Bridal Car Decoration by Mariah & Sham

Our new service is now open for booking, subject to date availability.

Feature : Landscape paintings

    Introducing paintings by Jennifer Young.
    Vibrant and authentic, her works normally involve landscape drawings and paintings.

Now while I love the European countrysides, I normally enjoy visiting them more than looking at them off paintings. But these 2 paintings by Jennifer really captured my attention. She managed to "feel' her surroundings and bring forth her experiences and interpretations onto her canvas. I felt almost as if I was there. Just loving the details!

Southern France

Notice how she uses her colours fearlessly, to accentuate the tracks. The strokes were deliberate, as if trying to draw attention to the "beaten path"...a sign that there is "life" and probably plenty of activities too in that seemingly remote village.



Landscape painting

Looking at this painting, I can almost feel the light breeze. Notice how everything else seemed still and quiet, save for the few lightly swaying vines which she marvelously captured, again with her deliberate strokes.

True masterpiece

Lily of the Valley & Vintage Veil by cake guru Peggy Porschen....

New tentages by Mariah & Sham

We have a couple of Designer Isle projects coming up in 2011, and our clients wanted the same tentage concept we used for our previous Isles.

We'd love to do just that, but as always, we get easily bored....cos a tentage, spruced up, is just that. Where's the challenge, right? And because we love designing the fine details, we've decided to design and produce our own tentage. New concepts, new designs. In fact they are being designed from scratch in-house by us, and will be sewn by our chief seamstress a.k.a Mum.
And we're thinking whether a hexagonal one would be hot in demand. What say you?

I dreamt of having a tentage like this, as opposed to the dais concept, for my wedding (and that was 10 years ago), but hey I'll be just as happy doing it for others...

Time to blow our trumpets?

Of late, we've been nudged by friends and fans alike, to have our biz advertised and promoted. I so can understand the necessity, especially cos most of our works have been under recognized and under marketed.

But the thing is, our biz is really a hobby for us, in every sense of the word. Inadvertently however, we have been pulled into the playing field, and now expectations are mounting.

All this while, we have only been leveraging solely off our blog, FB and word-of-mouth for publicity, and we have been politely putting off interviews and publicity offers for fear of not being able to meet demands for our services and products. It was supposed to keep our orders under control. Despite that control however, our orders are beyond us now...

Yup so maybe we now have to consider investing in this business and actually run it like a real business?...complete with marketing strategies (that word makes me giddy) and all. That way, we can meet precious demands.

We also want to be recognized for our passion....cos many a time, we have been out-smarted by the bigger players. Our works and ideas, no matter how original and fine, have also been dwarfed and out-marketed by the bigger fanfare these other players get to enjoy, from the marketing they have done and the reputation they have subsequently gained.

Alas, we shall not dwell on this cos we believe in moving on and improving for the better, but now at least we know that talent alone is not enough...

But if and when we finally decide to spread our wings, it will do us good to remember that contentment and true beauty lie within...and so we will continue playing the game with dignity and honour.

Just a bit on Mum

Mariah & Sham has always been synonymous with sis and myself. Understandably so...cos apart from the obvious biz name, we sisters are the ones always updating our FBs and blogsite, keeping in touch with fans and friends alike.

It is not superfluous however, for me to introduce the real unknown talent behind our family biz. Our Mum.
She finds content in just doing things together as a family, and is possibly unbothered about recognition. Well, I can respect that wish, but once a while I think it's ok to showcase her talent just a bit, especially cos I've recently found a beautiful picture of sis in her wedding gown. Mum sewed it of course.

I love the design. It was simple, classy and most importantly, created with TLC.

Probably just right for a naturally gorgeous bride :)

Deep Purple & Blue by Samia

This is entirely long overdue.
We'd like to thank Samia of Deep Purple & Blue for featuring our Pink Black Dessert Isle on her journal blog.
It's an honour really ,and likewise, your blog is worthy of mention too!
Love your stories, eloquence, inspirations and dedication to all things creative and beautiful.
Do keep in touch, and stay inspired! :)

New! Wedding Car Decoration

Ok so just before i really sign off for the week, here's just another small announcement.

We're itching to do wedding car decoration, complete with its "Just Married" signage. The ideas are floating around in our head, so you can't ask us for the catalog yet. But then again, if you trust us enough and would love to be surprised with something chic, classy and utterly gorgeous (and especially if you're getting a vintage car for your wedding!), do drop us a mail soon.

We're booked up for other projects, but we're opening up only 2 slots in between (and at promotional price too), for this new project design.

So email us today at mariahnsham@hotmail.com

A new archive

Here're just some minor updates for our site.

Apart from the new topbar icons, our sidebar now bears our Archive of Fine Details.
Just a collection of our past works, designs, posters and even unpublished ideas.

Much time and effort have been invested into this part time family business / hobby, and we'd just love to share these works and ideas, right from their conceptualization to their production, with like-minded individuals sharing the same passion and panache for design, styling and all moments beautiful.

See ya next week (after the kids finish their exams yea!)
Meanwhile, take care and have a great week with family and friends ya all!

New designer cupcake by Mariah & Sham

Last week we collaborated with Haz Workz to come up with a new designer cupcake look for our new client Ashley's 23rd birthday. (Happy Happy Birthday Ashley ~ )



Cupcake and Cupcake Wrapper by Mariah & Sham.
Cupcake Topper by Hazworkz.

We worked on the cupcake wrapper, here featuring a white chandelier silhoutte against our modified Aqua-Tiffany Blue (a shade between aqua blue and tiffany blue) background. Hazrin worked on the monogrammed topper, and we simply love his fine workmanship! (Yes, you can order generic and personalised toppers from him too)

We then designed a new label for Ashley's cupcake take-away box.



Our designer cupcakes, packed in a clear box and embellished with ribbon and crytal beads.

And then of course...because we're always quite the fickle minded lot, we decided to pack the cupcakes in a clear box as well...just for variety :)

And so like always, we would combine all our various ideas and designs...to come up with the all-important harmonized presentation.

This "harmonized variety" has apparently been said to have become one of the distinctive trademarks of Mariah & Sham. So ok we're sticking to that ;)

So anyway, that's all folks!! See ya in our next post...ouh but hey dont forget to check out our constantly updated albums too. Some pics may not find their way to our blog post, but we always put our projects up, no matter how small they may be, for all our clients to see. Just a small way of saying thank you. Thanx for trusting us :)

Collaborating with The Wedding Chateau

We were honoured, albeit slightly skeptical, when my friend Najihah messaged us, at the eleventh hour, to check if we could help take on some wedding cake orders from her.

We thought we had a lot on our hands, but we're glad to have eventually taken the orders. Cos for one, we learned to be more efficient, rising up to the occassion, so to speak. And especially for myself, working with Najihah brought back fond memories of us, back in Pharmacy School, doing our experiments in the lab :)

But best of all, we actually enjoyed working with TWC. True there were some discrepancies and miscommunication here and there, but we were lucky to have been given the trust and freedom to modify and improvise. But then again maybe Najihah had no choice but to be accommodating,  at least for friendship's sake! Heh.

So anyway, here are the pics...

Sorry our dearest photographer sidetracked just a little :)

So again, here are the cake pics...

We were extremely satisfied with our fondant this time round.
Our new preparation technique and top grade ingredients helped us achieve this flawless icing finish.

                                             


Mariah working on the final touches.

Striving to design a cake that would look rich and classy yet subtle and elegant, we decided, after much deliberation,  to use only ivory - one of the colours included in Najihah's colour palette - throughout...

This monotoned three tiered fondant cake would then be embellished with ivory filligree motifs, lustre pearl icing, ivory ribbon trimmings and white chrysanthemums, to elicit that rich yet subtle texture. It was to our horror then, when we found out, after setting everything up, that the bride had wanted a purple cake.

Fortunately, we managed to get over the initial panic, and just like many other times when we were setting up our own dessert isles and things didnt go quite as expected, we would start modifying and improvising.
Here, we added in our purple ribbon trimming, which luckily was a matching shade to TWC's decor, and accentuated the chrysanthemums with tiny bits of purple heather blooms to harmonize and balance the whole look.

Overall, we thought the colours worked well, but much more crucial would be whether the cake had fit right in to the decor. We hope it did.

Tiffany Blue

And then Najihah needed help to make a simple blue cake to match her blue themed dessert bar. But it being a last minute request, we unfortunately could not grab hold of a one-half inch matching blue ribbon, as requested. So there we went again, modifying and improvising. We trimmed each tier with our shorter half inch ribbon instead, and added in a running layer on top, deliberately leaving a slight gap in between. This way, the trimming had an added pattern / effect to it, yet still remained simple enough to complement our simple cake and TWC's gorgeous dessert bar.


Myself, straightening out the trimmings.
Najihah and Sarah setting up their dessert bar.



Sham, Sarah, Najihah and Mariah....
 of Mariah & Sham and The Wedding Chateau.
All looking rather tired here...

So thanks guys, for the opportunity and the trust. Looking forward to working together again. And perhaps, if we ever get overwhelmed with dessert isle projects, and you guys have gotten a new shop with a big kitchen, you all can help make our cakes too?! :)

We were featured in Aquila Asia

"Mariah & Sham personalises everything for your events. From customised stationery and designer cakes, to decor accents, party favors and wedding packages - everything is fabulous. For Ramadhan and Eid, their dessert isle of sweet treats, halawa, dates and kueh makmur is simply perfection. You have to see it to believe it" ~ Aquila Asia

Pixelated Theory

We were very honoured to have been photographed by the talented NorZamaria of Pixelated Theory, during Liza's birthday bash 2 months back.

Photography is a passion for her, I gather, and from her works, I could see why she's special. She is immersed in her surroundings, and I just love the way she captures the moments, simple as they may seem, and then translating them into something intriguing, catching one by surprise, and leaving one wondering..."Now why hadnt I noticed THAT before?!"

And just when I thought she's more of a 'moment' photographer, she surprised me with her ability to document still art works...like our dessert isle! Love the angles!

So as much as she would love to have more opportunities to document Mariah & Sham's works, we'd love to, just as much if not more, have the opportunity to be documented by her! Because we would love to have her capturing those precious moments. Cos that is what Mariah & Sham is all about...sharing the beautiful things in life.

So below are some of the pics taken by her.
(You can see how much nicer they are, compared to our amateurish photographs, posted earlier on :))

Ignition On!

We're back! and fiercer than ever :)

Good news to all our great great great fans and clients who have done way too much to encourage us over and over again with kind words, recommendations, referrals, repeated orders and most importantly, friendship...
(No I'm not kidding! And this is not a marketing gimmick either)

We're back with more ideas for the upcoming projects we have promised to undertake, in the months ahead. Things got a bit delayed, what with all my moving and house searching. But I've FINALLY found a new place, and so things are getting back on track. Our soft launch and retail launch have also been delayed, but we'd rather have proper impactful launches than mediocre rushed ones.

It'll be early next year, and we're keeping our lips sealed -where our new ideas and concepts are concerned- cos we dont want the ideas copied and then modified BEFORE we get tired of them. Heh.

I'm still waiting for the new house keys though. Come december, we'll get some work done to spruce the house up, and only then...will we announce our soft launch. So please wait for us.

In the meantime, do enjoy our upcoming projects and blog updates....

We're featured on Martha Stewart's "Dreamers into Doers"!

So this was indeed a great deal for us, cos it was beyond our expectations, at least at this point in time. I mean who are we kidding? Martha and her team are the gold standard for fine living, crafts, weddings, gardening, decorating and entertaining!

We've always loved our community of Dreamers into Doers because they all share our passion for all things beautiful...and most importantly, they believe in sharing ideas, success and motivation. They encouraged us and appreciated our strengths and capabilities. The feelings are mutual.

So when we shared our newest project with the rest of our members, we were expecting some constructive feedback from them. Little did we know, our pics had been picked up by the organisers and then one of it featured...much to our delight :)

It was a great thing for us cos the feature served as a seal of approval. Not something for us to flaunt, we feel, but something we can use as a yardstick for our standard. That is to say that our work has met their standard and quality. So at least we know for sure we're headed in the right direction...

Furthermore, seeing that we're always quite passive (infact almost inert) when it comes to marketing or advertising our biz, such an attention and endorsement mean even a lot more to us. It reaffirms our belief that if our work is good, people, mostly strangers, will notice us and come to us. This process may gain us slow popularity, but we're striving towards having a meaningful and trustworthy business.

So this is no reason to be all heady (but yup cant deny we're still screaming in delight). We will move ahead and test new waters. Push our limits. Innovate. Inspire. Make new friends.

So once again, thanx Liza for the opportunity :) We may have been strangers before, but we've surely forged a new friendship now.

And thanx to Martha and team! You'll see more of us, definitely :)

Ouh yea and so here's the link to our feature in Martha Stewart

Our newest Dessert Isle

We recently had the pleasure of creating a new dessert isle for our new client Liza, who'd just had her 30th Birthday Bash last weekend.

In the short time we've known her, she came across as someone who truly enjoys treating her family and friends. Though extremely generous, she is not unnecessarily extravagant...she knows when to indulge and whom to indulge with.

So we hope our isle had been a tremendous treat and joy to her loved ones and to herself on her special day, and here's wishing Liza a Happy Birthday!

We love the idea of sharing beautiful things and beautiful food with our loved ones. And so does Liza.
So she unabashedly cosied up to our idea of an outdoor dessert isle - a garden party!

An outdoor tentage set up like this, we thought, could be very gorgeous and classy...yet inviting and pretty much laissez faire. And Liza loved the unique three-dimensional feel to it too.

Introducing our Pink Black Sassy Dessert Isle.

This isle was designed with a couple of elements in mind.

We were striving to create a pink black themed isle that is sassy and chic,

as opposed to one that is either too gothic or too sweet.

So we decided to make a black and white striped parisian blind,

and worked our whole design around that parisian chic look.

We used black-white stripes, chandelier & silhouttes, topiaries, satin, velvet, crystals and silverware.

Then everything else was harmonized in pink... though not exactly of the same pink shade,

but rather in different tones...cos we simply love harmonizing different tones of colours.

And of course because we believe that the treats should be authentic and not too overdressed with icing and colouring, we therefore mostly made do with their natural colours and worked on harmonizing them instead. It was truly challenging, but hey that's what we are here for ;)

 

Now comes the fun part - Dessert!

Our chocolate cupcakes were spread with delicious chocolate fudge, and spruced up with our newly designed chandelier-silhoutte cupcake wrappers.

And then we had our designer butter cookies with their thin matching chandelier icing.

Then there were the all-time favourites... marshmallows and sesame sticks.
Although the latter didn't come in pink, they blended perfectly with the chocolate cupcakes and butter cookies placed alongside...

More sweet treats - Our mini shortcakes lightly laced with pink crystals and tea roses.

Not forgetting Grandma's old recipe - Chocolate Fudge Pudding!

Our favors were designed to bear all the elements of our design. Notice the matching black white stripes, the chandelier silhoutte, the pink label, the pink meringue, the crystal clear bag and the silver stand.

When placed on the isle,

the whole favor set-up helped harmonize and balance all the elements of the isle altogether...

Our generous arrangement of fresh flowers then complemented our parisian blind,

our french white chandelier, and the pink satin.

And of course, the Birthday Cake.

What could be more appropriate and matching for this parisian chic isle, than a parisian hat-box cake?

A fondant covered chocolate cake baked with the finest ingredients...

So here are some behind the scene photos:

Creative designers - Sham and Mariah

Baking chief and seamstress- Zaiton

Stationery and props specialist - Hazrin

Distraction specialists - 6 kids in between :)

Steam ironing the velvet tablecloth for that all-important professional look.

We're big on quality control.

A quick pose

Mariah and Sham, sans Zaiton and Hazrin.

- Thank You -