Monday, November 16, 2009

5th Street Market Holiday Bazaar

Join Foosie Design, starting this Friday November 20th - December 20th, every weekend {Friday - Sunday} for the 5th Street Market Holiday Bazaar in Eugene, Oregon!! Foosie Design will be offering our custom and packaged holiday cards, as well as wedding invitation and birth announcement custom services. The Holiday Bazaar is located in on the second floor of the Markets west end, next to LaVelle Vineyards Club Room. Stop by to grab a glass of local wine, and shop from local artists for the holidays!

Not only will the 5th Street Market Holiday Bazaar include local artisans, but there will be live music inside the space throughout festivities. So get a ahead start of your Holiday shopping this year, and come on down to the 5th Street Market for the Holiday Bazaar! Your local artisan boutique for the Holidays!





Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Couture Wedding Dress for under $500?

Yes it's true! I'm here to help you find the dress of your dreams for your ever so realistic budget!

For most Brides looking to keep to a Wedding budget, I'm sure that you've learned that at some point you're going to have to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty! Lots of DIY couples today tend to spend the majority of their budget on food and location, often leaving little cash left over for items such as your Dress, Flowers, table decor etc.

Now, anyone who has ever shopped for a Wedding dress knows that to find a dress for under $500, your embellishment choices are typically sequence, polyester toole, or more sequence! So for the brides out there looking for something that's not quite so "flashy", try this idea on for size!

Appliaué Your Way, by Kayte Terry, is a wonderful new how-to book, giving you a step-by-step guide, on how to create handmade embellishments such as fabric roses and much, much more! Chances are if you're trying to keep cost down you're probably not in the market for a grand ballgown anyway, right? So why not create the dress of your dreams yourself!

Try starting here: First, find a dress silhouette that suites your figure and makes you look absolutely gorgeous! Check out this great little tool from TheKnot.com, to help you pick out the best silhouette for your body.

Once you've found your prefect silhouette, start shopping around for a simple dress within your price range, keeping in mind that you're going to add your own embellishments, so the simpler the better. The Whitney Long Dress, and Cecelia Long Dress from JCrew.com, both go for $395.00 and have the perfect amount of elegant minimalism to be the foundation for your one of a kind Wedding Dress!



Now that you've found the dress, it's time to get started on Jazzing it up! Kayte Terry gives a wonderful step-by-step guide on how-to create these darling little fabric roses, on The Storque, Etsy's Handmade blog. To craft these fab little rose buds first head on down to your local fabric shop and go straight for the fabric remnants section. Here you'll find a magical array of discounted fabric, perfect for what you need it for! Or why not head down to the local vintage shop we're you'll be sure to find the perfect fabric just waiting to be repurposed for your big day!

Using your fabric finds, follow this step-by-step guide and voilà! you've got yourself a couture Wedding Dress for under $500! Not only will you save some cash, but the sense of satisfaction that you'll receive from rolling up your sleeves and doing it yourself will be priceless!!







To find out more information about Kayte Terry's Book, Appliaué Your Way and other fabulous independent book writers, go to Indiebound.com.

QUICK TIP: To keep your handcrafted dress from looking the a handmade mess, start by using natural fabrics. Starting with your dress, if you stick to natural fibers, like cotton, silk, and chiffon, your couture masterpiece is far more likely to look tasteful and purposeful, than like something that Bjork might have worn to the Oscars!

Friday, November 6, 2009

Love Birds

Congratulations go out to Ashley Anna Brown, owner, designer, and crafter of fernanimals.etsy.com and winner of the DIY Wedding Crafts Contest with Etsy and Martha Stewart Weddings, for these delightful little patchwork cake toppers!

These completely handcrafted bird, cake toppers start at $130 for the pair, and are made using vintage and recycled material. They're stuffed with 100% organic cotton, and stand at about 4 inches tall. So for the bride who is really not trying to take themselves too seriously, they'll add the perfect amount of whimsy to your wedding confections!

Congratulations again to Ashley and all the other finalists! All will be featured in a side show on Martha Stewart Weddings so be sure to check it out!





Find Ashley's shop and other fabulous handmade wedding finds on Etsy.com

FOOSIE DESIGN MATCH UP: I can't even handle how cute this match up is! Love these unique and fetching bird cake toppers? Then you'll for sure want to match them up with Foosie Design's Maggie & Bradley wedding invitations! too cute!



Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Wedding Season takes a Holiday!

So while most brides are on hiatus from wedding planing for the rest of the year, I just couldn't help giving a little plug for my new collection of holiday cards! You can check out these darling little dancing mitten cards, and find others just like it at my Foosie Design Online Shop.

These blank folded Holiday Cards are sold in packages of 12 or as a single card. Packages of 12 go for $20.00 and single cards go for $2.00. Right now when you buy 2 packages of 12 cards, you'll get the 3rd one 50% off. That's like $1.38 a card! I bet you were in middle school the last time you saw a card go for less than $3, so take advantage and enjoy!

These earth friendly holiday cards are printed on recycled card stock and wrapped with a recycled paper belly band. The single cards are packaged in a biodegradable cornstarch bag, making all materials used in the process either re-used, recyclable or future plant food!

I'm also selling these fab little holiday cards, along with gift tags, and (soon to come) stocking stuffers at my Online Etsy Shop. And if you're local to the Eugene, Oregon area, I'll be hosting a both at the 5th Street Market Holiday Bazaar, Every weekend {Friday-Sunday} November 20th - December 20th.

So while you're taking a break from having to decide "whether we should go with the white or cream linens?", do a little Foosie Design holiday shopping and get a head start on the season!