wedding soda cozy

One more wedding craft for you ...

Megan kept her wedding really simple because she didn't want anyone to get stressed out, but actually enjoy the day.   It ended up being so fun and laid-back, I wonder why everyone doesn't do it that way!

But you know me, I feel compelled to make things, so when Megan jokingly mentioned that all she needed was something pretty to disguise her diet pepsi, I jumped on it.  (I wish I had followed through with those fans.  It was 110 degrees that day.  I thought I might die.)

One of the repeated elements in the wedding was a venn diagram.  Megan's husband, Nate, is a graphic designer.  He designed really cool wedding announcements where the diagram was the focal point, and it also showed up on their website, the luncheon menus and a few other places.

So I stitched a venn diagram on a little soda cozy.  It was incredibly simple, but looked pretty sweet (cuter in person, I think), and it made Megan really happy.  Which is why I do what I do.  Seriously, I think crafting the heck out of things is my language of love.  :)

DIY bridal belt

Like I said in a recent post, my best friend in the universe recently got married, and I had the honor of contributing to her wedding day wardrobe.  She wanted a sparkly belt to go with her simple, but elegant dress, and I talked her into letting me make it (I think we both felt pretty nervous about it). 

The inspiration was J. Crew's Medallion jeweled sash.    

photo credit: J. Crew

Megan liked the inspiration belt, but wanted one that was much thinner (only half an inch wide), a little less blingy, and that clasped in the back instead of tied.

In my version, I imitated that starburst cluster on a smaller scale with beads, and added in some smaller bead and crystal groupings.  For the closure, I sewed on two hooks and eyes.



It was a little stressful to make something that would be worn on such an important day, but a lot of fun, too (you know, when I could stop freaking out about whether she'd like it).  All that beading and handstitching went a lot faster than I expected, too, especially accompanied by some good tv (for this project, it was episodes of My So Called Life).  The Swarovski crystals were purchased at M&J Trimming and most of the beads came from Michaels.

And here is the lovely couple, on their wedding day:

It was such a wonderfully happy wedding!

(wedding photos by sweet Chelsea, who shared with me since I stupidly forgot my camera that day)

letterpressed thank you cards (a bridal shower gift)

Earlier this month, one of my best pals in the world got married - yay!  I wasn't able to make it out to the bridal shower (insert frowny face here), but of course I wanted to send a gift.  I included something fun and something practical ... this was the practical part.  Isn't it nice when practical can also be pretty?

I used my L-Letterpress system from Lifestyle Crafts to make a nice, thick stack of letterpressed thank you notes.  An essential for any bride!

Not familiar with the L-Letterpress?  It is one of my favorite papercrafting tools. Check out Lifestyle Craft's blog for a rundown of the basics.

For these cards, I used a combination of printing plates.  Polka dots from the Wintertide Plates, the thanks script from the Blossoms Plates, and the M monogram on the envelopes is from the Scholastic Plates.

If you get an assembly line going, it really doesn't take long to crank out a big set of cards.  I printed about 50 of these thank you notes in an evening.

Dressed up in a pretty bow, you have a gift worthy of any beautiful bride.

Congratulations, again, Megan and Nate!  I love you guys to pieces.