Here at Rosanna we are touched, moved and inspired by all of the entries in our Third Annual
Table Setting Contest. The spirit and soul of our company is rooted in family traditions, coming together, and creating a beautiful life regardless of your circumstances. You'll find this year's winners not only set beautiful tables, but exuded the soul of our message and the heart of our brand. We thank everyone who participated and hope to see you all competing again next year!
Congratulations to our First Prize winner, Brook Weldon of
Medford, Oregon. This is Brook's third year as a contestant. With two Honorable Mentions behind her, she finally won our top prize and a $500
www.rosannainc.com shopping spree with her
Boho Holiday
tablescape.
Brooke couldn't have integrated the Boho dishes better. Her use of pine cones, birds, a bird house, tree foliage and cranberries beautifully captures the spirit of the season. She also incorporated our beautiful Italian Napoleon Flatware in Olive Green. The silverware elegantly framed each place setting, adding that last touch of refinement that everyone agreed showed a masterful demonstration of artistry and spirit.
In addition to setting a winning table, three generations of women in Brooke's family have made a tradition of coming together and entering our contest. For a company that tries to make all our dishes say "our products make traditions," we couldn't be happier about the Weldon family's ritual. All participating
members of the family have been recognized for their award winning tables over the past years. You'll see the other ladies of
Medford's tables in this year's Honorable Mention section.
Our S
econd Prize winner, and the winner of a $100
gift certificate is Jamie
Boudman of
Gilbertsville, PA. Jamie is a mother of 3 children under the age of 8. In recent years she has poured her heart into creating unique birthday and holiday parties for her children. With the encouragement of her family and friends, Jamie recently took her love and passion for entertaining and started her own event planning business,
Giggledust Parties. We think the greater Philadelphia area is
incredibly lucky to have her.
This is Jamie's "Pink Princess Tea Party" table featuring our Chelsea Flowers collection. She must have intuitively sensed something, as we just refashioned this design into
children's tea set called "Garden Party". We love Jamie's tea party, and we agree it is specially designed for princesses.
Tiffany Hammer of Seattle, WA receives "The Spirit of Rosanna Award" and a $50 gift certificate. Her table is inspired by the story "Stone Soup", a
children's story about bringing people together. Like the Medford ladies, Tiffany tapped into one of the bedrock beliefs that we think of when creative every dish: coming together as a community.
Taking the lesson from this wonderful story, Tiffany, although currently unemployed, doesn't let her circumstance prevent her from entertaining her friends. Instead, she says it motivates her to be more creative and has inspired a new dinner party tradition. Each friend brings some of the ingredients for the evening's meal, and everyone cooks the meal together. WE LOVE THIS! It's precisely what we try to promote with our company and our products. We also love that Tiffany used the bowl's packaging for a vase, and that all the
ingredients for the soup are prettily displayed on the table.
Ebru Bacaksizlar of Turkey also won a $50 gift certificate and is being
recognized with our "Bringing The World Together Award". August is a very important month in Turkey because of Ramadan. This table was set to honor Victory Day... celebration of the victory in the final battle in the Turkish War of Independence.
Ebru has a "
tughra" on the plate which says, "
Bismillah", or "In the Name of Allah). She uses evil eye charms on famous Turkish needle lace, and highlights the table with a copper pitcher &
pannikins for
Ayran, a cold drink made of
yoghurt. We must never forget that all around the world families sit down to beautifully set tables, and wonderfully prepared meals. We appreciate Ebru's reminder that setting your table can be an expression of love for your family, your mentors, and even for your country.
Our "Portrait of a Young Artist Award" (for the second year running) goes to another member of the Weldon family, 9 year-old Kendal. Kendal is receiving a $50 gift certificate to help her build her own collection of beautiful things. Kendal writes, "Last year I was given a $50 gift certificate which I used to buy the Portrait of a Young Artist dish set. These are the dishes I used this year in my masterpiece! I had a lot of fun getting together with my mom, grandma, and aunt to create my table setting."
Kendal, we love your use of color and the whimsical pairing of the polka dot with the collection. The handwritten place cards add a lovely touch, and the use of the packaging on the table was very creative. We're thrilled that you enjoy spending time with your family, and we're delighted to think that setting the table will never feel like a chore to you!
And now for some Honorable Mentions...
This lovely summer luncheon table was submitted by Ashley Nichols-Lee of the Weldon family in Medford . Ashley took our top prize in last year's contest. Thank you for your continued participation, we love your unfailingly sophisticated style.
Tresa Nichols, also of
Medford, OR created this lovely summer
dinnerparty table inspired by our "Secret Garden" collection. The first word from Rosanna was "Fresh", and so we would like to give your Honorable Mention "The Fresh Factor Award." Thank you for your continued participation, Tresa.
The "Romance Ritual Award" is another Honorable Mention that goes to Talia
Famiglio of Sarasota, FL. Talia's son is just 20 months, and as we mothers know, making time to spend with your spouse is difficult but very necessary. To make sure the couple has their own time together, Talia and her husband have instituted a weekly date night at the house. He cooks and she sets an elegant table that feels like a little escape, even while sitting in their dining room at home. This romantic ritual suits new parents perfectly. We're so inspired by creative version of on date night.
The "Delicious Award" and Honorable Mention goes to Ann
Milar of Sacramento, CA. Your gorgeous Dessert Night table inspired by your every-other-month get together with your girlfriends was a strong contender for top prize. Of course, we adore the idea of a bi-monthly girl's night. Just reading your email we could feel your joy for these events spilling over. Secondly, for everyone reading who can't see, your use of the black lace tablecloth inspired by your favorite skirt is adorable. Rosanna has always been a "Fashion Tableware" company, and we often say, "Dress your table as you would yourself", which is exactly what you've done. We love the "Platinum Chandelier" teapot mixed with the "La Soiree
Parisienne" collection. It continues the story of the dress, and alludes to the idea of wearing it somewhere elegant and chic. From your children's table last year to your grown up table this year, we simply adore you!
Kim Mower of St. Louis, MO receives an Honorable Mention for her "Mix and Match Magic". Kim may have had a slight advantage as she owns www.
Headofthetablerental.com, a tableware rental boutique in St. Louis. One of the advantages to owning multiple sets of our "
Boho Holiday" collection is being able to pull one style plate out of the assorted set. This gives Kim tons of options for using one, two or all six patterns on any given table. Kim has paired the
Boho Holiday plate with our Coral "
Dinner Party" dinner plate, a
brilliant combination that really makes the brown design jump off the table. This table fits perfectly with the season. The bride that hired you for her shower luncheon was very lucky indeed!
"Summer Brunch on the Patio" by
Narza K of Seattle, WA wins Honorable Mention for "Fabulous Finds".
Narza writes, "I also love that you don't have to spend a lot to make something special! The wine caddy, silver goblets/wine glasses, and silver plate under the
center piece l found all at Goodwill for not more than a few dollars. Who would have known? Part of not breaking the bank - when trying to make
something special is using what you have on hand. I wanted a low center
piece for easy talking - so I just used the Rosanna box I got my dessert plates in and put a shallow bowl in the middle of it and placed the roses
carefully inside!". We love your creativity, and your eye for hidden treasure.
Pia
VanHanen of Seattle, WA (but originally Finland!) sent in three lovely tables. All the
tablescapes were very different proving that Pia has personality to burn. We wanted to honor her "Tribal Traditions" table for it's earthy, sensual glow. We loved the fanciful elegance of the other tables, but all the girls at Rosanna thought this table created a uniquely calming ambiance. Fantastic use of that brilliant turquoise against the crisp white. We also loved the napkin rings and the feathers on the table.
Susan
Masci of
Foxboro, MA is receiving an Honorable Mention for her elegant stylish spring table. We loved the use of her sterling silver flatware and crystal stemware that sets off the "Parisian Wallpaper" design, and really makes you feel like you're in Paris. We found the tablecloth very appealing, and all agreed we never would of thought of it. Extra kudos for giving us a new idea for using our own products!
Amanda
Humann of
Sammamish, WA is receiving an Honorable Mention on our blog for her striking pink and black holiday table. We love the drama of the "Rococo
Noir" tea set, set off against the
whimsical "12 Days of Christmas" plates. Amanda shows us here that Holiday traditions can be bold,
glamorous and fun.
We're also giving Amanda's
pre-
schooler Victoria an Honorable Mention for "Best Dressed at the Table".
When Victoria decided to have a tea party
instead of heading for her favorite princess dress, fairy wings, and silk scarves, she donned scaly wings and a head full of sharp teeth. Then she and her "baby" sat down and enjoyed a light afternoon repast. Even dragon mamas need a little something to quench their fire after a hard day of cleaning the cave and watching the
hatchling.
Victoria, you are darling. We hope your plush friends appreciate all the hard work you put into your tea party. All of us here at Rosanna certainly do.
"Royal Safari" by Michon Mullineaux is receiving an Honorable Mention as our "Elegantly Wild" table this year. Michon tells us that working on a super yacht doing service for 10 years with little storage and not being able to just "run to the store" has made her very resourceful. Here she uses mugs as vases, boxes as a candle base and herbs from her garden for greenery. This table is inspired by her husband from South Africa. On special occasions she will set a table that will remind him of home. Our "Uptown Spots" collection has never looked so good!
Gwen Johnson of Gwendolyn G Design in Edmonds, WA also receives an Honorable Mention. Gwen sent in a number of great designs, but Rosanna fell in love with this one. She loves the choice of linen and the beautiful arrangement of ornaments as a centerpiece. It doesn't hurt that "Dottie Baroque" is one of her all time favorite collections. Rosanna loved the way the orange draws the eye to give a very fall feel to a collection that was essentially spring. Gwen, thank you for your continued participation in our contest.
Emily Brummel of Costa Mesa, CA receives an Honorable Mention for her "Going Green" table. Emily is a graduate student on a tight budget, but she makes this environmentally-conscious table work with recycled glass goblets and her fabulous flea market candelabra. Emily was introduced to Rosanna through a feature we had in Real Simple magazine. She checks our website all the time, even though she knows she can't afford anything right now. This isn't a bad idea. You never know what will be on our
sale page, or what specials are up for grabs. She's building her wish list (a feature on the site). We believe in the law of attraction, and we think you are doing a great job and attracting those new dishes into your life!
A special Honorable Mention goes out to Lisa & Sherry-Anne of Bellevue & Issaquah, WA who spent an entire day together building their wonderful "Luxe Be a Ladies Luncheon" table. Due to technical difficulties the images aren't available to share with you at this time. We're hoping to post it soon. Lisa and Sherry-Anne's table was another contender for top prize. It featured "Platinum Chandelier" over a white charger set on a Wedgwood blue brocade tablecloth. Their center piece was a bird's nest of burgundy feathers inside a beautiful white porcelain crown. You have to see it to believe it. These ladies put all of their favorite things together and the result was a table you'd never want to leave! The two sent us a lovely joint email honoring their friendship and all of the things they love about each other. The whole office was sighing. We adore you both!
We were not able to feature all of the entries here, but that doesn't mean they weren't amazing. If your table wasn't featured, we hope it won't discourage you from trying again next year. All of the entries were beautifully photographed and exhibited amazing attention to detail. We appreciate everyone's participation and creativity.
If you are a winner you will receive an email before the end of the week with all the information about your prize. Congratulations!
We at Rosanna have certainly learned a few lessons from this year's contestants. They proved to us that even hard times can still be beautiful times, and that sharing and coming together always yields worthwhile results. They also demonstrated that we can honor others by honoring our own self expression. May your traditions old and new live throughout the year and bring joy to your whole family.
There's excitement in the air around our office these days. Though it's still a ways off, we're all anxiously awaiting the release of Coming Home, my new book by publishers Stewart, Tabori, & Chang in March 2010. A whole team of people have poured a tremendous amount of thought, energy, and care to make this book a reality. Through the process of putting my thoughts down to write this book, I learned so much. It has truly been a labor of love.
