gourmet. :) My almost 17 week pregnant stomach, which craves everything food related these days, now wants one of these so badly. (At only 9:40 am, is is too early for dessert?)

Okay, mind off food, not only do I love the fun and festive papers she's used to create her pinwheel creations, I love every single little detail about her daughter's third birthday party. It's carnival themed perfection.

To view additional details of this party, just visit Pru's blog post here. Also be sure to stop by her blog and leave a comment for sharing her party details. I'm sure others in blog land will be borrowing her ideas for years to come. (I know I will when I throw a little party for my little bean, or beanette, in the future!)
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Thanks Prue! Thanks as well for all of the Australian customers you've sent my way.
Much appreciation ....

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Pinwheel Parties w/ a Girly Flair

Earlier this summer, I ran across the above pinwheel invites. Aren't they the cutest? I think I squealed in delight (outloud) as I'd been searching for fun, yet affordable pinwheel (or as I like to call them pinwhirls) invites for months. Prices are as low as $1.04 each (as of Oct. 2009) so they are quite the steal. They are available here at Tiny Prints.
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Within hours of finding the above I received an email from a client who referenced finding the cutest pinwheel invites - she loved them so much that she wanted her daughter's entire party to be pinwheel themed. Of course I found the pinwheels she loved to be the exact same pinwheel invites I'd found only hours earlier. And no, I am not even making this up! It's the complete truth. In fact, I loved the invites so much that I decided to design an entire paper line around them - and my client was able to debut this line at her daughter's party. (More on that below.)


In addition to the invites, Tiny Prints also offers matching pinwheel address labels. Now I usually don't 'do' address labels, but this one makes me want to tear the envelope open. Can't you almost tell from the outside of an envelope when the contents are going to be exciting?!

And these custom pinwheel gift tags; I can see these plastered on goody bags, water bottles, or favor boxes.


And just when you thought I was finished; I'm not. Coordinating pinwheel thank you cards are also available. Don't you just love it when you are able to carry through a theme with so little effort? I know I do!
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Speaking of carrying through a theme, as mentioned earlier, we've already created the perfect papers to coordinate with this pinwheel invite line.


Pinwheel Girl - Pink Stripe


Pinwheel Girl - Mini Dots


Pinwheel Girl - Green Stripes


Pinwheel Girl - Multi Thin Stripes


Pinwheel Girl - Thick Stripes


Pinwheel Girl - Large Dots


Pinwheel Girl - Diamonds


Above, and below, are just some of the samples of the assembled pinwheels. I think they are just too darling - these pinwhirls have just the perfect amount of girly flair.

Throughout the summer, I had at least 5 other clients mention the same exact invites so I was happy to create similar pinwheels using the above paper designs. I can mix and match a combination of the above papers to create the perfect pinwheels for your party.

Our personalized birthday party pinwheels are available in several sizes to meet all budgets.
Cupcake toppers on 4" handles begin at $2.00 each.
Small handheld pinwheels on 5" handles begin at $2.00 each.
Handheld pinwheels on 8" handles begin at $3.00 each.
Large Handheld pinwheels on 12" handles begin at $3.50 each.
Yard pinwheels on 16" handles begin at $5.75 each.
We are also able to make coordinating party hats, banners, and pennants to complete your personalized pinwheel party.
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To place a custom order, just drop me a line at shana@crossroadscottage.biz and I'll be sure to respond with a quote in a timely manner.
If you aren't quite in love with these paper designs, custom papers are our specialty. Just email me at shana@crossroadscottage.biz and we can begin working on custom papers and custom personalized pinwheels for you. And since all papers are printed in house this allows us much flexibility to match your needs perfectly.
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And many of you may be thinking, this is pinwheel birthday party is such a great idea, but I don't have a sweet little girl in my life. No problem, Tiny Prints also offers boy themed pinwheel invites. And although I haven't quite found the time to create coordinating boy themed pinwheel papers, if requested, I can certainly move these designs right up to the top of my priority list. :)Who knows, check back soon as I may even decide to surprise everyone with some designs!
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And for those of you who think that pinwheels are just for spring and summer days, so not true. There isn't a better way to celebrate than turning a gloomy/cold day outside into a perfect summer day inside. And you, and your guests, will be sure to thank you for bringing some of that summer sunshine into their lives, if only for a few hours. :)