Monday, January 28, 2013

Wedding Decor; Shabby Chic Do-It-Yourself


The months leading up to my daughter's October wedding
were filled with preparations. My biggest challenge was
the arrangement of flowers for the wedding party.
Above, an antique brooch that belonged to 
the bride's great-grandmother, clipped to the
wrapping of the bridal bouquet.


Silk bouquet in cream, burgundy, mauve,
 soft yellow and sage green.
I had only done flowers for one other wedding, so I was 
nervous about getting the bouquets just right.


The beautiful bridesmaids with their bouquets.


The ring-bearer carried the rings on a bible that the
bride's grandmother carried at her wedding 60 years ago!


L to R: my daughter, my mom, and I.
I think we all look like my mom...


Decorations on the Escort card table:
A crate that the groom made himself,
thrifted vase, doily, antique bottle,
old books belonging to the bride,
and a pillow that I cross-stitched 
with the bride and groom's initials.
Hand-crocheted lace trims the pillow.


The escort cards were clipped with tiny clothespins to 
a jute string and tacked to a chippy old window.
Silk greenery and votive candles were placed
on the table covered in burlap. Chippy white chairs and
pillows sat at each end of the table.
Alas, I don't have a close-up of this...
There were also shabby wooden crates stacked up
near the guest book, with flowers and a silver tray.


Such beautiful girls!


The bride with the adorable flower girls...
I think the burlap bags for the flower petals
looked lovely with their white dresses.


Close-ups of the pillows...


Wreath with shabby roses...




The newlyweds


A day of joy...


Friday, January 25, 2013

Hazy Shade of Winter. Journal Pages.



Collage in my Smash Book:
my drawing of a leafless tree,
stamps, fabric, paper,
lining from an envelope,
scrapbook quote "delight in the day."

I really liked the quote from the book I
just finished reading~ Mary Queen of Scotland
and the Isles, by Margaret George:
"Hope is a straw hat hanging beside
a window covered in frost."
Queen Mary spent a lot of her life being
manipulated or imprisoned. A sad story,
but a pretty good read.




Collage in fabrics, assorted papers,
stitching, and a bit of wallpaper scrap.
The black spirals were stamped on waxed paper
left from protecting my work surface.
I originally was looking for waxed paper to
put between the pages to dry, but thought 
this was a good addition to the piece.
There is also gold spray on the wax paper
as well, which you probably can't see
in this scan...



Collage with painted and stamped background.
Hand-carved stamps, hand-drawn labels and
flowers in pen & watercolor.
The safety pin image came from 
Christine Clemmensen.
"Never be afraid to grow."
and
"You can't reap what you don't sow."
quotes from the movie, "The Lorax."
Good things for 'grown-ups' to remember too...


Friday, January 18, 2013

Faces in my Art Journal




Face, above--made up
on the spur of the moment--
the proportions are a bit off...
collage includes fabric and
tiny collages from scraps of paper.



Sketch of "Dr. Bramwell,"
a British television show featuring
a woman doctor, in a time when women
were not accepted in such professions.
I drew this actress from the tv.


So much that I could be doing...
having difficulty prioritizing it all!
I was researching 'scrapbooking quotes'
on the web, and came across a
funny one. Probably won't use it in
my scrapbook, but it gave me a laugh:

"Want to see a magic trick?
Just sit down in front of the computer
and watch the day disappear!"

All too true...

Friday, January 11, 2013

Journal Pages: Shabby Chic Wedding & Collage



Art journal collages
created from assorted fabric and
ephemera -- some gifted by friends.
In my larger mixed media journal...
only a few pages left in it!



Lists and quotes, above.
In my Smash journal...




The apple tree is my drawing, as well as
the frog. The planets are a magazine clipping...
bits of doodles and a scrap of painted paper
complete the page.




'Shabby Chic' wedding decor photos.
These were taken on my dining room table in order
to plan the reception table arrangements. Each table
had a different assortment. I took a photo of each
arrangement and taped it to the box which contained
the items for that arrangement. A lot of work, but it
enabled people to set them up at the reception venue
without me having to do each one myself.
(An idea from Pinterest!) It did make the 
reception decorating go smoothly!



The reception decor included:
Vintage bottles and vases decorated with
burlap, lace and muslin roses; silk flowers,
aluminum trays and bowls, vintage books,
wooden crates, doilies, and canning jars with
candles inside.  Various decorations
on bottles also included fabric tags,
keys, buttons, old earrings or pins,
and vintage paper from dictionaries 
or music sheets.

One lesson learned:  use votive candles that are
in a small glass container, then put that in the mason jar.
Our votive candles melted into little puddles very
quickly and didn't last the 3-5 hrs. advertised on 
the package, because the container wasn't 
the right size. All in all, though, the bride was 
very happy with the effect of the table decor.
I just wish I had better photos. The wedding photographer
didn't take many photos of the table decor, so
if you want the photographer to do so, be sure to
specifically ask for that!

These photos are included in my Smash book,
which is just an assortment of collages that
I create with scraps I have on hand--whatever
seems right at the moment.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Doodle Pages: Black and White


Pages in my
Bits and Pieces journal...
( you can see the cover here... )
currently in a state of
black and white.



I liked the change of putting 
the text in the 'border' area, above.


Quotes are among my favorite
things to journal.



'Zen Doodles.'  
Texture is created by 
filling the space with line work.




Yes. I enjoy the kick of caffiene.
 (But not the indegestion it sometimes causes.)



The Madonna and child are in my
Smash book. I had every intention of
adding watercolor to this page, but
now I'm not so sure...what do you think?