The wedding . . .

So my morning glories are up! I used to be an avid gardener, before being on my feet for most of the day for most of my working life took its toll on my back. (I can get down, but getting up is iffy.) But I wanted morning glories, and Chuck, my husband, has his own plan for the garden and the fences that don’t include my morning glories. I soaked them as the package directed, than planted the next day, and by Wednesday they peeked tentatively out from the soil I had prepared so lovingly in one little row under a trellis. They are going to be gorgeous soon.

Speaking of flowers, I never did post about my daughter's wedding.

For the wedding I made the kusudama flower bouquets. I wish I had done them after I had made 200 flowers for the centerpieces because by that time I had perfected my technique, but they still looked beautiful, as did my daughters!  The centerpieces were composed of 12 flowers, four or five rosettes, and pinwheels, sitting in a quart Mason jar filled with washed and oiled (for depth of color) sand pebbles and glass beads. The table numbers were on a large rosette poking up from the centerpiece.  Since it was picnic-themed, I made checkered squares for each table in several patterns.  For favors, I used an idea I saw on Pinterest, and you can recognize from the photo the four Hershey nuggets wrapped in paper. I cannot even estimate the number of them that I killed on the way to the sleeve and the bag.

We kept the escort cards (thank you, Martha Stewart for correcting me: I was erroneously calling them place cards, which are placed at each table setting and send your guests wandering around trying to see where they are to be planted) simple, but I could not leave them plain no matter how hard I tried.

Guests were invited to either take the centerpieces or to share the elements with the rest of the table, and at the end they were all gone.

Preparing for my daughter Mara’s wedding was a WONDERFUL experience for me, but harrowing for her, as it is for all brides. I had such frequent contact with her and spent so much time with her going to fittings, to the bakery, shopping for shoes, decorating the invitations, making the rosettes, that there is a lot of room in my day right now! The crafting took up most of my time for a couple of months and I miss my hot glue gun! I need to fold squares of paper! I miss thinking in terms of PLAID!

All that remains from the wedding are wonderful memories, fantastic photographs, a happy bride and groom, and a new (and hopefully growing!) family.  Who could ask for anything more? 

Oh, and the girls still have their bouquets, since Mara refused to toss hers!

No, your eyes are not out of focus . . .

I spent most of Sunday (yesterday) in my basement studio, surfacing only to plant some morning glories, admire my husband’s vegetable garden, and grab a snack. Great day!

I created some cards using these white translucent flowers which I made from three or four layers of vellum daisies, glued together, then I affixed a punched sunburst in the center. The glue kind of shrinks the paper in the middle a little bit, which horrified me at first, but I think it gave the flowers some dimension.  Positive spin! Let me know what you think.

So I made some cards with these glue-dotted to a 3.5x5.5” card, with three pearls underneath. I went upstairs for some more coffee and when I returned to the studio to admire my work I was certain that I had had a stroke when I put the pearls on. They were so off-center that I was embarrassed. I should have measured and placed pencil dots where I wanted them to go but I have a tendency to eyeball things and sometimes with questionable results.

 

To save these 12 flowers I cut a square around them (measured), mounted on a colored cardstock, and affixed them diamond-like on a square card. One pearl left and right.  Saved.

 

Then I had been on the internet searching for cute ideas for the class I may be teaching, and came across some cards made with circles punched from paint chips, which I have in abundant supply, collected over the years. (I also found a comment on a blog about the immorality of taking paint chips if you aren’t buying paint, and I felt guilty. Whenever I see paint chips I am like the seagulls in Finding Nemo: mine! mine! I love color and NEED TO HAVE ALL OF THEM).

Anyway, I made three cards, eyeballing the first only, and then measuring and penciling dots. My husband always uses the adage “Measure twice, cut once,” and I am finally taking his advice. (Same with knitting: check gauge.) I love them!

I think I am going to somehow find or make a grid to transfer for guiding my dot placement. Oh, right, graph paper!