My 1st Bridal Show

Holyohmygooddness!
I launched my business 6 weeks ago and have already got a Bridal Show underneath my belt! WHOOPIE! I's doin' good!

So yeah, if you can't already tell, this blog is about my 1st bridal expo. Set up was initially supposed to be on Friday night but seeing as though I had nothing but a small box of supplies, a bag of green bricks (yes. lime green bricks), a rolled up vinyl sign, a chair and a portfolio, I simply asked if I could show up on Saturday an hour before the show to set up because it wasn't going to take me long.

I got permission to do so and it took me all of 35 minutes between going back and forth to my car for the bricks (someone forgot how heavy those suckers can get) and the other supplies and displaying them on the table provided.

I wasn't sure what to expect. I was a little nervous because although I liked my designs, I realized that for some people they may be too bold and outrageous. Not everyone can handle colour, lol.

Anyways to make a long story short, I rocked it! People LOVED my designs, they commented so many times on how fun and colourful they were, how it was really great to see something with these design elements in a wedding invitation, and how some of my designs had a sense of humour which seemed to reflect the personality of several brides that stopped by.

Everyone loved them! Well most of everyone. I realize that not every bride is looking for something as unique and different as I was offering, and there was alot of selection at the expo in terms of invites; traditional "from Grandma's era" styles to beautiful thick metallic cardstock, to pocketfolds...

It was a great weekend, and a long one (I. am. whooped.) but one that I won't forget! I've included some images; one being a sketch I did a few weeks ago when I was trying to blueprint my booth in my mind, and the others are, as you can see, from the Expo itself.

Had a great time, looking forward to the next one! Maybe I'll see YOU there!

Music @ Work

Ahhh music. It's like my blood.

Like most creative types I need music while I design. Letting my imagination flow through my veins and out my fingertips onto the canvas otherwise known as the screen is one of my most favourite ways of release. And really, grooving in my seat to a good tune as I work on a new idea is like, the BEST.

I was first going to list five of my top faves, but that proved to be both silly and difficult. I love all kinds of music too much to try and limit myself to five songs that I feel would define me as a person. But the five I have listed are pretty rockin’ tunes! Maybe you’ll like them too!

I've also written a little "behind the scenes" blurb about a memory I have attached to it. It's just a simple way of letting you get to know me. :-)

Spin Spin Sugar - Sneaker Pimps
Story: This song was first introduced to me by an old boyfriend who frequented raves and bars that played this kind of trance-style music.
For a short time I was into him.
For a long time after that, I was into this song. To this day I can still rave dance to this song for extended periods of time with nothing but a bottle of water to quench my thirst.

Taste My Blood – Trole
Story: Trole was the band to see if you wanted to lose yourself a rock n’ roll show that coupled high impact energy and band members that interacted with the crowd with enthusiastic stamina instead of just standing there on stage.

Based in St. Thomas/Port Stanley Ontario, Trole’s music was influenced by punk rock, rockabilly and blues and fused all three styles into one helluva show that was loaded with electricity. I should know; I’ve been to enough to say that I danced my ass off at every show I attended and was almost as sweaty as the band members at the end of the night.

Now about the song. Taste My Blood is by far the sexiest song I’ve ever heard. IMO. It’s saturated with a melody that makes you want to tear off your clothes and dance naked in the rain and intoxicates your senses better than any basement manufactured mood enhancer.

The bluesy groovaliciousness of the opening rift immediately catches your attention. Couple that with vocals that are soft and sexual and gentle guitar picks you have a great beginning to a song.

It builds from there with a culmination of guitars and drums that make your hips want to cha-cha-cha to the beat, and a melody filled with beautiful energy that brings you to the climax of the song, where all departments explode into a harmonious atmosphere that swells like a wave of emotion and carries you right to the end, leaving you staring at yourself in the mirror going “Reow chicka rewo reow!”

Feel Good Inc. – Gorillaz
Story: godilovethissong!
This song reminds me of Kerry. Kerry was the girl who introduced me to my boyfriend Nick. ::insert heart emoticon here::

She always had it playing and it didn’t take me long to get into it myself. I’ve since adopted it as my favourite get-me-up-and-running song.

Pour Some Sugar On Me - Def Leppard
Story: This song takes me back to the teen dances that were held at the local community centre when I was a teenager.

I'd attend every month, and me and my friends would hang out in the bathroom checking our makeup and gossip about boys which always lead to them giving me a hard time about if I was finally going to summon the nerve to ask my latest crush to dance to the next slow song. (I never did; fear of rejection choked me every time).

But as soon as the opening vocals to PSSOM blasted out the speakers, we would beeline to the dance floor and rock out as if this song was ours and ours alone. This is one of the many songs that takes me back to a time of first stage rebellion, junior high crushes, pinning your jeans (ugh, yes I did that), popular girls who weren't so pretty on the inside, and all the rock music we could handle, being 15 and all.

Mayonaise – Smashing Pumpkins
Story: This list would NOT be complete without mention of my most favouritest band in the whole wide world!

Mayonaise is a beautiful song, plain and simple. The melody matches the mood, the lyrics convey genuine emotion, and Billy’s tone of voice envelopes the passion that makes this song worthy of praise. It's also on my imaginary dream acoustic set list, for whenever I master the art of playing guitar.