Paper Couture Special: Here Comes the Bride

Paper couture proudly presents a special wedding edition outfit. Here comes the bride and she is indeed the vision of loveliness in a sparkling corset dress inspired by Alfred Angelo's Belle dress.

paper art wedding dress for sale in the Kell Belle Boutique

Glittered paper, patterned vellum and ever so delicate touches of pretty combine beautifully to make this a stunner of a Kell Belle original. This one's all for me girls, so no template for you. :)

Shabby Chic French Armoire Part Deux

For all you experts of shabby chic, I have redesigned my armoire to a level I consider to be high class chicness. What do you think?

purchase prints in the Kell Belle Boutique

I was actually reading a blog post last week written by someone who audaciously stated her opinion that one can not buy their way to shabby chic.  . . . Really?

Kell Belle's looking très chic

Perhaps that is true if you come at it from the perspective that shabby chic style is a taste acquired over time to the point that purchasing decisions become a reflection of it.

Note: Armoire design is copyrighted by Kell Belle Studio and may not be reproduced in any way without my written permission. Day bed photo remains the property of Brissi save my ever so slight alteration of it. ;)

Wacky Tim Burton-ish Dress

I received an inquiry about a custom dress that included a purple, peplum top with a deep plunge neckline in a brocade pattern. The skirt was to be black and white checkered with the squares turned at a 45 degree angle. 

gradient added to show pattern and skirt style

Ha ha! I realized that the purple top was open to all kinds of interpretation that were not specified in the original request nor have I received a definitive answer even after asking my customer. Do I go with purple background and black damask or the white background and purple damask?

a daring combination damask and checkered

Don't even get me started on the options I haven't mentioned yet! There's enough pattern going on to keep my eyes completely occupied so I'd like to at least keep my mind freed up. Now that I can see these together, I think I'll go with the purple and black. It seems to compliment the skirt better.

MacKenzie-Childs Garden Awning Collection

The varitey of patterns kind of reminds me of the wacky Alice in Wonderland movie. This dress style was inspired by MacKenzie-Childs whose daring combinations of bold yet elegant pattern is really quite appealing.

How to Make a Paper Pinwheel Cupcake Topper

Pinwheels are a party delighter that seem to draw smiles from folks on both sides of the gender fence and these little cuties make for a great spring, paper craft project!

paper pinwheel cupcake topper tutorial

I've put together a short tutorial on how to make these adorable little pinwheel cupcake toppers that are sure to dazzle your guests. Enjoy!

Have you Heard of Lolita Fashion?

Lolita (ロリィタ) is a street fashion and a subculture in Japan known for its intricate and delicate, doll-like look. The clothing is inspired mainly by the Rococo and Victorian eras and covers a large variety of sub-styles.

sweet lolita dress floral
love the ruffled, southern belle style skirt

The concept behind Lolita borders on the disturbing side of life for me but the fashion is wonderfully intriguing and so pretty in an over the top, Marie Antoinette meets Scarlet O'Hara kinda way. I could get lost in it for days!

gothic lolita in black
love everything about this but the color

In the absence of anything interesting in the way of tea dress inspiration for May's paper couture project, Lolita fashion presents such a rich opportunity to create something wildly different yet scrumptiously girly that I simply can not resist it.

sweet lolita dress in pink
love the ruffles, bows and scallop hem

I'm thinking the neckline from the black dress combined with skirt elements from dresses 1 and 3 will produce an absolutely divine Miss May! Do you have a favorite? Let me know what you think.

Note: The first paragraph of this post is directly quoted from hellolace.net where you can learn more about Lolita fashion. Clicking the photos will take you to their original source.

The Shabby Chic Armoire

The shabby chic armoire I've been talking about for months has finally exited the nebulous realm of my thoughts and come forth in all its graphically designed French glory! Do you love it? I sure do.

graphically designed, shabby chic, French armoire

Shabby chic, also called cottage style reflects timeless, vintage quality that combines the new with the old. It is often light, airy, warm and welcoming. I see shabby chic as design with clean, crisp lines, lots of white or pastel colors, floral Victorian prints and vintage style.

prints $7 in the Kell Belle Boutique

This armoire is based on the antique French armoire and I think it fits the shabby chic style beautifully. I'll be working with this design to create displays for my paper dresses.

Note: Shabby chic French armoire is designed and copyrighted by Kell Belle Studio. It may not be reproduced or posted in any form without my written permission.

Happy Easter

Kell Belle Studio wishes you and yours a very joyful Easter.

Paper Couture Fashion Prints

Paper couture fashion prints is such a romantic idea suggested to me the other day by someone on the TAGT Etsy team I currently belong to. This will open up availability of my work to a wider audience for sure.

vintage armoire sketch by ©Kell Belle Studio

I may have heard the idea before and dismissed it but after pondering the graphic design possibilities I have renewed enthusiasm. This weekend I'll begin prototyping starting with this armoire sketch. This is going to be fun!

Paper Couture XXII: Modern Cinderella

Ma gawd how I love that those words, modern Cinderella. Your template for Miss April appears below and I challenge you this month to create a paper dress.

modern Cinderella paper dress  template  5" x 7"

I know how much you love fabric, it's easy and doesn't require much imagination but your dress can't really be called paper couture either which is what this whole project is about. Just sayin'!

Only 3 months left before the project ends! I can hardly believe it's been 9 months already. I'll be making an announcement about the grand finale for this project so stay tuned.

Miss April is Indeed a Modern Cinderella

Miss April is indeed a modern day Cinderella in a dress that's both practical and still satisfies the inner princess in all of us girly girls.

The inspiration for April's paper couture dress appears on the left and the paper version (of course) appears on the right. Uncanny isn't it?! Thank you, I'm so proud! (tee hee :)