The DIY Wedding- Stage 1

So now that the home situation is all taken care of it was time to move onto the wedding. With, again. a budget of nearly zero and an adventurous nature I vowed to make it a dazzling wedding by making everything myself. I'm not joking I set out to make EVERYTHING. Did this actually come to fruition in the end? No. But I learned a lot in the process.

We started off by designing our own invitations and announcements which turned out pretty great.

The theme I chose was a combination of "Vintage English Garden" which developed after perusing many wedding websites.  I wanted it to look simple and handmade but whimsical and old fashioned as well. I think I succeeded but I'll let you be the judge!

I'm a huge fan of banners and bunting, I'm so pleased with how these turned out!

the tools you need

finished product

on the wedding day, see? Lovely!

Napkin ring tutorial tomorrow! Stay tuned!

past, present, and future

hello again. In these past months I have undergone quite a transformation. In addition to permanently moving to England I have married my teenage sweetheart and am now settling down into what every woman does after marriage... nesting. And you know what that means?! A regular blog post filled with everything I've been up to and will continue to create! Finally I'm getting down to business as I've been trying to do for quite a while now.

So lets begin shall we? Starting with the buildup to the wedding and working its way forward each day: A few months before the wedding date I moved into our new apartment and was tasked with outfitting it. With a budget of practically zero Jon and I had to be creative and rely on the donations of our loving friends and family.We accumulated quite a bit of goodies (to our delight!) and put in some hard man hours to make our first place a warm and creative environment.

We stumbled upon a few moldy, rusty, and dingy lawn chairs and turned them into mod cobalt blue metallic beauties which I love.

Next we found a set of 5 vintage velour danish modern chairs for £20. The previous owners were both pet owners and smokers so they had a bit of an... "odour". I tried my hand at recovering one for our office, or what we actually call the "Roosevelt Room" for some odd reason.

 A family friend gave us a dresser on wheels which, because I'm in love with color lately, decided to paint... I still haven't finished. I started it in May. Eek!

 As time progresses and word spreads that we're on the hunt for home wares more and more vintage goodies pour in and we couldn't be more delighted. Now that the home is settled the next step is wedding decor! Until next time, happy creating!

just stumbled upon...

amazing twin brother artists via Etsy.com. You have to check them out!

Ryan's shop: http://www.nativevermont.etsy.com/ 

Stephen's shop: http://www.geministudio.etsy.com/

Ryan is currently a "Featured Seller" on etsy so I can't take credit for the discovery. You can read his review here:  http://www.etsy.com/featured_seller.php

Other news: The countdown continues to the final USA departure... 5 days left.

pins and needles

Alright so I'm horrible at blogging. Its been two months since I last wrote after vowing to both myself and my fiance that I would write weekly, if not daily. In my defense and in the grand scheme of things I HAVE been rather busy.

Since I last wrote I have become engaged, traveled back to the United States, had an amazing product review/response to one of my baby mobiles which resulted in a slew of custom orders and sold/donated nearly all of my belongings. I've been busy! Now just as the dust has begun to settle my Visa has been approved after only three business days when originally we were quoted 50 days?! So its back to England in the next few weeks to begin wedding planning. I am one of those crazy brides that's attempting to execute the whole DIY wedding experience. Coming from an artistic background I have no doubt that my concept will be solid its just the execution of it all that worries me. I'll be back in a foriegn country away from the accessibility of the inexpensive supplies I would need to outfit my wedding. Oh, San Francisco how I will miss your amazing dime store finds and "everything" markets. I'm tempted to stock up while I can in my remaining days and  ship it all abroad. We shall see!

Being that the point of this blog is to share with you my latest inspirations I must show you two amazing artists I have discovered on the beloved Etsy.com. Lise, of lilimandrill, her talent is a joy through and through. The attention to detail and level of originality demonstrated is refreshing! Please visit her shop and check out the stamp we had made! The shop: http://www.lilimandrill.etsy.com/ , and the stamp : http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=39843866 . In addition to lilimandrill I discovered IsabellsArt which is a mythical and magical shop with intricately laser carved shadow puppets and wall art. Her style has a dream-like quality that would add character to any room. But don't take my word for it! Check her out: http://www.isabellasart.etsy.com/ .  Enjoy!

Please stay tuned I have so much more to share!

an Elvis Perkins kind of Monday.

Okay I'll admit it. I've never blogged before and previously had, until very recently, been against it. I've been a rebel against the progression of technology only to realize that trying to make it as an artist requires one to make certain changes to one's previous beliefs. Revelation! So now... I blog. Not begrudgingly mind you but with an air of excitement and hope that I'll be able to demonstrate the reasons for my blog. So why? Well I love crafty people. I love discovering new talented artists and creators and sharing them with friends. Check this photographer out for starters: www.michellemmitchell.com. I met Michelle back when we both worked for a dinner theater in San Francisco. She has a vision that I love- a kind of dreamy reality- and that vision is limitless. Keep an eye on her site, she's going to go far! Here are other examples of her earlier work featuring yours truly and a close friend.