New temple paintings in the shop!

I'm so excited to finally share what I've been working on! New temple paintings are up in the shop today!

The text is customizable with a family name or wedding date.

I'd love to take requests for favorite temples and paint as many different ones as I can!

Alternative Wedding Bouquets

As I've mentioned before, I'm pretty new to Instagram and I love it. Besides being fun because of all the pretty pictures, it's a great way to meet new people and find new things. I've long been obsessed with paper flowers and I'm planning on using them for my wedding. Through Instagram, I've found several paper florists (is that what they're called? is that a thing?) that I was previously unaware of. I also found another cool alternative to fresh flowers that even though I probably won't do, I'm super in awe of them. And well, I make alternative bouquets too, so I'll talk about myself a little (haha).

Like I said, I've been loving on paper flowers for awhile now, but I just recently found a few really good makers of them on IG. Probably my favorite is Margie Keates from The Lovely Ave. I've been Instagram stalking her for the last few weeks and she does some great work. I'd love to have some of her flowers at my wedding (if I haven't been too creepy of a stalker and she'll talk to me, that is).

From The Lovely Ave @thelovelyave on Instagram.

From @thelovelyave on Instagram.

Super pretty, huh? And check out her beautiful new website!

The other super talented maker of alternative bouquets that I've been in awe of lately, is Meghan LaCroix. She makes the most gorgeous, fresh-looking bouquets that I would never believe are actually dried and preserved.

From @MeghanLaCroix on Instagram

Brooch + silk bouquets for a yellow, black, and white wedding

I was looking through some of my old pictures for my Travel Tuesday post and found this, one of my first Fuzzy Rose bouquet orders. It was for brooch bouquets for a small budget wedding.  The bride wanted something as budget-friendly as possible in her wedding colors of black, white, and yellow.  I loved working within the fairly tight budget constraints to come up with something so cheerful and cute.  It's still one of my favorite orders that I've done!

I think I always get attached to orders that I work on for longer periods of time (like Michelle's bouquet!) and I definitely had an emotional attachment with this one! I spent so much time hunting for nice, low priced silk flowers and just the right brooches.

These pictures are really old... please excuse my pre-fancy camera pictures!

The big black buttons gave us a lot of bang for our few bucks!

The Nature of Handmade Consumerism

I was reading a post on a mommy blog the other day (because someone on FB had posted it, no kids here) about a woman who was trying to lavish her children with time and values instead of material possessions.  She listed off the "it" items that she would not be buying her children and one of them was "Etsy dress."  While her intentions are fantastic, it made me a little sad.  Despite the fact that Etsy has become saturated with mass produced crap lately, it's still a platform where lots of small businesses are hustling everyday, selling their handmade goods that they put their heart and soul into, and generally trying to make their dreams come true.  

'Tis the season for red and white

I absolutely cannot believe that January is almost over already.  We're only a few weeks away from Valentine's Day.  February just sort of radiates red and pink to me.  I've already posted some inspiration for a wedding in that palette.  Today, I've got a sneak peek for a wedding package I'm putting together for an Etsy customer.  She's planning a red and white courthouse wedding and I can't wait to see how everything turns out!  For now though, here's a little indicator of what's to come...

I love the polka dots and vintage flowers, they look so cheery with the red.  Can't wait to get the rest of the order done and on its way to her!

Check out my boutonnières and other handmade felt items at my shop, Fuzzy Rose!

Hope you're having a great week!

-Robin

Holiday Items in my Etsy Shop

I honestly can't believe the holidays are almost upon us already.  But that means it's time to roll out seasonal items in the shop!

First, Halloween!

Fall!

Lovely Summer by Celest on Etsy: Orange and Yellow Summer Wedding Treasury

I love featuring fun product treasuries from Etsy that I've been included in.  Today's featured treasury, Lovely Summer, comes from Celest on Etsy and features items perfect for a summer wedding in shades of orange and yellow.  Orange and yellow can seem dated, but it seems these colors are making comeback, according to Pantone, at least.

Check out the preview of this fun treasury below and visit the treasury page here for a bigger view and product links!

Alexandra + Ryan's Eco-Friendly Maryland Wedding

Despite the fact that I sell mostly boutonnières for men, most of my clients are brides. Ryan is actually one of the few grooms that have contacted me.... getting boutonnières was one of his only wedding responsibilities.  I was surprised when he messaged me a few months later to tell me that their awesome eco-friendly wedding had been featured on the DC-area blog, United With Love.  Even more to my surprise, United With Love has become the top referring site to my Etsy shop, with over 800 views!  

This green and blue wedding is cheerful and preppy with lots of Etsy-sourced items and eco-friendly elements, including composting and recycling as much as they could! The reception was held at a family friend's property and family and friends pitched in to DIY many parts of this wedding.  It looks like such a bright and happy labor of love!

All images by Jessica Schmitt Photography

SAY YES TO THE DRESS!!!

I've been wanting to write this post for awhile... I have the time now and I can't wait to share it.  So, as I've mentioned before, I'm a little obsessed with watching Say Yes to the Dress.  It's even worse now that we've got Netflix and I can watch it on a pretty constant loop.  So not too long ago, we were watching SYYTD and I noticed that the boutonnière on the groom looked crazy familiar. We backed it up (the wonders of Netflix) and looked again... yep, looked like mine.  I went and checked my records and sure enough, that was one of my orders. Craziest surprise ever!

Screen shot from TLC's Say Yes to the Dress

And more of a close up...

Screen shot from TLC's Say Yes to the Dress

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN... KATE + BRAD'S WEDDING

I've recently made some major life changes which will allow me more time to focus on my shop and my blog.  So to kick off this new beginning of sorts, I'm going back to were it all began: Kate and Brad's wedding!  When I first started my shop, I made mostly pincushions and other little things.  Then my college friend Kate approached me about making boutonnières for her wedding..... and now I've made bouts, bouquets, and other wedding-related items for dozens of weddings!

OUTDOOR WEDDING by KRISTY BULSON on ETSY

To me, the idea of an outdoor wedding, especially here in Florida's crazy climate, is pretty daunting.  Rain/hurricanes, bugs, sweltering heat, uneven ground... I could go on and on.  I do love the idea though of bringing the aesthetics of an outdoor wedding to an indoor wedding (or at least one more shielded from the elements).  I was recently featured in this "Outdoor Wedding" treasury on Etsy featuring some awesome items for an outdoor (or wanna-be outdoor) wedding....

Take a peak at the treasury on Etsy for prices and shop sources!

Hope you've had a good week!  It's been crazy for me, but we've gotten a lot done, thankfully!

Robin

NEW BOUQUET IN THE SHOP TODAY!

I've been working hard on this bouquet for the last two weeks or so and I'm super excited to have it finished and posted in the shop.  Getting this bouquet done and some photos taken of it were the last things I wanted to accomplish before I start getting together applications for some new advertising.  Here's hoping I can get accepted to a few good blogs!

Here are some pictures from our little mini-photo shoot this week...

New things are coming soon!

I've disappeared from the blog a bit the last two weeks, work and personal issues are big time suckers for me, like they are for most people, but I've also been hard at work on new things for my shop and the blog.  I've been working on this black rose for a customer, as well as putting together a new bouquet that will be debuting with another photo shoot next week!  

Also, I've been doing lots of research on the new trends for 2014 and I can't wait to get started on some new items in these colors, picked by Pantone for Spring 2014.  I already have items in something like hemlock and, of course, radiant orchid, but I love some of the others too, like the pretty Cayenne below!  I love these bright colors for spring... winter is almost over!

via The Perfect Palette

Thanks for looking... check back soon!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Happy Valentine's Day!  Hope you had a great day, whether it was a day with that special someone or Singles' Awareness Day!

Here are some fun items from my shop in the spirit of Valentine's Day :)

PHOTO SHOOT for Fuzzy Rose!

While the rest of the country has been frozen in a polar vortex (and Snow-mageddon happened in poor Atlanta), central Florida has escaped mostly unscathed.  Still though, the chilly rain is getting old and depressing.  Tuesday though, we had a break from the gloom and it was a beautiful, sunny, warm day.  It was the perfect day to run outside and get some photos before the sun hid again.  We're definitely still new at this and need to get a better camera, but I'm super happy with how the pictures came out, especially for our first try. 

MINT GREEN WITH GOLD by ELENA on ETSY

My last post was about a beautiful treasury that I'd been included in which featured items in plum and glitter gold.  This time it's another pretty gold combo that I love even more... mint green and gold!  Mint green and the variations all around it, particularly the aptly named Robin's Egg Blue, are really "my color(s)," so I'm loving that so many things these days are being made in that color.

On a somewhat related aside, I'm sure I will mention this again at some point, but love what you love, whether it's trendy or not.  A lot of people who aren't completely mainstream or "normal," (err... like me, I can often be found marching to the beat of my own drum... completely off rhythm, but I digress) often feel like they can't love something because it's trendy or super popular.  I know I've struggled with that a lot in the past, but you know what?  That just means that things you like are more readily available.... and it can be fun to accidentally be in fashion occasionally.  Being yourself means liking what you like, regardless of popularity.  So... I love me some mint green, even if it's ridiculously trendy right now.

Anyway, trendy mint green and gold are awesome....

GLITTER + PLUM by KARO on ETSY

I'm really digging this treasury on Etsy that I was featured in recently.  It combines the gold glitter that I've been loving on everything lately and the purple that's becoming more popular with the declaration of Radiant Orchid as the Color of the Year.  Really pretty.  This could be a really great color scheme for a wedding.  Shades of purple with some gold glitter thrown in for good measure, I like it!

UPDATE: radiant orchid in my shop

So, a week or so ago, I posted about all of the hype over Radiant Orchid, this year's Pantone Color of the Year.  While I had a few purple things in my shop that could be called that color, it was time for me to fully jump on the Radiant Orchid bandwagon and list some new products for 2014 that were most assuredly Radiant Orchid.

So here are some of my newest items for 2014!

Radiant Orchid boutonnière with peach button and flowers

Shades of Purple with Radiant Orchid boutonnière 

Radiant Orchid corsage with lace, flowers, and gold dots

Check it out in my shop!

BECKY AND STEVE'S RED + AQUA HANDMADE "DYXIELAND" WEDDING

When super creative Becky AKA Dyxie married Steve in Bossier City, Lousiana, it was clearly going to be colorful, fun, and handmade.  Add to that her signature color combo of red + aqua and you've got a sweet wedding that's both retro and modern.  I was super excited for one of my boutonnières to be her first wedding purchase.  Enough talk, her awesome pictures by Seattle photographer Jenny GG speak for themselves!

MICHELLE'S INTIMATE SOUTHERN CHIC SAVANNAH WEDDING

Confession: I love watching Say Yes to the Dress and its kooky spin-off Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta. On the Atlanta edition, I giggle to myself when brides come into the salon declaring that their theme is "Southern Chic"... but not really having a clear idea of what that means to them.  Their confused group runs around the salon holding up dresses asking if they're "Southern Chic" enough.  It usually ends in the bride tearfully saying that a sleek mermaid dress makes her feel "like Scarlett O'Hara" while her bewildered group cheers her on, relieved to finally figure out what "Southern Chic"means.

Michelle's wedding is the real deal though when it comes to Southern Chic, taking place against the historic, Spanish moss-draped background of Savannah.

All photos courtesy of the bride, photography by Maria Reed of Romeo Cowboy Photography, www.romeocowboyphotography.com/ 

When Michelle first contacted me about a brooch and flower bouquet in my shop, she described her wedding vision as "intimate and classic Southern inspired" but also unique, without being over the top. She loves polka dots, stripes, dark purple, ranunculus, and anemones. I did my best to incorporate as much of this as possible into her custom order.  Lots of classic brooches kept with the theme and lace and pearls scattered throughout the bouquet nodded to classic Southern style.