Things To Come?

With my RSVP rant out of the way... I'm finding that planning a wedding is not that easy - I didn't expect it to be anyway. I have no prior experience with any of this, nor do any of my friends. I am kind of winging this entire process as I go along, and I don't think I'm doing that bad. (Or that great, necessarily.)


Tablecloths were ordered and came in - It was cheaper to buy them compared to renting.
Napkins were ordered and came in - I got 11" cocktail napkins because I didn't want the giant dinner ones.
"The dress" has long since been acquired. New suit also acquired.
Bridesmaids dresses ordered (If my maid-of-honor actually put in her order)
Wine either done or on its way to being done. While I'm not big on alcohol at all, I thought the wine would be acceptable because it's homemade by my parents. :) Niagara, Concord, a mix of both, and some kind of mixed berries one.

I need to make my veil. I want to make my veil. I'll get around to that eventually. I bought the material for it already - it's just a matter of doing it.

I've been bouncing around on wedding favour ideas and think I've finally settled on one. I am going to make jam/jelly with my mother. Strawberry jam from strawberries my parents picked, and blackberry if there are some blackberries from my parents' garden that escaped the wine wrath. We have adorable 4oz canning jars ready for this project. It's all very personal, the wine and the jams. And the centerpieces if that idea goes through.

My intent is ordering flowers online to ship two days before the wedding and prep them all myself.

As for a cake, I'm leaning towards a Wal-Mart wedding cake. (Did you know they do specialty cakes?) My only problem with storebought cakes overall was the awful whipped frosting, but for the wedding cakes, you get the option of buttercream frosting. Yes, please. As long as the cake looks and tastes good, it doesn't matter where it's from. In the end, that's all that matters. There's no reason to spend $500 on a cake. (Especially when that would be more than twice what my dress cost! Hah.)


I plan to do a review of both where I order the flowers from and of the cake. That is my intent, anyway.
I want to get as much prepped the two days before the wedding so I'm not spending that entire morning freaking out. Best laid plans of mice...

RSVPs, what's up with that?

Another post already. I just wanted to get something out that it seems the general populus doesn't get.

RSVPs.

In the grand scheme of life, it may not matter much... but in wedding planning, it's a big deal.



That card and return envelope aren't packaged in the invitation just for looks. The couple and/or wedding planner would sincerely like for you to fill it out and return it. It doesn't take long and it saves a lot of grief if you do it. It provides something tangible for whoever is planning to see that you are attending and it's the same little card everyone else (in a perfect world) sent back, too. Whether or not you are able to attend, it's a courteous gesture to return the response card - even if you're not 100% sure you can make it. It may be better - at least in my case - to go ahead and say you'll be there, then call back later if your plans fell through. It's more stress to say you're not able to make it, have them plan for you not being able to make it, then show up at the wedding when no one is expecting your bright face there.

Knowing who and how many guests are coming to the wedding is a big part of the planning process, directly tying into the financial aspect. This is especially true if the couple is planning an affair that charges per guest. This may include using the venue and more likely if they are having dinner catered and served. Ordering too much is a waste and not ordering enough is ridiculous.

If there is going to be some sort of assigned seating, they'll need to know who is coming so they can seat people who don't clash by each other. You surely don't want to sit by Uncle Bob and Aunt Janet, do you?... Or how about Grandma Agnes? Remember how much you hate when she pinches your cheeks? And you're 35?

Even if you don't want to pay the million dollar postage that's holding you back, a thoughtful phone call or e-mail would be more appreciated than no response at all. The last thing the bride wants to think is that these people she invited to share in her special day want nothing to do with her, hate her or her husband-to-be, think she smells, ....

I, and every bride out there, would kindly like to ask you to respondez s'il vous plait.




Edit: I forgot to address the whole plus one issue. Receiving an invitation does not automatically entitle you to bring along a date or friend. Again, it ties directly into finances. Whoever is paying for this wedding may not have endless pockets to pay for every guest and that guest's guest. It is fair enough to reason that they budget for who received invites. Typically, family and bridal party can bring guests. The bride and groom would also typically be considerate enough of people who are in serious, involved relationships to not leave out the significant other. Everyone else, like Flaky Jane who has one week flings, is not necessarily going to be "allowed" to bring a guest.

One sure-fire way to be sure you can bring a guest is if you receive an invitation addressed to you "and guest". Another way is if you're unsure whether or not you're allowed to bring a guest... ask! It's better to ask than just assume you are!

Current Events

I have been enjoying everything I've been doing lately, even if it isn't everything I want to do.

I've picked up learning a little about photography and post-processing. I'm an amateur by far, but it's very satisfying.

Shooting anything and everything at my parents' house is a joy - there are so many plants, flowers, and critters.



Found this wondeful brocade at Jo-Ann that I plan on using in some purses, if I find the time. Hopefully, I find the time. It's gorgeous and it was so hard to pick just one brocade of all the ones that were there.

I made a box bag pouch for someone and just loved the project. It's so simplistic and took maybe an hour start to finish, including the hand-embroidery I did.

I mostly used this tutorial, but there's a half dozen other great ones out there.

It's a great quickie project if you're looking for one. This specific sized bag was something like 8in x 4in x 3in in the end - I don't remember exactly. Regardless, it's a good size for a make-up bag or a travel bag for toiletries. Stow away all your little sewing bits and bobs. Anything. :D

Food!

 

Raw meat is extremely photogenic.

Made some bulgogi and rice for my beau's lunch. :> That's all.



Bulgogi is "korean barbecue". It's beef, while pilgogi is spicy pork.

A couple projects

Umbreon
Head, ears, tail, feet stuffed with polyfill, body filled with plushie beads. Hand stitched on the yellow detail cut from fleece. Felt eyes with acrylic paint detail. Hand-sewn nose.

Jolteon

Made this one back in January when my beau came down with a flu and I thought he needed a friend. The white parts are cut from a pair of old socks. :D  I had a terrible time with this because at the time, I didn't have any fabric scissors so cutting was just absolute hell. As a result, some pieces turned out funny - the face, for example, is a little derpy.

Original plushie design by: renegar-kitsune




"Bonsai Bag" purse

Canvas material inside and out; I love this thing. It helped me figure out zippers.

 

Pattern by Rae at http://www.made-by-rae.com/

Stamping again... sort of

Father's day is coming up! I decided to make cards for my father and my beau's father. I neglected to take any pictures of it, but it was okay. The main point is...


We got our wax seal set in today! I thought using wax seals on our wedding invitations would be something he would enjoy very much, so I convinced my fiancé (not so much "convinced" as mentioned it and he was all for it) to pick out a wax seal for us to order. We settled on a boxed set that came with two symbols and one filigree initial.

 

I just love the box. It came with two wax sticks, which I probably won't end up using. We also ordered a couple other wax sticks, which are made specially to fit in a standard hot glue gun.

I like the filigree on the initial seal, but I'm not sure I like the square shape simply because it's so much bigger. The fleur de lis is classic, and I liked the dragon. I feel like the other options for the symbol seals were subpar, in my opinion. I would have absolutely loved if there were one that was a gryphon, since there are several on my family's coat of arms.

It's suggested when stamping into the wax to slightly wet the seal, but the included instructions also suggested using a metallic ink. What do you know! I have some of that.

I tried it out. :3

I decided I liked it "naked" better. Fiancé agreed. AND SO! I finished making our father's day cards.

Information:

Wax seal set purchased from Nostalgic Impressions 

More Stamping and Things

Even though we still are not remotely close to the wedding, I find myself thinking about Thank You cards now. I wanted to do more rubber stamping with those to go with the invitation suites I am going to make, so I picked up a Thank You stamp to play with.

Though it was just quick playing around, with no real idea of what I wanted to do. My silver ink is kind of blotty it seems. I only remembered after using black that I had gold/silver inks, so I stamped over the black and it looks like some weird drop shadow. For my wedding thank you cards, I'd of course use a cardstock that matches our colors, instead of this dark red. The stamping I was just seeing how I could use up white space if I used 1/4 of the cardstock sheet instead of half as I did in the left card.


I added in purple to my boutonnieres though!

I'm probably going to remake my boutonnieres [and matching corsages, assuredly] with different ribbon because I won't be able to find any that matches the color I had for these and I need more than what I had. It's about one yard of ribbon to make one rosette and the spool I bought to play with was only three yards.

I did manage to stumble upon the wedding area of Hobby Lobby and found all the little bits and pieces for bouts and corsages and things. Little sparkly sprigs of happyface. I'm going to have to go back sometime, but I just can't decide what I want to work on first. I want to do anything and everything I can for my own wedding, because I want to put my own two hands to work on whatever I can. Except the cake. And dress. Those are the only two things I don't want to make. Maybe bouquets, too. I can't decide if I want fresh flowers or silk - I'm an immense packrat as it is, so either way...

Centerpieces, corsages, boutonnieres, appropriate gifts, invitations, thank you cards.... the list grows.

First Blood

There's some battle wounds, here. There's a spider living somewhere in or on my desk that keeps making appearances and has lost a few legs in the process every time I throw something at it. Also, first blood has been drawn so it's on now, wedding. You and me. Pinpricks are not friendly and, much like papercuts, have a lingering pain no one likes.

I'm still trying to just come up with ideas for things to work on this summer. I made some ribbon roses a few weeks back from some sort of off-white satin ribbon, then tried it with some purple organza ribbon I found I don't like quite as much. I want to try and make boutonnieres, which is proving a little more difficult than I first assessed.

Just killed the spider after weeks of waging war. Victory!

 Tonight, I finally did a little more than just the rose and tried to add the [technical term incoming] "stem thingy".

It's really more impressive in person?

I left a "tail" when making the rosette and improvised making the stem part with a piece of paper on my desk by folding it up, wrapping the tail around it and stapling it. I used a grosgrain ribbon in lime green and wrapped it around the paper stem-majigger. I also flipped it a couple times at the top in back for "leaves". I hand-stitched it all to keep it secure and came up with this mess. I don't hate it. I just want to figure out a way to work in some...thing... purple without over-doing it.

Should I figure out a "proper way" to do this, with replicable results, I want to make a full set - groom, best man (I doubt we'll go beyond into groomsmen), father of bride, and father of groom. I also want to make matching corsages for the lady counterparts, but that will be figured out later. Haha.


I did manage figuring out how I wanted my invitations done and the lovely lad agrees, so I'll be actually making those later on. Invitation, direction card, RSVP and matching RSVP & mailing envelopes lined in a pretty-pretty purple paper.

Stamping Adventure

Rubber stamping. It's not something I ever really dabbled with. However, I got the idea into my head that I would much rather make my wedding invitations instead of have them made. All the more tempting to try something I've never done, huh?

I managed to get out to Hobby Lobby this morning with my beau in tow, har har har rhyme. We (that is to say, I) looked at primarily the stamps.
----As an aside, Stampabilities/Paper Studio stuff is 50% off. That was double sweet.
I did a little "research" beforehand and decided to use just clear stamps, because being clear, I could easily see where precisely I was stamping. Picked up a couple interesting stamp packs and a giant acrylic block.. ....And ten different ink pads, because of the above mentioned sale. I picked up embossing powder too, but am at a lack for a heat gun (They were sold out today. Booooo!).

If you've never used clear stamps yourself, they're silicone (I think) stamp designs and you peel them off of the plastic sheet they come on. Then, you position it how you want it on a clear acrylic block. The silicone just adheres to the acrylic on its own, so you can peel it and change it around how you want to. After you're done, you just peel the stamp off, wash it with soapy water or stamp cleaner, and then put it back on the plastic sheet. I think they're pretty cool.

I spent most of the evening playing with my new toys. I stumbled upon a pretty neat sort of watermark-like effect that uses Pearl-Ex powder. I already had some metallic green Pearl-Ex from using it with my polymer clay, so it was great.

You need embossing ink and Pearl-Ex powder. You load up your stamp with the embossing ink, stamp the paper, and before it gets too dry, brush on some powder with a paintbrush. It's kind of like magic if you use a clear embossing ink, so the image just "magically appears" when you run the powder over it and it adheres to the ink.

Incidentally, the gradient in this photo is due to the reflection of my monitor on the Pearl-Ex. However, you can achieve something very similar if you brush on different colours of Pearl-Ex before the embossing ink dries.

I also found this cardstock I liked at Office Max, called "Stardust". It's flecked with little colored bits. I still have to find preferably a dark purple cardstock.




I just wanted to share. ^_^ I'm just glad I get to sink some time into making things soon.

Dead period

I moved in January and have not had the chance to do any crafting since then. The semester is almost over though, so I'll be able to jump into it full swing for the summer. I already have a lot of work cut out for me, because I'm also hoping to make plenty of things for my wedding.


But in the meantime, instead of studying for an exam...

Origami lotus flower