I came across this website - Chic and Unique Aisle Runners at the beginning of 2009. I just fell in love with the work of Beth Martin. She is a very talented lady.
All of her Aisle runners are painted and color matched to your swatches. So everything is totally custom made to each of her clients specs.
HandCrafted bridal items make such a wonderful addition to the weddings of the 2000's. Back in the 1900's (as if that was so long ago - ha ha ha.. Makes all sound old...) Customized wedding accessories were only for the rich, famous and very talented artist. But now - with the burst of popularity and the respect that Handmade works have been gaining, customized weddings are all the rage.
Having a customized wedding from the Aisle to the little lacy garter is totally within every brides reach now. The Aisle runners that Beth creates run a few hundred dollars to around $500 or more depending on the customization and details you choose to include on your runner.
You can have beautiful satin ribbon running up the sides of your aisle to match your wedding colors. and the Paint on the runner can be any color you like. Even lovely motifs such as the shell below can be created. Beth has an amazing talent when it comes to creating memorable works of art that can become family heirlooms.
I urge you to take a took at her website at the links below. There are so many different sample images to see and her wedding pictures section is wonderful. You can see many different photos of her Aisle in action. One of them even got transformed into a quilt for the new couples bed!! THAT is so awesome and such a treasured heirloom.
When you order your runner, you can have it say a special phrase like the one above. Or you can have it represent your Sir name. Just a simple initial surrounded by the docorative scrolls make a HUGE statement.
Perhaps you're going to Paris or are IN Paris... Then the tower would be a perfect embellishment to be added to your Aisle runner. I can't wait to see the wedding photos from this recent wedding. The newly weds only tied the knot bearly 1 weeks ago. How sweet!
And last the Wedding that hasn't taken place yet. The 2010 runner for the couple of the second decade of the 2000's. How exciting to bring in the new year with a brand new marriage of two souls in love. The mixing of the Scrolly font and the Times Roman type font in the runner below is lovely.
Please go and visit Beth's Website at the links below. You'll be glad you did :)
If Candles are more of your thing - you can even have her paint you a lovely candle holding vase as well. smaller ones like the round vase shown below are easy to put tealight candles in. Since the paint is semi-clear it makes a lovely glow of colors flickering as the candle burns.
Abby is from New York, NY. She is a city gal with lots of imagination and talent. Her heart is big as well. She's very generous with her works of art. I had the pleasure of coming to know about her lovely creations through the club that we are both a part of. http://club.wedding-luv.com She has posted a couple giveaways there already.
You can see her Wedding-luv page right at this link. http://club.wedding-luv.com/profile/Abby
I really love the colors she used in this vase below. Purple and then the blueish sea green color. It's gorgeous.
Did you know that there is a tradition that goes along with the wedding vase? I never knew about it before meeting Abby. Apparently about a week or two before the wedding day... the groom to be's parents make the Wedding Vase. Once the Vase has been made, the groom, along with his parents and all his relatives go to the bride's house. Then...
The brides parents and the grooms parents take turns giving the young couple advice to help them have a happy and successful marriage. After this, Holy Water is placed in the Wedding Vase and the Vase is turned around and given to the bride. She drinks from one side of the Vase, turns it round again and gives it to the groom who then drinks from the opposite side of the Vase. This ceremony unites them as one.
The couple will treasure the Vase throughout their married life. Should one of them out-live the other, the remaining person will give the Vase to a couple known to be living a happily married life. The Wedding Vase is treasured and protected always and it is never broken.
Isn't this a neat tradition to bring into your marriage?
Now even if you don't want to do the actual wedding vase tradition - who's to say that you can't have a beautiful custom painted vase? These vases make such a lovely gift for all kinds of occasions. give more than just flowers on your anniversary... make a special present for a birthday or how about the pretty heart vase above for Valentine's day. They are all so very unique - you really should check out Abby's website to see all the unique samples she has photos of.
Links to her website and her special's blog are below.
Website - http://make14me.com/
And Speaking of wedding gifts, there is a whole section for wedding, anniversary, and valentine themed collectibles. There are Monogrammed items. Monograms are so elegant and add that family heirloom aspect to the beautiful gift. They have hand-worked plates, bowls, coaster, Christmas ornaments and even bookmarks. Like I said the selection is huge. There was so much more I wanted to share with you but I figured 10 images was quite enough - you really need to get on over to the website see everything for yourself!
Much of her work is eclectic ( composed of elements drawn from various sources) She has a talent to blend these different elements to create beautiful pieces of body art. Many of her works have an antique or Art Nouveau look as well.
I absolutely love this pendant below. The stone in the center of the design reminds me of an october evening sky, or the Harvest moon as we look through the trees. The embellishments of the dragon fly and butterfly make it whimsical. It is just stunning.
Irina often works from preliminary sketches to determine the best choice of design. She invents unique wire wrapping techniques for most of her pieces. This creates beautiful and wholly original works of art.
She is inspired by the beauty in nature. I can understand why. Nature has so much to offer. Look at the stones in this bracelet. I copied a close up for you to see the details. Isn't it gorgeous? all the cracks in the stones make them so full of personality. I would love to wear something special like this on my wrist!
Irina loves to work with stones to enhance their natural beauty using wire, charms and beads. The stone below has golden wires which is real nice. She loves creating unique designs to match each stones "one of a kind" appearance.
Her works have caught the attention of many and Irina even won first place in the "Fancy beads and Accessories" competition at her local bead store. She lives in Toronto, Canada and her works can be found in local shops like "Made You Look" You should check out her website. She has so many nice pieces. Available are necklaces, pendants, bracelets, earrings & rings.
If you enjoyed seeing these highlighted pieces - you really should go on over and browse her shop. Link is below :)
Website http://blackcurrantjewelry.etsy.com
