Derek Ring caught red handed...

Will this guy ever leave??
Originally uploaded by Louie Despres

The surprize candy table from Sprout was under siege last year. Guests loved it. This guest, Derek Ring was caught red handed by photographer Louis Despres.

Cirque Du Noir Inspiration

{image via vogue italia and fotografiademoda}

{image via vogue italia and tom and lorenzo}

{image of prada via vogue italia and tom and lorenzo}

{image of mcqueen via vogue italia and tom and lorenzo}

Half the reason Cirque Du Noir came to be was my love for fashion, black clothing and celebrations. Until the event I will be posting images for inspiration here on Festival Creative. The event is special in the way that although it is all black attire and assuming everyone has something black, the space gets filled with either costumes or elegant people rocking their black. Another wonderful thing about the event is that it attracts a very diverse crowd to come and either people watch or indulge in the fascination of the live art fusion, the delicious food, or the ethereal music. Sounds of an elegant deep violin and world rhythms help to invigorate curious appetites. If you have not attended before, I have to say, it is a very different kind of event for Worcester.

Taking the talents of local artists and watching them create amazing works of art in front of you is intimate and really fascinating. Watching their faces, the nuance of how they sketch and watching them complete each piece is pretty incredible. All this while listening to really great music. The different groups that come together all for a night of celebrating together is what energized me and prompted me to really think outside the box and get this started. My house was too small to continue on there.

That really motivated me was the fact that at almost 40 years old, I had been waiting for things like this to happen in Worcester. I wanted to go out in the city and experience something artistic, edgy, captivating that transcended all the barriers. Worcester seems to have pockets of people, places and things. In my mind I wanted to intrigue people...to come out and give them something that would highlight what Worcester has to offer. Since my circle is full of creatives, I really wanted to celebrate the incredible artistic talents here in town. I also did not belong to any artists groups, I was not involved myself in any of the artistic communities here in town. My fault. Without knowing much about anything in event planning and execution, I set out to find out that there were many people willing to make it happen. Especially, Andreea Waters of Kai and Gipsy, a creative herself that could really see where I was going with Cirque Du Noir, and jumped in right away. She is my partner in crime on this. Together we spin crazy ideas into reality. I love when that happens.

That was 3 years ago. Today we look forward to working hard to bring another, bigger more magical event to Worcester. If you think it's not for you, think again. This may be just what you have been waiting for! Museum goers, art admirers, art buyers, voyeurs, lovers, foodies, music lovers, curious, adventurous, zombies, politicians, teachers, lovers of fun...if you want to take a night to experience art and music in a new way, treat yourself to this elegant evening of eye candy, yummy food, creative people, and a fabulous night out in town.

The bonus? All proceeds go to the Worcester County Food Bank, just in time to feed so many Worcester families for the holidays. Tickets will be up online soon. They will be $25 in advance and the same at the door.

Big thanks today to:

Checkerboard Ltd. (the company I design for) in advance for the wonderful invitations they are about to print.

Niche Hospitality and the staff at The Citizen/Speakeasy for their incredible and accomodating support.

Cathy Walsh from Sprout, who always brings the fun on!

I also want to thank in advance the artists and musicians who make the event really super cool. Worcester is overflowing with outrageous talent. Come see what they can do!

Anyone new artists would like to be a part of the art auction, please contact me pronto! If anyone would like to donate a piece of art, please include a little bio piece with your donation, so our curator can tell the buyers about you and your work.

You can reach me at mlhiggs2{at}yahoo.com.

Expose yourself...

Take a peek... {click}

Finally, Unveiled

{new Checkerboard wedding product from the Unveiled, an "inspired wedding" collection}

Do you want to know where I have been? Maybe you just stumbled here, but I have been a little absent from blogging for a while. It's hard balancing family, work and fun with time spent connected to the keyboard, so I took a little break to try to find that balance.

About a year ago, I started designing for this new project, that was "unveiled" in May at the National Stationery Show in New York City. It has been a pretty exciting year. This collection and it's presentation of invitations is very different from anything that is on the market today. {so cool!} We do all our trends research ourselves, watching fashion, design, decor, furniture, and color. My eyes are always open to translating fashion into paper. Created and inspired by couples that want to share their personalities with their guests, this collection of innovative invitations and imported Italian papers is finally on the market. It is so exciting hearing all of the feedback and wonderful comments. I hope this book, presented with full color inspiration boards, kicks up the heels of brides and grooms all over. The inspiration boards were a collaboration of amazing talent. Images from the incredible Michele M. Waite Photography of Washington State actually inspired the boards. She was a major contributor of images and time, as well as Jennifer Burkhart of Cookie Creatives, award winning cake designer Michelle Bohigian of Something Sweet by Michelle, Cathy Walsh of Sprout, Erin Wolczik and fantastic product shots by Adoniram Sides of Checkerboard.

{Unveiled inspiration board from Suite # 1, Presidio, featuring a new luxury envelope}

**The Unveiled Collection is hot off the press and not currently available online. You can call Checkerboard customer service {1.800.735.2475 or e-mail us at info@checkernet.com} to find a vendor in your community that carries Unveiled. Or, you can contact me if you are in Central Massachusetts!

Did you hear about the Woo and Wed?

Worcester Wedding Open Houses

A day of wedding bliss will be going on and

Festival Invitations

will be there!

All this excitement, the brainchild of Cathy Walsh from Sprout.

{I just love her and her creations, like this recent gem!}

...all the juicy details coming soon!

follow on twitter or the Woo and Wed blog (in the works)

{oh, silly blogger shrinks everything, scroll to bottom to see enlarged}

The Power of Cathy Walsh and Worcester bits...

Cathy never fails to make me smile, laugh out loud or make me feel like maybe I am not thoughtful enough, not even close. Besides being unbelievably creative and original with her floral designs, Cathy Walsh is probably one of the most generous and thoughtful businesswomen in the city. Free wreaths at Christmas, so every business has one............what?

Cathy Walsh is a doer, not a sayer, not a dreamer. She does amazing and incredible things for other people, for the whole city! Now she and a group of rebelrousers she has enlisted are planting flowers around town for the International Sunflower Guerilla Gardening Day, May 1, originating in Brussels, Belgium. They were building the "bombs" tonight in her shop! ( I wish I peeked in the window to see this go down). I can hear the mission impossible music now! Sunflower mud bombs that will be hurled into deserving spots around Worcester. All the Romanians will be so happy. It will feel like home with all the sunflowers blooming. I think I shall plant some myself!

{image via Sprout}

Sprout has earned the Best of Worcester Florist award for the 6th out of 8 years she has been in business. Congratulations to you Cathy and Francoise for all you do to beautify and make people smile. Your work makes people happy at important and special times in their lives. You take full advantage and make every order extra Sprouty!!!

For more info
on the movement and how you can help spread the sunflower love around Worcester,
see Cathy's blog for details.

Congrats also to the other winners of Worcester Magazine's Best of Worcester including Armsby Abbey for 13 awards and Punkystyle for her creative and inspiring fashion adventure blog. Don't miss her next clothing swap here in Worcester. She was Chronicle'd for her swaps in Boston!

Canal District Clothing Swap
Saturday, May 30th, 11am - 4:00pm
Where: 138 Green Street/ Crompton Place

......................

and I saw on
I'm From Worcester.....
Still Green is premiering at Worcester Showcase North.

Flora Fauna

{flora images: first two via sprout, cherry blossoms via decorno}

My magnolia buds haven't grown in 2 weeks. Hopefully today will give them a boost. Happy spring day to everyone in the North East who has been waiting and waiting for warmth. Enjoy the sun. Play hookie. Have an ice cream cone. Watch a little league game. Go for a walk.

Enjoy your Friday!

Live in the sunshine,

swim the sea, drink the wild air…

~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

Sprout

{images via sprout-flowers}

There is a funky flower shop in Worcester on the West Side. Walking in, you can feel that the vibe is larger than the little block on June Street, where they are located. My first time in Sprout, I knew there was an artistic and edgy element that I just loved. The flowers displayed in vases were unique, handpicked from the floral market in Boston. The choices were unusual and stunning. The shop is inviting and casual, like home. Each vase is noted with a price, so it's really easy to figure out what you can get for your price range, especially if you are stopping by to pick up loose flowers for home, for a hostess, or for a special occasion. Of course, when you order an arangement from Sprout, you will never be dissappointed.

My work as an invitation designer means venturing out into the world for the occasional flower. I always head directly to Sprout, knowing what I could find there. When friends at work asked me where to shop for flowers, I sent them to Sprout. At this point, I did not know Cathy and her assistant Francoise very well. My dear friend Gregorio would stop by their shop regularly to pick up fresh flowers for the table. Our photographer would stop by to get flowers for his shoots. Everyone always went back!

The time came when I needed advice and direction for an event I was hosting. Since I was calling it Cirque du Noir, I thought it would be wonderful to have macabre arrangements. I thought since my budget was zero, I could maybe ask some advice and clean out Cathy's "dead stuff". The day I walked in to her shop, she was so sweet and offered me up all her dead flowers. When the time got closer to the event, Cathy proposed something very different. She wanted to do a floral arrangement for the table and auction it off, with all the proceeds giong directly to our cause, the Worcester County Food bank. I could not believe her generosity.

The morning of the event, we met at Bocado and I could not believe my eyes! She made this unbelievable creation of cirque-a-licious proportions. It was enormous and vibrant and so stunning. It did not stop there, she worked up some magical props to coordinate and fully capture the mood of the event and enhance her spectacular flowers. I was truly blown away, the boxes kept coming from out of her car and into Bocado. It takes alot for me to feel this way, but this little lady sent me over the top!

Before this I didn't even know her. She did not know me... but she took initiative to support what I was trying to do and make it even grander! It was a pretty incredible feeling leaving the restaurant to go home and prepare for that night. She single handedly made me feel like the whole pipe dream I had for this fundraiser was REAL as we set up the flowers. Someone I did not even know was working her *$#%& off and spending all this time to help me. Cirque du Noir and all it's contributors raised over $4000 dollars that night for the food bank. Not bad for 6 weeks of planning.

{image of decorative piece Sprout whipped up for Andreea Waters for Cirque du Noir}

Christmas time came and Cathy did it again. It was her dream to make sure every business in Worcester had a wreath on it's door that wanted one. All you had to do it call her! This was a woman after my own heart!


This woman and her endless creativity, her talent and her emense generosity, her presence as a Worcester business owner, all of this has really impacted me. I imagine people that meet her must feel the same way. Since then and onward, I have made a new friend, a valuable contact and a kick ass floral designer. I send all my friends, knowing Sprout will take care of them. In these economic times, businesses like her's have a huge advantage over others. She goes the extra mile, she sees the unseen and she creates magnificent beauty for her clients with a personality to boot. She makes a difference.

{***ah huh, If Holly Becker from decor8 is following Sprout, you know she's pretty cool!}

{all images in this post, borrowed from Sprout}

SPROUT is located at:
118 A June Street
Worcester MA 01602
t 508 757 5300 f 508 757 0891

HOURS
Tuesday 10-5
Wednesday - Friday 10-6
Saturday 9-3
Closed Sundays & Mondays

My invitation was featured

Today on The Finer Things my invitation was featured! They give a lot of love to our invitations. Thank you Jess for choosing it.

Anyone who is in the market for invites, think of me... and I highly recommend Sprout Worcester for florals extraordinaire, and Something Sweet by Michelle for your confections. Michelle came in first in Bride's Magazine's 50 most beautiful cakes this year.

Spreading Sproutness and Joy through Worcester

Our fine friend and community supporter Cathy from Sprout has offered FREE wreaths to all Worcester businesses! Inspired by the story of Eloise at Christmastime, she is on a mission to get some holiday decor happening. Thank you Cathy for spreading joy all over town.

From www.sprout-flowers.com

Wreaths will be available for pick up from
November 28 - December 6.
In this "down" economy, we'd like to infect everyone with a little holiday cheer and good will and make this city the sparkling place of my childhood imagination!