Elite Productions International

Hello all! With Halloween coming quickly upon us, we put together a photo shoot to give you some fun ideas for your upcoming parties and decoration ideas. This Halloween, try a sophisticated and softly gothic look by using a black and purple color palette rather than orange and black with touches of ghostly white along with lots of silver embellishments. This is the time to pull out those cheap candles that drip all over the place for some extra effect! The more candles the better, as the sun goes down the candlelight will create a wonderfully eerie ambience. For flowers, stick to dark purples and find whatever is in season. We moved between silvers and blacks for our containers and got this fabulous purple glassware from a local thrift store. Dig through your own stash of vases and glasses, mixing and matching your own items is a great starting point. If you feel like you need a few more pieces, head to a thrift store or two; you can always find pewter pieces, vintage goblets, candl...

The fall gathering of the Elite Women of Orange County is here (check out the Summer Soiree here )! We'd like to invite any of you lovely ladies in the area to come join us for a little mix and mingle... Please RSVP here and let us know you're coming, we look forward to seeing you there!

Hello lovelies!  We hope you had a wonderful weekend! As you may know, October is breast cancer awareness month and there are many different ways to help support the cause.  You don't have to love pink, but it sure helps with so many fabulous pink products out there that donate a portion of their procedes to cancer research. Here are a few options... Check out these and other products for the cause here , here , and here !

With all this rain lately, green abounds!  Gardens are inspirational in and of themselves but here's one with a special spin. UIC Art and Design graduate Joe Baldwin was given the opportunity to participate in this year’s Art on Track festival a few weekends ago by turning the interior of a CTA rail car into a fantastic sod-covered, ivy-laden garden. This car circled Chicago’s elevated downtown loop for five hours with several additional cars decorated with numerous other art installations . More transformation inspiration! We just love it, you can turn any space into something interesting and engaging.  And speaking of transformation, we just turned an empty building of a fairground into a stunning gala space this past weekend! Check back in the next few days for a sneak peak of our own space re-do.

Now, we know that all of you are gearing up for Halloween and figuring out all your costumes whether they be ghoulish or cutesy. To get into the spirit we've been looking at some fabulous masks to get inspired for our costume ideas... The top row are some beautiful and unconventional masks by Joji Kojima .  With these masks, you can have it all - look fabulous and keep that eerie feel that Halloween is all about! The next set of 3 amazing leather cut out masks are made by Tom Banwell and are avialable for purchase on Etsy . There are plenty more masks to choose from as well, ranging from mystical to dramatic.  We're sure you'll find one you love if you're interested in purchasing one. How could you not love how he's created such delicate looking patterns out of something as ruggad as leather? Fabulous! The bottom row is comprised of masks from a spread for Vestal Magazine called 'Fatal Beauty' featuring masks created by Fumi .  Those be...

Inspiration comes from many different places: nature, art, fashion etc.  J. Mendel's Spring 2012 RTW collection is full of fun frocks to pull ideas from.  We are loving blue right now, especially when sequins are in the mix. This fabulous La Tavola linen echos the dress perfectly and it's a great starting point for a party or event look.  You can add some nude accents to follow a more literal interpretation of the dress or try using that pop of sea foam green hiding on the heels of the model passing behind to mix it up a little bit.  Remember, inspiration is really just a great place to begin, it's always good (and more fun) to add your own spin and push yourself to try something different. Where do you find your inspiration?

Can you believe that it's October already?! This year is just flying by! We wanted to remind those of you who have not made it over to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art recently to get on over there to see the Tim Burton exhibit before it's gone! The exhibition brings together over 700 drawings, painting, photographs, moving-image works, storyboards, puppets, concept artworks, maquettes, costumes, and cinematic ephemera, including art from a number of unrealized and little-known personal projects. Many of these objects come from the artist's own archive, as well as from studio archives and private collections of Burton's collaborators.  Hundreds of never-before-exhibited artworks and sketches are joined by a selection of film posters accompanied by music composed for the exhibition by Burton's longtime collaborator Danny Elfman. It really is worth seeing! It's rather staggering the amount of work that is on display and the scope of Burton's imagin...

We've been working up a storm this past weekend on a fabulous gala event (check back soon for pictures!) and we sure could use a rest.  Stumbling upon the Ruschmeyer Hotel and Kitchen and seeing their fabulous little set up, it's looking mighty tempting right now :) Brought to you by  King and Grove ,  Ruschmeyer’s  plays up the nostalgia factor with a summer camp theme that doesn’t feel too kitschy. The 19 rooms–with wicker-threaded headboards, curtains strung like sails, macrame hammock-like hanging chairs, fancy gold light fixtures and Frette linens!–read more like an upscale Ace Hotel than ’50s wooded lodge, and the restaurant trades in cafeteria/campfire fare for seasonal produce and seafood from the guys behind New York’s Fat Radish. And there’s that teepee on the front lawn. They also have such activities as bike riding, paddle boarding, swimming, ping pong, kite boarding, flying balsa-wood planes and bocce ball. Seems like a perfect little ge...

The oh-so-fabulous Christian Lacroix has teamed up with Sicis to create the most stunning line of housewares!  The collection is called Theodora and it is named so and inspired by the mosaics of the sixth-century proto-feminist Empress Theodora (wife of Emperor Justinian I) that adorn the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, where Sicis is based. Lacroix’s collection features soft, womanly shapes, Byzantine exoticism, and rich embellishment. It includes 12 seats, 4 lamps and 5 models of tables and poufs. Prices range between $8,900 and $21,000 for this Turkish flair collection.  Take a peek at some of the available pieces below... “The juxtaposition of intricate work and artisanal incrustations evokes exactly what I did in Haute Couture,” Lacroix said in a release. “What really appeals when working with Sicis is the way in which we can create the trompe l’oeil effect or a treasure’s richness or a miniature’s complexity or the purity of a metallic tint achieved via tiny s...

The first day of autumn is this Friday! As much as we love summer's bright colors and beach days, we're so excited for the palate of fall, hot coco and sweaters.  If you remember, back in August we did a post on burgundy and garnet as the hot fall colors (see post here ), but we think you should enjoy all the hues of the season! Being in Southern California, we don't get too much of the outdoor color change so we're jealous of those of you living in more versatile climates.  If you'r one of the lucky ones, get outside and get inspired by the changes! Or if you're like us, take a look at these stunning images to get your creativity flowing for this coming season! We love the idea of a fall picnic before the weather turns too cold or snuggling up with your friends or your honey in front of a blazing fire place with a nice cup of hot coco or a hot toddy (look here for a lemon-ginger recipe).  You're probably gearing up for Halloween parties and Thanksgivin...

Colors are a huge part of creating any event - they help set the tone and give the "look" to your entire event.  Needless to say, it's very important to have a fabulous color palette.  There are lots of ways to get inspired and pick out those oh-so-important colors for your event, you can: Pick a theme, which often helps narrow down color choices or dictates specific colors by necessity Choose a single color and go monochromatic or find complimentary hues Find an inspiring image or piece of art to draw from One photographer we've found that has some amazing color combinations is Krentz Photography .  Their images are stunning both in composition and in their use of color. In addition, there are many different websites that have pre-selected color combinations that work well together.  Some websites that we've found helpful are ColourLovers and Kuler by Adobe. Hope this gets your creative juices flowing and gives you some helpful tips for selecting th...

We here at EPI love the transformative nature of out work.  We start with a space that is one thing and we make it into something that is completely different and new.  There is no alteration to the actual structure of the spaces we use, but what we do makes people look at the space in a whole new way. Rebecca Ward is an artist who does this same thing with her tape installations.  She transforms the spaces she uses with the linear sculptures she creates with colorful tape! We love that Rebecca uses such a simple and common material in such an extraordinary way.  Her work has been used by big names such as Kate Spade in their New York and Tokyo flagship stores and she has shown her work in galleries worldwide. Take a cue from Rebecca and use common place materials to transform your room, house or event space!

We've been seeing a lot of marbleizing lately and we are loving it! There is a wide range of departments and products using this fabulous new pattern trend, so you have lots of options as to were to fit it in to your personal aesthetic. Wouldn't the stationery make great invitations for a party? And can you imagine a table scape with the marbleized dishware as chargers!?!?  You could even make some paper flowers with marbleized paper (check out a tutorial for paper flowers here ). Try adding it into your next event for an eye catching pop of colors!

We know you're all gearing up for your labor day parties and BBQs so we thought we'd put together a little inspiration for you!  There are some seriously amazing looking recipes we've come across that would be perfect for your get togethers on Monday! 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 We are especially loving No.4's hot dog condiment bar, what a fun idea! Grilled corn is always a big hit and you needn't feel guilty for enjoying it, it's good for you! Number 4 and 6 utilize this delicious grilled veggie, try them out! If you need a little outfit inspo, check out our post back from the 4th of July for some chic and festive garment ideas! Make sure you pull out those white jeans, because they will be no good after Monday :) We hope you all have a fabulous long weekend!

Nothing adds a little pizzazz like a pink sequined linen! You can't go wrong when you start out with such a beautiful foundation for a table setting.  We found those lovely flower graphic plates and used our own purple glass chargers that match the dessert plates.  For name tags we took a que from the plates and re-created a similar graphic. Picking up on the sparkle of the sequined linen, we grabbed some of our metallic silver containers for centerpieces.  Continuing with the shine, we found fabulous jeweled candles, mirrored candle sticks, silver napkin ring, silver mercury glass votives and used our fabulous mirrored side table!  With all that sparkle make sure that you let the light in!  Natural light is always preferable, so set up outside or open up those windows! The pink didn't stop with the linen either: we used different types of flowers in varying shades of pink for our centerpieces, pink glasses, pi...

Discovered in a place very near and dear to the heart, New Zealand designer Patrick Morris designed and created these incredible upside down planters . Perfectly charming, minimal and refreshing all in one little unoccupied space! We need these now!   By turning houseplants upside down, Morris has created a container that saves water and doesn't take up valuable floor space — an important factor in small space living. To learn more about Partrick Morris and  how these cute pieces cease from dropping dirt and water all over the place - and to purchase! -  visit Aha Life . Xx, EPI

While day dreaming of fabulous vacations and exotic getaways, we realized just how  incredibly lovely and inspiring Henna is.. Hope you enjoy this rabbit trail of inspired images. Love this detail. Stairway of Mosaics Gorgeous! Gorgeous! Namaste

It was a blast creating this wonderfully Retro Kitsch event with vintage cars, films and a jukebox to match!  Guests could sit in these great car seats and watch some fabulous 50's films! Of course we had to bring in In-N-Out Burger.  We filled these pop corn containers with hydrangeas for the centerpieces to give the feeling of the real thing!   Loved having all these fabulous cars everywhere! Hope you enjoyed, we sure did!

With summer upon us, it's about time for backyard BBQs and parties, wouldn't you agree? So, to help you kick off the summer right, we put together this photo shoot with the help of friend and photographer Aaron Shintaku to give you some ideas for your summer soirees! Pick a color and run with it! We grabbed all our green glassware, plates, vases, etc and brought it all together for this garden party.  We also noticed we had a lot of bird accessories and accents so we pulled those down as well.  If you have a color and a theme you can bring in a lot of variety while still maintaining a sense of cohesion.  Don't shy away from different shades and textures of your color, and different accessories with the same theme (birds for us!) it can help incorporate accent colors and add variety to your color choice. We borrowed a friend's vintage flatware to compliment our color palette. Ask around, we bet your friends have great stuff that you might be able to use for the oc...

Father's Day is just around the corner so we thought we'd help you out with getting Dad the perfect something. No matter what your budget is, you'll find the perfect gift in this lovely guide to treating Dad right! 1.  Pocket Watch Clock @ CS Post & Co  / 2. Guliver's Travels @  Penguin Group  / 3. Hot Pot BBQ @ Aha Life  / 4. 24 ct Gold Bang & Olufsen Remote Control @ Kaboodle  / 5. DIY Design @ Pinterest  / 6. Family Hands @ Pinterest  / 7. Vintage Czech Field Kitchen Set @ Etsy  / 8. Putting Green Cupcakes @ Martha Stewart  / 9. Shaving Kit @ Etsy  / 10. DIY Napkin Shirt @ Tip Junkie