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...

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...

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...

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.

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?