June Design Team Pages: Wedding Edition

Earlier this month I was given Little Yellow Bicycle Swoon Collection to use for my Design Team Kit. It was fun too becuase I then got to pick out my own alphabets and cardstock.

The papers were beautiful and I loved the texture and weight. It worked out perfectly since I have tons of wedding pictures to scrap...especially from Erin's wedding. The kits were smaller this time since the big craft show is coming up, so I didn't have as many pages to do

So here is what I came up with....

I thought it would be fun to do a couple of tags this time to mix it up a bit. The top tag has a really pretty design on the paper, but it's embossed silver so it's really hard to see in the picture. The banner has the word "Always" in a pretty script in it. 

I was going to just stick to black and white for the paper and accents and keep the picture in color only, but then these flowers were part of my kit and they needed color too. So I mimiced the colors from Erin's wedding bouquet in the paper flowers (yellow centers that fade to pink edges).  The damask design on the background was drawn with my Cameo sketch pen! It's all sparkily and awesome. I love it...and it was fun to learn and use a new technique with my Cameo. 

Here is a close up of the detail.

 

I didn't want to do just do wedding pictures, so I dug through my printed pictures and found the one below. This is one of my very favorite pictures of my Nana and Grandpa and thought it would be fun to do a page about them. And yes, this is a black and white page. It was really hard for me to not add any color. But I do love how it turned out. It's hard to see the banner on the top of the page (it's part of the background paper), but it says "happily ever after". So sweet.

Here is a detail of the cluster of embellishments. The heart has a cool crackle paint on it, as does the buckle on the ribbon. Pop dots help the "Love" word stick to look like it's floating in the middle of the oval frame.

This last double page layout was harder for me to put together. I knew I wanted something fun and bright for a collection of Erin's wedding pictures, since her colors were pink, yellow, and green. So this is a series of pictures showing how it came together.

At this point, I knew that I needed to add more of the papers I had been given and I struggled to figure out how and where to put them since they are various shades of gray.

So I cut a bunch of circles out to see how that would work. I liked it. I then added some "pearl" circles using liquid pearls. I also really liked the splattered white paint on the green paper. The green is very bright and so I wanted to try to tone it down a bit. The paint helped. I also sprayed the background with a pearl mist so it's really sparkily. I love it. :)

A close up of the title. I wanted to use the "I do" chipboard piece, but LDS weddings you don't say I Do, so then I remembered the lyrics to a song that say, "I do love you." Its a fun, bright song that was perfect for this page. And I love the letter stickers.

I had enough paper for one last single page layout using a picture from my other sister, Caitlin's wedding a few years ago (I can't believe it's been 3!) And please excuse the terrible lighting...I finished the page tonight so there's just the terrible light in my kitchen to use. Oh well. You still get the idea. :)

Here are a couple of detail shots. This page is super simple, but I liked the way it turned out. :)

So there you have it. That is what I did this month with my DT kit. :)

The Bitter Taste of Eating My Own Words

I guess it should be no surprise by now, but I'm pretty good at putting my foot in my mouth...or living up to the standard that I tell people I'm at. This story is a case in point. Shock, I know.

Friday afternoon I had a couple of hours to build a new bookcase for my boss. We've had it sitting the office for about 2 years and no one has built it, so I decided to (I was tired of seeing files all over the floor and having to bend over to pick them up or look through them).

The directions were easy to follow and I began working away. The supervising attorney in the office came over and watched for a moment and observed that I was using, and following, the directions.

Boss: You're reading the directions?
Me: Yep. Otherwise I'll miss something and then it will be wrong and break and smash someone and then the subsequent Work Comp case will be my fault.
Boss: Good point. [laugh] I rarely follow directions and usually something is wrong with the finished product. I should probably follow directions more.
Me: It would probably help. When I follow the directions, things usually end up practically perfect.

Yeah, not this time. I did follow the directions! But somehow, either the directions were wrong (which I insist was the case) or I flipped a piece upside down.

Here's what the front/top part of each shelf is supposed to look like: It's nice and flush and flat.

Here is what the weight bearing shelf looked like after I put it together. Yep, there's a lip and it's not supposed to be there.

At the point in the process that I put the shelf together, I couldn't tell which end was the top or the bottom so I didn't realize that it was wrong. And once I did realize, the bookcase was already together and I couldn't take it apart.

The office got a good chuckle out of it.

That is what I get for telling my boss that I'm good at putting things together and them turning out perfectly.

Apparently God likes to keep me humble.

Note to everyone: I got the memo--let's not humble me anymore for awhile. m'kay cupcake?

But, hey, at least the bookcase hasn't fallen over and squashed anyone...yet. Where's some wood, I need to knock on it.

On This, The Last Day of Spring

I stopped in to a local craft store (who shall remain nameless) to pick up a few things and in my wandering, I found this:

People are so lazy. But it is on clearance and so maybe that means people didn't buy it and that gives me a bit more hope for the world. :)

Then I walked around the corner and saw this:

PEOPLE--TODAY IS STILL SPRING!!! Can't we at least enjoy Summer a bit before you begin pushing it out of the way!? Let's wait until 4th of July at least! Sheesh!

I love decorating for Fall--I have almost as much fall stuff as I do for Christmas, but still, I wait until September to decorate. Putting fall stuff out this early messes with my internal calendar. I suddenly got a bit confused about the date. I even pulled out my phone's calendar just to make sure I wasn't crazy.

I'm not. (In case there was any question...)

I looked at a few things to see what is hot and new this year until I saw this:

Then I got creeped out and left. The eyes! The eyes were following me. Seriously--such creepy owls. And apparently buzzards are the new hot decorating item this year for fall? What is wrong with people?! That is just disturbing. (Yeah, I just might have to buy one now, just to make me laugh and creep other people out....hehehe.) (Oh, crap. The marketing people's trick worked! Ack! Help me.)

My hope in humanity (or at least the people that make marketing decisions) and myself just vanished into thin air.



Playing Traffic Director

This past weekend I got to play "traffic director" for a wedding that I helped with.

A family friend heard about my "magic wedding skills" and asked me to help her with her daughter's reception. I happily agreed and this weekend was the wedding reception. The bride was beautiful and loved everything.

The original plan was to do the reception in a covered pavillion at my church building, but three days before the reception, the weather forecast predicted a high of 106 degrees (F). AWFUL!

Thankfully the family decided to move it inside where some awesome miracles happened and the reception was redesigned and changed to accomidate it to bring the outside to the inside. It was beautiful and lovely. Everything went so perfectly and smoothly (except one minor snafu where I accidently was locked out of the building in the middle of the afternoon Saturday and had to wait for someone to come unlock the door).

I didn't really do that much except be an extra pair of hands to do stuff and tell people where to find things (since it was my building). But I had a good time helping and it was really fun to see some people that I hadn't seen in a long time at the reception...and the food was fabulous!! :)

Here are some pictures of the set up.

 The entry way was lined with mason jars full of fresh flowers.

 The gift table.

 Where the line was. I loved that the family only had the line for about 30 minutes.

Where the cupcakes were served. I wish I had a picture with all the cupcakes--they looked amazing!

 Where the wedding cake was.

Under the pavilion. This is what I did. I helped hang the lights and tulle around the edge and down each leg, and then I put together a little display thingy for the center of the food tables. It just looked boring and needed something. The hanging birdcage was made into a chandelier by adding some small white twinkle lights. I loved it.

The table centerpieces that were made by a friend in my family ward. It was her first time doing floral arrangements and she used plants from her yard. They turned out so beautiful. I thought they were great. 

The bride (back of her dress) and her little sister, the flower girl admiring the cupcakes. :)

The awesome food table. :)

I loved this reception. It turned out so beautiful and elegant.

Teacup Jewelry Holder

I stumbled upon this fabulously awesome teacup jewelry holder and decided that it would be fun to make and give as a birthday present to a girl (hi lys!) who collects teacups.

Turns out she has a jewelry box already. Bummer. By the time I had found out, I was mid-way through the project so I decided to finish it and...well I don't know what I'm going to do with it, but I'm sure I'll figure out something.

So here is how I put mine together.

I went to a thrift store and found 10 different shaped teacups and a plate--at $0.49/cup and the plate was only $1.99! I wasn't sure how many I was going to need, so I bought plenty.

I also picked up creamy spraypaint (Rustoleum High Heat in Almond--the only reason I got High Heat was because I liked the color) and Krylon liquid silver leaf pen. I already had E-6000 glue on hand.

I cleaned the cups and plate and then began layering on the spray paint over several hours. I ended up using the entire can and barely had enough. It was perfect. Once the last layer of paint was dry, I decided to fancy up the plate and cups by putting silver leaf on the edges. I used a pen so I could have better control--it was worth the extra $2.

I let the everything dry overnight and then began putting together the sculpture.

The secret to using E-6000 glue is to read the directions on the back. Some people complain about it not "working," but as long as the directions are followed, it works. I've used it on lots of things and I've never had a problem with it. I think the hardest part of the instructions is to NOT touch it for 24 hours. Yeah, that is really hard when you're excited about your project. :)

Overall this project took me 4 days of working on it a few hours a night. The hardest part is that it takes time to dry and the glue takes 24 hours to cure between "layers" of cups.

I did notice that the glue was drippy and so there were lots of drips and strings that I eventually had to cut away. The glue also ruins the spray paint and silver leafing. Lesson learned: Glue it together first--then paint. :)

When it was all done and put together, I thought it was still missing something and it would have been nice to spray it with a clear gloss spray paint so it would have looked more like regular shiny teacups.
I loved how it turned out! Now if I could only find something to do with it. :)

I ended up giving it to Lys, but since she already has a jewlery holder, she said that she'll probably give it to her mom to use. I'm good with that.

My Right and Obligation

Don't mind me while I get on my little soapbox for a moment. :)

Today was the Primary Elections here in California. And for the first time I actually had to go in to a polling location to vote. And I'll be honest, it kinda freaked me out, so much so that for a brief moment I almost decided not to go.

See, I've always been a vote-by-mail person because when I first registered, my home address was out in the middle of nowhere-ville. (okay, it wasn't really, but apparently by voting standards it is.) Well for some reason this year, I didn't get my mail in ballot. So I had to actually go it. Eek! Have I ever mentioned that I don't like doing new things by myself? If I'm with someone else, I have no problem and totally confident, but when I'm by myself, I freak out. I'm so weird. Anywhoo...

I figured out where my polling location was (the fire station a couple of streets over from my house) and showed up to vote.
Like I said earlier, I almost didn't go. But then I remembered a discussion I had with my co-workers four years ago about voting. They belong to a church which says that it's against their beliefs to vote.

AGAINST THEIR BELIEFS?! I'm sorry, but this just shocked me. I've grown up with the knowledge that God requires his people to stand up for Him, to do His work. And sometimes this means by voting.

Let me say that I don't have a problem with this particular religion. I respect the friends I have that belong to it and I respect their personal standards (which are quite similar to mine)...but I do have a concern with one that says that they can't/shouldn't vote. People have died for this right for hundreds of years.

That is our right and obligation as Americans. People founded this country based on the unalienable rights of freedom to choose our leaders and practice our religion. People have died for us to have this right. The only way I can honor the lives that have been sacrificed for my rights and freedoms is to excercise them.

I'm grateful for a testimony of a God that encourages--even commands-- us, me to stand up for what I believe in.

I despise politics. I can't stand hypocritcal and lying politicians. But as much as I can't stand the arguing and negative ads that elections always bring out, I still vote and make my opinion known.

So today I am grateful that I have the ability, right, and obligation to vote and have my opinion help (in however small a way) shape the State of California and my country, the United States of America.

A Seattle Mini-Album

A couple of months ago I came across the pictures of my trip to Seattle from 2006 and I realized that this was my first "birthday vacation" since I went the weekend before my birthday. I was a bridesmaid for my friend Lisa (the one I recently visited in Chicago) and her, her new husband, and the other bridesmaid, Natasha and I went to Seattle (where Lisa is from) for the reception. We had a free day and spent it exploring the city. It was a magical trip. It was my first time on a vacation by myself with friends. I loved it. And then I realized I had never done anything with the pictures. I really loved this trip and wanted to do something fun and special with the pictures.

It was time to fix that.

I've had this cute chipboard mini-album that I won last year and haven't done anything with it. I thought it was perfect for my pictures of Seattle.

I used the adorable Vintage Collection from Pink Paislee (LOVE these papers and colors).
Here are the pages.

I loved this trip and I like how my little book turned out. :)