Enjoy!
During my preparation for our big trip I heard that Typepad blogs are occasionally blocked in China, making them a bit unreliable. To make sure I can reach everyone I want to, and to make sure I can see my own blog, I have moved! Continue to follow my artsy crafty escapades at MaryHelenOrama.Info! My new site contains my new posts AND all my archives. Don't forget to change your bookmarks and RSS readers. :)
As promised, I'll be keeping a special blog to catalog my adventures in China. You can check it out at BigWallsFriedScorpions.com!
Enjoy!
One of the most unique apsects of our wedding had to be our venue. We chose The Heirloom Arts Theater for its affordability, its character, and most of all, its unique layout. It didn't hurt that the owner's sister was a close friend of mine either. Though the Heirloom is unarguably a very cool place, it doesn't exactly scream "wedding!", so we knew redecorating it would be a challenge. We needed to dress it up without compromising its natural charm, and we needed to be able to transform it in a very short period of time. We would only have three hours the morning of the wedding to get it ready. We called on our family and friends, and were thrilled when they showed up in hoards to help that morning. Together, we transformed the Heirloom with time to spare.
Michelle, my maid of honor spent a few nights surging huge pieces of fabric that we used as curtains and valances throughout the theater. She also pumped out a few throw pillows that we used to turn an awkward set of steps into a loungey seating area on the theater's balcony. Between the fabric, and some carefully placed faux flowers, we kitsched the heck out of what was a pretty much punk rock setting. Take a look at the before and after photos of the bar, for example:
Before
After
The stage was another focal point that needed tackling. We went through a lot of crazy ideas before we settled on a pretty simple, but cute solution. We covered the back curtain with silver, blue, and white stars, making the stage look a little reminiscent of an elementary school production. Then we lined the edge of the stage with foil garland, and shiny cardboard letters that spelled out "Mary & Scott Forever".
The Stage
We used strings of Christmas lights anywhere we could to add a touch of extra light. Our good friends, Brian and Melissa, found every cute niche to stick lights in, giving the place a little extra glow. It looked especially cute in the entrance and hallway, where we also created a kitschy Elvis shrine, and hung a floral ceiling decoration.
Entrance Before
Entrance After (In Progress)
A Closer Look at the Elvis Shrine
Hallway Before
Hallway After
The bathrooms were pet projects of my sister, Sarah, and I. We expected them to be in much worse condition. Usually, when you think of concert hall bathrooms you expect tons of grafitti, bashed fixtures, and general grossness. Not so with the Heirloom! We were amazed at how well both bathrooms looked when we stopped by to take a closer look. On the day of the wedding it was easy as cake to dazzle up both rooms. We turned the ladies room into a super feminine, pinup parlor, while we gave the men's room a retro casino lounge theme.
The Men's Room Before
These are pictures of the men's room about half-way finished. We also added Betty Page playing cards and a life size Elvis cutout (in a gold lame suit).
The Ladies Room Before
The ladies room is almost done in this photo. Sailor showed up later on with Betty Page playing cards, and neon colored parasols. You can't see them very well here, but we also had some really cute pink and green paper lanterns hanging over the stalls, courtesy of Mrs. Leonard.
We rented a wooden dance floor to encourage folks to boogy, and to give the main area a little more depth. We also rented buffet and round tables and teal linens. The color of the table cloths helped to bring out the deep red color of the walls, making the whole main are appear brighter and more lively. We threw in some red, turquoise, and silver balloons, and decorated the tables with our etched centerpieces, votive candles, and sprinkled them with faux daisies. For the ceremony, we covered the dance floor in chairs, creating an aisle, and a place for most of the audience. Others sat at tables, or watched from the balcony above. After the ceremony, we had friends clear the dance floor while servers passed out champagne.
The Main Area Before
The Main Area After
The same theme of tables and chairs continued on the balcony, providing a more secluded area for people to hang out. We added some extra candles up here, Michelle's leopard pillows, some fabric to cover the upstairs bar window, and just for laughs, a life size cutout of Boba Fett.
Balcony Before
Balcony After - Not very descriptive shots, but you get the idea!
Here's a slide show of our morning helpers getting the Heirloom all dolled up! (With some other pre-wedding shots thrown in.)
Music is one of the most important aspect of both my life and Scott's. We've both grown up in homes where music played an essential part of daily life. Scott's parents adored rock n' roll and the glitzy glamor of Las Vegas shows. The Beatles, Elvis Presley, and Barbara Streisand was regularly blasted in the Leonard household. When I grew up, my parents' taste spanned the likes of David Bowie to Joan Baez. Between my father regularly bringing home new and unique NPR favorites such as Irish Dement, and my mother waxing poetic over the genius of rock n roll heroines such as Stevie Nicks or Debbie Harry, my sisters and I were more than encouraged to blast our own records loud and proud.
Like plenty of teenagers, we both spent our formative years obsessively listening to music, constantly searching for the next greatest song, or paying careful attention to already known masterpieces. As Scott and I grew older this obsession never ceased. Concerts, downloads, and bootlegs were the primary focus day in and day out. Even now we will gladly miss sleep on a work night if there is a good show within 1-2 hours drive.
Music still plays a huge role in our lives, often surpassing all other hobbies or entertainments. Not a day goes by where the sound of Scott playing guitar, or of me belting a tune does not echo against the walls of our small condo. The sound of Scott carefully dissecting a favorite song is often replaced lately by a single bass line throbbing in from the craft room as Scott methodically learns songs in preparation for the China trip. As someone who is yet to master any instrument (apart from occasionally my own vocal chords), it blows my mind the way that he can listen and repeat melodies on so many different instruments. As much as I love music, my flame for it is only a tiny glimmer in comparison to Scott's. I've never known anyone who loved music so much as Scott.
You can imagine the pressure that I felt when picking music for our wedding! I chose a New Orleans jazzy rendition of the Wedding March so that the wedding party could dance down the aisle. That seemed to go over really well, and had everyone in the audience boogying along.
For the recessional, we chose "Wigwam" by Bob Dylan, a sentimental favorite of ours. We were announced to Rebel Rouser by Duane Eddy, and the bride & groom first dance was "Sleep Walk" by Johnny & Santo. That has always been our song, and it was a great match for the 50's theme anyway. Countless hours of our lives were spent driving aimlessly through the night while listening to that song. What girl could help but fall in love with a sun roof open to the stars and Sleep Walk on the radio? I didn't stand a chance.
We opened the dance floor to Chuck Berry's "You Never Can Tell", and followed it with "Maybelleine" and the original version of "Woo Hoo" by the Rock-A-Teens.
I obsessed quite a bit over the choices for this first batch of songs, trying to get a mix of the most kick ass, and soulful 50's rockabilly. Elvis performed a 30 minute set after the first batch of music and really lit the crowd on fire.
Next, we danced with out parents. I danced with my Dad to Iris Dement's "Sweet is the Melody". Iris Dement was an artist my Dad heard on NPR one evening on the way home from work. He instantly fell in love and made a pit stop from his commute just to get his hands on the full album. He came home full of excitement, and made my sisters, Mom, and I listen to the whole thing as soon as he came home. Lucky for us, we loved it too. Since my Dad had always encouraged my sisters and I to sing, I sang the entire song to my father as we danced. Strangely enough, he told me that one of the reasons he had liked Iris Dement so much was that her voice reminded him of mine! Funny how things turn out.
Scott and his Mom chose "I'm Happy Just to Dance With You" by the Beatles, a good choice that came from Scott's love of the Beatles, and his Mom's desire for an upbeat song. You should know, Scott's mother is quite the dancer. I don't think that she's ever had lessons or anything like that, but can she ever boogy! She was kicking up her heels Tina Turner style the entire night, and was the talk of the dance floor!
The second batch of dance music was a mix of carefully chosen oldies and a few indie and alternative songs thrown in for good measure. Elvis, who was also our DJ on top of being entertainment and officiator, popped in party hits now and again to keep people dancing. After a good deal of dancing, he disappeared for a costume change, ready to warm up the crowd with his second set! White jumpsuit Elvis was a huge hit. He was swarmed with ladies, and had the entire place going crazy.
Following Elvis's second set, we did an Anniversary Dance to a version of "Our Love is Here to Stay" by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. All the married couples began the dance, and were widdled down until only the longest married couple remained. Al and Carol Barney, my Matron of Honor's parents won the dance with 50 years of marriage, being celebrated this year! Carol remained on the floor to judge in our next game, the Single Ladies Bouquet Dance Contest!
This wacky idea for a wedding game was drummed up by The Hat City Scissor Squad girls just a few weeks before the wedding. While discussing wedding plans we got onto the topic of bouquet tosses, and decided to have dance-off instead of the traditional toss. All the unmarried ladies danced their butts off to "Single Ladies" by Beyonce, and Carol tapped them out one by one, until she selected my sister, Sarah, as the winner. Reports say that she may have even done a crab style back bend to win the prize.
Our last set of music spanned the remainder of the evening and let loose with a series of indie dance hits, classic jams, and good old fashioned party music. We wrapped up the night with a last dance of "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" by Iron and Wine, and called it a night... that is until we hit the karaoke bar later on.
For the heck of it, check out this page to see a complete playlist from our wedding. You can download Itunes Mixes of the stuff that is available at the Itune Store, or you can hunt for these little gems on your own. Enjoy!
The wedding has come and gone, and I am proud to report that it went off without any major hitches. Naturally a couple of things strayed from the plan, but overall the evening turned out better than I had dared to hope. It was pretty much perfect. All in all it was a night to remember, and is in no danger of fading into a mush of cookie cutter wedding memories. Mission accomplished!
While obviously the big things going according to plan had plenty to do with the party's success, it was the little things that added sweetness and personality to the event. My Mom and sisters, and my new favorite red headed Floridian, James, did an amazing job putting together the wedding favors and programs. They created over 100 of each!
These little Match Boxes were first thought up as wedding favors by our buddy Sailor at Hot Rock & Dye. Originally, I envisioned hand stamped collages of glitter and construction paper, but Heather decided to take these little guys to the next level by designing their paper covers on the computer. She put together an adorable template of leopard, red, and black, complete with the wedding date, then used four adorable puns and catch phrases on the other side. She used "Hunka Burnin' Love", "A Perfect Match", "Flame On", and "Hot Stuff". These were so cute, and very popular! We only ended up with a handful left over the next morning.
Heather also designed these matching programs. They featured an awesome tattoo font, a heavenly piece of clip art on the front, and more art from the centerpiece stencils inside. Awesome!
All of the favors were outstanding, but the most amazing of all were the tiny cakes that my Mom made. She started out by assembling almost 200 little blue boxes that arrived flat stacked from EFavorMart.com. Then, she created hundreds and hundreds of little bows from blue and gold ribbon. She attached ribbons and bows to all of the boxes, and then started on the cakes. She baked mini cupcakes from both yellow and strawberry flavored cake, and then carefully trimmed each cupcake to a uniform shape. When they were all ready, she glazed them with a white chocolate ganache, then dipped the tops in melted white chocolate. As if that wasn't wild enough, she topped each tiny cake with a pair of handmade (by her, of course) gum paste cherries! Even the little bows attached to the cherries were made by hand with ribbon and hot glue. Heather designed and printed tiny cards to accompany the cake boxes, explaining the tradition that went behind them:
Legend says that if an unwed woman places a slice of wedding cake under her pillow, that night she will dream of the man she is going to marry! Thanks for being with us as we watched our dreams come true! To play the game, place this box of cake under your pillow tonight and dream your heart out!
There are many more photos to come. I'll keep posting as they flow in. Next, I'll share photos of us setting up, and explain how we transformed the Heirloom into a swanky fifties dance party
10 Days left until the big day, and I thought I would take a little time to highlight some recent wedding goodness for you all. One of the biggest things I haven't gotten a chance to blog about was the amazingly well put together Bridal Shower that my sisters threw me a few weeks ago. They held it at The Sesame Seed Restaurant, a really yummy granola type place that is super cute and right up my alley. In fact, it is the favorite local restaurant for many of the girls who attended that day. I know more than a few of the guests were thrilled about the location.
The Sesame Seed Restaurant resides in a charming old Victorian style house on Wooster Street in Danbury, CT. It is decorated in a sort of antique, shabby chic meets crazed hippy collector sort of way, and it serves an eclectic menu of healthful and delicious, hippy dippy foods, including their incredible homemade hummus, and hefty portions of Gorgonzola topping several standard dishes. For the shower, they provided a menu with three lunch entrees: Spinach Pie, Chicken Fajitas, and Salmon. They let us run rampant across their entire second floor too, giving us loads of space and privacy for the party. My sisters also mentioned several times how helpful and accommodating the staff at The Sesame Seed was during the planning and execution of the party. I would definitely recommend the venue.
In true McNally fashion, Sarah and Heather crafted their little fingers to the bone for the shower. The craftiness began with a gorgeous welcome centerpiece, made from sticks, punched flowers, moss, and glitter birds. Next to the centerpiece were an army of tiny, handmade note cards, and one of the lovely invitations the girls had sent out. Speaking of glitter birds, Heather and Sarah hand glittered an extraordinary amount of little feather birds, which they used to decorate their welcome centerpiece, and to top jelly bean favors! The favors were so cute! Tiny metal tins were covered in two layers of crafty paper, with hearts cut out between them. Then, the tins were filled with red and turquoise jelly beans, and topped with glitter birds! Then each tin and bird were wrapped up in little cello bags and tied with handmade, grommetted tags that said "MH"! The gals didn't stop there, either. They put lovely milk glass (my favorite) bud vases on all the tables, tied with ribbons and filled with daisies! So crafty!
We played the classic Toilet Paper Bride game at the shower, which was a huge hit. The party split off into three teams, each given a few rolls of TO (Recycled, of course) and about 15 minutes to create a masterpiece. I ran around snapping photos as the ladies went to work. The game resulted in three very different TP bride looks, all of which were incredibly creative. Of course, the Scissor Squad was almost entirely on one team, and what they created was simply mind blowing. It really did look like a real dress. Incredible!
Later we ate delicious cupcakes from the American Artisan Bakery in Sandy Hook, CT. These things were gi-freaking-normous and VERY tasty. Everyone had fun splitting their cupcakes up to share flavors. After the cupcakery was done, they sat me in a chair and showered in fantastic gifts! Hooray! I have been chipping away at my Thank You cards ever since, and hope to get them out very soon, for I am, indeed, very thankful for all my gorgeous loot!
Thanks, Heather and Sarah for a super lovely time! To check out the full collection of photos, visit the gallery!
My sisters decided to give me a nice break from wedding planning this past weekend, and treated me to a trip to the Bronx Zoo! To me, the Bronx Zoo is one of those special places that can always make me happy. It doesn't take long for the Zoo to banish my blues and dismiss all nagging anxieties. Cute animals just make me happy, I guess. Staring into fuzzy, feathery faces makes it unbelievably easy to forget everything that has been weighing on my mind. It's too bad I can't just pop over there every afternoon.
This trip was a great opportunity for me to practice more with my new camera. The sun was out, the light was bright, and the Canon was snipping and snapping away. I'm still struggling with blur and noise, but I am getting better. One thing I have discovered about the SX10 is that its automatic settings really stink. They don't do much justice to the camera itself, so tweaking settings is absolutely necessary to get a good shot. I took hundreds of photos Saturday, but was only happy with about 70. Not too shabby, but not good enough yet. I'm looking forward to getting a lot more practice in while I'm in Maine in July.
Here's a slide show of photos from our zoo adventure. If you get a chance to stop by the Bronx Zoo sometime soon, send my fuzzy buddies some love from me.
This story is a little over due, but I felt the urge to post it anyway, if only to express my love for the particular beer that is invented here. Many weekends ago Scott Bobleo and I popped off for a quick trip to see my sister, Heather, in Boston. While we were in town, we decided to check out The Sam Adams Brewery Tour. Since Heather lives so close by it made visiting extra tempting, but I would recommend stopping by to any beer lover.
Our tour was particularly great thanks to our tour guide, a young brunette who seemed to have a genuine love of beer, as well as a quick wit, and a talent for riling up crowds of tourists. She was a lot of fun, and continued to impress us with answers to each and every question that was hurled at her. Her responses were both educated and hilarious, making the whole experience really enjoyable.
Apparently, Boston's Sam Adams Brewery is more of a formulary these days. The folks here formulate new beers, ales, and lagers (which thanks to our tour guide I now know the difference between) and brew small batches of their most limited edition recipes. The short tour takes you through a few rooms of tanks, barrels, hoppers, and gizmos, then into the tasting room, which is likely considered the highlight of the tour. Each guest receives a small souvenir glass to taste from, and a selection of three popular Sam Adams beers. After the three quick drinks everyone wanders into the gift shop with a sweet little buzz going on. All in all, a very pleasant way to spend a Saturday morning.
On the way we home we saw some nifty metal sculptures outside a metal studio. Heather was a sport and posed for me with these lovely hooker robots. We also discovered that there was a Boomerangs outlet right outside the Sam Adams Brewery. Lucky! Heather got a bag full of loot for 3 bucks! We visited the regular Boomerangs store front the next day, where I picked up tons of great stuff. It was definitely one of the best thrift stores that I have been to in a while. Next time you hit up Jamaica Plain, make sure to stop by Boomerangs on Centre Street. They have great stuff, and their profits go toward Aids activism. Good deals, AND good karma, all in one shopping trip!
By the way, one of my photos from our Sam Adams trip is being featured on Boston's Schmap, the online map and tour guide. How exciting!
My test dress for the wedding left Whirling Turban today! I already received my black petticoats from Memphis Vintage. I can't wait to see how this looks! Also, I can't wait to go shoe shopping for this little number. Black, or red? Hee hee hee.
In other news, Michelle & I whipped out a whole boat load of Thank You cards the other night. Originally, I had carved this crazy stamp out of rubber, and wanted to stamp out the cards. After many less than stellar stampings we were inspired to approach the cards a different way. We wound up tracing over a stamped image with a black marker (to clean it up) then having it reduced and photo copied onto card stock 125 times! We then cut the images out to create cute little thank you note cards. I'll need to order special envelopes, but so far these have cost a total of five bucks. Score!
I've been oh so silent lately, but I do have a good reason. I have been wedding planning! Oh my, oh yes. It has been quite a circus around here between wedding plans, travel plans, and musical mayhem. Mr. Scott Bobleo has been busy learning music and working like a fiend while I have been booking food, flowers, and other details. Our invites are out, RSVP's are flowing in, and we are down to having just 38 days left to go before the big night. Here is a little taste of what I've been up to.
Bridesmaids: I asked the girls to pick out some cute, retro, A-line dresses with cap sleeves. They decided to go with this lovely little number from Daddy-O's.
The girls will all look totally adorable, especially when they pop on their black peep-toe pumps, and get their hair done in rock n' roll pomp and ponytail combos. Sweet! My new wedding BFF, Sailor, from the Hot Rock & Dye Salon in Windsor, CT suggested the girls also get some saddle shoes to dance in at the reception.
That was just one of the ga-billion awesome ideas Sailor has had. I swear it was absolute kismet that we found the Hot Rock & Dye Salon for this wedding. I visited recently to do a trial run for my wedding hair do.
I went in frazzled, with pretty much no idea what to do with my hair or the bridesmaid's hair. In no time Sailor was dazzling us with brilliant ideas. Sailor turned out to not only be an awesome, pinup and retro hair and makeup pro, she's also mid century period expert!! She has spent time consulting for photo shoots and movies, and now puts her passion to work at her very own salon and pinup photo studio, Hot Rock & Dye. To me, she was a gift from destiny. Total kismet! We started talking, and before we knew it, I'd invited Sailor and her crew to our wedding, and she offered to help take photos throughout the event! I can't wait to see Sailor and her crew dressed to the nines and dancing it up at the wedding. It's going to kick some serious ass.
We are also being treated to photography by my father's very talented BFF, Rich Menides, or as I call him, Uncle Rich. Richard has a natural talent for photography, so I know that his work will be lovely, adding a very personal touch to our wedding photo book.
Anyway, back to Hot Rock & Dye! Sailor had a brilliant idea for my hair. We're going with a "Priscilla" Beehive, complimented by matching banana curl extensions and faux flower hair clips!! Her inspiration to try out this "do" was Priscilla herself. When she married Elvis, Priscilla wore her signature beehive. Mine will be slightly different, since I have a lot less hair, but it will still be super cute. Sailor has even offered to create special flowers that will match my dress. In addition to giving us awesome ideas for hair do's and makeup (which will be, by the way, big black false eyelashes, black liner, nude shadow, and dramatic red lips), Sailor gave us tons of great ideas for decorations, drinks, and more. These ideas included, but were not limited to: Pink Champagne Fountains, Rockabilly Dance Music, and my personal favorite, turning the dingy concert hall bathrooms into frilly fifties powder rooms!
Sarah and I took a trip to thrift shops on Saturday with this mission in mind. We scored: Mesh zebra curtains, kitschy faux bouquets, silver perfume trays, glass vases and candy dishes, and deco candelabras. The ladies room will be transformed into a pink, girly explosion, while the men's room will feature a palette of green and black, reminiscent of a mod casino lounge.
My dress is also coming along, according to the ladies at Whirling Turban. Honey and Katherine, the seamstresses there, have been working hard at creating a custom made gown that will be fitted exactly to ever curve. I received the test bodice last weekend, and the ladies in Fiji used the photos I sent to calculate their next move, which will be creating a leopard printed test dress. I have been debating changing into the leopard gown after the ceremony ends, and dancing the night away in leopard and black ballet flats. We shall see...
Here's a little snapshot of me with my test hair and the test bodice. The hair has been a little beat up between the test run and this photo - the wedding day "do" will be more perfect, plus it will be redder colored, and have extensions attached!
This is the only part of the bodice I can show, since it only goes down by another inch or so. Picture "I Dream of Jeanie". The dress, however, will cover my whole body. I hope! Ha ha ha.
So, here is a wedding plan summary for all of you information hungry folks out there:
Invited: 165
RSVP'd Yes: 61
RSVP'd No: 17
Awaiting Reply: 61
Days Until RSVP Due Date: 11
Days Until Wedding: 38
Sometimes our friends cannot always join us when we want them too. Perhaps you have a favorite buddy, sibling, or pal who can't make it to your big party or special event? Don't fret. There is a great alternative to having your real friend with you for all of life's precious moments. In just 3 easy steps you can create your very own Flat Friend version of your stick in the mud buddy. Your Flat Friend will actually be MORE fun than your real friend since you can do almost anything to or with them for the sake of taking funny pictures. Being mostly paper, they are pretty much powerless to stop you.
Step One:
Print out the funniest/worst picture of your friend and cut them out.
Step Two:
Glue your friend to a stick of some kind. I used a foam paint brush here, but you can also use a chop stick, a popsicle stick, a pen, or even a fly swatter. Pretty much anything tall, slim, and stiff. I'm sure you can find something appropriate. (Or depending on how far you want to take this joke, something inappropriate.)
Step Three:
Embellish your friend. On their own a Flat Friend is, well, kind of FLAT. Try jazzing them up with some glitter, buttons, or brick-brack.
My sisters and I recently made a Flat Friend out of our youngest sister, Caitlin, when she wasn't around to help us do silly wedding crap. Doesn't she look fabulous? Now that your Flat Friend is ready, go out on the town and have some fun. Don't forget a camera! You'll need it to take tons of embarrassing pictures of your new and improved friend, and then upload them onto Facebook, lovingly tagging each one to your 3D friend's account.
Written Monday afternoon, March 16...
It is amazing how making one small change can impact your life. By doing one little thing that you were afraid to do, you can start a domino effect. Before you know it, you could find yourself on the opposite side of the world.
Scott got his hair cut on Saturday night. I posted photos on my Facebook account, which sparked our friend, Daly, to drop us a line, letting us know he'd be in town on Sunday. By Monday morning we had agreed to pull up our stakes and move to the other side of the world, China to be precise, so that Scott could pursue his lifelong dream of touring as a professional musician.
Monday morning we withdrew an offer on a house that just the day before we'd been planning our lives around buying. We spent the rest of the day at our jobs, jittery and restless, still shaken to our bones with the massive change we had just invited into our lives. We have responsibilities here, friends here, an entire life here that we were in the process of building a foundation for. It seems crazy to do what we are doing. But every so often life opens a door that you just can't pass by.
We'll be back, Connecticut, and we'll miss you while we are away. But we are going, we are really, really going. Tonight we'll start calling parents, family, and friends, start making arrangements and plans, figuring out the elephant in the room (his name is "HOW"), and reassuring ourselves every few minutes that this is really all going to be OK, despite how terrifying it all is.
P.S. I can't believe this is happening.
It's now been about a month and a half since I wrote the note above, carefully tucking away my feelings until I was ready to share them with the world. Since then, we have made plans, we have told parents, family, and friends. Thanks to the unbelievable support of my parents, we have developed a plan to put our current lives on hold, so that we'll be free to pursue what could be the greatest experience of our lives. To make things more complicated, we've decided to get married before we leave. We'll walk off the plane in China, hand in hand, husband and wife, ready to face the unknown with enthusiasm and hope.
Because I can't bear to part from our friends and family completely, I'll be bringing you all with me through this blog. Stay tuned for stories and photos of our wedding, and then our adventures beyond. Keep your comments, pictures, and emails coming. Once we've flown the coop they'll be more precious to us than ever!
Words and photos smooshed together, for your enjoyment. Click to see a larger version.
We came up with a pretty snazzy idea for centerpieces for my upcoming 50's/rockabilly wedding. Feeling inspired, we decided to take on the challenge of etching glass vases with vintage tattoo designs. This project was a lot of fun. We started out by scanning some of our favorite images from the book, Vintage Tattoos by Carol Clerk.
We printed them up, traced the major lines with a fat, black marker, and began to carefully cut them from contact paper.
When we ran out of designs from the book, my Mom began sketching new designs by hand. She used the imagery from the book as inspiration and sketched out about 5 - 6 original designs, some of which are my favorites from the project. Wondering where my sisters and I got our creative genes? Well, wonder no more.
This lady may be modest, but she's a whiz when it comes to creative
projects. I knew she'd come up with some great designs, and boy was I
right. Check out this anchor design, one of my very favorites from the
project. A Syndi original!
Heather was a real trooper, carefully trimming design after design with an exacto and a self healing mat. Long after I had given up, Heather continued to trim! Go Heather!
After the designs were cut out, we peeled the contact paper off of its backing and applied it to the freshly cleaned vases. This part was nearly as tricky as the trimming. We applied a double layer of masking tape all around the designs to give the glass a healthy buffer when it comes time to apply the etching creme. I can't wait to see these finished!
I have a feeling that these deigns could come in handy for future projects, so I've decided to save them on my Flickr Account. Check out the full collection there. I think they'd make great templates for silk screening, embroidery, or stenciling. Let me know if you make anything with them. I'd love to see it!
Most nap, but one does not...
Lewis needs your votes! Help him win the Martha Stewart Easter Pet Photo Contest by logging in at MarthaStewart.com, then giving him a 5 star rating here. Not a Martha Member? That's OK. Just viewing the page will help Lewis win. Tell your friends!
Michelle & I had a swell time at Holy Craft!
Here is Michelle popping a pose at our table.
And a view from behind the scenes:
I
couldn't resist a couple of purchases: A crocheted squid by
PepperBerry, and a vintage Berries figurine! If you have a moment,
definitely check out PepperBerry's Blog and Shop.
Her crocheted creations are soooo adorable, and she even sells
patterns, if you are so inclined. My favorites are, of course, the
squids, but also the slugs and T-Rex!
There were lots of other great vendors there. One of my craft show faults, is a silly shyness that always stops me from really hob nobbing with the other crafty folks there. I need to get over it. I did manage to strike up a small conversation with Mary from Moth Designs. She had the greatest bags, and clutches, as well as some sweet tee shirts. I really wish I had more expendable dough, because I would so be the proud owner of many items from her shop.
Today's naughty cat picture:
Another one of my favorite handmade items is my big, honking Cigar Box Shelf. This was found at the Minks to Sinks Tag Sale in Wilton, CT a while back, and has been one of my favorite craft room fixtures ever since. Basically, it is a shelf, with tons of tiny compartment drawers.
The cool thing about the drawers is that they are made from cardboard cigar boxes. Each cigar box has been covered with colored contact paper, and has a cute little knob attached for a handle.
I store all kinds of tiny doo-dads and supplies in these tiny drawers, making it easy for me to find snaps, ribbons, or pom poms on the fly.