Invites....check!

Yay! I'm so happy these are done. I found a great, eco-friendly, somewhat local (Reno), invitation designer on Etsy that had the perfect invitations for us. Her name is Abby from Mavora Art & Designs. Seriously, check out all of her earthy and cute invites!

Speaking of crafts...

After seeing this post on CRAFT, I've been inspired to make some of these cute cards with my leftover fabric scraps. What a perfect way to recycle!

Trying on dresses tomorrow

I'm pretty sure that most brides get excited when they think about shopping for their wedding dress. I, on the other hand, am not too stoked. Having gained a few L-B's over the past 2 years, I know I can't fit into stuff I used to be able to wear. But I've realized that I can't be in denial about it anymore. That's why tomorrow, I have appointments at 2 boutiques in SF to look for a wedding dress. These 2 places are the only ones in Northern CA that carry the designers I'm interested in (Thread and Coren Moore).

So, here are the dresses I'm looking at. The first 2 are from Coren Moore, the second 2 from Thread:





p.s. the last model doesn't look too happy, does she? :)

Cute bag idea

Like many crafters, I'm in love with How About Orange. She always has some fun, easy idea for crafts, made out of ordinary things! Take these gift bags for example, made out of envelopes:


I'm trying to think of something I can put in these babies....

East of Eden

Yes, I would consider our wedding vintage/country/east-of-eden-esque. This inspiration board pretty much says it all!


Top row from left: oak tree photo by Ian Grant, photo by Allyson Magda, wine photo by Johnny Miller, mailbox from Grapevine Paperie
Row 2: twine-tied utensils photo by Bill Kingston, box of snacks from Martha Stewart Weddings, oak tree photo by Ian Grant
Row 3: bentwood chairs from Oh How Charming!, invitation from Martha Stewart Weddings, dress by Kate Towers, bouquet by Artfool
Row 4: bouquet from Martha Stewart Weddings, invitation by Wiley Valentine, mini almond bundt cake from Martha Stewart

Oak tree

At first, I didn't think that we'd need a "background" for our ceremony, since we'll be under a grove of oak trees, in the middle of a meadow, with a view of the mountains. However, after seeing this picture, the idea of draping some fabric or something could be fun!


Jessica Claire

Baby quilt

I finally finished and sent off this baby quilt for D's soon-to-arrive baby girl. It took me a while to embroider (and yes, I was made fun of on multiple occasions of my granny-like hobby), but I think it turned out great!

How did they know?

How did the ladies at Green Wedding Shoes know to create an inspiration board, especially for me?



photo credits:
Top row: Jonathan Canlas, Kara Pennington
Second row: Tempting Weddings, Hamburger photo by Marisa Holmes, Invitation by Wiley Valentine, Leo Patrone
Bottom row: Jose Villa, Priscilla of Boston dress via Instyle Weddings, Eric Laurits, Oh My Deer Handmades

Fonts, I love fonts!

I've found sooo many cool fonts online that I can use for our wedding, and for crafting in general. I found this one on iDIY courtesy of Rfonts that will be perfect for our escort cards, programs, and tables!

Another great set of fonts I found courtesy of MagicJelly. I've already used the "hoedown" font for our camping map I posted a few days ago.

More inspiration

Thanks Marcelle, for sending these pics along. These are all things I'm trying to incorporate into our big day....

courtesy of amanda kraft photography

not sure where this one is from....

courtesy of simple bloom photography

map test

Here's my attempt at creating a campground map for our wedding website...

For the (little) girls

We're pretty excited to have 3 little flower girls at our wedding, and I'm even more excited to dress them up! I'm thinking of having them wear little white eyelet dresses (I know, white = very dirty on the ranch, so we'll have to take pictures very quickly). Of course, the outfit wouldn't be complete without cowgirl boots!

from Old Navy

from Small in the Saddle

Yellow inspiration

Since I've decided to go with yellow (dark) and green (sage/olive) as our wedding colors, I've been on the lookout for yellow inspiration. I found a great inspiration board and some pics over at Wedding Chicks. Here's a sneak peek:


pic courtesy of matthew morgan photography

Kalamazoo!

Yes, I'm here in Kalamazoo (it really does exist, as the locals say!) I arrived last night to attend NWP's Rural Sites Network Conference, where teachers from rural sites across the country come together to talk about rural issues. This is my first time attending the event, and I'm really excited to be here and to explore Kalamazoo. So far everyone I've met is super friendly, and the view from my hotel room is amazing! Granted, it's not quite spring yet so the trees are bare, but there are lots of old brick and marble buildings and churches. Today I'll explore the downtown area (home of the country's first "outside mall") and attend a pre-conference discussion, then tomorrow there are many more workshops to choose from. I met a guy on the plane from Chicago that can get me on a Kellog's cereal facility tour - he said that during the summer, the area smells like frosted flakes. Who would've thought?

A gentleman

Here's a great picture of what we're envisioning for Paul's wedding outfit. He doesn't want the usual tux/suit thing - he wants it to be more vintage. And, I think he's dying to wear one of these derby/bowling hats! I really like the tweed vest and the chain - not so much the spectacles :) I think it'll go perfectly with the bridesmaids dresses. Oh, and that means I better get a dress!

outfit at Gentlemen's Emporium

Craft station

I just realized that I haven't posted pics of my "new and improved" craft station. I have to admit that I haven't down much sewing lately, but I have been doing other crafty things (rubber stamps and save-the-dates anyone?) Enjoy!

...tucked in the corner of our bedroom

i love my shelf from ikea

my inspiration board

supplies...lots of supplies!

Vases

I totally scored some old vases from the Salvation Army here in Alameda. There was a 1/2 off "brick-a-brac" sale, and I ended up spending $7 for 5 vases, 2 sugar bowls, and a big basket. Here's a few pics of my finds - you can see Uintah really likes the basket....

Crazy people

This weekend, the "east bay tornado" (i.e. Jenny, Marcelle, Paula and I) headed up to Truckee to visit Kim and enjoy some mountain fun. Of course, our first stop was the Bar of America, known for it's exceptional people watching, live music, and men swirling around like vultures, waiting for single ladies to show up. Needless to say, THAT was an evening for the record books.

The following day, Kim took us to Gar Woods in Carnelian Bay to watch the annual Lake Tahoe Polar Bear swim. Those people be crazy!!! 40 degree water, a long-ass swim, and most with no wetsuits. Yes my friends, it chilled your bones just thinking about it. Of course we watched from afar, drinking a famous "wet-woody" (which is basically a POG/rum smoothie). Probably not the best drink for a cold mountain day. I was just in awe thinking about all those poor cold people. At least they could hang out in the hot tub after (which I was seriously considering jumping into).

Our trip ended on a very mellow note, and a loooong drive home. Yes, it was snowing bonkers and I'm sure there were gail-force winds. A normal 4 hour drive turned into 6 hours. Blah. I'm just glad I took today off!

Happy Monday to all!