DIY Wedding Invites and Programs

I've mentioned that my cousin/one of my favorite people in the universe got married in October.

I made her these family photo cookbook sheets as an engagement gift awhile back.

And I already shared with you the awesome Bridal Luncheon Invitations that my mother made for her.

She then asked me to help with the design of her wedding invitations and programs,

and since I was due with Michael the day before her wedding and therefore couldn't be there in person,

I wanted to be involved in any way that I could.

(Michael, as it turned out, was born during her rehearsal dinner, so I'm glad I stayed in Pittsburgh)

:)

I love the way the monograming turned out. We used a font called "rage" which is actually many different designs for the different letters. It just so happened that "A" and "E" are the same design.

It's like Amy and Erik were meant to be or something. :)

So we ended up using this same monogram for some place cards and thank you cards as well.

She chose beautiful colors and papers for the invitations,

so I wanted to something really classy and along the same lines for the programs.

We found some really antique grey card stock for the outside, some textured ivory paper for the inserts, and of course bakers twine. I'm such a sucker for baker's twine.

My mom designed the document for the programs in Photoshop, and then we got to work on printing, cutting down, and assembling them all…

About 20 trips to Michael's and many hours later,

my mom and I finished these guys up.

Luckily, we love this type of thing,

and it kept our minds and hands occupied while we were waiting for Michael's arrival.

I suppose we could have finished a lot earlier if we weren't so neurotic about square vs. rounded corners and font selection and sizes… but then what would be the fun in that?

Thanks, Amy, for letting me be a part of your day even though I couldn't be there in person!

Love you lots.

Modern Take on the Granny Square

Is it me, or is the granny square (kind of) back in?

Just me? Well anyway,

I wanted to work on a new project awhile back (while pregnant) that I could do sitting/laying down/being lazy

and also that I could pick up and bring with me anywhere.

I toyed with the idea of doing a hexy quilt like Jodi… but you know… it seemed a little too daunting at the time, so I landed on this granny square afghan. 

My inspiration and granny square pattern came from this post of a BEAUTIFUL rainbow blanket by Tangled Happy.

You can find the crochet pattern here.

I should also mention that the inspiration blanket was made with really gorgeous purl soho fibers, and you can even buy a kit here.

But here is my take on it.

I used a thicker yarn and larger needle and used fewer colors, opting out of the pinks and purples since I wanted to use this in the boys' room.

My fiber choice was Vickie Howell's "sheepish" collection by Caron.

They are nice bold colors and super soft.

The inside of the squares are the following colors: Gunmetal, Grey, Navy, Robin Egg, Turquoise, Teal, Red, Coral, Pumpkin, Yellow, Olive, Chartreuse, and Lime.

The border of each square is White (which is really an off white). I also used that to crochet my squares together.

This turned out to be a fairly large blanket. I hate it when blankets don't cover your whole self.

So all in all I used about two skeins of each color, and a heck of a lot of the white (I lost count, but maybe around 9 or 10?).

As mentioned above, I love granny squares because they're portable. Just my yarn and a crochet hook (size H/8-5.00mm), and I was set. You also don't have to bring the whole project with you to keep working.

I'm stoked with the way it turned out.

It just invites you to relax and have some more coffee, am I right?

Speaking of…

Until next time!

An Introduction

He's here!

Michael Joseph

born October 25th

7 lbs. 3 oz.

19 in.

10 fingers. 10 toes.

We couldn't be more in love with this guy.

And Ben is doing an AWESOME job at being a big brother.

So some updates if you should care:

The Etsy shop is going to stay closed until at least the new year. I'm not sure what direction I'm going to head next with sales, but I thank you all for your patience.

I really am hoping to get my inventory back up for Easter and First Communion sales in the Spring! Pray for me in this regard! :)

Blog: I'll be posting my own projects in the meantime here on the blog. This guy to the left is so cute, and this face begs for some baby crafting.

Many of you have asked for templates for my Jesse Tree Ornaments. I'm hoping to at least have some rough templates for you all in the upcoming weeks in time for Advent. Wish me luck! :)

Thanks again for all of your thoughts and prayers for baby Michael. He is such a sweet baby, and we are so grateful!

"We've Moved!" Announcements

Part of me still wishes that it was me saying "We've Moved!"

but alas... it is not.

My step-brother and his wife just bought their first home, though, and I'm super excited for them.

My mom, being the fabulous paper crafter that she is, made them some announcements to send out,

and they turned out super cute.

The first is one that my mom made a draft.

That's right, folks. Not only does my make cards for us

she makes multiple variations and we usually get to pick our favorites.

Anyway, this one was my vote.

It should really be noted that I had no vote... this one was just my favorite so I wanted to share. :)

You know I'm a stickler for twine.

And look! Matching envelope... so good. so good.

The second with the keys is the one that Daryl and Christie chose.

The crazy detail of the cut outs on skeleton keys is insane, trust me.

Both are so different and so great, right?

In other news, the doc says any day now for baby two to make his appearance, so I'm making no promises for frequency of posts.

I know, as if I ever do.