Wednesday 15 February 2012

A chocolate-tastic day!

On Friday last week, I received the most wonderful email from Dan and Paula at Elements for Life, telling me that my name had been picked out of a hat and I had won a free Raw Chocolate Making Starter Kit

Cue MUCH excitement from me, I mean, does it get much better than that?  Its chocolate, its good for you, its FREE and to top it off, it arrived just in time for half term so I could make them with the kiddies - YIPPEEE!!

So today we made our chocolates, much to everyone's delight!  As a bonus, Mr Starstruck made it home from work early so he was able to take some action shots of us...

Grating the Raw Cacoa Butter:


Preparing the mould - We bought some little white chocolate buttons and cut them up, then placed a few pieces in each mould so that we would get some white chocolate on the tops each each one.  If you can see the saucepan just past me, this contains a glass bowl, forming the bain marie that we melted the cacoa butter in:



Aliya adds the Raw Cacoa powder to the melted Caoa butter,  we then added some of the Sweet Freedom sweetener (we added a bit more than the recipe said as the kiddies thought it was a little bitter still.  I thought it was delicious, but they overruled me!):


Spooning our chocolate mixture into the mould:


And a couple of hours later....TA DA.....!


I like to think in this photo, Aliya is thinking "Oh my gosh, look mummy we made CHOCOLATES, and i'm SO excited, and now you're pointing a camera at me - here is my BIGGEST smile!".  And Austin is thinking "Yeah? And? Can I eat one yet?".


Confirmed by this photo where Aliya still can't get the grin off her face, and Austin is eyeing up the nearest one and wondering if he could sneak it in without me noticing:


OK - Mummy lets the kiddies eat the chocolate:


Loving the matching expressions:


My gorgeous chocolatey boy:




My very smiley little girl:



And I am really proud to show you this as well.  Aliya was so impressed with the chocolates that she sat and wrote this note.  Her reading is exceptional, but she really struggles with writing so this was a huge effort for her.  She chose the words herself, with just a little help with some of the spelling.  


Originally she was going to write "they were delicious", but when she got to writing the word "delicious", she decided to change it to something that she could spell!

All in all, a great experience.  The kiddies had great fun making the chocolates, and they definitely enjoyed eating them.  The chocolate itself is the best I have EVER tasted.  I've actually never tasted chocolate quite like it, so rich, smooth and it melts quickly in your mouth.  We've used half the pack on this batch, and Mr S and I have plans for the next lot, involving dried cherries soaked in Armaretto....Mmmmmmmm...

Monday 13 February 2012

Cherry Blossom Wedding

I don't know what it is about cherry blossom, but I have a bit of a weakness for it.  I love the pink, the delicate flowers, and I love the taste of cherries, which I suppose also contributes to the general feeling of loveliness I get when I think of cherry blossom.  So on my travels around t'internet, i've been saving images of these gorgeous flowers when applied to all things bridal.

First on my list of "I LOVE" inspirations is this utterly stunning Cherry Blossom Cake by Intricate Icings


You absolutely simply MUST click on the link to their website (the photo links to the cake on their blog).  In case you have missed it, this is the link to their website:   http://www.intricateicings.com  I know they are an American company, and for my UK readers, you aren't going to be ordering a cake from them, but...they are awesome, and I really, really mean that.  Please, for me, click on the "Inspiration" tab.  I've never seen anything like it before, and i'm rather hugely in love with their designs.

I also love this cake by Complete Deelite - cherry blossom flowers, without the wooden stem, which is the bit that I can live without anyway - perfect!


But if you are planning on cupcakes, rather than the more traditional tiered wedding cake, you can't go wrong with these gorgeously cute cupcake wrappers from Cupcake Couture



I found it quite hard to find cherry blossom bouquets, but really love this from DK Designs:


The flowers are clay, so this would make such a gorgeous heirloom as well as looking beautiful on the day!

For Cherry Blossom thank you cards, these are from Wedding Paraphernalia.  The flowers are so delicate, with such a stunning colour to them.  They also sell cherry blossom paper fans, which would make beautifully themed favours for female guests.



For Cherry Blossom inspired hair accessories, we have a Cherry Blossom Side Tiara at Starstruck Designs.  She's not yet on the website, but keep a eye open for our newest range, coming soon...no name as yet, although Starstruck Boutique is a bit of a front runner!



And last but by no means least, are these utterly gorgeous shoes by Harriet Wilde:

I've never seen anything like them before, and must admit to having fallen head over heels (pun intended!) in love with them!

Sunday 12 February 2012

Happy Happy Birthday Cake!

This weekend has been wonderful fun in the Starstruck house as our beautiful son was 2 years old.  I didn't get an awful lot of work done, and the blog post that I am trying to write is still not ready, so I thought i'd fill the gap with a photo of perhaps the Happiest Happy Birthday Cake, EVER...





This is exactly how it came out of the oven, and it certainly made me smile.  It seemed a shame to ice it really, but we did anyway.  And Austin certainly seemed impressed!


So Happy Birthday, to my gorgeous, cheeky little boy.  If the last 2 years have been anything to go by, we're in for a ride and a half with Austin in our life!

Friday 10 February 2012

So what IS the difference between Clear and ClearAB?

This has to be one of the most common questions that I have been asked over the 10 years that i've been making bridal tiaras and jewellery!

There seems to be quite a divide within the industry as to which of them is "better", which is more sparkly, and which works best with other colours.  So I should probably at this point add a bit of a disclaimer - whilst this article contains some facts, which can't be disputed, a lot of it is MY opinion, based on my tastes and preferences.  That means that there is no right or wrong, and if you don't agree, well, hey - isn't it great that we all like different things!

So let's start with what they are, and how they are different.


In the photo above, are two Swarovski crystals.  On the left is a single Clear crystal, and on the right are 4 images of the same Clear AB crystal*.  AB stands for Aurora Borealis, which of course is the name of stunning natural phenomenon otherwise knows as the Northern Lights.  On the Swarovski crystal, the effect is created by applying a coating to several of the faces of the crystal.  I've always thought that the best way to describe the colour effect is to ask someone to imagine the rainbow colours that you see on a bubble.  The bubble itself has no colour, but you can still see all the gorgeous colours of the rainbow shimmering across its surface.

I took several photos of the same Clear AB crystal from various angles to show just how many colours there are, and also to demonstrate how strong the colour is from some angles, and how subtle from others! This photo of the Serendipity crystal bridal bracelet shows a really good comparison of the Clear and Clear AB as it uses both.  There are only a few of the AB in there, but its quite clear to see which ones!



So which ones is the MOST sparkly?  To be honest with you, in my opinion the Clear wins this in terms of true sparkle.  It is as close to the sparkle of diamonds as you can get and I am a really rather huge fan.  The Clear AB is incredibly sparkly, and light will reflect off the coating, which is why some people will consider it to win in the sparkly stakes.  However this reflection will be full of colour, as opposed to the pure, brilliant white flash of the Clear, which for me actually detracts from the sparkle itself (demonstrated here with the Adore crystal flower necklace, which has Clear crystal flowers, with a Clear AB crystal in the centre of each).



Other colours can work well when combined with Clear AB, but I do think they need to be carefully chosen.  Blues and purples can look stunning, but I try and avoid putting it with reds and pinks as I think the overall look can be cheapened by the coating.  I'm not a huge fan of Clear AB with jet, I think it really brings out the yellow in the coating, although it does work fantastically well with whites, such as White Opal.

Interestingly, the demand from my clients for Clear as opposed to Clear AB has dramatically increased over the last few years.  There was a time when almost all my orders were for Clear AB, whereas I now find that I am rarely asked for it.  I do think that the crisp sparkle of Clear against the luminosity of ivory pearls is a perfect combination for vintage inspired jewellery and tiaras, which continue to be an absolutely huge trend within the Bridal industry.

I definitely think that Clear AB creates a beautiful effect, but for me, its an effect that should be used sparingly, amongst a majority of Clear crystal.

*  The official Swarovski name for these are in fact Crystal and Crystal AB, however I also use the word crystal as the name of the material in discussion, so in order to avoid confusion for the purpose of this article I have used Clear instead of Crystal, and Clear AB instead of Crystal AB.

Tuesday 7 February 2012

Food for thought

Today I read a really inspiring article by Laura at Laptops and Lullabies, about what a blog should be about. And my heart sank.

Point 3 made it very clear that I should identify my target readers, and write for them. That I should work out who they are, what they like to read, and write every single thing for their benefit.
 
Uh oh.



My blog is kind of for me. I mean, i'm happy for anyone to read it, and really, what is the point of a blog if not to be read by others? But my website is for my business, and my Facebook page is for mini updates about my business, and Twitter is for.....well, i'm actually not sure what that is for, other than wasting millions of hours of my life... But my blog is the point where personal me and business me merge. I blog about my work, but I do it from a personal point of view. 

On the Starstruck Designs website you will find the final, edited shots from a photo shoot of my work. But on my blog, is where you will find the "behind the scenes" breakdown of what happened on the day, and my dreadful nerves beforehand. On my website you will be able to order whichever of my designs you fancy, but on my blog you will find out what inspired the piece, who named it, and why I think it is fab.

And sometimes on my blog you will hear about my husband, and my children. Because as much as I love my work, I love them more. And sometimes they need me more, and no work gets done until they are tucked up in bed. And sometimes, as much as I go ga-ga over some sparkles, I melt into a big old messy puddle of love for my gorgeous babies and have to tell the world about them.

So who do I write for? 

Brides? Hmmm...only those that love my kiddies. And sparkles. And weddingy things. But definitely those who are happy with my babies putting in an appearance, sometimes wearing said sparkly accessories.



Mums? Hmmm...nope, unless they are getting married, which they might be. But its not a mummy website, or a "useful for mummies" website. And although I do promise to delight those "I need some sparkle in my life" mummies, its unlikely that I will ever post anything that enables them to create a 5 minute, 5-a-day rich, "look! my children are perfect and my make-up is perfect and I have not a hair out of place" dinner every single day of the week.

Me? Uh oh. I've identified my target market! Its ME!

If you fall into the "Me" category, please let me know i'm not just talking to myself!

Saturday 4 February 2012

Professionalism #1

Ok, its late, and this is just a quickie....but before I forget...

I do have a bit of a "thing" about professionalism. If you run a business, if you sell products to the general public, and ESPECIALLY if you operate within the bridal industry.  Please read on...

Now, I started out with a free website.  Crikey, my very first website address had the word *freeserve* in it (shock horror!!!).  And if I can do it myself, I will.  Why spend my hard earned cash if I don't need to?

But you know what? There are a few things that will cost you very little and yet could be the very thing that swings a sale.

For me, if an email address contains the words "hotmail", or "gmail", or "freeserve", or "btinternet", or "blueyonder", or any other generic email server name, you are not serious enough about what you do to make a couple of pounds worth of investment and organise your own email address.  Seriously.  These days you can secure your own email address for a few pennies a month.  I have just renewed my package, and it includes numerous email addresses, for less than 13p per week.  And its ALL MINE!!!!

Why wouldn't you do that?  I'd love to hear your reasons, because I can't think of any!

A Swarovski vision

I don't always have the time to write a blog post, despite having a fantastic idea for one. In these situations, I start a draft, where I just write a little outline of what I want the finished product to contain - then I can come back to it and write it properly when I have the time.

About a month ago I started a draft blog post called "A Swarovski Vision". It was based around a musing I had regarding the gorgeous Fire Opal Swarovski colour. For those of you who aren't familiar with this stunning colour, here it is:


Basically, I was wondering why this is the only true colour blend that Swarovski do. They do have other blends, such as Vitrial, Vitrial Light, Bermuda Blue etc, but these are created with coatings and unfortunately only work when 1 side of the crystal is hidden. What I mean is, these work amazingly on diamante, rivolis, even some pendants, because you don't see the back, which has the coating over it:


Above image, clockwise from top left: Vitrial, Heliotrope, Volcano, Bermuda Blue, Vitrial Light.

And how do these translate into bicones? Take a look:


On the left is the Bermuda Blue, and on the right is Volcano. The crystal beads look much duller, and darker when half of them is showing the reverse of the coating, which is usually silver or gold.

So my plan was to write a post all about which colour blends I thought Swarovski should be making, I was even hoping to photo shop some of my visions to give an idea of how I think they should look. Unfortunately photoshop is not my strong point! I was thinking how I would love to see a blue blend into a purple, a sage green blend into a pale pink, and a hot pink blend into a purple. Ooh, and what about a champagne gold blending into a chocolate brown?

Then a couple of days ago, I received an email from Swarovski, outlining their 2013 Innovations (their new products, about to be released). Well, if I didn't know better, I would say that they have been tapping into my thoughts (or at least reading my blog drafts!). Here's what got me all excited:


Crystal Luminous Green !



Blend colours - Burgundy into Blue Zircon, and Fern Green into Topaz. Maybe not quite what I would have picked, but I cannot wait to get my hands on some to see them for real!

Until I actually have them here, I wont know for sure, but I think that these are proper blend colours, rather than coatings. {{{SQUEAL}}}
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