The original idea was to have it all be a folded postcard with a tear-away RSVP postcard at the bottom, but ideas changed, time flew by and the end result is slightly different, but still amazing! What do you think?
7.06.2011
'Tis Wedding Season!
We don't design wedding invitations very often. In fact, the only other one we've designed was our own! But this year my husband set out to design his little sister's wedding invitation. And I think it turned out pretty darn awesome!
The original idea was to have it all be a folded postcard with a tear-away RSVP postcard at the bottom, but ideas changed, time flew by and the end result is slightly different, but still amazing! What do you think?
The original idea was to have it all be a folded postcard with a tear-away RSVP postcard at the bottom, but ideas changed, time flew by and the end result is slightly different, but still amazing! What do you think?
6.28.2011
Summer Wedding Project
< < Post from new blog: medicalartmofo.blogspot.com > >
Many apologies for the lack of posting! Summer has officially started and I am swamped! Work is picking up and of course so is the social calendar! But I do have some "creativery" to show you today!
I am creating a nearly lifesize painting of my sister-in-law and her husband-to-be for their wedding in August. This is like a carnival piece where the faces are cut-out and people can put their own faces in the holes and take a picture! I think she is going to use this as a guestbook of sorts. Very cute idea.
So, here are a few photos of my process so far. I began by creating a concept in photoshop using a combination of engagement photos and their wedding colors. Then once I figured out the sizing, I went to buy the "canvas" which is three 2' x 4' masonite boards. I painted them white and my lovely husband helped connect them together giving me a final 4 foot by 6 foot blank canvas!
After they were all hinged together, I projected my sketch and traced it onto the boards. It's so much easier than free-handing something that large. Plus it saves me tons of time.
Unfortunately, I could not paint this the normal way one would begin a painting. Paint the entire background first, then add the foreground on top. My projector isn't very strong and I could not see any of the sketch if I projected it on a purple board...so white it had to be and I will be filling in the spaces with a paint-by-numbers approach.
Since the background is very geometric, I was able to use painter's tape and retain my sanity. This was wall paint and didn't dry as quickly as regular acrylic. I was very anxious to rip off the tape!
I used cheap acrylic paint for the blue banner and boy, does that dry a helluva lot quicker than wall paint! I am experimenting with different blending styles for shadows and highlights. So far I like a rough, sponge effect--not perfectly and smoothly blended. We'll see how it goes.
From here we will disassemble the large canvas into it's 3 smaller pieces. It will be much easier to paint and i won't get so much glare from our lights if I can move it around. I cannot wait to begin painting the figures! I really love to paint and work with traditional mediums. It's a great break from all the computer work I do.
What do you think?? Would a cut-out or painting like this be something you'd enjoy seeing at a wedding or other celebration?
Many apologies for the lack of posting! Summer has officially started and I am swamped! Work is picking up and of course so is the social calendar! But I do have some "creativery" to show you today!
I am creating a nearly lifesize painting of my sister-in-law and her husband-to-be for their wedding in August. This is like a carnival piece where the faces are cut-out and people can put their own faces in the holes and take a picture! I think she is going to use this as a guestbook of sorts. Very cute idea.
So, here are a few photos of my process so far. I began by creating a concept in photoshop using a combination of engagement photos and their wedding colors. Then once I figured out the sizing, I went to buy the "canvas" which is three 2' x 4' masonite boards. I painted them white and my lovely husband helped connect them together giving me a final 4 foot by 6 foot blank canvas!
After they were all hinged together, I projected my sketch and traced it onto the boards. It's so much easier than free-handing something that large. Plus it saves me tons of time.
Unfortunately, I could not paint this the normal way one would begin a painting. Paint the entire background first, then add the foreground on top. My projector isn't very strong and I could not see any of the sketch if I projected it on a purple board...so white it had to be and I will be filling in the spaces with a paint-by-numbers approach.
Since the background is very geometric, I was able to use painter's tape and retain my sanity. This was wall paint and didn't dry as quickly as regular acrylic. I was very anxious to rip off the tape!
I used cheap acrylic paint for the blue banner and boy, does that dry a helluva lot quicker than wall paint! I am experimenting with different blending styles for shadows and highlights. So far I like a rough, sponge effect--not perfectly and smoothly blended. We'll see how it goes.
From here we will disassemble the large canvas into it's 3 smaller pieces. It will be much easier to paint and i won't get so much glare from our lights if I can move it around. I cannot wait to begin painting the figures! I really love to paint and work with traditional mediums. It's a great break from all the computer work I do.What do you think?? Would a cut-out or painting like this be something you'd enjoy seeing at a wedding or other celebration?
2.07.2011
New Blog: MedicalArtMofo
I will try to update this blog with projects that are wedding-related, but I am starting another blog that will be filled with any and all creative projects that I find or am working on! They may be medical in theme or not at all! I just needed a place to post my ramblings and creative overflow that wasn't tied to a specific topic.
Please visit and follow!
http://medicalartmofo.blogspot.com/
Please visit and follow!
http://medicalartmofo.blogspot.com/
2.02.2011
Snow day in Chicago!
I know I've failed as a blogger lately, but I'm actually working on quite a few projects right now and I really need to share them! One is wedding-related for my sister-in-law and the others are simply fun!
The wedding project is a lifesize cut-out painting of the couple. Their faces will be cut-out so guests can put their own faces in and take a photo! I used to see them at museums or tourist attractions all the time as a kid. Does anyone know what they are called?
I will post a few beginning photos of the mock-up soon, but for now I will leave you with a photo from the famous Chicago Blizzard of 2011!
The wedding project is a lifesize cut-out painting of the couple. Their faces will be cut-out so guests can put their own faces in and take a photo! I used to see them at museums or tourist attractions all the time as a kid. Does anyone know what they are called?
I will post a few beginning photos of the mock-up soon, but for now I will leave you with a photo from the famous Chicago Blizzard of 2011!
1.08.2011
Holiday Cards using wedding photos!
Ok, so this first post is sort of a no-brainer. Using a wedding photo to create your first holiday card as a married couple! There are tons of ways to create a photo holiday card. Some use Snapfish, VistaPrint, or other online resources. Some go to their local Wal-mart or Walgreens.
Then there are the designers out there who decide to "up the ante" and create their own cards amidst the hustle and bustle of holiday craziness. That last group would be us. We design not only our own cards, but both sets of parents and a grandparent on each side. That's a total of 5 cards to design and we usually don't start until a week or so before Christmas. :-)
So I thought I'd post the cards we made last year before this winter season is totally over. Can you tell which cards were designed by Derek and which were done by me? Sort of obvious, but now we collaborate on our designs and they are even better! Enjoy!
Derek & Rachel (fresh newlyweds!)
Bride's Family
Groom's Family
Grandmother of the Bride
Grandfather of the Groom
Then there are the designers out there who decide to "up the ante" and create their own cards amidst the hustle and bustle of holiday craziness. That last group would be us. We design not only our own cards, but both sets of parents and a grandparent on each side. That's a total of 5 cards to design and we usually don't start until a week or so before Christmas. :-)
So I thought I'd post the cards we made last year before this winter season is totally over. Can you tell which cards were designed by Derek and which were done by me? Sort of obvious, but now we collaborate on our designs and they are even better! Enjoy!
Derek & Rachel (fresh newlyweds!)
Bride's Family
Groom's Family
Grandmother of the Bride
Grandfather of the Groom
12.15.2010
My return to the blogosphere!
So, I have been asked to continue this blog! I'm not quite sure how consistent I will be with posts since I am no longer a bride-to-be, but my sister-in-law is planning a wedding for this August, so I may have a few things to post for her. I may also start blogging about crafty, creative things to do as a newly married couple.
Everyone loves a photo, so here's one of myself with 2 of my favorite people at a college football game!
If you have any suggestions for blog posts, please let me know! Otherwise look for new posts coming soon!!!!
Peace & Creativity,
-Rachel
Everyone loves a photo, so here's one of myself with 2 of my favorite people at a college football game! If you have any suggestions for blog posts, please let me know! Otherwise look for new posts coming soon!!!!
Peace & Creativity,
-Rachel
12.14.2009
Mr. & Mrs.
I am now a married woman! The weather was PERFECT - cloudy in the morning for pictures and bright & sunny for the ceremony! I believe leaves were falling at the appropriate times and the pastor told me later that I had a giant daddy-long-leg crawling up my dress! Oh, how we love nature! :-)
I just wanted to post a few of my favorite photos recapping the wonderful day that we had! All of our photos can be viewed on Sara's website: sara-jayne.com and if you email me at rstork@gmail.com I will give you the client login password. (Let me know who you are because I'm not about to show all these photos to people who don't introduce themselves!) :-) Sara-Jayne Photography also has a page on Facebook which has about 100 of our photos posted on there.
A red barn is very appropriate when one has a wedding in Iowa. 
What I saw for the first time when I started walking down the aisle with my parents. It took all of my willpower to keep myself from crying. So powerful. 
Our ceremony site. No fancy decorations, we just let Mother Nature be her beautiful self, and she definitely shined for us that day!
Our tree-planting ceremony. After the ceremony we planted a strong White Pine near the church. This gift represents the growth of our love and symbolizes that marriage - like a tree - requires constant nurturing and nourishment.
My amazing California cousins finding where they wrote their names in my parents' guestbook on Aug. 2, 1980. I used the handmade wooden guestbook my grandfather made for my mother for her wedding and added our own pages to the front. 
The newlyweds walking to the reception. I love this photo because it reminds me of photos I've seen of my parents' wedding. 
Our table arrangements: Flowers from my mother's garden in canning jars; Brown paper bag table runners with clearance ribbon; hand-me-down votive candles from Craig's List; thrift store wine glasses with handmade charms.
The wedding party as the celebration continues! 
And the glorious German Hausbarn! This site made our wedding so spectacular, I cannot thank LeRoy & Freda and the Hausbarn staff enough for all of their help and support!
9.14.2009
Hand-me-down Guestbook
One of the last few things on my to-do list for the wedding was the guestbook. I really disliked the padded, white guestbooks that you see in stores and I had made up my mind to do something unique, but I didn't want it to take much time.
My mom suggested we use their old guestbook. I was not convinced at all that this would work, until she showed the book to me. My grandfather had made the cover out of wood and varnished it himself. This alone was enough to make me fall in love with it. The pages were simple brown butcher paper that my mom had copied her handwritten design on. It was held together with 2 adjustable metal rings. There was nothing written on the cover, the beautiful wood spoke for itself.
So, i took the book back to Chicago and crafted some of myself into it. I used our brown bag theme with ribbon to create a simple cover detail. Then I cut pages from our large supply of brown grocery bags and printed a simple layout on the front and back of each. Instead of using the metal rings, I found some old hemp string back in my closet and used it to bind the book together. Once all the pages have been put in, I will trim the hemp cord.
The last thing we're going to do is include my parents guestbook pages in the back of the book. It may be fun for our guests to flip back time and see who attended my parents wedding in 1980. And who knows, maybe this book will be passed down for generations. Wouldn't that be something?! :-)
12 days left!
My mom suggested we use their old guestbook. I was not convinced at all that this would work, until she showed the book to me. My grandfather had made the cover out of wood and varnished it himself. This alone was enough to make me fall in love with it. The pages were simple brown butcher paper that my mom had copied her handwritten design on. It was held together with 2 adjustable metal rings. There was nothing written on the cover, the beautiful wood spoke for itself.
So, i took the book back to Chicago and crafted some of myself into it. I used our brown bag theme with ribbon to create a simple cover detail. Then I cut pages from our large supply of brown grocery bags and printed a simple layout on the front and back of each. Instead of using the metal rings, I found some old hemp string back in my closet and used it to bind the book together. Once all the pages have been put in, I will trim the hemp cord.
The last thing we're going to do is include my parents guestbook pages in the back of the book. It may be fun for our guests to flip back time and see who attended my parents wedding in 1980. And who knows, maybe this book will be passed down for generations. Wouldn't that be something?! :-)
12 days left!
9.10.2009
Table Runner and Garters!
I much apologize if my brain is turning to scrambled eggs, but there are only 16 days left until the BIG DAY!!! Derek and I went back to Iowa over the long Labor Day Weekend and accomplished a TON of wedding stuff.
Project #!: Handmade vintage garter
My grandmother brought some of her old handkerchiefs that were given to her by her grandmother. I am using one that is in very good condition, along with a handkerchief of my late grandfather's from when he was in the service to wrap around my bouquet. The other handkerchief had lots of stains on it, so I cut it up to make a long lace. I used ribbon my mother had found and extra ribbon from our boutonnieres and sat down with my Aunt who is a wonderful seamstress. In about 30 minutes we had a finished garter!
Project #2: Brown Grocery Bag table runners
The table centerpieces were difficult for me. Besides the flowers from my mom's garden in her canning jars, I didn't know how to finish the design. I purchased some votive candles that were leftover from a friend's wedding and had reluctantly given in to the idea of just a fabric runner.
Then shear genius struck me. There was a piece of a bag leftover from our card box (crumpled, then ironed with wax paper to give it a texture) and I happened to set my canning jar full of wine corks on it. BINGO. Grocery Bag table runners! Ok, so this idea wasn't entirely mine. Derek came up with the finishing touch of adding a strip of ribbon down the center. Just another reason why together, we rock!
Over the weekend, we were measuring the reception hall for various things and I decided to mock up what our tables will look like. We have an array of garage sale vases mixed with canning jars to hold the garden flowers, real plates and silverware, and my thrift store wine glasses with homemade charms as the favor! I think they look pretty nifty and simple!
I am also nearly finished with the ring bearer's book. However, in our rush to get back to Chicago, I left it at home! Hopefully mom will send me some pictures of it, so I can post them. Otherwise I will post it as soon as I get home the week of the wedding. Exciting times! The countdown begins!!!! :-)
Project #!: Handmade vintage garter
My grandmother brought some of her old handkerchiefs that were given to her by her grandmother. I am using one that is in very good condition, along with a handkerchief of my late grandfather's from when he was in the service to wrap around my bouquet. The other handkerchief had lots of stains on it, so I cut it up to make a long lace. I used ribbon my mother had found and extra ribbon from our boutonnieres and sat down with my Aunt who is a wonderful seamstress. In about 30 minutes we had a finished garter!
Project #2: Brown Grocery Bag table runners
The table centerpieces were difficult for me. Besides the flowers from my mom's garden in her canning jars, I didn't know how to finish the design. I purchased some votive candles that were leftover from a friend's wedding and had reluctantly given in to the idea of just a fabric runner.
Then shear genius struck me. There was a piece of a bag leftover from our card box (crumpled, then ironed with wax paper to give it a texture) and I happened to set my canning jar full of wine corks on it. BINGO. Grocery Bag table runners! Ok, so this idea wasn't entirely mine. Derek came up with the finishing touch of adding a strip of ribbon down the center. Just another reason why together, we rock!
Over the weekend, we were measuring the reception hall for various things and I decided to mock up what our tables will look like. We have an array of garage sale vases mixed with canning jars to hold the garden flowers, real plates and silverware, and my thrift store wine glasses with homemade charms as the favor! I think they look pretty nifty and simple!
I am also nearly finished with the ring bearer's book. However, in our rush to get back to Chicago, I left it at home! Hopefully mom will send me some pictures of it, so I can post them. Otherwise I will post it as soon as I get home the week of the wedding. Exciting times! The countdown begins!!!! :-)
8.31.2009
Recycled projects!
I have so much to post, but it's hard to find the time to organize and actually post! We've done a couple more crafty-recycled-green projects in the last few weeks! One idea was the ring bearer "pillow". I knew that I did not want an actual pillow (unless I made it or found one that was handmade), so I was looking at other ideas such as a large leaf, small gord, chunk of wood....you get the picture. Something different.
Then I came across this posting at Offbeat Bride (Click here for the full post) explaining step by step how to make a ring book! I feel in LOVE with this idea! I found an old book that was falling apart from its cover. Derek still wanted to read it, so I only used the hard cover for this project and kept the pages in tact and readable for him. I used an old 2005 market book that was out-of-date and cut down the pages to fit. I then covered it with our signature brown grocery bags, crumpled and iron with wax paper! When it's finished I will post pictures, but here's a picture from the original idea from Zephyr at Offbeatbride.com
There's another project I'm working on, but I have to run out the door for a meeting, so I will post that later! 26 DAYS LEFT!!!
Then I came across this posting at Offbeat Bride (Click here for the full post) explaining step by step how to make a ring book! I feel in LOVE with this idea! I found an old book that was falling apart from its cover. Derek still wanted to read it, so I only used the hard cover for this project and kept the pages in tact and readable for him. I used an old 2005 market book that was out-of-date and cut down the pages to fit. I then covered it with our signature brown grocery bags, crumpled and iron with wax paper! When it's finished I will post pictures, but here's a picture from the original idea from Zephyr at Offbeatbride.com
There's another project I'm working on, but I have to run out the door for a meeting, so I will post that later! 26 DAYS LEFT!!!
8.13.2009
Recycled wedding card box!
Wow, sorry for the long hiatus...again. It's tough to post when the hours in each day just seem to fly by! We have bout 45 days left until our wedding day! It seems unreal that it is this close! And a little scary since I still have a long list of things to do for that day! Well, let me update you on our last little project!
Our wedding card box! I wanted to make this simple and follow our green theme, so I saved a bunch of boxes from the mail, a couple large pizza boxes and grabbed a few brown paper bags from my mom's house. This box is nearly 100% recycled! Here's what we did!
1. My live-in architect helped create a stable box structure and lid with his amazing modeling skills!
2. I crumpled the brown paper bags and ironed them with wax paper to get a neat effect! Then I wrapped the box and lid with the paper.
3. I used paints and ribbon leftover from our boutonnieres to put the finishing touches on our box!
It definitely looks different, but I think it fits us!
Our invitations have been sent out! Hopefully the mail does not eat them like it did some of my shower invitations! I can't wait to see everyone! It is going to be a great weekend! Check out our wedding website that Derek and I designed! That's all for now! Check back soon as we start to design our wedding programs! :-)
Our wedding card box! I wanted to make this simple and follow our green theme, so I saved a bunch of boxes from the mail, a couple large pizza boxes and grabbed a few brown paper bags from my mom's house. This box is nearly 100% recycled! Here's what we did!
1. My live-in architect helped create a stable box structure and lid with his amazing modeling skills!
2. I crumpled the brown paper bags and ironed them with wax paper to get a neat effect! Then I wrapped the box and lid with the paper.
3. I used paints and ribbon leftover from our boutonnieres to put the finishing touches on our box!
It definitely looks different, but I think it fits us!
Our invitations have been sent out! Hopefully the mail does not eat them like it did some of my shower invitations! I can't wait to see everyone! It is going to be a great weekend! Check out our wedding website that Derek and I designed! That's all for now! Check back soon as we start to design our wedding programs! :-)
7.18.2009
Eco-friendly, Homemade Boutonnieres!
I've been googling and estying around to find a simple, yet catchy homemade boutonniere style. One that I easily make 30 from without ripping my eyes out at the last minute! Flowers are nice, but not very environmentally friendly if your flower choice is not in season or grown locally, not to mention by the end of the night they are wilted and mangled from dancing! My mother is growing the flowers for our centerpieces and we could have used those flowers to make the boutonnieres, but I had a dream of chaos erupting the day before the wedding when the floral boutonnieres fell apart because we did not know how to make them!
So, instead of using the traditional flowers from a florist for boutonnieres, we decided to make our own sans flowers! Using clearance ribbon from a craft store and old buttons from my mother's button jar, we came up with these! The buttons are hand-painted to correspond with our color theme and each design is simply sewn together (with the help of a little double-sided tape too! haha!)
I'm excited to see how these look on everyone! They turned out spectacularly! The great thing about this is that I can get all of them finished ahead of time and we do not have to worry about refrigeration, or putting them on too early! I recommend hand-making boutonnieres to anyone planning a wedding! It's a special touch and you get to see your craftiness on everyone throughout the night! Plus, it's a little sentimental gift for each person who took part in your special day! What could be better?! :-)
So, instead of using the traditional flowers from a florist for boutonnieres, we decided to make our own sans flowers! Using clearance ribbon from a craft store and old buttons from my mother's button jar, we came up with these! The buttons are hand-painted to correspond with our color theme and each design is simply sewn together (with the help of a little double-sided tape too! haha!)
I'm excited to see how these look on everyone! They turned out spectacularly! The great thing about this is that I can get all of them finished ahead of time and we do not have to worry about refrigeration, or putting them on too early! I recommend hand-making boutonnieres to anyone planning a wedding! It's a special touch and you get to see your craftiness on everyone throughout the night! Plus, it's a little sentimental gift for each person who took part in your special day! What could be better?! :-)
7.13.2009
Wine Charm Party!
I recently had an "OH SHIT" moment when I realized that this past weekend was the last free weekend I have until August 29th. Our Sept 26th wedding is coming up VERY QUICKLY and I seem to be getting more DIY ideas as the days go by! So I sent out a party invite to my lovely Chicago women and they all came over for a wine charm-making cocktail party! IT. WAS. FABULOUS!
I cannot thank them enough! We made over 250 wine charms! Charms ranging from old clip on earrings, keyboard keys, puzzle pieces, fishing lures and seashells! I'm storing them on clothes hangers for now and 100 fit nicely per hanger! It's a great way to keep track of the numbers! Here are some of my favorites that I quickly picked out. 
The charms will be on the wine glasses and the entire set-up (glass + charm) will be the wedding favor for guests to take home with them! All the charms were made from recycled items, things that normally would have been thrown away, or found at a garage sale/thrift store! Thank you so much ladies! I know it was last minute but it was tons of fun! You were so helpful! And the free beer at Duffy's definitely made the night even better! I can't wait to see all your shiny, happy faces at my wedding! It's going to be quite the party!
I cannot thank them enough! We made over 250 wine charms! Charms ranging from old clip on earrings, keyboard keys, puzzle pieces, fishing lures and seashells! I'm storing them on clothes hangers for now and 100 fit nicely per hanger! It's a great way to keep track of the numbers! Here are some of my favorites that I quickly picked out. 
The charms will be on the wine glasses and the entire set-up (glass + charm) will be the wedding favor for guests to take home with them! All the charms were made from recycled items, things that normally would have been thrown away, or found at a garage sale/thrift store! Thank you so much ladies! I know it was last minute but it was tons of fun! You were so helpful! And the free beer at Duffy's definitely made the night even better! I can't wait to see all your shiny, happy faces at my wedding! It's going to be quite the party!
6.24.2009
Wine Glasses & Invitations
GARAGE SALE WINE GLASSES
I mentioned in a previous post that my family & friends agreed to help me search for garage sale or thrift store wine glasses. Well, I have had EXTREMELY good luck with this search and Craig's List has become my new best friend! Last week I found 138 wine glasses for 50 cents each from an art gallery that went out of business and yesterday I found possibly 100-200 glasses (again 50 cents each) from a recently married couple who did not end up using all of them! So total I have 238, possibly 338! I can't believe how easy this was!
Thank you so much to all my friends who have collected wine glasses for me! I think we finally have enough! It wasn't as hard or painful as I originally thought this search would be! One thing to cross off the wedding to-do list!
DIY WEDDING INVITATION
It has been a while since my last post, so I thought I'd give everyone something to read/look at and post our wedding invitation that we finally designed! We're having them printed at a local business in Carroll and using 100% recycled paper. The only issue is color since Derek and I do most of our work for web, we've become unfamiliar with all the print options such as PMS colors. The test print looked like red and green instead of teracotta and peridot! It may look different on every screen too, but we'll get all that figured out soon.
What do you think?! We've changed "family" to "families", but haven't found any other spelling/grammar errors. We wanted to include our parents names, but the spacing seemed too cramped for the 5 x 7 size we are using. Our wedding website sort of follows the same design, but we've been so busy with work that we haven't had a chance to finish it! There's a lot of content to think about! I will post that link as soon as we get it finished.
Heading out to Iowa this weekend for one of my best friend's weddings! So excited to see everyone (and take secret notes of how she does things! haha!)
Thanks for reading!
I mentioned in a previous post that my family & friends agreed to help me search for garage sale or thrift store wine glasses. Well, I have had EXTREMELY good luck with this search and Craig's List has become my new best friend! Last week I found 138 wine glasses for 50 cents each from an art gallery that went out of business and yesterday I found possibly 100-200 glasses (again 50 cents each) from a recently married couple who did not end up using all of them! So total I have 238, possibly 338! I can't believe how easy this was!
Thank you so much to all my friends who have collected wine glasses for me! I think we finally have enough! It wasn't as hard or painful as I originally thought this search would be! One thing to cross off the wedding to-do list!DIY WEDDING INVITATION
It has been a while since my last post, so I thought I'd give everyone something to read/look at and post our wedding invitation that we finally designed! We're having them printed at a local business in Carroll and using 100% recycled paper. The only issue is color since Derek and I do most of our work for web, we've become unfamiliar with all the print options such as PMS colors. The test print looked like red and green instead of teracotta and peridot! It may look different on every screen too, but we'll get all that figured out soon.
What do you think?! We've changed "family" to "families", but haven't found any other spelling/grammar errors. We wanted to include our parents names, but the spacing seemed too cramped for the 5 x 7 size we are using. Our wedding website sort of follows the same design, but we've been so busy with work that we haven't had a chance to finish it! There's a lot of content to think about! I will post that link as soon as we get it finished. Heading out to Iowa this weekend for one of my best friend's weddings! So excited to see everyone (and take secret notes of how she does things! haha!)
Thanks for reading!
6.10.2009
DIY Wine Charm progress!
Hey All!
Over memorial day I visited my grandmother and she pulled out a huge jewelry box full of goodies and told me to go through it and take what I like to use for the wine charms! It was a TREASURE BOX! She does not have her ears pierced, so there were tons of pairs of clip-on earrings, old broken necklaces and pins! All perfect for wine charms! So, this week whenever I needed a break from the computer work, I wandered over to my workshop (aka the living room, the only other "room" in the apartment!) and started making the jewelry into charms!
I'm starting to get a nice collection going. I've had friends send me the most random of things like the plastic tags on toddler clothing! (Kudos to Erica for those!!!) But that's the point! This project is all about recycling the random objects found around the house that would normally be thrown away and creating a new item out of them!
I'm not actually putting together the whole charm right now, just getting it ready so it can easily be strung on the wire. I am going to plan a charm-making party in Chicago soon, so all of you who are in the area, clean out your jewelry boxes and get ready for a fun night! I will provide the wine and food, if you provide the broken jewelry/random objects for charms! :-)
I'm also still hunting for thrift store wine glasses! Some stores in Chicago are charging an awful lot for mis-matched glasses. I was thinking no more than $.50-$1.00 but some are marked as high as $3.00 per glass! That's a little outrageous for me since we need to find over 300 of these. So the hunt continues! If you see a deal at a garage sale this summer, grab 'em for me and I will cut you a check and make a personalized charm for you! :-)
Over memorial day I visited my grandmother and she pulled out a huge jewelry box full of goodies and told me to go through it and take what I like to use for the wine charms! It was a TREASURE BOX! She does not have her ears pierced, so there were tons of pairs of clip-on earrings, old broken necklaces and pins! All perfect for wine charms! So, this week whenever I needed a break from the computer work, I wandered over to my workshop (aka the living room, the only other "room" in the apartment!) and started making the jewelry into charms!
I'm starting to get a nice collection going. I've had friends send me the most random of things like the plastic tags on toddler clothing! (Kudos to Erica for those!!!) But that's the point! This project is all about recycling the random objects found around the house that would normally be thrown away and creating a new item out of them!
I'm not actually putting together the whole charm right now, just getting it ready so it can easily be strung on the wire. I am going to plan a charm-making party in Chicago soon, so all of you who are in the area, clean out your jewelry boxes and get ready for a fun night! I will provide the wine and food, if you provide the broken jewelry/random objects for charms! :-)
I'm also still hunting for thrift store wine glasses! Some stores in Chicago are charging an awful lot for mis-matched glasses. I was thinking no more than $.50-$1.00 but some are marked as high as $3.00 per glass! That's a little outrageous for me since we need to find over 300 of these. So the hunt continues! If you see a deal at a garage sale this summer, grab 'em for me and I will cut you a check and make a personalized charm for you! :-)
6.07.2009
Reason #1 why I LOVE photoshop!
Compare the images below and see if you can find what's missing!
If I can remove shadows, zits and strengthen a jawline, imagine what I can do with those extra 10 pounds I've been trying to get rid of! :-) Just some fun with Photoshop on the engagement photos we had taken. We probably will not use this one for anything, but it was fun to see how it could be cleaned up! I'm VERY glad we hired a professional wedding photographer-- Sara Jayne Weitzel is AMAZING!-- She has such great ideas and I can't wait to see the great photos she takes of us!
Ok, the next post will be our wedding invitation design. I'm still waiting to get the test print from the printer, but I'm pretty sure we won't be changing the design. Programs are next on my agenda! Derek is putting together the wedding website today! Maybe I'll throw in a sneak peek of that too! Thanks for reading!! :-)
If I can remove shadows, zits and strengthen a jawline, imagine what I can do with those extra 10 pounds I've been trying to get rid of! :-) Just some fun with Photoshop on the engagement photos we had taken. We probably will not use this one for anything, but it was fun to see how it could be cleaned up! I'm VERY glad we hired a professional wedding photographer-- Sara Jayne Weitzel is AMAZING!-- She has such great ideas and I can't wait to see the great photos she takes of us!
Ok, the next post will be our wedding invitation design. I'm still waiting to get the test print from the printer, but I'm pretty sure we won't be changing the design. Programs are next on my agenda! Derek is putting together the wedding website today! Maybe I'll throw in a sneak peek of that too! Thanks for reading!! :-)
6.03.2009
Sneak Peek: DIY Save-the-Dates!
Our original green plan for Save-the-Dates was to be electronic and send them through email, however my mother has expressed a sincere interest in sending a few to friends and family members. So, we have decided to print a small quantity to mail. Here's the scoop:
- We created our own design using photography courtesy of my wonderful mother!
- We will use 100% recycled PCW paper from a local store.
- We will mail them as postcards to avoid the extra paper in envelopes
- EMAIL the rest to those of our guests who have publicly shared their emails. :-)
So, here's the design!
The website at the bottom is not active. It is a placeholder until we get the real website up and running (which Derek is designing and developing!) So exciting!!!
Oh, and one question I have for all of you in my teeny-tiny blogosphere. Is it noticeably odd that I am not wearing my engagement ring in this photo? It was being re-sized when we took these photos, and for all of the other shots I turned a ring around on my ring finger with intentions to photoshop in the diamond (haha i know i'm such a nerd). But this photo was very spontaneous and I forgot to change my rings around! Do you think it's a big deal? I can spend some time photoshopping the rings, but I want to know if it's worth it. Let me know what you think!!
- We created our own design using photography courtesy of my wonderful mother!
- We will use 100% recycled PCW paper from a local store.
- We will mail them as postcards to avoid the extra paper in envelopes
- EMAIL the rest to those of our guests who have publicly shared their emails. :-)
So, here's the design!
The website at the bottom is not active. It is a placeholder until we get the real website up and running (which Derek is designing and developing!) So exciting!!!
Oh, and one question I have for all of you in my teeny-tiny blogosphere. Is it noticeably odd that I am not wearing my engagement ring in this photo? It was being re-sized when we took these photos, and for all of the other shots I turned a ring around on my ring finger with intentions to photoshop in the diamond (haha i know i'm such a nerd). But this photo was very spontaneous and I forgot to change my rings around! Do you think it's a big deal? I can spend some time photoshopping the rings, but I want to know if it's worth it. Let me know what you think!!
5.31.2009
Our "not-so-green" wedding bands
One aspect of our wedding that we did not go-green on is our wedding rings. I love traditions and passing things down, but unfortunately my mother's wedding ring (which was her grandmother's) is way too small for me. I did not want to destroy it by using the gold to create a new ring either. If one day my fingers are small enough, I hope to wear my great-grandmother's wedding ring, but for now Derek and I may be starting our own traditions.
Even though it's not "green" I'm still excited and want to share! So here they are!
We had lunch after we picked them up and did not want to leave them unattended in the car, so we pretended to be married for an hour! Derek says he really has to get used to his because of the weight. His ring is made of Tungsten Carbide and is kind of heavy. But he loves it!
We also finished designing our save-the-dates and invitations! We have definitely been productive! I will upload images of both in a later post once we finalize the wording. Less than 4 months to go!!!!
Even though it's not "green" I'm still excited and want to share! So here they are!
We had lunch after we picked them up and did not want to leave them unattended in the car, so we pretended to be married for an hour! Derek says he really has to get used to his because of the weight. His ring is made of Tungsten Carbide and is kind of heavy. But he loves it!
We also finished designing our save-the-dates and invitations! We have definitely been productive! I will upload images of both in a later post once we finalize the wording. Less than 4 months to go!!!!
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