Saturday, February 21, 2015

Marsala 18-1438

Love it, or love it not, Marsala 18-1438 is the Pantone colour of 2015.

Credit Pantone Color Institute

For us at Little Birdie Events, just mention of the colour and name 'Marsala' triggers pleasant images of a rich red wine, generously poured into huggable glasses, slowly savoured and accompanied by the chatter of friends. Visions of luxurious dresses also come to mind, as well as the sultry 'pout', regal tapestries, plump vitamin-rich berries, fairytale toadstools...

Credit: 1. Pantone Color Institute 2. Elle 3. Donna Hay 4. UndertakerisEpic 5. Elie Saab 6. Pantone Color Institute

Most of all though, for us the colour Marsala resonates with the hues of autumn. With the southern hemisphere autumn just around the corner, we have a splendid opportunity to welcome and to embrace the rich hues of Marsala, Pantone's colour of the year.

'Ode to Autumn' penned by John Keats in his autumn of 1819, evokes a rich and ripe landscape with tones of Marsala...

Season of mists and mellow fruitlessness!
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the mossed cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'erbrimmed their clammy cells. 

More recently, Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director at the Pantone Color Institute shared an elegant description of the colour Marsala...

Interesting on its own and a wonderful contrast for other hues, PANTONE 18-1438 Marsala is a winey red-brown that adds finesse and savoir faire. Rich and robust, Marsala incorporates the warmth and richness of a tastefully fulfilling meal, while its grounding red-brown roots point to a sophisticated, natural earthiness. [Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director, Pantone Color Institue®]

For an autumn colour palette, we like the idea of contrasting Marsala with the muted blue (18-4726) of a clear blue autumn sky. Add stormy weather grey (18-4214) and perhaps a touch of silver, reminiscent of a shaft of autumn sun striking a morning cloud. Team Marsala with the rich golds (16-1144), oranges (15-1340), dried herbs (17-0627, 16-0110), lavenders (16-3310) and crusty browns of the autumn leaves.



Use Marsala to enhance and enrich. Wear Marsala, decorate with Marsala, paint your toes and lips Marsala, drink and eat food the colour of Marsala. This autumn go ahead and enjoy the endless possibilities of this versatile colour.

- Carole & Gerri

Sunday, June 22, 2014

You may have noticed...

Dear Little Birdie Events followers,

You may have noticed more subdued activity from our dynamic duo lately. Please rest assured this will not last!

Gerri has been working hard on significant professional development assessment as she works through her medical specialist training, and Carole has been supporting Gerri and her little family through this.

Rather than compromise the exquisite unique dessert tables and event styling we love to create and have become known for, we've taken a petite step back from our Little Birdie Events styling activities.

Do keep an eye on our blog and Facebook page, though - we have some exciting projects in the pipeline and we're looking forward to a busy and very stylish final few months of 2014.

-- Carole & Gerri



Friday, April 25, 2014

ANZAC Day 2014

ANZAC Day. Let us reflect and remember. Wherever we live, whatever we do, ANZAC Day has significance for all of us.

Every day we enjoy freedom to do the things we love because of sacrifices made by our soldiers.

Symbols from our Little Birdie kitchens and gardens are ANZAC Biscuits, freshly baked, and aromatic sprigs of rosemary.

Today we are reminded that rosemary is significant for Australians and New Zealanders as it is found growing wild on the Gallipoli peninsula.

The ANZAC Biscuit was first known as the Soldiers' Biscuit. When friends and families sent food to their soldiers in World War One it had to remain edible and retain nutritional value without refrigeration for long periods of time. The ANZAC Biscuit met this need...

... plus, they are delicious!

Check out previous blog post for our favourite ANZAC Biscuit recipe.



Carole & Gerri

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Easter 2014 Wrap-Up

We work with so many wonderful suppliers – creative, talented, passionate, and inspiring. This year we’ve asked some of our favourites to tell us what is inspiring them in the lead up to Easter this year.


Samantha - Dunne With Style

Sam is a leader in the crafty styling world, with a fabulous online store teeming with boutique handmade event décor. The Little Birdie girls connected with her when she created beautifully pastel vintage pinwheels for the Wonderland {very merry} Mad Hatter Tea Party in 2012.  Since then we have added perfect details to so many dessert tables using her gorgeous creative talents.

So, what’s inspiring Sam this Easter?
Easter for me is all about my family. For as long as I can remember we’ve spent Easter with my ‘family’ (which evolves each year anywhere from parents, siblings, grandparents, good friends) at my parents’ beach house. I’m a crazy-about-it summer lover and Easter always feels like my last hurrah. The last long weekend on the beach of another summer, as after Easter it’s back to the ‘winter world’ for me, football season (I’m married to a football coach/player/fanatic). No more long weekends and less and less beach time.

Easter is about long laid back lunches of endless fresh produce from the local harmer’s market and the smell of my mum’s famous hot cross buns in the oven. It’s about sneaking one in, slathered in butter at most meals of the day. She only makes them for one month in a year so I have to get my yearly fix in!

This year though on Easter weekend we’ll be far from our usual beach tradition as my parents move from our family home of 20 years to a new farm. So I have a feeling that this year my parents will take great pride in hosting their first farm Easter hunt for my little Eloise and hopefully afterwards we can find the box containing the hot cross bun ingredients so we can pop a batch in the oven!

Sam not only creates wonderful styling details to purchase from her website, she is also incredibly generous with her styling know-how by sharing projects online. She has been doing a bit of Easter crafting based on her Dailylike project blog to give as gifts this year. Sam is planning to create her own version of the below Easter wreath to fit in perfectly with the new farmhouse.

(Clockwise from left): sweet bunny box and bunting - hop over to http://blog.dailylike.com.au/projects/project-cotton-tail-bunnies-by-sam-dunne for an online tutorial by Samantha (Dunne With Style), and the rustic Easter wreath Samantha plans to create for her family's farmhouse celebration.

Check out Dunne With Style

Jen - A Little Slice of Heaven

With an eager eye for detail and a passion for baking and decorating the most scrumptious biscuits, cupcakes, and cakes, Jen never fails to amaze us with her interpretation of our colour palette and designs, and her ability to transform our vision into sweet works of art. We started working with Jen last year when she baked beautiful creations for an “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” dessert table to celebrate the Christening of Gerri’s daughter, Lulu, and we haven’t looked back!

So, what’s inspiring Jen this Easter?

As much as I love making all the fancy cakes and cookies, when it comes to family, I tend to stick with simpler desserts. The recipe for this chocolate cheesecake was given to me by a playgroup mum over twelve years ago, when my husband and I moved back to Australia after years of corporate life in Asia, to raise our family. I feel blessed to be living in a place where there are plenty of opportunities to grow and live extraordinary lives. All it takes is faith and hope (plus a fair bit of hard work!), which to me is what Easter is about.

Jen's Easter Chocolate Cheesecake
Like the look of this scrumptious stack of chocolate cheesecake? We do too! Lucky for us (and you!) Jen is sharing this tried and true recipe with her blog readers, so head on over to her blog to check it out!

Check out A Little Slice of Heaven


Kristy – Flowers in the Field

Kristy is the newest addition to our go-to supplier list. Last month we asked Kristy to create lush floral arrangements for a darling rose garden dessert table we styled for sweet little Elena. She was a pleasure to work with, so obliging, and we were blown away by her ability to interpret exactly what we had in mind.

So, what’s inspiring Kristy this Easter?

Easter for us is using autumn colours; reds, golds, burgundies. Also basked arrangements using dried flower, wheat and lotus pods. This time of year is my favourite as Dahlias come into season. I love working with all the different textures to create a natural look.

Gorgeous autumn-inspired floral arrangements by Martha Stewart www.marthastewart.com

Check out Flowers in the Field


Coby – Taart

Coby is a has a passion and talent for creating elegant and stylish bespoke cakes, cupcakes, and we especially adore her unique, scrumptious, and beautiful range of petite sweets. They have been a feature of our dessert tables since we started working with Coby last year, when she turned her dream of building a bricks-and-mortar cake shop into reality. With a keen eye for presentation, we love Coby's precise work and continued interest in updating her menu with trending petite sweets and flavours.

So what's inspiring Coby this Easter?

"We are getting closer to Easter, and featuring in Taart's pretty new window display is a little something to get in the chocolate-infused mood... And yes, that is a nice handful of yummy chocolate eggs sitting comfortable on top!"
This super cute bunny jar was used as part of Taart's Easter display. You can DIY this little gem - check out the following link for details: http://toriejayne.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/bunny-jars-for-easter.html

Check out Taart


Marché du Macaron

Trish and her avid team of macaron-lovers create the most imaginative and delicious macarons around. They are always keen to take on a new challenge, and love to use their endless creativity – we have been so delighted with their work, and it’s no secret our favourite flavour is the famously decadent salted caramel. We'll always remember the soda and milk bar style macarons The Marche Team created for Archie's retro train party in 2012. Marche du Macaron are our go-to unique macaron maker for dessert tables.

So, what’s on offer with Marche du Macaron this Easter? Read below – they were lucky enough to be visited by Mr E. Bunny himself!

So you probably won’t believe us, but we just went outside after hearing a ‘thumping’ in our front garden to find this in our grass. Such a busy bunny, he couldn’t even come in for a macaron!

Well it looks like he has decided the flavours for this year’s macarons!

This year the Marche Easter macaron flavours will be White Chocolate Strawberry, White Chocolate Coconut, Milk Chocolate Marshmallow, Milk Chocolate Caramel, Dark Chocolate Mint, and Dark Chocolate Honeycomb. Six of our favourite flavours encased in delicious white, milk, and dark chocolate!

The Marche Team were lucky enough to be visited by Mr E. Bunny himself!
Marche du Macaron's fabulous Easter Macaron collection: (clockwise from top right) White Chocolate Strawberry, Milk Chocolate Caramel, Dark Chocolate Mint, Milk Chocolate Marshmallow, Dark Chocolate Honeycomb, and White Chocolate Coconut
The Marche Team will be taking orders until Thursday 17th April with delivery and pick-up options available. Hop on over to their website for details.

Check out Marche du Macaron


Jocelyn’s Provisions

For many years we have loved the honest, wholesome, and deliciously decadent sweets and savouries offered by Brisbane’s pre-eminent destination for cakes, patisserie and fine ingredients. We often incorporate their amazing culinary delights into our dessert tables, and always place orders for our own special occasions. The beautiful team at Jocelyn’s Provisions are warm and friendly – we always enjoy working with them in the lead up to an event.

Easter treats are taken care of at Jocelyn’s Provisions. Treats on offer this year include
·      Jocelyn’s Provisions Brisbane-famous traditional fruity and spicey Hot Cross Buns - voted number one by The Urban List’s team of taste testers this year
·      Mazet Gull’s Eggs – imported all the way from France especially for Easter, they are delightful thin- and crispy-sugar-shelled eggs with a smooth chocolate hazelnut centre
·      White Chocolate, Caramel and Macadamia Fudge – these soft-centred fudge bites with crunchy macadamia pieces make a lovely and unique Easter gift
·      Simnel Cake – a traditional deliciously light and moist fruit cake with a marzipan seam through the centre, made especially for Easter
·      Shortbread Bunnies – these cute little bunnies are made using Jocelyn’s Provisions famously delicious chocolate and plain shortbread with white chocolate ears and cottontails.

Scrumptious offerings at Jocelyn's Provisions this Easter: Hot Cross Buns, Gull Eggs, Shortbread Bunnies, Simnel Cake, and White Chocolate, Caramel and Macadamia Fudge

Check out Jocelyn's Provisions


Sarah – Style Me Gorgeous

A renowned graphic designer on the party circuit, Sarah is a go-to gal for party printables. We first worked with Sarah right back when we were launching Little Birdie Events – she created our beloved logo! Sarah is always updating her collection of holiday-themed printables, though some of her original designs are our favourites.

Check out Sarah’s super cute, colourful and fun range of Easter printables available this year, but be quick – there’s only one day left to order!

Selection of Easter printables available from the "Some Bunny Loves You" and "Easter Fun" packs by Style Me Gorgeous. Check out SMG's Facebook album for more details.

Check out Style Me Gorgeous

Facebook: www.facebook.com/stylemegorgeousdesign

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For the Little Birdie girls, Easter is all about family traditions, the smell of hot cross buns fresh from the even, laughter with good friends, and gazing at the Easter moon.

It's family fish and chips by the beach on Good Friday, painted boiled eggs for breakfast, hiding Easter eggs in the garden on Easter Sunday, lazy lunches, chocolatey treats, pastel shades, snuggles with our little ones, and Peter Rabbit stories.

May all our gorgeous clients, blog followers, our Facebook likers, and our wonderful suppliers enjoy a happy, restorative, and yummy Easter 2014.

Styling by Little Birdie Events and photography by E. V. O'Neill Photography
Carole & Gerri