The Beginning:
So by now you’ve heard…we competed in the Utterly Engaged Leap Year Remix Design Competition. We spent the entire month of February prepping with our fabulous team – Bride & Bloom Flowers and Paper Cut Industries. We cannot sing these ladies praises enough.
You can see how this all got started here. This was our first time entering UE’s competition – although we’ve been long time fans. Eventually you just have to jump – and that’s exactly what we did.
Our concept was Japurkey – and if that sounds odd it’s because it’s blending the cultures of Japan & Turkey together to create a remixed culture. From that we were set with the task of creating a sweetheart table. So we started with our concept board:
We wanted touches of both cultures apparent throughout our design. You can see all the tiny details like origami cranes & turkish slippers – all the way up to camels & bold lanterns! We were loving all of it! Monica, of Paper Cut Industries, put this fabulous board together. We spent a ton of weeks collecting, ordering, researching & locating supplies to really create something special. After a few late nights of test runs – we knew we were ready for game-day.
The Day Of The Event:
Wow. First off…you know when you have those days that you have to say “did that just happen??!” – well that totally happened. Leap Day was a whirlwind. I started my morning loading the truck in Redondo Beach, drove to Long Beach to pick up the remaining items from Studio 404 and then set off for Pasadena. Needless to say I was “that girl” doing 55 on the 710 because my truck was so loaded down, I couldn’t see out any of the sides! But it was a beautiful day – we were all pumped up & ready to compete! As I was pulling into Pasadena (about 5 or so miles from the venue) I was driving down this beautiful residential street and I noticed all of this stuff flying across the road (imagine if you will: lawn clippings) and, I swear, I did indeed believe they were lawn clippings. I was just under the impression that every yard on that block was being mowed at the same time because there were so many. No. I was wrong. Dead wrong. As I began driving through them I realized they were BEES! THOUSANDS OF BEES!! Apparently, someone had hit a bee’s hive & these lil suckers were MAD. Thank GOODNESS my windows were up. Kathleen may or maynot have gotten 3-4 panicked messages telling her I survived her absolute nightmare – bees.
But then I arrived at the venue and we got busy! If you ever want to see what efficiency looks like – watch the setting up for the design competition. You have crazy amazing planners, vendors & pro’s all working at their A-game. It was like watching the construction of a small city. There was no panic, no stress, & amazing communications between everyone. It was absolutely amazing to watch. You can see some of the craziness from this shot I snapped while some teams was getting their tables ready (this was the early, early stages):
Our team had a fabulous time putting together our table – what can I say – we love working together! Here we are pre-event with our finished table. What you cannot see is the fabulous bench Amy procured that Kathleen covered with the most gorgeous rust-colored fabric that made it a truly POP piece:
We had to leave to get ourselves gussied up & allow the Utterly Engaged girls to prep for their gorgeous party! We clean up pretty well;
Leap Year Remix Party Time:
The party was amazing. If you didn’t attend this year, we suggest you go ahead and clear your calendar for next year’s event. It was so much fun meeting such amazing people in the industry, as well as partaking in all the events the UE girls had set up around the venue. It was also pretty mind blowing to see our table with the beautiful up lighting behind it.
Dare To Leap Wall: Everyone wrote goals & achievements they wanted to make
Delicious neon nom-noms
Kathleen shows our photography pal Stephanie where she can vote for her favorite table
Destination Japurkey! Our table brought to life!
The Utterly Engaged Party was so much fun! We are already looking forward to next year! If you want to see more indepth photos of our table – you have to check out the latest issue of Utterly Engaged. You can find us nestled among the pages – and see amazing photos of our flower sushi, the beautiful paper designs & all the elements that brought Japurkey to life. Will we be seeing you in next year’s competition?
ittybittypartycommittee 