Baby Shower?

My good friend Jenny had a baby last week, so I'm on my way to Des Moines to meet little Owen and attend the baby shower. Here's a card that I made for him.

I'm also thinking that my "surprise" wedding shower might be happening today as well. Maybe the baby shower is actually a wedding shower as far as I know! My sister (and maid of honor) has been planning it but I've gotten little hints from people here and there, so we'll see. I'm just anxious for it to happen because it's hard to be out of the loop!

More Lemon-Lime Fun!

I worked on some decos tonight for the Embellished Circus, so I thought I would share some of the finished product. I'm pretty happy with them - they turned out looking very "fresh". So, they'll be in the mail tomorrow in time for the August 31st deadline.

"Our state fair is a great state fair..."

Bill and I took a trip to Des Moines this weekend to visit the Iowa State Fair - said to be one of the best in the country! It is one of my favorite times of the year - I've been for 27 years in a row (the first year was while my mom was just pregant with me! - hardcore!). I initiated Bill into all the traditions when we started dating... the barns, the greasy food, the midway, and of course, the butter cow! One of the highlights this year was the record-breaking pumpkin. The fair signals the end of summer and is just a great Iowa tradition, in my opinion.

So, yesterday was the first day of school. We're going back early this year, it seems like - although it might feel that way because there's only a month left to finish planning the wedding!! Here's my first gift of artwork from a student this year. I love those kindergarten babies - they're so sweet! I think he said that the things at the top were dogs, but they remind me of robots somehow.

Scrapbooking fun

So... this weekend my mom came over from Des Moines to be part of a "crop" at the scrapbooking store I work at part-time. It was a spa crop, so we worked on our scrapbooks while we got pedicures and massages. It was wonderful, just like it sounds! Here are a few of the pages that I finished while we were there. I'm making an 8"x8" album for the trip that Bill and I took to Las Vegas in March (that's where we got engaged!).

Gift boxes

Here's what I did yesterday! I hot glued pretty ribbon around these fun-shaped boxes. They are going to be surprise gift boxes for the wedding party and close family that are coming in from out of town. To be filled with local goodies and toiletries and left in their hotel rooms.

In other wedding news, we applied for our wedding license today and made a final decision about the tuxedos, which both feel like big accomplishments.

Deco pages

Here are my contributions to an insect deco and a faces deco via a yahoo group called Destiny Art Decos.

Wedding Invitations

Here are a couple scans of our wedding invites. The paper is textured cardstock, and I made a little paper belt to go around the outside. It slides off to allow the card to open. Then on the inside another paper belt holds in the response postcard and a card about the reception. Now on to the programs!

Rehearsal Dinner Invitation

Here is a copy of the rehearsal dinner invitation, as promised. I stamped the flower image onto white watercolor paper, then embossed it with black embossing powder. Color was added with watercolor paint, which fills in the space between the raised embossed lines.

One of my favorite parts about this invitation is how it looks in the vellum envelope. I have to say that if I received my invitation in the mail, I would be very excited!

Lemony-Lime Goodness

Heather from the Embellished Circus sent me a wonderful envelope packed full of lemon and lime colored papers, fibers, and other goodies, so I must make a couple atc's to thank her. I'm also using the supplies for creating deco's for an August swap on the Circus.

Cleo's new home

When I moved from my apartment into a much larger condo last week, I was worried that my kitty Cleo would be stressed out, but she seems to be right at home! She's really enjoying being out on the deck and running up and down the stairs. Bill and Cleo are new best friends! Not bad for an admitted "dog person" who has never had a cat in the house before. It's a good relationship for both - Bill likes to pet the cat, and she enjoys being pet - it could go on for hours. What a love fest!

First post!

So, here I am. Glad to have my own blog to share what's happening with anyone who is interested (and to document it for myself).

Much of my energy right now is going into projects and planning for my September 24th wedding. This morning I finished the invites for the rehearsal dinner. Here's a picture from the invites in progress. Soon I'll scan and post the finished product. They were pretty labor-intensive, but I only had to make 20-some, so that wasn't bad!