Shirlie Kemp

Sunday, 29 January 2012

A birthday boy!

My son Romans 19th Birthday

Its hard when your children grow up, especially when its your youngest. When they were small, I could really make a big deal of their birthdays but as they get older they want less fuss. I still managed to put the table cloth on and blow up a few balloons, which must have been made of leather because I thought my cheeks were going to burst,not the balloons!

The fabulous three tiered cake, made by the multi talented Becky Rui

Victoria sponge, triple chocolate and carrot cake!

I love the turquoise and rusty browns

Becky Rui made all the cakes for the celebration

Lets get the party started!!!

Happy Birthday Roman

STALKER......... NOW OUT ON DVD

More celebrations this week, its the release of my husband, Martins film, STALKER.
I am very proud of him, not only did he direct the movie ( on a shoe string budget) but he also wrote the script and worked 24/7 along with all the hard working crew and actors to make a great British film, which now days is quite an achievement! If you wish to buy or order a copy of Stalker, please try Amazon - Tesco's, HMV or itunes.
An online store is being set up for overseas, so I will update when I have that address.

This signed copy goes to the lucky competition winner

Martin Kemps' STALKER DVD

Martin would like to thank all the twitter members who took part in the competition

ORDER YOUR COPY

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stalker-DVD-Colin-Salmon/dp/B005GDJA0W/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1327829444&sr=1-1

All photo's by Shirlie Kemp

Monday, 23 January 2012

Fairytale Dress

50's vintage dress

This gorgeous 50's vintage dress would also make a wonderful wedding dress.

We added the huge pink tulle skirt underneath to create a fairytale look

Buying a wedding dress doesn't need to be expensive, especially if you have a quirky vintage theme!

Adding layers and drama

All photo's and styling by

Shirlie Kemp

Wednesday, 18 January 2012

The Great Gatsby !

I am very excited to see two movies this year, one being 'The Great Gatsby' and the other 'The Artist'. I adore the fashion in both films, so I thought it would be fun to style my own little fashion shoot

in honour of these wonderful movies!

As you may know, I love vintage clothes and feel they really come alive, especially in photo shoots.

I will also mix modern pieces from the high street & charity stores but its mostly vintage.

Its such a blessing to have some one to share all this fun and creativity with and the wonderful thing about my friend Hayley, with whom share's my passion too, is.......not only is she a photographer but she is fantastic with effects and adding her unique style to our photo's.

Its amazes me what can be done with photographs and yes, these do have some special effects !

The Great Gatsby style..... hats and pearls galore

I recently found this head band in a high street store

I am wearing a buttercup silk 1930's dress under a fluffy peach shoulder wrap

Hayley is wearing the prettiest vintage silk peach gown with fine velvet flowers and lace trimmings and of course, lots of pearls!

Best of friends! This is our self portrait, we were trying very hard not to laugh and try to look serious but I am actually holding the remote camera clicker underneath the flowers, in order to take the picture!

Props helping to hide modern day technology and with Hayley's special effects you would never know!

At one point I looked at Hayley and thought what year are we in now, she looked so great and authentic!

The chunky silk shoulder buttons add a classic finish to this 1920's dress

The shoes are modern but I needed to add extra height for the long gown

All Styling & Photography Shirlie Kemp & Hayley Samuelson

Thursday, 12 January 2012

Cup Cakes & Tea

I was in the supermarket and thought I would buy a few cupcakes to take to a friends house but just as I buying them, I suddenly felt the urge to make some myself. I was at the cake counter so I thought I should buy one cupcake anyway.

The cupcake below is from Waitrose and looks absolutely perfect, there is no way I could make mine look as good but I am happy with the ones I made, which are obviously not perfect but just as tasty, they all looked so pretty I had to take some pictures.

A perfect Waitrose cupcake looks so pretty on my vintage plate

My imperfect and rather strangely shaped cakes before being decorated

I do love an apron!

All looking rather lovely now after butter icing, fruit and a few roses, make it all look country and cosy!

There is nothing like a lovely cuppa, its the only thing I miss when I go away.

Sprinkles add a touch of magic

I made these little deserts with some of the ingredients I had left over. I made meringue's but didn't like the shape, so used them as a filling along with fruit and fresh cream, very simple!

I much prefer smaller portions when it comes to deserts, so these little sherry glasses were perfect.

A very sweet day indeed.

All Photo's by Shirlie Kemp

Saturday, 7 January 2012

Inspired Wedding Tables

More lovely ideas for all those lucky people having a 2012 wedding.
This has a very whimsical fairy tale look, very natural with lots of moss and ferns to add that magical woodland feel and all very gentle and calming.