Browsing Tag

wedding

Wedding Rings

Uncategorized May 14, 2011
Dan and I picked out our wedding bands today. My engagement ring is

a traditional solitaire diamond ring in white gold. It’s minimal and shiny and gorgeous. I love my ring so much, every time I look at it I’m still slightly taken aback by it!
When I got the ring and started thinking about bands, I thought I would get a traditional band with small set in stones. I liked the way they looked, but it didn’t wow me. I think they are called
Infinity bands.
Tonight we were all set to buy both of our rings. I had even written down the item number of the Infinity band… as I was trying it on for the last time, the sales person said… “Hang on, why don’t you try on this one.” And she pulled out this:
And I fell in love. Now I really, really, really can’t wait until our wedding day. I can’t wait to be Dan’s wife, and I can’t wait to wear this ring! It fits perfectly with my engagement ring, and is so pretty and different.
Dan chose a tungsten metal ring, very masculine and very Dan. I think he look extra sexy with a wedding band on!
Tomorrow I am going to order the wedding cake and cupcakes. We are hoping to get an assortment of cupcakes, and a single cake for the cutting ceremony.



Wedding Place Cards and Easter x2!

Uncategorized April 24, 2011

Yesterday, after work, Dan and I did some running around to get the materials for place cards for the wedding. I realized just the other day that it is just over 4 months until the wedding and I wanted to start getting some of the crafty things out of the way so I am not stressing out (too much) in the weeks prior to the big day!

I really wanted to somehow incorporate photo-props into the wedding, so we decided for place cards we would make moustaches, beards, and funny lips. So we purchased some felt, dowel, bristol board, and a hot glue gun.
I printed out moustache, beard, glasses, and lips shapes onto some card stock, cut around the shapes, which created my template (Martha Stewart has some templates on her website). I double-sided taped the felt to my sheet of bristol board, traced the templates onto the bristol board and cut out my shapes. I then peeled back parts of the felt from the card stock to hot-glue my sticks between the layers. For the names, we used photo corners from the dollar store, and printed out our guest list. I made a couple up to see how they would look finished and I’m quite happy! We will stick one of these in each glass at the tables so guests can find their seats.
My wedding invitations are printed and ready to be addressed! It’s too early to send them, but they are ready to go. I feel so much better having a few more things checked off the list. Next is flower girls dresses, which I am making, and Dan’s suit!
Today Dan and I spent Easter with his family in the morning, and my family later in the afternoon. We had two ham dinners and I am so very, very full. I am so lucky to have such wonderful families! It was a fun day filled with chocolate-fuelled children. When I leave from my family gathering, I’m left feeling so grateful, which I think, is a rare, and awesome thing.

The Most Frustrating thing I’ve done in a while…

Uncategorized April 23, 2011
This piddley little map was the most frustrating thing to do. We are getting married in a park, and I wanted to include a little map of the ceremony location, reception, and some major landmarks, so people can find the location easily. There’s nothing worse than arriving at a wedding and having no idea where you’re going…

This task was much easier said than done. I do not, at the moment, have Photoshop, so I created this entirely with Paint and Picnik. It just goes to show, with a little patience, you don’t really need all the fancy, expensive equipment. Sure it’s not perfect, but it’ll work! I traced a Google Map with a fine tipped marker, scanned it in, and in paint layered the clipart. In picnik… or maybe I just used Picasa, I added the text in a random ‘Hand’ font. I printed them out on left over rsvp and invitation cards (which I then carefully cut in half) and they ended up looking pretty cute… not bad for Paint!
I am happy to say, after a full days work, I am nearly completed my wedding invitations. They are all printed… now it’s just a matter of tying a pretty, purple ribbon around 60 invites, addressing them, and adding the proper postage.
Invites, by far, have been the most annoying part of the wedding-prep process! That being said, I am looking forward to getting my first RSVPs back in the mail!

Long, Productive Day.

Uncategorized April 21, 2011

Ok, I am finally winding down for the day. I think I sewed for 12 hours straight, with breaks here and there to take Oliver out for pee-breaks. When I have my sewing marathon, little Oliver always perches himself on the back of the couch and watches, snoring and snorting and sneezing and making weird pug noises. Gosh I love that dog!


I finished off two custom orders, both bra and panties sets. The lace ruffle one is my favourite. I just love frothy, gathered lace! The sad part of today though is…

I am completely out of the Swiss dot for the black set, and only have enough floral fabric for one last pair of ruffled lace panties… and hopefully I can source the same lace again because I used all of it today too!
In better news, my bridesmaids dresses arrived today! We will pick them up on Wednesday and I will do any alterations that the girls might need. I really hope my dress comes in soon, as I would like to start on alterations – which I will pay an actual alterations seamstress to do!
I have one more week at my job before I start my new PR position. I am looking forward to a Monday to Friday 9-5 job again, with no worry about overtime. It will be so nice to be able to come home, and have time to cook dinner. No more 11 hour days!
Lastly, I think Dan and I are going to buy a new car. I’ve never spoken about our car before… but it has a lot of character, being a mechanics car. All of the electronic devices hang by wires out of the doors (auto-locks and windows, etc), the back doors have no interior handles because we had to put them on the front, when they broke, the heat is operated by reaching underneath the passenger side dash… Yep, it’s got a lot of character! Here’s hoping we can get this new car before summer road trip season, which will start with a drive to Quebec in June.

Busy as a Bee

Uncategorized April 7, 2011

I have been so busy lately! Filling orders, photographing and listing new items. This one is my favourite.

I listed my first item on the Sense of Fashion website. I will need to add more over there, but one item is at least, a start.
Dan and I have made awesome wedding headway, finalizaing the guestlist, and planning out our big day. I can hardly believe it is 5 months away! The time is flying by so fast, but not fast enough! I am really excited about the wedding and all the fun things to come after.

Wedding Crafting

Uncategorized April 3, 2011

I was so happy on Friday, my stamp from Love to Create Stamps on Etsy found its way to my mail box. It came right in time, because I’ve been in the mood to do something a little crafty, as a slight break from sewing nothing but panties.

So, I grabbed 3 yards of muslin, a ball of jute twine, a yard of duppioni silk, a yard of black grosgrain ribbon, and various other trimmings and made my bird seed confetti bags, ring cushion, and garter.
I love the stamp, it prints so nicely on the muslin. I made about 30 bags today and it only took me about an hour. I will do one more batch another day and that will be it. We will hand these out with our programs and guests can keep them as mementos or use the seeds as confetti. I am also going to use the stamp on our programs, along with a “marrying” picture that Dan’s niece drew.
I got the idea for our pillow cushion from Martha Stewart. In all of my wedding researching, I tend to like her projects the best. The pillow went together so easily, and is so cute. I made mine a little bigger than the suggested 6×6 and cut out 8×8 squares instead.
Lastly, I made up a small garter, which includes my something Blue (now that I cannot, for the life of me, find the Pour La Victoire Shoes in my size anywhere). I still need to make a toss garter, as I think I’d like to keep this one as a keepsake.
We stopped in a suit store today and started looking at suits. We are thinking a black suit with a fine pin stripe, white shirt and tie, and a coordinating pocket square. Dan looks incredibly handsome in a nice jacket, I can’t wait to see him in a full suit! It will be the first time I’ve ever seen him in one!

Uncategorized March 30, 2011

Yesterday my mind was in a total jumble. I couldn’t make a decision about anything. I cut out and sewed most of my orders, went to the fabric store where I turned in circles and couldn’t decide on anything, came home and took a bunch of fabric out of my cabinet and made a big mess… but made no panties! I didn’t bake, I cleaned but then made a mess again, I didn’t do much of anything, but felt exhausted by the end of the day.
I did finish a romper and I photographed my new ruffle bloomers (which you can see more of on my Etsy). I also found out that there will be a big sale at my local fabric store, so I am waiting to purchase fabric to do my whack-load of ready made stuff.

Then, to distract me further, The UPS guy arrived with my package from Lush! Oh happy day! I slathered myself in their new mud body scrub, soaped up with their sandstone soap (I felt like I was at the beach), cleansed with some Herbalism, put on a face mask, then rubbed my body down with the Each Peach massage bar. My skin is so soft and glowing, and I smell like a yummy fruit cocktail. I was really surprised how little of the mud-scrub I had to use. It comes in a small cube, about 1 1/2″ x 1 1/2″, I figured it would be a one use deal, but there is a lot left, and I really like the smell.
I also bought the guest book for our wedding! I can’t wait to get it, I absolutely love it! She is going to switch up the red ribbon for a magenta ribbon to match our colour scheme. I’m still waiting on my custom made stamp to start making my bird seed bags. I mentioned my bird-seed instead of confetti idea to my Mom…. who I forgot, is terrified of birds. Needless to say, she will not be partaking in the birdseed tossing…
Dan got the go-ahead to write his test to become a fully certified, licensed, automotive service technician (mechanic). I am so incredibly proud! He has worked so hard at it and really deserves all the benefits of being licensed… I just hope his employer recognizes it as much as I do!

Ready to Ship!

Uncategorized March 23, 2011

I finished all but 1 outstanding orders today, packaged them up and shipped them out. Aren’t they pretty? I try to make the package as cute as what’s in it.

I feel a lot better now that I am caught up, I can try to relax a little… And think about new things to make. I really want to do a batch of ruffle bloomers to list post. I also stumbled upon a site called Sense of Fashion, which apparently is a new marketplace for independant designers and boutique owners. I signed up but haven’t listed anything yet. I think I would only do Ready Made over there. Anyone ever heard of this site? I’d love to hear more about it. I’d like more venues than Etsy to sell.
I’ve been thinking a lot about Ohhh Lulu and how happy I am with how its doing, with very little promotion, besides this blog and a twitter account. It made me think… what would happen if I advertised? Or maybe rented a booth in the local (and bustling) farmers market? Maybe the dreams of quitting my day job might become a reality?
Day job is becoming increasingly frustrating. I tried to give it a go, and start some new procedures, but everything is just backfiring. I am giving up, quite grumpily so. Dan’s apprenticeship completion is going slower than we expected, which means his raise keeps getting put off… which is frustrating us both. He so deserves it after all of his hard work!
In the good news department, I placed another gigantic order at Lush. I bought a bunch of stuff I’ve never tried before, including one of their face cleansers, masks, and scrubs. I highly recommend to anyone with dry, itchy skin to try their Body Butters and Massage Bars. I bought the Manage Too bar last time, and it is so rich and creamy and absorbs fast. My skin is so soft, and I smell good enough to eat! I highly, highly recommend the stuff. I can’t wait until my order arrives! It can never come fast enough.
I also purchased a custom made stamp off Etsy for the wedding. Dan and I are planning on sewing a million muslin bags for birdseed to toss at the wedding. We are going to stamp each one with our name and date of wedding. We’ll likely also use it on our favours (jars of marmalade!), and programs. We have the cutest picture that Dan’s niece drew of us “marrying” which we also hope to incorporate into the program. I am getting so many fun, DIY ideas for the wedding! Gotta get the glue guns going soon!

Bras, Bras, Bras…

Uncategorized March 9, 2011
Dan and I went to register, unsuccessfully, on Sunday. We have to go back today to finish up. I’ve had a terribly unproductive couple of days of (for Ohhh Lulu), but managed to get some sewing done for myself, as well as a really yummy French Onion Soup and two loaves of bread.
I actually think I am going to use these as samples and list them on Etsy… These samples, however, are for me, me me!

I’m really happy with how they turned out… they are simple under-wired, unpadded bras. I had been making these out of jersey, but I like them even better out of woven cotton, they are more supportive. They make really cute every day lingerie, paired with the lace panties I made last week.

This whole wedding registry has been way less fun than I thought it would be. We went to the Bay, spent two hours there, and registered for maybe 7 items. We couldn’t agree on anything, and the selection just was not so great… So we are going to Home Outfitters today, hopefully with more success! I am not really a big shopper so this part is not so fun. I am also struggling trying to think of things I need. I am a practical girl and am used to putting need before want… the whole registry seems kind of frivolous and consumer-driven…
I think I am thinking too much about this whole thing!

Sunday, my favourite day of the week!

Uncategorized March 6, 2011

Yesterday I was surprised to find a comment from Cecili (and her wonderful blog Sewing and So On). She was passing on some love with the Stylish Blogger Award! How exciting. I’ve got to say, I love her sewing, and her style, and was so excited.

So, the rule goes that I now have to say 7 things about myself and pass it on to 7 others. Here we go.
1. I am a huge loner by choice. I have a few close friends, but mostly I like it to be just me. I find it is often hard to explain to people that I would rather just hang out by myself then be around a bunch of people. I wonder if many other people are like this?
2. I love music, real music. I play guitar and piano, took clarinet in high school, and studied voice for a year. I have a secret desire to start a folk band.
3. I was a hardcore Goth for years. I’ve learned how hard Black hair dye is to get out of blonde hair. I will always have a place in my heart from Trent Reznor and Robert Smith.
4. I studied Latin in university and I forget most of it now. Veritas.
5. I am a Geek. For years, I was a geek in denial. I tried to hide it, to fit in. Now, I just let it all hang out. I play video games (well, Final Fantasy), I’d rather spend a night playing board games or (don’t laugh) D&D or sitting in front of my sewing machine than out at a club or party…
6. I am outright obsessed with Lush . I could easily spend most of a pay cheque there. Right now my current product obsessions are Godiva shampoo bar, Buffy body butter, and Manage Too Massage Bar (smells like chocolate and honey!). I am contemplating placing another order today… I want, NO, NEED some Marilyn Hair Treatment and more Porridge soap!!!
7. I am currently in the process of watching every “Oscars Best Picture” winner, chronologically, with my fiancé, Dan! We are stuck on The Godfather II. Although I really liked the first one, I’m procrastinating on watching the second one. We choose no to have
I would like to pass this along to some of my favourite blogs!
Well, that was fun!
Today Dan and I are going to go Register for Gifts for our Wedding. I can hardly believe it is only six months away! We are also going to look at some suits while we are “in town”. I can’t wait to see Dan in a suit!