Scrapbooking Supplies in the Mail!
2009/08/28 at 12:21 am | In Scrapbooking | Leave a CommentToday I received my small shipment of 7 Gypsies scrapbooking supplies!! I bought 2 packs of variety paper and 2 sheets of alphabet rubbings. I was pleased that I only had to pay a little over $4 for shipping and when I got the package, there were 2 free sheets!! To my surprise Blue Moon Scrapbooking (located in AZ) actually handled the shipment. I assume that this store handles all of the orders made from the 7 Gypsies website. Regardless, it was packaged perfectly and arrived safely and I was so excited to get something for free. I got a 12×12 double-sided sheet and a 12×12 scallopped edge sheet with a houndstooth design.
- freebies!!
I have no idea what I’m going to do with the houndstooth sheet especially since it’s not paper…it’s a different material that I am not familiar with at all. It’s not something that I would have selected but I’m really excited to use it!
Screw Punch on Martha Stewart
2009/08/23 at 6:58 pm | In Crafts, Martha | Leave a CommentI used to subscribe to Martha Stewart’s daily craft idea but I quickly found out that it just filled up my inbox because I wasn’t interested in every idea. But every now and then there would be a craft that caught my attention so I figured it was easier to occassionally visit her website and see if anything was worth trying. Today I came across some projects that involved the use of a screw punch, something that I had never heard of before today. There are several sample projects that use this tool and my favorite one is the monogrammed card. There’s actually a short video of it from the MS show tha t you can view here.
Screw Punch Crafts
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The monogrammed card is super cute and totally doable. Some commenters on MS said you can buy the tool at Walmart and Michaels, so, yep, definitely going to Michaels next weekend and purchasing it!
Ornamental Penmanship
2009/08/22 at 9:49 pm | In Calligraphy | Leave a CommentLove the look of ornamental penmanship:
beautiful penmanship
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IAMPETH is a great resource for finding inspirational works as well as videos and lessons on how to achieve different styles of calligraphy and penmanship. I have yet to get around to practicing ornamental penmanship, but it’s definitely something I want to master.
Paper Source Calligraphy Class
2009/08/20 at 12:00 pm | In Calligraphy, Wedding | Leave a CommentI took the Copperplate Calligraphy Class at Paper Source in December 2008 and I think it was worth every penny of the $55 I paid. I was on the waiting list and was thankfully placed in a class. I had reservations about whether or not it would be worth the class fee, but I loved it and it really helped me learn how to do copperplate calligraphy and the basics for developing my own styles. There were only 4 of us in the class so we got plenty of personal attention from our wonderful instructor. I took the class in hopes that I would be able to do the calligraphy for my save the date and invitation envelopes and after some practice outside of the class I was happy with my product! Here’s a small glimpse at my save the date envelopes (also, this is what happens when you don’t have the correct address….the poor envelope! were the black pencil/ink marks really necessary? although it was fun seeing it in my mailbox until I realized someone didn’t receive their save the date.)
- Save the Date Envelope
Addressing the save the date envelopes gave me more confidence with my calligraphy. I practiced and practiced copperplate calligraphy because that’s the style I wanted to emulate for my wedding invitation inner and outer envelopes.
- practice, practice, practice
After several months of practicing, whether or not I fully believed I was ready, it was time to do the invitation envelopes! I still need to get photos of the outer and inner envelopes I did so those will be posted in another post. But hopefully I’ve convinced you to try your hand at calligraphy and if you live near a Paper Source, sign up for the class! It’s so much fun and definitely worth it.
Photo Holder
2009/08/19 at 12:00 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a CommentIn previous post I wrote about going on a frantic search for photo holders to prop up the table numbers for our wedding. Alas, the search failed since apparently no office supply store (*cough*Staples, Office Depot, Bed Bath and Beyond*cough*) carried them in stores. However, when I searched online just now for them, of course I came up with a bunch of different options. If only I planned in advance…
Check out this really cool photo holder from Umbra. It definitely wouldn’t have worked for table numbers but it would be so cute in my office!
- fotofalls
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Table Numbers
2009/08/18 at 10:52 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a CommentI created the table numbers for our wedding the morning of the wedding after my mom and I drove around to several stores looking for photo clip holders and failed to find any. I figured an office supply store would sell them but apparently they’re only widely available online. Go figure….anyway…we went to plan B and since we’re mother and daughter we both had a similar idea. My mom wanted a slightly different design but it would have made the signs about half the height that I wanted the signs to be. I had a slight Bridezilla moment when we were arguing about the table numbers and as soon as I snapped at my mom I thought she was going to reprimand me. However, I think she figured it wasn’t worth arguing with the bridge just hours away from the ceremony so she tried my design and it worked out just as I imagined. I quickly calligraphed the numbers (I brought my nibs and ink to my parents’ house just in case), had lunch with my parents, got ready, and went to get married.
Here is a photo of one of the table numbers I created for our wedding (photo courtesy of our fabulous wedding photographer, Chelsea Elizabeth).
table number + centerpiece
I liked how the table numbers came out, but if I had completed these ahead of time I probably would have played around with adding a simple design around the edges of the cardstock or around the numbers. However, with not much time to spare I didn’t want to risk screwing anything up. I definitely could have created these weeks before the wedding but my desire to procrastinate always wins.
Honeymoon Mosaic
2009/08/17 at 12:00 pm | In Honeymoon, Photography | Leave a CommentI discovered Mosaic Maker via Elise Blaha and I finally got around to trying it. I made one of photos of Husband and I on our honeymoon. Here’s one of just landscape photos from our honeymoon in Maui.
Maui Scenery
I love this tool! I can’t wait to make a whole bunch from different vacations, getaways, and events and use them in my scrapbook. My personal Epson printer is much better at printing smaller photos as opposed to full 4×6 photos so making these mosaics will help me cut down on printing costs since I won’t have to worry about printing a ton of photos from an outside source.
La Soie Bridal
2009/08/16 at 12:00 pm | In Vendors, Wedding | Leave a CommentLa Soie Bridal was the second bridal salon I visited in what I anticipated to be a very long wedding dress search. My mom heard about the store from an acquaintance and since mom knows best I listened to her. The Torrance location is located on Hawthorne Blvd between the Galleria and Del Amo in the same strip mall as a K-Mart, Party City, Trader Joe’s, David’s Bridal, and other stores. I never would have found the place if I didn’t know about it, but it’s definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area and want to visit a nice bridal salon.
My saleslady was Melanie and she was incredibly helpful. We told her our budget and she was very accommodating and assured us that we would be able to find a dress in our price range. My mom and I looked at their collection and picked a couple dresses that we like and Melanie picked some that she thought would be suitable. The first dress I tried on at La Soie Bridal eventually became the dress that I purchased and wore on my wedding day. It’s a Maggie Sottero dress style Nadine Lee.
Side View of Dress
Back View of Dress
I tried on other dresses but always compared them to the first dress. Once I tried it on a second time my mom and I knew that it was THE dress. However, I was worried about making such a big purchase and didn’t want to feel like I rushed it. So I didn’t buy it right away. My mom and I went to another bridal salon but as soon as we walked in the place we knew we didn’t want to stay any longer. It didn’t have the “wedding” feel to it and after being so pampered and taken care of at La Soie, we both knew that the Maggie Sottero dress was the one for me. The next day I drove back to La Soie, got measured and purchased it!
Since I purchased my dress in May 2008 and my wedding wasn’t until July 2009, the dress arrived in October and I kept the dress at my parents’ house until May 2009 when I went back to La Soie to get it altered. La Soie has a seamstress they work with so we didn’t have to worry about taking my prized possession anywhere else. I’m a very very beginner’s level seamstress, one who measures everything precisely and works very slowly. I was very impressed (and slightly worried) at how the seamstress just sort of did a rough pin-up of the hem and seemed totally fine about it. She did a fantastic job of altering the dress so the hem would fit my petite frame. I have no idea how she was able to keep the train the same shape while hemming the front to fit my height. I had three more fittings to get the bustle and hem just right but the dress was perfect and ready in time for the wedding. In addition to the Torrance location there is also a store in Tustin to serve Orange County brides. I was so happy with my experience at La Soie, from their selection of dresses to the staff to the seamstress.
Martha Stewart Crafts
2009/08/15 at 7:10 pm | In Scrapbooking | Leave a CommentHow did I not know until today that Martha Stewart had her own crafts website? I mean, of course she would have one, but somehow I was unaware of it all these years. Thanks to Paper Crave for the heads up.
Look at the adorable picket fence edge punch!
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I’ll definitely be heading to Michael’s tomorrow to take advantage of the 4-hour 25% off sale.
Escort Cards
2009/08/14 at 12:00 pm | In Details, Wedding | Leave a CommentI thoroughly enjoyed doing the calligraphy for my escort cards, but I definitely should have started earlier. Our wedding colors were blues and silver so I decided to do silver ink on the navy cards and dark blue ink on the light blue cards.
After I finished writing the names, I spent some time trying to figure out how and where to put the table number on each card. I thought about writing it in the bottom right corner, but finally decided to do a bigger number smack in the middle of the inside. If I must say so myself, I really like how it came out:
I was really happy with the way the escort cards came out even if I didn’t so something totally different and out of the box. I tried to think of something clever to do, but in the end this was much more “me” and at least doing the calligraphy on my own gave them a little homemade DIY feel.
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