You are currently browsing the monthly archive for August, 2007.
Sunday’s weather was fantastic for pale-skinned people such as myself to spend time outside without fear of becoming one huge freckle. I have lots of crafting in the works for my sister’s October 7th wedding, but didn’t want to spend any more time inside my craftin’ quarters while it was so loverly outside, so I packed up wedding favor fixin’s and sat outside.
I took the opportunity to catch up on a few CraftSanity podcasts, and one happened to cover ‘The Art of Crafts’ portion of the 2007 BlogHer conference in Chicago. Clearly I would be interested in just the blogs-on-crafts angle, but there was an easter egg…Amy Sedaris was also on the panel! She doesn’t blog, but they included her for the crafts angle. Amy is a delight, and as usual, weird and hilarious. (Well, to me she’s not weird, but civilians might think she is.) The takeaway is: if you like crafts and you like Amy, you must check out this podcast.
I’m making something like 150 velvet acorn-and-leaf placecards; shown here are some orange and brownish acorns. I also wrapped 70 pieces of floral wire in brown floral tape because the right color of brown floral wire doesn’t appear to exist. I’ve checked the craft stores, the flower district in New York and online and can’t find freaking brown floral wire, so I had to make it myself. I got into a groove and was twistin’ and stretchin’ like a pro.
Ceci n’est pas un acorn. (Okay, “acorn” in French is “gland.”)
I love working with the bride to create one-of-a-kind wedding favors just for her, er, their big day.
These favors were commisioned by Deb for her Seattle wedding a few years back. She wanted Earl Grey tea to be the focus of the favors, so I took that, coupled with the design of their v. stylish wedding invites, and came up with these tin favors. I customized the hang tags with the bride and groom’s names on the front, “Earl Grey” on the back.
Happy third anniversary, Deb and Chris!
More acorn jewelry: The necklace has blue-hued glass beads and an acorn pendant; the earrings are each made from a tiny acorn, orange matte glass bead and silver finding.
No squirrels were harmed in the gathering of these acorns.
Here are Amy and David with their lovely wedding cake, bird topper by yours truly.
The bride and groom recently opened the other part of their gift from me, a smaller bird in a nest meant to represent their daughter, Hazel. It can be used as a Christmas ornament or enjoyed year-round. The bird is cotton with a fluffy feather tail and glass bead eyes, just like her parent birds. The nest was prepared by a crafty bird…instead of lining it with feathers and grass, it’s filled with lace, rick rack and flowers, and includes two scalloped vellum pieces with “Hazel” and the wedding date on them. It’s a one-month-old heirloom.
There she is…Miss Bachelorette! My sister Tiffany is off the market. Sorry, Boys!
I think I succeeded in bringing a twist to the pomp and partying through the cunning use of craft and humor. She needed a bachelorette sash, so I created one using double-faced satin ribbon, and painted a fun message (“Sorry, Boys!”) in lettering that I then encrusted in a white glitter. I sewed the sash together, and at the ends, you’ll see a big engagement ring composed of three types of glitter, including a vintage silver one that’s got a gorgeous patina and beautifully-irregular glitter shards.
Here’s the whole party, below. My sister has some pretty cute friends, most of whom are taken.
Sorry, Boys!
After many hours of prep over the past months, my sister Tiffany’s bridal shower has come to pass. Here I am at the party table at family friend Mary’s beautiful Minneapolis home: the personalized cupcake favors are at each place setting, vintage mercury glass beads are draped on the chandelier and mirror, and flower arrangements are a combination of store-sourced and flowers cut from the garden.
Table detail:
Co-host Mary and I decided on a retro theme for the party, which manifested itself in this incredible sandwhich loaf. She found the recipe in a cookbook of yesteryear, and custom-ordered a pullman loaf. (If you want to confuse a baker, ask for a loaf of bread sliced horizontally.) Mary made the salad fillings; I “frosted” it with cream cheese and fresh herbs from the garden. The oregano was in full bloom, so I plucked lots of it for the finishing touches on the sandwich loaf. It’s about 2′ long and 6″ tall.
The fillings were salmon salad, olive tapenade and shrimp salads. It was so good, most people asked for seconds!
