wedding set

this wonderful couple contacted a few months ago for their wedding guest book...and then ended up ordering a ton of other things too! i just finished up the whole set over the weekend. here's the final pieces:

the guest book is about 12"x9.5" inches - probably the biggest one i've made! they chose a sturdy belgian binding, giving their guests plenty of room to doodle.

they also purchased a cake cutting utensil set from a local artist in town that does amazing work with polymer clay - and they wanted a box to display the utensils at the wedding.

here's the outside:

and the inside:

they asked me to print recipe cards, which they mailed with their invitations and asked their guests to bring them to the wedding filled out with their favorite recipes. so, i made a box to house their recipe cards and a matching box for their wedding photos:

here's the whole set:

i love how everything turned out! it was such a pleasure to work with them :)

guest book

i just finished a custom guest book for a lovely bride getting married in july. she chose hiking as their wedding theme and wanted a guest book to reflect her & her fiance's love of the alaskan outdoors.

i chose an olive green japanese bookcloth for the spine & bound the book with chocolate waxed linen thread. the birch trees were drawn then emphasized with sewing - this cover certainly took some time! i'm so happy with how the finished book looks. happy wedding to jen & her fiance!

i'll be famous...

late last night, we received an email from christine at pobke photography...and she said our wedding is going to be featured in a bridal magazine!!! WOOT! so we're going to be all famous now. i'll just sit back and let the modeling contracts roll in...haha yea right.

i'll be getting a copy of the magazine once it comes out, but in the meantime, i have to send christine some details about our wedding. awesome.

in other news, fall is here in alaska and it's freaking freezing (almost).

have a wonderful weekend...hopefully next week, i'll have some orders in with new paper for the upcoming shows!

catch up

over the weekend, we hosted a small barbecue for our alaskan friends who couldn't make it to the wedding. we had hoped to have this get-together sooner, but things have been so busy since the wedding - i don't think we've had one weekend open! we had WAY too much food (yay for leftover cupcakes). it was really nice to see everyone.


i also heard from my friend christine, who was also one of our wedding photographers, and our wedding pictures are finally ready!!!! they are currently making the long trip from australia to alaska and i can't wait to see them!! check out christine's new website: pobke photography. and if you go to the weddings section here, you'll see a couple pics of me & hubby :)

i've also been working on a long overdue project for a very patient client & am almost done with it. i'll post pictures later in the week - but i have to say, the finished product is going to be very chic.

more soon!

postcard

so far, i haven't heard anyone say anything bad about buying a mac. nor have any of the people i've talked to even heard of anyone else saying negative stuff about macs. so that's good to know.

in the meantime, i'm limping my laptop along. i threw together a quick postcard for a mini wedding reception we are having for all of our alaskan friends that couldn't make it to the wedding on the east coast. i wouldn't even call it a reception...more of a simple barbecue.

i didn't want to use a photo from our wedding - partially because we don't have the pics yet, so i did a little drawing/painting of one of my favorite shots as background to the postcard:


oh and while i was scanning it in, trying to open the file, and actually do some slight manipulations to add text & such to the postcard, my computer froze a number of times and photoshop had to be shut down. annoying? yes. but i think i managed to get the project done, so that's good.

my MOH gift

so i need to talk about my maid of honor jamie...she was AMAZING. seriously, she kept me sane and was SO organized and on top of every little detail. i have a hard time not worrying about...well, everything...so having someone i could depend on was such a relief. and she did so many things to make me feel special throughout the engagement and our wedding trip...i can't thank her enough for everything she's done.

i wanted to design something special for her...so i bounced some ideas off of her husband and decided to make her a jewelry box (for him to fill..heh heh). its the most complicated box i've made yet.

i used teal lokta paper with gold chrysanthemums to cover the box and a butter gold japanese bookcloth for the box hinge as well as lining the lid sides & the monogrammed "J".

the lid opens to a six sectioned, removable tray lined with teal paper, for smaller items like earrings & bracelets.

with the tray removed, the base of the box has four equal sections that are also lined in teal paper. the sides of the box and the walls separating the sections are covered with the teal lokta with gold mums.

i used the butter bookcloth to hand cut a monogram for jamie...i wanted to personalize her jewelry box without overdoing it.

so what do you think? i also tried something new with the photos (the idea inspired from pobke photography). have a wonderful weekend!

gift set!

we had so many people to thank for helping with our wedding and we wanted to give gifts that were personal & heartfelt. and me being so picky probably didn't help the gift choosing process...so, naturally, i decided to make the gifts.

for our parents, i made photo album box sets in our wedding colors - red & aqua! my parents set had aqua bookcloth & blue unryu paper inside the box. the unryu paper was SO amazing to work with - has lots of inclusions of threads & felt like fabric! hubby's parents set had fire engine red bookcloth & tomato red unryu paper inside the box. we gave hubby's parents their set during the rehearsal dinner, so i unfortunately didn't get pictures of it...

box cover

inside of box

box with album inside

box & album covers

the sets turned out beautifully - probably the most difficult sets i've done yet because they were so large (9" x 12") and the materials were much more challenging than past projects. hope you enjoyed the photos!

wedding pics, part 2 - christine

as i've mentioned before, christine pobke was our incredible photographer! she and i met when i was deciding on what college to attend - and we've been friends ever since :) i've gone on and on about her work...but i'll let it speak for itself. it was such a pleasure to see her again, after so many years apart. go here for the rest of the sneak peek:

making a face :)

getting dressed

accessories

me & my parents

hello friends!

mmmmm confetti cake

hubby and i

my favorite of the set

* all pics are from pobke photography *

wedding pics, part 1 - johnna

so we don't have our official wedding photos just yet - the photos will be ready 6 - 8 weeks from the wedding date :( but our two photographers posted some sneak peeks on their blogs!

johnna brynn was our second shooter. we actually originally didn't plan to have more than one photographer, but a fortunate turn of events changed that. our photographer, christine pobke, mentioned that a second shooter was coming to the wedding and we said "sweet!" i had assumed that christine & johnna were friends, but as it turned out, they met in person for the first time in connecticut!! christine lives in australia and our wedding was a rare trip to the states for her - johnna loved christine's work and wanted to meet her in person. pretty amazing, huh?

johnna was so sweet and such a pleasure to have at our wedding! if you ever need a photographer, call her! check out her website here.

here's a few of johnna's shots from the wedding - see more on her blog here:

newly married hubby & i in the spa's gardens

entrance of the spa with our wedding party

my hubby getting ready

my makeup appointment

me and my shoes

* all photos are credited to johnna brynn *

boys/girls day!

friday was a big day for us - i was getting my trial run hair & makeup done at the spa then going to a party for the girls and hubby was going out with the boys on a deep sea fishing trip!

here's a couple pics of my hair & makeup:

front

side

back

the second i got back to the party house, i was stuffed into the rv (where my MOH & husband were staying) and instructed to keep my eyes averted from the house. my MOH came out to get me a little while later & led me into the house where a LUAU was set up!! i was immediately dressed with a grass skirt, coconuts, & bride-to-be crown :)

i had a chance to visit with lots of new family members and ate tons of yummy food! it was SO much fun. my new sis-in-law and MOH did SO much to prepare for this party and really made it so very special. i can't thank them enough for everything they did, along with all of the help that i know the rest of the family put into this day & the entire wedding.

hubby & the boys had a great time fishing - they limited out on fish and met up with us afterwards at the house. i really enjoyed that we all spent time together visiting and goofing off, that it wasn't a strict no boys allowed type thing.

here's me and my new nieces :) aren't they adorable?

me & the most awesome MOH EVER!

new sis-in-law, mom-in-law, me & new grandma :)

i retired fairly early that night, trying to kill off the last of my cold, while the boys went to "the man tent" - yes, an actual tent set up outside - for a poker tournament. such great memories!

wedding week, part 3

on wednesday, my MOH jamie flew into town in the afternoon. we immediately took her to my sister in law's house. jamie was in her swimsuit & by the pool with a margarita in hand in record time! later that day, we ran some errands. i went to my first whole foods store - and wow. we seriously need one of those stores up here. i loaded up on some additional supplements to help kill off the ever threatening cold in my sinuses. after that, we headed to the huge mohegan sun casino to pick up some pizza. while we waited, jamie & i played some slots and she won!! pretty cool way to start her vacation. late that night, hubby & i picked up my mom from the airport.

thursday, things started picking up speed...nick's brother & his family came into town, along with my dad & jamie's husband cole. we finished making the wedding favors - aqua m&ms & five jordan almonds in little tins with red ribbon. my mom suggested the use of the five jordan almonds because it is an italian tradition (and my hubby's family is SO italian): " Five almonds signify five wishes for the bride and groom: health, wealth, happiness, fertility, and longevity." (quote from here) my mom put my father in law to work:

look at that concentration!

such precision!! :)

more to come!

wedding week, part 2

on monday, we picked up our rental car:


all i have to say is...sweet.

and we went down to the norwich town hall and picked up the marriage license. the weather was nice and then....


THUNDERSTORMS & MASSIVE DOWNPOUR!!! it was actually pretty cool. the rain came down in buckets and the air was pleasantly warm - an occurrence that we NEVER get here in alaska. lighting bolts flashed and the thunder rumbled along. i was thankful for the break in sunshine - the hot weather was really hard on this alaskan girl :)

since we were already in norwich, we decided to swing by the spa at norwich inn, where we were getting married at the end of the week, since we hadn't seen it in person yet. the many pictures that we saw simply didn't do this place justice - it was absolutely gorgeous. considering the storm was still in full effect, we held off on running around the grounds since we really didn't want to get hit by lightning.

my little sickness was gaining steam....

on tuesday, we met with our dj, geoff, of local motion entertainment. it was SUCH a pleasure to finally meet him in person - he's someone we would have loved to hang out with & get to know. he was definitely on the same wavelength as us.

we relaxed for the rest of tuesday, while my cold invaded my sinuses...ugh.

wedding week, part 1

so we flew into connecticut sunday morning, and my throat hurt. OH NO!! the one thing i didn't count on was getting sick. so i started a strict regiment of lots of water, emergen-c supplements, airborne, and vitamins. the weather was gorgeous and we laid out by the pool and caught up with family. since i burn easily in the sun, i had spf 70 sunscreen on - you have no idea how much crap i got for that! LOL! i didn't think someone made an spf that high. our first day pretty much looked like this:


my hubby's sister & brother in law have the most amazing yard - it's huge! we originally wanted to have the wedding there, but decided against it - otherwise, people would be too stressed out to enjoy the wedding day! anyhow, they also have a pool, as you can see. that super duper white back in the middle of the pool belongs to my hubby.

in addition to relaxing by the pool, we also started eating. a lot. i could name off 10 different types of barbecued meat that we ate in one week. it was crazy. or, baaaaa baaaaa coooooooo, as my father in law would say. here he is:


he doesn't normally make a pirate face. speaking of pirates, why are pirates angry? because they ARRRRRRRRRRRR!!! what types of movies do pirates see? rated RRRRRRRRRR!! what do pirates eat? hamburgAARRRRRRR!!!! what kind of coffee do pirates drink? DECAAAAFFFF....uhh wait, that's not right. my hubby's brother in law will have to explain that one.

day one in connecticut - a success!!

hello!

hello! we are finally back from a crazy whirlwind trip to the states and are husband & wife (that still sounds so weird, in a good way). SO much happened...it all feels like a dream now.

we flew to north carolina for the world championships of our martial arts association - a huge event with 1600 competitors this year. this event is held every two years and usually switches from east coast to west coast each time. it was fun to see some old friends and make some new ones.

from north carolina, we flew up to connecticut and began making final preparations for the WEDDING!! the temp was in the upper 80's to 90's - i swear i thought i was going to melt any second. we spent a lot of time with family, which was awesome.

i'll go into more detail in the next few posts, but here are a couple of pictures from our photographer's facebook page, pobke photography, for a sneak peek at the wedding. i'm so excited to finally get to share my wedding dress with you!!! i've wanted to post a picture of it since the second i received it in the mail :)

hubby & i :)

my lovely blue shoes peeking out from under my dress

me in my gown, just finished getting ready

i don't have many professional pics yet, since the two amazing photographers took over 3000 pictures & have a lot of work ahead of them. i'm in the process of getting pics from other guests & family. we are all waiting to see the rest of the professional pictures though...especially after seeing this first handful! more to come this week!

invitations!

here's the long awaited invitation post! i actually tried making a photo box to take better pictures in...but that didn't go too well. so i'll try again later. i took pics of the invites on our counter instead (so the pic quality isn't the best), since it's taken so long to get these pics done.

i hand drew the designs and then scanned the drawings and cleaning them up in photoshop. i sent the files to boxcar press and they made photopolymer plates. i letterpress printed the invites in our wedding colors, red & aqua. it was my first time printing with photopolymer plates and am SO happy with the results. printing went so well, inking was even, and colors were vivid. i'm really looking forward to doing more printing this way.

outer enclosure

insert card

reply card

invitation set

hope you enjoyed seeing our wedding invitations!

makeup & hair

my maid of honor jamie & i did some experimenting last weekend on my wedding hair & makeup. my friend amber (who is an incredible makeup artist and owner of cor cosmetics) ran us through a makeup lesson and showed us some tricks & tips for application and to get that awesome glow. here's some pics...

my before pic (which i actually took on saturday before all the beautifying happened - and i forgot on friday before the makeup appointment)

my after pic (after the makeup lesson)

the tools...

my hair...jamie curled it and did a gorgeous job. and then we pinned it at the top.

after some trial and error, we decided that the best option would be to curl it and then pin all of it up for the wedding. sorry, no pics of that - some things need to be a surprise! :)