New for the Guys

Cuff links continue to be a popular item in my shop. And most often, I sell them for weddings. Last year I introduced a whole line of cuff links for the Groom, Groomsmen, Best Man and Fathers of the Bride and Groom. This year I'm putting a modern twist on the design with a round border outline and a more modern font.

Cuff Links Available Here

Another trend I'm seeing lots of requests for is Super Heroes. I currently have Superman and Batman available and will be adding several more options to the shop soon!

Friday Features - Vintage Style Weddings

As most of you know, I'm all about bright colors and fun designs. But these colors aren't appropriate for every ocassion and they don't fit everyone's style. I recently made a Custom Name Guest Book with a vintage style to it...and I absolutely LOVE it! Who knew whites and creams could look so good!!! I love how elegant and dreamy it looks!

Inspired by my new album, I went searching on Etsy to find other vintage inspired wedding items...and fell in love with these as well!

Vintage Ivory Flowers on Champagne with Ostrich feathers

by BridalShoppe

Wedding Invitation Gold Leaf and Champagne Pocketfold

by NeotericExpressions

Brooch Bouquet Champagne, Cream, Ivory with Brooches, Handmade Flowers, Lace, Satin Pearls and Jewels- Pamela

by SolBijou

Hair Feather Fascinator, Ivory or Diamond White with Champagne Peacock Eye, Bridal Hair Birdcage Fascinator, Rhinestone Center - Justa

by brendasbridalveils

Wedding Bells

Ever since attending the bridal fair a couple weeks ago, I've had wedding projects on my mind! I have a huge list of ideas I want to make for wedding decor and I got a few done this week! Rustic, shabby wedding themes seem to be very popular, so these items should fit in well!

First up is a Mr. & Mrs. Wedding Banner. I'm selling these both as premade banners as well as custom banners. Make them as long as you like! (And for any occasion!)

Next I made these Engraved Table Numbers. These can be customized as well with any font or graphics the couple would like. Seating charts at wedding receptions seem to be more and more popular lately.

I'll also be adding 4 more Wood Guest Book/Photo Albums as well. Here is one of my new designs.

And for those not into the rustic, shabby chic theme...how about some color! This Double Name Guest Book/Photo Album would be the hit of any wedding (or other party)! The inside pages can be formatted so many different ways!

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I still have a list a mile long of wedding items I'd like to get made and listed! And I'd also like to take a few new photos with more than just a white background. I love the look of wedding items at actual weddings. Do you think I could show up at a wedding and start snapping product photos...LOL :)

New Glassware

I've finally started adding my new glassware to my shop!!! A good friend of mine was so kind to take photos for me and they turned out great!!! She did a much better job than I ever could have! I've made wine glasses, champagne flutes and beer mugs in both premade and custom options. Here are some of my items: Green Champagne Flutes - Peacock Design Bride and Groom Champagne Flutes

Custom Monogram Wine Glasses I am always looking for new ideas (especially premade options). So if you have any ideas that you'd like to see engraved, please let me know :)

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This is my favorite post from last week, so I'm linking it up at Arful Rising! Come join the Party!!!

Fall Wedding Planning

It's that time of year when fall weddings are on our minds! The temperatures are cooling off and it's the perfect time to enjoy an outdoor celebration!

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I recently made some Wood Guest Books that would be perfect for fall and outdoor weddings!

Or any other celebration as well :)

These guest books are made from Real Wood and they are custom engraved any way you like! They can be a guest book, a photo album or a combination of both. I love the kraft pages in these books :)

I have added a Wedding Section to my Etsy Shop and plan to add a lot more too it soon! I have more great ideas for guest books and wedding decor as well!

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This post is for the EtsyBloggers Blog Carnival. Thank you to Rose of RandomCreative for hosting :)

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Update 9/19/2011: This is my favorite post from last week :) And I'm linking it up at Artful Rising! Stop by and check out the fun!!!

Happy Father's Day

Wishing a Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there :)

I am so excited to be spending this Father's Day with my dad!!!

A quick card I made for him

And a card I made for my cousin's wedding this weekend as well

Have a great Sunday everyone :)

Friday Features-Green and Gray

Today's finds are all about green and gray! The latest Custom Album I made is a gift for my cousin and his fiance:) The shower is tomorrow and I wanted them to have a special way to record their big day! I used the same paper for the album as I did for their invitations...so they match exactly :)

Here are my green and gray finds:

Light Grey Rainy Day Circular Scarf

by trishafern

spring green bowl

by miesmama

Antiqued silver, olive green and gray bracelet

by dakrinaJewelry

Gray - green necklace with flower - crocheted and felted

by astash

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Wake

Everything went absolutely amazing yesterday! We could not have asked for better weather! The sun was shining, there was a nice breeze and everyone was all smiles :)

Our dresses looked great too. After the disaster we had earlier in the week with getting dresses at the last minute, we were a little worried. But they looked great and the bride looked absolutely beautiful!

The service was lovely and the reception was lots of fun :) I am so happy for Zach and Melanie and was honored to be a part of their big day :)

Wedding Crisis and New Dresses

I am feeling a little less stressed today :) Thank you to everyone who left uplifting comments! Luckily one of my stressors got resolved :)

Over the weekend, the lady making our bridesmaid's dresses had a stroke! They brought her home and we thought everything was going to be okay until she got put back in the hospital again on Sunday! This created a little bit of a crisis as the dresses weren't done yet!!! And the wedding is this weekend!!! We found a new seamstress, but she said the dresses were such a mess and the measurements weren't even close to being right that she would have to almost totally redo them!

We all went and tried on our dresses to see if they could be salvaged while the bride ran to the city to find possible replacements! Unfortunately there just wasn't any way to make them work in the time we had. The good news is...we got new dresses :) And they're great!

Here's a picture of what mine was supposed to look like:

And here are the dresses we got:

Perfect, right!!! I was so excited when I saw the new dresses and how they fit :) What could have been a major disaster turned out to be better than we had planned :) And I'm glad it's one less thing the bride has to worry about now!

A Day of Pampering and Partying!!!

Last night we had my best friend's couple's shower. They got lots of nice things and everyone had a great time! The best part was the Newlywed Game...lots of interesting answers...LOL :)

Today we are off to a day of pampering. The bride is taking all of us girls involved in the wedding to a day at the spa!!! I'm getting a manicure, pedicure and massage! Maybe I can just spend my whole time getting a massage :)

Then tonight we are having her bachelorette party! We'll meet up with the rest of the girls for dinner and then the fun begins :) I'm so happy and honored to be a part of this event :) It's like my sister is getting married and she has asked me to be such a big part of her special day :)

Have a wonderful Saturday everyone!!!

Wordless Wednesday-Choosing a Bridesmaid's Dress

Simple and Elegant

The way a wedding invitation should be :)

I have been working on my cousin's wedding invitations this week and I just love how they are coming together! His fiance picked the prettiest, classiest colors! I love the dark gray with hints of green and white!

We had a lot of fun designing these together! And Saturday we are going to have a girl's day to assemble them all :)

I've also been working on my best friend's invitations and once we get the right color of paper, I'll show you those as well. Coral is such a hard color to match...but I think we've finally found THE paper :)

Okay...lots of printing and cutting to get to...have a great day :)

Going to the Chapel...

I mentioned last week that Custom Wedding Albums are really popular right now. Between guest books and wedding gifts, it's that time of year to start thinking about weddings!

I love making different designs and trying new styles with my Custom Albums. This customer wanted her wedding date for the album instead of their last name. Very cool idea!

And this customer loved my Custom Name Guest Books, but needed to accommodate almost 700 guests and she wanted them to be able to leave a message if they liked. I worked with her to get all the details right and ended up with over 300 areas for people to write a message or sign their names. I bound it with ribbon as it was over 3" thick!!!

And here's another one I created for a local wedding next weekend. I love the colors :)

I'm sure in the coming months that I will be making several Wedding Albums as wedding season is just getting under way! I wonder what fun requests I'll have next :)

A Wedding on the Beach

There is just something so romantic about a wedding on the beach! If I could have my entire family there...I'd love to get married on a beach :) The warm weather, the ocean, the great dresses they make for beach weddings! It all sounds so wonderful!

If I'm not getting married on a beach...I'm still happy that my latest Flip Flop Guest Books are making their way to the beach :)

I love how this one turned out! The bride wanted some extras added to her cover and I love how the flowers and ribbon add such a nice touch!

And this one was my first one in orange. We searched and searched and finally found the perfect pair for this bride :) The color really makes them stand out!

(I'll be adding this color choice to my shop soon as well!)

So while I've been playing in the snow for the last few days...my creations have been enjoying the warmth of the beach :)

Friday Features-Weddings

With my Wedding Event tomorrow, I wanted to show off some great Etsy items involving weddings :)

And don't forget, if you're in the SW Iowa area...stop by the Rose Garden from 1-6pm for the Wedding Event!!!

Diamond Wedding Set

by LaurieSarahDesigns

(And just a note: if I ever get married...I want a princess cut diamond!!!)

Letterpress Drink Coasters

by VintageScriptPress

20 DAMASK VELLUM VOTIVE WRAPS

by BesoDesigns

BUTTERFLY WEDDING CAKE TOPPER WEDDINGS DECORATION

by BUTTERFLYBAZAAR

P.S.-Don't forget to enter my OWOH Giveaway!!!

New Guest Book Design

As promised...I finished one of my new guest book designs this week :) I am really pleased with how it turned out!

As you can tell from my shop, I like custom work! This guest book is no different :) You can customize the front any way you like with your photo(s), names, date, or any other info you would like! You can also choose what color to use for the inner covers and whether the book has photos and message areas or simple sign-in pages!

P.S.-Don't forget to enter my OWOH Giveaway!!!

Wedding Season Underway!!!

I do believe that wedding season is officially underway...or wedding planning season anyway :) Next Saturday I have a Wedding Event I am attending to show off my cool invitations and new guest book designs.

I am currently finishing up two Flip Flop Guest Books to be shipped out this week. I am also working on a couple of new guest book designs. One should be done this week...and the other might take a little longer.

I am also making invitations for two up-coming weddings. One is for my cousin and one is for my best friend :) I find it a great honor when those close to me want my work to be a part of their big day :)

I should have photos ready for you this week! And if you're in the SW Iowa area next Saturday...stop and see my designs in person :)

More Family Treasures!!!

I went to visit my grandparents this week and my grandmother had recently received some newspaper articles, photos and other memorabilia from a family friend. The friend had been saving them for years and wasn't sure what to do with them, but thought someone in the family might want them. I just love people like that :)

Among the things my grandmother gave me were my parents wedding invitation...which I had never seen before! And the newspaper article about their wedding. I had seen the photo before, but never read the article.

I love how the invitation is timeless :) I think they chose a great one! It is something I can see someone still sending out today.

I got a good laugh out of the article! It described my mom's dress in so much detail (the longest paragraph) and the bridesmaids' dresses. It talked about all the flowers used in the bouquet. It even went on to talk about who all was at the reception. It was so detailed...11 paragraphs long!

I am so grateful that the family friend mailed these to my grandmother and that she thought of me to give them to :) My grandma even told me I could organize all her photos for her...and take or make copies of the ones I want :) This would be like a day at the beach for me! Gotta love family memorabilia :)

Wordless Wednesday-Happy Couple :)

My Weekend!!!

Wow...what a weekend! Let me fill you in on my fun!

Saturday we left for Ankeny, IA for a wedding rehearsal...Jesse was the best man. We did our thing at the church, ate dinner, and then watched the ultimate fights on TV at Buffalo Wild Wings. It was fun getting to know the rest of the wedding party and spending time with the bride and groom to be :)

Sunday was the wedding. Jesse had to be at the church at 12:30 for pictures (which he was not thrilled about)! So I went shopping!!! I only made it to Michael's because I hit the jackpot!!! Check out some of my new fun supplies! I was so excited to find so many great buys!!!

The wedding was at 5pm and went really well. I love watching two people get married who truly are meant to be together! They are so happy together and love one another with all they have :) Here they are in the very cool limo we got to ride in.

After the wedding was the reception in Ames. We all had SO much fun. Jesse has the best family ever and we partied the night away :) Jesse even danced!!! (Not often heard of!)

You would think after all that dancing and partying that we would go to our hotel room and call it a night...not this family :) The hotel was very cool and let us stay in the pool til 3:30 am!!! More fun times! I love, love, love my waterproof camera! A very good investment if you ask me :)

Then on Monday the weekend got even better. My parents had been down in Missouri checking out their property they bought last summer. When the weather was cooperating, they decided to pack up and come to Iowa. I got to spend almost all day with them yesterday!!! I wish they could have stayed for longer, but at least I got to see them. Those hugs were much needed!!! Don't ask me why I wasn't smart enough to get any pictures of us together! I'm still beating myself up for that one! I guess there's always next time...

Now today is back to reality. Jesse had to work this morning and I had to get back to my jogging! And now I have a whole day of scrapbooking in front of me :) What more could I ask for?

I hope you enjoyed your extended weekend :)