Christmas is coming!

I just wanted to share a little bit of Christmas from the Slice of Pie Household so here are a few bits and bobs....

I love love love wrapping presents, this year I have gone for brown parcel paper with pretty white organza bows, I bought recycled brown luggage labels and then added a hand cut felt heart with crystals and a pearl, ooh I love them they all look so pretty under my tree!

This year has been all about the Little Birdie cards at Slice of Pie, I think they will probably be going strong in 2011 too, the Christmas cards had to follow suit!

However a certain someone had a special card!

I made this simple heart garland using felt and mini pegs on a piece of string, so so easy but it looks so pretty and Christmassy across our big mirror, it would be perfect for a wedding too!



I love my little Christmas tree forest, I plan to add another tree to it every year. I love making things with felt, it is such a glorious material, no hemming and it loves to be hand sewn, perfect!

Finally, something I haven't made but that is one of my favourite Christmas things is this little Angel candle holder. As the heat from the candle rises the Angels fly around, it is magical, especially when you switch all the lights off and just sit watching it throw patterns up the walls, it is so peaceful and pretty! I love it! It's one of those things that I can imagine being around every Christmas and becoming a magical little heirloom!

I hope you all have a magical Christmas full of love, happiness and little home made things that make it really special!

Must sort out the advent calendar!

So December has landed, it's cold, it's white and it's jam packed! So far this month (yes I know it's only the 2nd!) we have been completing lots of last minute Christmas card orders, (I am painting Robins in my sleep) and photographing the cutest little bundle of fun!

Just adorable!

Time for painting

Wedding Fayre season is in full swing now! We had a lovely day at the Quarry Bank Mill wedding fayre on Sunday and we are looking forward to the next one at Capesthorne on the 31st! We have a weekend off coming up shock horror! First day off in weeks! Looking forward to some nice walks in the chilly autumn air. We'll probably head up to Ridgegate reservoir, it's so beautiful in any weather and the Leather's Smithy is always a must for a pint and some mini cheddars by the roaring fire. Lat time we were up there the wind was so still and the light was so crisp that the reflections on the water were like a looking glass. I took a little snap with my phone and did a painting when I got home, I have used the painting as a Birthday card for my uncle, here is a little corner of it!

Wedding Fayre Season!

I have just designed this pretty set of Hibiscus Flower stationery to display at our next few Wedding Fayres, come and see us at Quarry Bank Mill (17th Oct) Capesthorne Hall (31st Oct) and The Deanwater Hotel (14th Nov)

We have just delivered our first order of greetings cards to Prestbury Chemist so if you are Prestbury bound, pop in and have a nosey. We have lots more on the way so we'll keep you posted!

My To Do list is as long as ever at the moment! I have lots of cards to paint, Order of Service and personalised menus to make, invitation samples to send, my Etsy & Folksy shops still need stocking up! It's hardly a bind though, I love it all! We are going on our jollies soon (well, September!) I always work better to a deadline!

What else, ooh it's someone's birthday soon, Happy Birthday for tomorrow my other half of Pie! (I had better make him a card I suppose!!) x

Busy day!!

Fields full of Llamas

We made a new friend last night whilst photographing a house in Macclesfield Forest!

Sunshine!

I am going to get all my work done tonight so I can spend the weekend in the sun! That is all x

I know, so what happened to April!

Oh just busy beyond busy at the mo which is good but my goodness it's exhausting! So just a quick post! It's show season so when I am not painting, cutting, sticking and folding I am dancing singing and compiling a programme for Beauty & The Beast!

Next week it's all go with some Golden Wedding party invitations and a table plan for the Dance at The Smithy's Dinner Dance!

Oh Mark has updated the portfolio on our facebook page, go and have a nosey.

Just spending this afternoon making a few cards for a few lovely peeps!

Here's some Friday flowers just for you!

Today...

...I'm making 165 favour boxes. That is all!

Where did February go?

Hello all, apologies for my lack of blogging - what happened to February! What did happen to February, well...

We delivered the rest of our greetings cards to Arighi Bianchi a few days after our last post. I was very excited to hear that all of the Valentines Day cards sold out!


We got a phone call from a very excited Victoria & Mark who have moved their wedding forward - yes we are available - phew! So it was action stations getting their stationery done at lightning speed for them! We are doing their pre-wedding photo shoot on Saturday, looking forward to seeing you guys!

We met up with the oh so lovely Sophie & Dan to present them with their Wedding photos, which they loved! I love watching couples see their photos, bringing back the memories and emotions from the day.

Mark headed up to Bolton to do a shoot for Tru Dentistry, taking some great shots of their revamped clinic and lovely staff!


We spent a fab evening at 'Nicer' Bar & Restaurant in Prestbury photographing a surprise 18th Birthday Party which was great fun! The look on Frances' face when she walked in was priceless, and of course is now captured on camera!



Later that weekend we did Kirsten & Emma's pre-wedding shoot on a very chilly day in Macclesfield Forest with their dogs Stella & Moghli, such a photogenic and beautifully coordinated couple, they made our lives very easy! It was then only a week till their wedding at the Belle Epoque in Knutsford! What an amazing wedding it was. I have never seen a bride so chilled out and calm, and she looked stunning in her Jenny Packham dress. The wedding was just one big party full of love and happiness, exactly what it should be! Now we cant wait for them to get back from Honeymoon so they can see the photos!

Once we had packed up, Emma & Kirsten wanted us to stay so we had a drink and a quick boogie to their band, Groovy Revolution. It was an early start the following morning as we were up at 7am to head to Manchester Town Hall for the Confetti Queens wedding fayre! We met loads of cool couples who we are really looking forward to working with!


The next weekend we met up with Lucie & Darren for their pre-wedding shoot. We went to see their Church, the beautiful St Oswalds in Peover and went for a walk across the surrounding fields getting some lovely shots along the way. Cant wait for their wedding this Sunday!




We had another early start on the Sunday for another wedding fayre at the new Hilton in Liverpool, such a fabulous venue in such amazing surrounding just by Albert Docks, I can visualise so many urban style shots I'd love to do, the big red columns, outside the Tate Gallery - ooh inside the Tate?! The possibilities would be endless!

I think we are pretty much up to date now, I have spent the week making wedding invitations for Sarah & Carl who are having a vintage theme, lots of pretty lace, pearls and the old typewriter on the go! Ooh I have some family birthday cards to make too, they seem to get left until last these days!

It's no wonder February went so quickly, we didnt really have chance to say hello to it! I won't leave it so long next time, I promise!

Oh it's all go!

We are very proud, excited and a little bit giddy to announce that today we are delivering our Valentine's Day cards to Arighi Bianchi in Macclesfield! The full range of hand painted greetings cards will be delivered next week so I had better get back to my paints and brushes! Before I do, just a little bit more news...

On Sunday we went to the oh so beautiful Midland Hotel in Manchester to meet the lovely Alison from Confetti Queens. Confetti Queens organise Wedding Fayres at fantastic locations and we are thrilled to be exhibiting with them on Sunday 21st February at Manchester Town Hall (Swoon! Wedding photography heaven!!) and on Sunday 28th February at the gorgeous shiny new Hilton Liverpool!

We are busy sending lots of samples of our greetings cards to lovely gift shops and farm shops around the country so keep your eyes peeled! If you know of anywhere that could do with a Slice of Pie be sure to drop us a line!

Birthday Buns

What a perfect way to spend a rainy Saturday morning! Baking Birthday buns for tomorrow's Birthday Girl who is popping round to finalise her Wedding Invitations!

Victory for Vintage!

I have been surrounded by 'vintage' all of my life, from the beautiful antiques that graced the floors and walls at home to my Mum's overflowing fabric cupboard (the dreaded (yet legendary) jam-packed cupboard at the top of the stairs!). When planning the current Slice of Pie collection I decided to go all misty eyed and retrospective by delving into the said cupboard. I became a fabric magpie, surrounded by boxes and bags of scraps and offcuts, each one like a tiny cotton masterpiece worthy of display and recognition. I picked a handful (ok so I picked armfuls) of my favourite designs, many were so familiar to me from my childhood I knew they had to feature in the collection. So later with a big box of beautiful vintage fabrics and my old fashioned typewriter on my desk I went about designing the new collection. I do hope I have done them all justice.

The Recipe

To make the perfect pie you need the right ingredients and the best recipe, in our case it goes like this...

1 Mark Higgins
1 Laura Meare
2 Canon Cameras
Lots of lights, backgrounds, tripods and other fancy stuff
1 Background in Photography & Marketing
1 Background in Art & Design and English
1 Apple Mac
1 or 2 big piles of felt and vintage fabric
1 Sewing machine
1 Vintage typewriter
Lots of boxes of card & recycled envelopes
1 treasured box of watercolour paints
1 or 2 weekly sessions of dancing around the lounge with the ipod on shuffle
1 or 2 long walks in the hills each week
Lots of yummy food (maybe too much yummy food)
The odd bottle of New Zealand Marlborough Sauv Blanc (I'm digressing!!)
Lots of laughs, fabulous friends & family, enthusiasm, talent and lovely clients!

Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl stir until well combined and serve immediately at weddings, parties or when ever you feel like a nice Slice of Pie.

The first Slice of the Pie

Well here it is, the first Slice of Pie Designs post! Our website has been up and running for a good while now but we felt we wanted a way to let everyone know what we were up to and share the things that we love and are inspired by.