Neo & Ayanda's Styled Engagement Shoot

I am beyond chuffed to finally share Neo & Ayanda's Styled Engagement Shoot with you today.

We met Neo for the first time at this years Wedding Expo, she was visiting Jozi all the way from Sun City where she works and lives. She loved our vintage stand and we immediatly clicked. Since that day we have conceptualised and styled Ayanda & Neo's Engagement Shoot together with our friends over at Blackframe Photography. We've also designed their Save the Dates, Invitations, all their Wedding Stationery for example, Menus, Seating Plan, Gifting etc and we also had loads of fun creating the yummy Candy & Dessert Table for their special day. We have loads of photos and memories to share with you from all these elements however first up is their Shoot. 

Neo & Ayanda were just the perfect couple to work with and best of all we have become friends through the creative process. {Did I mention how stylish they are?}.

Neo & Ayanda's wedding date was set for the Twenty Second of September, Twenty Twelve.

Love, Love, Love Neo's coral nailpolish.

How cute are the electric purple rain boots.

"Always kiss me goodnight" 

"Save the Date" - We used this image to create their digital Save the Date.

In love with the flare from the incredible sun set.

Strawberry Steri Stumpie - yummy.

One of my absolute favourites from the whole shoot. 

ELEPHANTSHOE STATIONERY {PRESS} - Fairlady Bride

WE ARE OVER THE MOON! Elephantshoe has been featured in the Fairlady Bride Magazine {Summer 2012/13} - how very EXCITING!!!! Thank you so much to the Editor of this absolutely fab magazine - Liesl Pretorius.

I hope you pop out to get a copy. Look out for our {Dolly Peg Twine} on page 19, our {DIY Cookie Jar Favour} on page 20, our {Fabric Pocket Invitation} on page 36, our {Pencil, Pinwheel Save-The-Dates} on page 37 and lastly our {A-Z Reasons I Love You Invitation} on page 38.

Single card invitation placed in a hand sewn fabric pocket + rosette.

Twine on a Dolly Peg from our "Candy Floss" range.

Pencil and Pinwheel Save-the-Date. Laser engraved natural wooden pencils + Pinwheel & customized name tag.

"You're my type" A-Z reasons I love you - Embroided canvas bag + personalised cards.

OUR PRETTYBLOG DIY POST : DESKTOP, IPAD & IPHONE CALENDARS {DIGITAL WALLPAPER}

Check out our DIY on theprettyblog today.

It’s October already!!! Just 2 and a bit more months till the end of this year. {Can you believe it? Soon we will be wrapping up Christmas gifts}.

To end our digital calendar series we have November and December’s Desktop, iPad, and iPhone wallpaper available here for you to download.

THANK YOU to our friends over at Blackframe Photography, they captured two wondrous images and shared them with us so that we could create these calendars.

Download the DESKTOP CALENDAR wallpaper for November and December

Download the iPAD CALENDAR wallpaper for November and December

Download the iPHONE CALENDAR wallpaper for November and December

Happy downloading!

love Sam x x x

from the "Elephant factory"

follow us on Twitter here.

RED RIDING HOOD, “IN THE FOREST, HIDE & SEEK”

Remember the super cool competition we were running this year at the wedding expo, "Win an engagement shoot styled by Elephantshoe and photographed by Blackframe Photography"?

Well, Natasha & Chris were the lucky winners of the prize with their killer idea centered around the fairytale Red Riding Hood. We absolutely loved putting together the concepts and styling for each shot with our besties Blackframe. 

RED "Natasha" is an incredible makeup artist & THE WOLF "Chris" is a talented film Director, they will be saying I do on the 23rd of March 2013. We all met up early one Sunday morning in Newtown Johannesburg to begin this unbelievable shoot. Take a look here.

ONCE UPON A TIME . . .

There was a girl who lived near the forest. Whenever she went out she wore a red riding cloak and everyone called her Little Red Riding Hood.

“SO THEY PACKED A NICE BASKET FOR LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD TO TAKE TO HER GRANDMOTHER”

“DON’T DAWDLE ALONG THE WAY AND PLEASE DON’T TALK TO STRANGERS!  THE WOODS ARE DANGEROUS”

“WHENEVER SHE WENT OUT SHE WORE A RED RIDING CLOAK”

“SHE DIDN’T NOTICE A DARK SHADOW APPROACHING OUT OF THE FOREST BEHIND HER...”

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE, LITTLE GIRL?” THE WOLF ASKED IN A VOICE AS FRIENDLY AS HE COULD MUSTER”

“ THE WOLF, IN THE MEANTIME, TOOK A SHORTCUT...”

“LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD NOTICED SOME LOVELY FLOWERS IN THE WOODS, SHE FORGOT HER PROMISE TO HER MOTHER.  SHE PICKED A FEW”

“WHAT BIG EYES YOU HAVE.” SAID THE WOLF

“SUDDENLY, THE WOLF APPEARED BESIDE HER”

“THERE WAS A GIRL WHO LIVED NEAR THE FOREST”

“DON’T WORRY, MOMMY,” SAID LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD, “I’LL BE CAREFUL.”

If you LOVE this post and would like to have your own engagement/couple shoot then please contact us or Blackframe Photography. 

OUR Prettyblog DIY : Hooray for Spring

Take a look at our latest DIY on theprettyblog. It's  Spring day here in our beautiful South Africa. I can already hear the birds chirping, the sun is shining and it’s getting easier to wake up earlier each day. Hooray for Spring! If you feel the same about the arrival of this fresh and lovely season, celebrate by downloading our Cake Topper pdf and follow the easy directions below. You can even use our “Hooray” bunting for other projects like a baby shower,  kitchen tea, engagement or on your wedding cake. 

We recently showed the viewers of the Expresso Morning show on SABC3 how to make this versatile DIY. View the Cake Topper utube video tutorial to help you along.

If you are searching for a yummy cake recipe then go no further, here are a few featured on theprettyblog.

• Chocolate Cake
• Custard Cake
• Carrot Cake with Dates and Pecans
• Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
• Hummingbird Cake

 SHOPPING LIST 

1. A  deliciously yummy cake, or you can make one of the recipes featured above.
2. Thick card paper stock.
3. 1 x craft knife, ruler & cutting mat.
4. Paper straws or long wooden cocktail sticks.
5. Twine. 
6. Double sided tape.

DIRECTIONS 

1. Download and print page 2-4 of our sping cake toppers pdf.
2. Cut the mini bunting with a craft knife & fold in half and open again, to create a crease.
3. Attach a piece of double sided tape to the inside of the bunting triangle.
4. Measure the length between the two straws or cocktail sticks, with a piece of twine, making sure there is a bit extra at each end so that you can wrap it around the straws or sticks.
5. Peal the backside of the two-way tape and place the twine in the fold of the bunting triangle.
6. Fold the pieces of bunting in half, making sure that the twine is secure at the top where the crease is. 
7. Tie the twine to each of the straws or sticks, leaving a small bit to hang.
8. Insert the straws or sticks into the cake.

A BIG thank you to Andre from the incredible Blackframe Photography for popping by to our studio to photograph our DIY.  Please visit their blog to see more of their extraordinary wedding photography.

Download the “Hooray for Spring Cake Toppers” here.

Happy cake & topper making!

love Sam x x x

from the “Elephant factory”

follow us on Twitter here.