pic me a palette : the donut.

Ever since Alison and Marc’s wedding this past Saturday, I can’t get donuts off the brain. My favorite part of the entire night? When the DJ proclaimed “ok folks, the bride and groom are now going to cut the donut!” Um – yes, complete & pure awesomeness if you ask me.

I am over the moon anytime I see couples doing something non-traditional on their wedding day, and substituting a traditional wedding cake for your favorite sweet is the perfect way to do so!

These lemon poppyseed donuts look absolutely scrumptious and the beautiful blue/grey tone of the poppyseeds makes me swoon.  I definitely might have to try whipping these together one of these days. I also love how Jessica of The Novice Chef doesn’t claim to be anything that she’s not – she’s just simply a gal following her passion for sugar and cooking! You gotta love that!

photo cred : {the novice chef}

happy happy friday.

Wow. Friday is here. This week has been one of my busiest yet with such high highs and some pretty annoying lows. The cruddiest low? 2 – yes 2 $50 parking tickets. One for me. One for Adam. Let’s just say – not.so.fun. Biggest highs? A Kinfolk Magazine shoot (my favorite mag on the entire planet) and my 1st full-flegged solo styling project for the gals of Blog Brunch. It feels so freaking amazing to really be doing it. When I was younger I secretly wanted to be a stylist, but didn’t really know how the heck to make it happen. I thought you had to be able to draw to be artistic and I’ve learned an incredible bit about was it really means and takes to be creative or an artist : hard work + passion. Styling is my passion (yes! finally found it!) and I’m so excited to see where this passion leads me. This week has really been the cherry on top of 16 months of a complete life overhaul. I’m leaving in a little less than 2 weeks for the trip of  lifetime to Europe with my little sis Coli and the break will be an awesome opportunity to do some reflecting while being flooded with inspiration. Cannot wait.

Happy weekend dear friends!

photo cred : 1 {my iPhone via instagram} 2 {julie harmsen photography}

something i’m working on.

Anytime I’m asked to contribute to an event or shoot as a designer or stylist, I start with an inspiration/mood board 1st. It really helps me to wrap my head around the overall concept of the shoot and helps me hone in on what the overarching story is. Inspiration can come from anywhere, and when I’m asked to participate on something that really excites me, I tend to have a brain that just won’t shut off – inspiration boards help me keep myself in check. Too many ideas can sometimes actually be a bad thing (at least for me) and boards always make me feel like I’ve got everything under control. They are also a great way to make sure you and your client are on the same page – bonus!

Today I’ll be chilling alongside the fab Julie Harmsen while we work some styling/photography magic for the gals over at Blog Brunch. I’m really, really stoked to be collaborating with the BB team as their mission of building a blogging community that is collaborative, inspirational and informative is something I truly believe in. If you haven’t brunched with us yet, head over here to find out more details! When’s the next brunch you ask? May 5th! Don’t miss it!

photo cred : {1, 6, 9, 12, 13 sunday suppers | 2, 8 the burning house | 5 via rikshaw design | 10 lotta agaton via jelanie blog |

30 by 30.

Tomorrow is my 29th birthday and I’m just a wee bit freaked about it. 30 is absolutely looming and my 20’s are absolutely almost over. In reflecting on what my 30’s might have in store and all the things I’ve done/accomplished in my 20’s, I thought it would be a fun idea to spend my year as a 29 year old crossing some things off my “gotta do that list”. So I created a “30 by 30” checklist to try to light the fire under my rear to accomplish some things I’d really like to achieve before the big 3 – 0. I plan to keep you all updated (and me accountable) from time to time, by crossing things off the list as I go.

We are packing the car up at the moment for a surprise birthday weekend away (I have no clue where Adam is taking me but I’m pretty sure there is a ferry boat involved!) so I’m happy to say I’m already working on crossing #19 off the list.

Here’s to year 29! Happy Friday friends!

photo cred : {jenn elliott blake}

inspired by : typography.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s a birthday party, wedding, baby shower or dinner party – you’ve gotta somehow get your guests there. 1st step? Invitations.

One of the best parts of creating pretty paper details is finding the right type. Font is such a huge aspect of invitations and finding the right fit can at times be the most challenging part. The type can really set the tone for the entire shindig.

photo cred :  1 {baster} 2 3 5 6 {steve buffoni} 4 {behance} 6 {typography served} 7 {unknown}

skillet + scout.

After a weekend of being knee deep in counting/organizing inventory and a busy day yesterday prepping for some exciting upcoming photoshoots, I’m excited to be back blogging today!

In celebration of the fab week ahead, I thought I’d share some fun pics from an open house scout. was involved in awhile back. I had the pleasure of collaborating with the fabulous Noah of Skillet to create/style a spring tasting at Melrose – full of whimsy and perfectly eclectic funkiness. Julie captured the night and it was such a blast meeting everyone that came out for the night. If you haven’t tried Skillet’s waffle & fried chicken concoctions you are missing out! Find a truck here.

Oh and isn’t the American flag in the back of the room the cherry on top?!

photo cred : {Julie Harmsen Photography}

things are about to change.

It’s Friday! Yahooo! There is always something about Fridays that just puts me in the best mood! And after a week of feeling kinda “blah” it’s nice to have the sun out and a weekend with family to look forward to.

I thought before I head out to celebrate the sun, I’d share a teeny tiny sneak peek of my new blog. Yep – things are changing around here…soon! As much as I have loved the Bow Tie & Bustle blog, I feel myself shifting away from wedding & events and more towards the desire to blog about life in general. I really want my blog to become a place where I lay out my inspiration for not only my work, but my life itself. I want to blog about all kinds of things : travel, family, vintage, style/fashion, art, interiors AND of course weddings & events too! So…the blog is being revamped to have a more “scout” focus.

When I initially named my vintage rental company it was with GREAT intention. The word scout has an incredible amount of weight in my life right now as I find myself “seeking out” or hunting for true happiness. I’ve set myself on a path over the past 15 months that is far different than where I thought I would be at this stage in my life, and although on most days it scares me to death, it also makes me feel more alive than I’ve ever felt. I’m excited to have a place to freely share anything that comes to mind.

I hope you’ll stick with me as things change…new web address and all! More details coming soon!!!

Happy weekend friends!

photo cred: {blog design by amy moore studio}

spring inspired shoot + weekend fun.

Happy post Easter weekend! I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday and got some much deserved time with family & friends! Adam and I spent the weekend with my little sis in Albuquerque, NM and had a total blast! BUT honestly, there is nothing to make you feel older than spending 3 nights in your little sis’ college pad – yowza! It was so much fun seeing Coli in her space, and I’m always so so grateful for any amount of time I get with her. Seeing her this weekend also made me all the more excited for our upcoming trip to Europe too! 4 weeks and counting….wahoooo! I’m now doing the standby travel thing and waiting patiently at the airport for a flight to Denver and then on to Seattle. No luck with a flight last night or early this morning, so currently crossing my fingers for the 10:20 outta ABQ. We shall see!

In the midst of waiting for a flight home, I thought I would share some cute pics from a recent holiday/spring inspired shoot that made its way onto Style Me Pretty last Friday. Jessica of Jessica May Photography asked me awhile back to share some scout. goodies for a fun spring inspired styled shoot and I’m so so happy I did! Jessica’s adorable detail shots sure did brighten my holiday weekend and it’s always such a thrill to collaborate with other creatives! Isn’t that ombre cake by Dianne freaking divine?! For more pretty pretty pics of the shoot head on over to Style Me Pretty.

Happy Monday friends!

photo cred: {jessica may photography}

sunday dreaming / 43.

dreaming of…

loft living.

For month and months I’ve been giddy over the idea of an industrial style loft as a place to call home. I can’t stop daydreaming about those raw brick walls, the distressed wood flooring and the gobs of gorgeous light streaming in through big gigantic windows.

Lately I’ve been the messiest person in the world, so one enormous space to house all of my chaos might not be the best option for us at the moment, but nonetheless, I can’t get the idea outta my head!

AND it doesn’t help that this adorable home, along with the loft home of Stephen & Shauna the insanely talented duo behind Forage as seen in this winter’s issue of Anthology Mag are just too breathtaking for words.

Does anyone else out there swoon over the idea of taking up residence in a big open space? Anyone in Seattle know where I might get my hands on one of these stunning living spaces? A girl can dream, right?

photo cred: {brian ferry via freunde von freunden}

apt therapy design night!

A couple weeks ago, I had the pleasure of speaking at an Apartment Therapy design meeting and it was SUCH a blast! I will fully admit that I was super nervous to public speak leading up to the night, but once I got talking I couldn’t stop! I shared a bit about how I got into the creative world, some thoughts on where I see my biz going in the future, and some design tips for adding vintage decor into your space.

It was so exciting seeing so many creative peeps interested in hearing about scout. and pumped to learn about estate sales & seeking out vintage things. I had so much fun meeting everyone who came out for the night and was thrilled to see some of my close buddies there as well!

Thanks to my hubby for taking pics, to Andie & Emily for such a warm welcome in their adorable studio Assemble and to Manuela of Apt Therapy for allowing me to share my story! For more pics and details of the night head on over to Apartment Therapy here!

photo cred: {adam blake via apartment therapy}

a week in instagram.

Wow – is it Friday already?!! I thought I’d share a peek into my week through my instagram feed – if you don’t have instagram and you have an iPhone – get on board!! I absolutely love capturing all kinds of random stuff using this fun app and I really can’t imagine life without it – it’s so entertaining! Plus you can keep up with what all your buddies are doing through their own feeds! If you’re ever interested in following me I’m currently snapping away under: bowtieandbustle.

a week with an instagram summary:

1: chocolate milk – i’m officially addicted. that + a current exercise restriction = a recipe for disaster. 2: ikea – ehh. i despise that place on the weekends but sometimes it’s a necessary evil. 3: bailie decided this week that my face was  an appropriate resting place for her head. funny thing is – i didn’t really mind. 4: the littlest of peeks into an editorial shoot i worked my tail off on this week – pretty bentwood chairs are the best! 5: new glasses! finally! i was lazy for a really long time and didn’t want to go in for my eye exam. i finally bit the bullet this week and got myself some new specs. 6: i’m really into patterned socks lately, which is funny because i remember thinking as a kid how horrible they were. wow how things change… 7: restore – my favorite place to rummage around. always something fab hiding in a really dirty corner. 8: those chairs stole my heart this week! i wanted to take them home with me so bad! 9: the price of gas is about to send me over the edge. the beast i drive around for scout. deliveries is certainly not helping the situation. 10: i absolutely love my sidesaddle kitchen tee – its so comfy and i’ve been wearing it everywhere. my dear friend laura has this kick ass vegan pastry venture that i can’t stop drooling over. she is so stinkin’ talented and insanely adorable to boot! check out her yummies over here. 11: one of my newest additions to the scout. collection. i about fell over when my eye caught the color of this desk. it would be such a perfect piece for a mini dessert bar. i’m in love! 12: ended up on my favorite corner of cap hill this week and couldn’t help but admire my favorite wall. the street art is just so gorgeous.

Along with hours & hours of sourcing for the shoot and lots of random biz stuff, i found some great new vintage finds, had some fantastic nights out with friends & family who came in from outta town and took a MUCH needed day off on Thursday. I kinda forgot what it feels like not to work. I’m also taking tomorrow off too (wooohoo!!) and heading outta town with Adam for a quick trip down to Portland to visit some of our buddies! I’m absolutely ecstatic, although the sun is finally out in Seattle and I can’t help but wonder if it’s shining a few hours south as well. Cross your fingers for us!

Some not so fun things going on? Found out yesterday that my hip definitely needs surgery. I have a torn labrum (the cartilage around my right hip socket) which has made it difficult for me to walk/stand/sit let alone exercise or deliver scout goodies. I got a steroid shot about a month and a half ago hoping that would be a long-term pain reliever but that hasn’t been the case. I’ve been a bit defeated by the entire thing because it’s never fun to realize that your body isn’t as healthy as you hope for it to be and as 30 slowly creeps towards me I honestly feel like I’m going on 80. After discussions with my doc I realized it won’t make sense to have the surgery before my trip to Europe as the recovery period is at least 6 weeks ZERO activity!!! It’s gonna be quite the challenge to find the time to take care of my ol’ hip – but I’m hopeful this summer or late winter will lend some time to taking care of it. It’d be so so great to be able to deliver a settee without feeling like my leg might fall off!

Adam and I have also been talking lots about some fun trips this year since we have free standby airline travel for the entire year! I know, I know – we are super spoiled. We are hoping to get to see some of our long lost friends that we haven’t seen since we got married & spend some quality time together later this year after the wedding season. I keep telling him it would be SO fun to go to Australia but with Adam’s limited vacation schedule – that might not work. A girl can dream though right?!

I hope you all had a great week and your weekend is filled with spring weather & loved ones.

*JB

photo cred: {moi iPhone + instagram}

trophy cupcakes & party design project.

I’ve been really excited to share these pics that my buddy Julie captured of my recent design project for Trophy Cupcakes. I shared some instagram pics a while back here, but professional ones are so much more pretty right? I absolutely LOVE the pic below. It captures the bold, simplistic beauty of Trophy’s Bravern shop to a tee! Thanks for the pics Jules!

I had the time of my life creating window display concepts and store details for Trophy earlier this year ,and I’m absolutely thrilled with how everything turned out. It was so so so much fun incorporating some vintage details from my scout. collection and the gold & white chevron flooring that I painted by hand is one of my proudest design details of this project. I can’t get enough of all bold color + chevron + gold – YUM!!!

Jennifer Shea (owner & cupcake extraordinaire) wanted the design to really speak to Trophy’s mentality of “the party starts here!” and I couldn’t imagine anything party related without some fun confetti. I created custom multi-colored confetti and a custom fringed streamer backdrop for both their Wallingford & Bravern locations. I also created some whimsical garland and streamer chandeliers for the inside of their shops too! The colors to this day make me just smile. They are just so so happy!

Thanks to Jennifer and her team for allowing me to crash their stores on multiple occasions to rock out the color. I can’t imagine a more fun and celebration-focused company to work with. I heart Trophy to pieces and I look forward to working with them in the future!!!

**Also! A GIGANTIC thank you to my little sis Coli who spent part of her Christmas break knee deep in color with me. Couldn’t have done it without ya – muah! xoxo!

photo cred: {julie harmsen photography}

friday find : sneak peek.

The past week has been full of some really fun and exciting collaborations many of which (I can only imagine and hope!) are just the tip of the iceberg for what’s to come!

I got the opportunity to collaborate with the fab and hilariously witty duo that is Laurel McConnell Photography and Barbie Hull Photography for a rad photo shoot (theme is a secret….ssshhh!) for the upcoming Get Hitched Give Hope event this coming fall. I’m telling you folks, you DON’T want to miss this event this year. It’s gonna be BIG! I’ll definitely be sharing more info about this fabulous night of giving back in the months to come.

I also participated in my 1st Trophy Cupcakes tasting this week – providing some of my mismatched china and some fun chairs and props to give the couples something fun to look at/eat off of while they nibbled on Trophy yumminess. Nevermind that I also got to bring home a few leftovers to enjoy with my hubs. Cherry on top of a great week!

I’m also in the midst of prepping for an upcoming shoot with Seattle Met Bride & Groom Mag (uh yes…I’m wigging out just a little! Sooooo pumped!!!) and a revamp/redirection of my blog. Lot’s and LOTS of changes are gonna be going on around here in the coming months and I can only imagine that my Europe trip (May 10th – June 19th) will inspire me to also make some exciting changes on the biz front. PLUS I’m REALLY hoping to come home with some new loot to add to my ever-growing scout. collection of course!

Here’s a few things around the web that I found inspiring (or at the very least entertaining!) this week:

– adorable web & graphic design by this local lady

– this coconut cream pie. seriously – you’ve gotta try it!

– minus the crappy acting i’m kinda obsessed with this show right now.

– i CANNOT get enough of this gal’s blog and amazing creative talents here.

– honored to be hanging out here.

– my fav wedding of the week here. part one here.

– way tooooo excited for these people. seriously i’m SO excited for them.

– slamming deal here if this sorta thing is your cup of tea.

I’m also sharing a little sneak peek this week of some pics snapped by this crazy-talented gal of my recent collaboration with Trophy Cupcakes. I’ve already shared a few instagram shots of my design/styling of Trophy’s windows and store details this past January, but professional pics by Julie are so MUCH better! More pics coming next week!

Happy weekend friends!

xoxo! *JB

photo cred: {julie harmsen photography}

blogshop + scout!

I can’t even begin to tell you what a thrill it was for me to play a part in last month’s BLOGSHOP here in Seattle. I had the pleasure of attending Blogshop + a mini version last year in the Berkeley & Portland areas and had the time of my life! I learned crazy amounts of PS skills that I’ve had the good fortune of applying to my blog AND I met some of my dearest creative friends (this lady, this gal, this lovely & this chick too!) during the class. Let’s just say – BLOGSHOP ROCKS IT – hardcore.

Sooooo when I found out Bri & Angela would be coming to Seattle I was all too excited to offer my Scout. loot. I had a crazy amazing time styling up the Fred Wildlife Refuge and giving a little scout lovin’ to the weekend!

Thought I’d share some pics taken by the uber talented Angela Kohler herself, as well as a video by Stephan Gray. If you’d like to see more pics of the weekend check out Bri’s blog here! Oh and if this looks all too enticing to resist, head here to see when Blogshop might be coming your way.

photo cred: {angela + ithyle} video cred: {stephan gray}

assemble + apt therapy + scout.

I’m excited to announce that I will be speaking at an Apartment Therapy Design Meeting this Saturday, March 3rd from 6 – 8 pm at the adorable Assemble Gallery and Studio in Phinney. I’ll be sharing some insight on my inspirations behind scout and vintage decor as well as spilling some tips about scouring estate sales. If you’re in the area and interested in dropping by I’d love to see you! Find out more info about this special event from Assemble or Apt Therapy here or here!

photo cred: {apartment therapy}