Something Blue

My something blue....

(Source: yours truly)

It's a blue topaz emerald cut stone set in a simple yet elegant sterling silver band and it is simply stunning! When I saw the stone alone months ago, I commented to my mom that I would love to borrow it for my something blue. At that time, it was just a lose stone and wasn't set in any way. For Christmas, mom surprised me with this beautiful ring and I cannot wait to wear it come May 1st! I'm hoping to start a new tradition and will pass this on to my daughter (should I be so blessed to have one) when she is getting married and hope that the tradition will continue for generations.

Wedding Shower Invitation

As I shared about a week ago, my wedding shower is set for February 13th and I am sooo excited! Unlike most brides, this will be the only shower I will be having. And unlike most brides, I had a good deal of involvement in the planning process for the shower. My maid of honor lives over 7 hours away so needless to say it wasn't possible for her to plan the shower. My mom is having to do almost everything for it but she's loving it and she's asked some of her good friends (who I know well) to help her out. I created the invitations for the shower and am ready to share the design with you all now that everyone has received the invites!

(Source: yours truly)
(Source: yours truly)

I have always loved the "Love Is" cartoons and have also always wanted to somehow incorporate them into the wedding. With the shower invitations, I figured out how! I just love how they came out. However about halfway through making them, I was seriously wishing I hadn't decided to do ribbon on both the front and back of the invites, that was some tedious work! But it totally paid off!

So what do you think? Have you been more involved in the planning and details of your shower than you ever expected?

Hair Inspiration

Most everyone out in wedding blog world has heard of Jessica over at The Budget Savvy Bride and is totally in LOVE with nearly everything she did for her wedding. And I'm one of those people for sure! Early on in my planning I religiously followed her blog and continued to do so until after she got married. I absolutely LOVED how she had her hair styled for her big day and am hoping to have a very similar style for my big day! Jessica was kind enough to e-mail pictures that had been taken during and right after the styling. I'm oh so thankful to her for that! They're going to be very helpful in trying to get the look recreated. So without further ado, here are the pictures.....

(Source: Jessica aka The Budget Savvy Bride)
(Source: Jessica aka The Budget Savvy Bride)

Beautiful look right? What do you think?

100 Days!

(Source: unknown)

There are exactly 100 days until the wedding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We couldn't be happier! Shortly after getting engaged in April, I thought the wedding would never get here. But it's coming and fast too!

I also have an announcement to make....I have a job starting the first of February! It's not much and the pay is less than great but it's a start and will hopefully be a little better than what I get on unemployment...we'll see about that. So thanks to all of you who have been praying for me or sending well wishes my way.

I think wedding freak-out mode will officially begin once I start this job. So far, I've managed to completely avoid any wedding freak-outs to date. But I've also had all the time in the world to work on wedding projects so I have a lot done. But there is still TONS to do!!

I won!

An Aqua Juel recently held a contest for 250 free Uprinting business cards and I won!! Now I just have to think of some way to use them! I have thought about a little thank you message that each quest could receive since we aren't doing favors. Have any suggestions?

Misc Completed Projects

In this post, I'll share some more of the various projects that I've completed over the past months.

Up first is our card box. I found this on clearance at Walmart, it's from the Martha Stewart wedding collection. I added the purple ribbon to give it my own touch and add our color. I love how it turned out!

(Source: yours truly)

Next up, i found a set of 3 baskets on clearance at Michael's because the largest basket had been damaged. I salvaged it though by banding the basket in wide ribbon that covered the broken corner. I also added ribbon banding to the other two baskets. One will be used for our programs, one for napkins and I'm not sure what the largest basket will be used for yet. But I'm sure I'll figure something out, if not for the wedding for our home.

(Source: yours truly)

(Source: yours truly)
(Source: yours truly)

And now I bring you the custom signage I made for various aspects of the wedding. This includes signs for: the restroom, bridal suite, grooms suite, brides chair at the reception, grooms chair at the reception, reserved signs for family seating at the ceremony and beverage dispenser signs. I used the same font on everything from our invitations, guest book and all signage, everything!

(Source: yours truly)
(Source: yours truly) This shows the detail of the border I used.

Wedding Shower!!!

My wedding shower has been scheduled for Saturday, February 13th and I cannot wait!!! I'm so excited! Just thought I'd share that with you. lol :)

Relief for Aching Feet Part 2

(Source: yours truly) Taken on freshly fallen snow! :)

Several months ago I stumbled upon these beauties while looking for some new shoes. I saw them out of the corner of my eye and had to have a closer look! They were less than $15 and when I saw them I just had to have them! They will be perfect for the reception and are even more comfortable than the white eyelet flats that I had bought before. And they'll obviously give me the pop of color I was hoping to have originally.

This way to the wedding....

So a long while back, I completed our "this way to the wedding" signs! Here's how they turned out:

(Source: yours truly)

The large signs will be hung with purple ribbon from trees and the small signs will be hung with purple ribbon from small shepard hooks. Our guests will be parking in a field and have to navigate through some gardens and such.

I purchased the large wood plaques from Michael's and the small ones from Wal-mart. I bought some Krylon Satin finish Ivory spray paint (their satin finish paint is amazing!) and used that for the base color. I goofed big time on the large plaques and didn't sand them before I painted. So if you decide to take on this project make sure you sand before you paint! The use of a primer would have been helpful too but I made it work without it.

I then used some purple acrylic paint and brushed that on to the edges (not needed but I wanted to). Then took some eye hooks and screwed them in the top of each sign. For the lettering, I printed out the wording on my computer using the font of my choice. Using a standard pencil, turn the printed page over and "color" with the pencil over the entire printed area. Then turn the page right side up and line it up in the correct placing on your plaque. Use some tape to hold it in place if you need to. Using a ballpoint pen, trace the outline of each letter pressing firmly so the pencil transfers the outline onto the wood. Once done, I used an ultra fine sharpie to trace the pencil outline that was left on the wood. Then, I used a fine tip sharpie to color in each letter.

The lettering for the small signs were rub on letters. I ran out of enough letters of the thin font and had to use a different font (wasn't happy about that). If I had to to do over again, I wouldn't have used them. I would have stuck with the first method. But oh well. I am still pleased with how they turned out. What do you think of them?

Catch Up

Thought I'd take a few minutes to update you on some of my completed projects that I've been neglecting to show you for a long time. In my last post, I showed you my completed cupcake tree. That was a fun and oh so simple project!

In this post I'll share some pictures of the Guest Book I created using iPhoto. This was another fun project but it also took a good bit of thought and planning. Picking 35 pictures to use over 20 pages, out of the nearly 200 pictures from our engagement session was tough! I love way to many of our pics! I didn't mess with the layout a lot, so that was easy. I left lots of plank white space so people can sign the book and leave us a little note if they like. I love how it turned out and I'm so glad that we decided to go with a guest book like this so we can have it on our coffee table for the rest of our lives.

The front cover.
Random pages from the inside.
Another view at some pages.

If you're considering going with a guest book like this I highly recommend it! It's well worth the money you'll pay because it will be around for years and won't get stuck in a box somewhere. So what do you think? Are you going with a picture guest book or not?