Come with me my love to the sea.

On her wedding day, she was relaxed, excited, glowing, and beautiful. I hope to hold it together nearly as well as my friend, mrs. w. To prepare for their 10:30 am wedding ceremony, mrs. w was getting ready with a cocktail in hand at 6:30am. Lucky for her, she is a total morning person. I, on the other hand, would probably be late for my own wedding if I had to get ready that early.

mr. and mrs. w were married at one of their favorite places -- the beach. How awesome is it for guests to kick off their heels and walk barefoot on the sand to their seats?! I love how the groomsmen wore their shirts open collar and no jacket. I think this was a great way to distinguish between the mr. w and his groomsmen.

mrs. w is not a shopper, but she did not stop until she found a dress that was flattering and comfortable for all her bridesmaids. I love her selflessness.


I don't know how she did it, but mrs. w looked so incredibly cool and collected as she walked down the aisle with both her parents to "Sea of Love" by Cat Power (from the Juno soundtrack). That song along with her happiness was more than enough to bring tears to more than a few eyes.


The reception was held at The Chart House, which overlooks, what else but, the beach! Her table numbers were so cute and personal. To say mr. and mrs. w are baseball fans really is an understatement. Each of the eight tables was a different baseball team and stadium that they went to together!


I really loved mrs. w's dance with her father as they sang the words of Anne Murray's Could I Have This Dance to each other. This is exactly why we are not doing these dances...I cry too much.

Remember my post about the delish favors from mr. and mrs. a's wedding? mr. and mrs. w had a different, but equally wonderful, "favor." Animal lovers that they are, mr. and mrs. w skipped the favors and made a donation to the Best Friends Animal Society.


This bride and groom had no time to rest. After the wedding and a little bit of downtime, they had a wedding afterparty at our favorite spot for happy hour. What an awesome way to end a fun-filled wedding day.

Congratulations, mr. and mrs. w.

Oh make me over, part 3.

I've made several of these pomanders in various sizes and fabrics to be incorporated throughout a number of our centerpieces in different ways.

Sneak peek #3:

Oh make me over, part 2.

Sneak peek #2:

Frame (settings) and rose cabochons from Etsy seller, PinkyNoodles. I love her carnival of fun shop!
4 x 6mm Czech glass baby bell flowers beads in coral lemon yellow from Etsy seller, jewelsnfindings.
More baby bell beads in jet (black) and milky white luster from Etsy seller, mountainshadowdesign.
I added my Alice Kennedy Timeless Treasures fabric to the backs of these crystals (that came on this candelabra) to make them more fun.

Round crystal beads came with a different candelabra.
Black round and yellow faceted acrylic beads and the metal beads and chains from Athenian Fashions in LA's garment district. Thanks to Stephanie, who was very helpful and taught me how to attach the metal beads to the chains!

Two centerpieces completed. Now where am I going to store them until February??

Oh make me over, part 1

For the past week, I have been working on turning all that trash into (what I hope will be) fabulous centerpieces. So far so good.

I've decided not to post each finished centerpiece until after the wedding so that there will be some surprise elements for our guests.

Instead, I will post some sneak peeks as I progress through this never-ending list of centerpieces.

Sneak peek #1:

Hopelessly devoted to you.

Last Saturday, after the Renegade Craft Fair, we walked around the garment district in search of fabrics and beads. We used this and this as our guide. I found both fabrics and beads, but right now, I am obsessed with the fabrics we bought to make our pomanders.

We went through a few of those fabric stores that advertise the $1/yard fabrics. All those fabrics were crap. I know, many of those stores have nicer fabrics inside. However, inside was a mess...stacks upon stacks upon stacks of fabric. Keep in mind, I was not looking for yards and yards of fabric, so this was not worth the time and effort.

We ended up at Michael Levine, a REAL store.

Oh. My. Gosh.

It was fabric heaven. Rows and rows of fabric, neatly organized by fabric type and then by color. Ahh, my kind of store. It was like "Ooh look at this" and "Ooh look at that." I even changed our colors a few times with each fabric that caught my eye.

As you might have guessed, fabric here was not $1/yard. Everything I wanted was $8.00 - $8.50 per yard and absolutely 100% worth it!

I am in love with Timeless Treasures by Alice Kennedy. Her entire Taxi collection represents our wedding perfectly,in our original color scheme:

Timeless Treasures Alice Kennedy Taxi collection - fabric inspiration

How can you ooh and ahh with me if you don't enlarge it!

I am so so SO excited about these two purchases:

Timeless Treasures Alice Kennedy Kiwi collection
You can't see the pattern if you don't click on it!

Timeless Treasures Alice Kennedy Taxi collection (Taxi Leaves)

I also wanted this one but sadly watched another girl walk off with the last remaining yards (which, of course, makes me want it more):

Timeless Treasures Alice Kennedy Taxi collection

Of two things you can be sure...one, you will definitely see the first two fabrics we purchased throughout our centerpieces. And, two, you will definitely see the third fabric and one or two of the others incorporated somewhere else...possibly in attire.

Feeling hot, hot, hot.

We spent about 3 hours at the Pasadena Rose Bowl flea market on Sunday. During that time, the temperature kept rising from the 80s to the 90s.

See the resemblance?

lobster.

me.

A painful price to pay for more fun finds at the flea market.

a yellow suitcase.
This is going to be our wedding card box. We would also like to incorporate this into our Trash-the-Dress session.

a yellow stool.
This will be used under the jewelry box shown here for one of the centerpieces.

a bell jar.
We will incorporate this into a centerpiece with some of the other glassware shown here.

oval picture frames.
Minus the needlepoint, these will be used for the head table decor. I need 3 more.

large oval picture frames.

Minus the floral pictures, these will be used first in our engagement session. They will be used again for another centerpiece.

Yes, this looks like junk and yes, these are very vague descriptions of their use in our wedding. Quite honestly, I am not sure exactly HOW I am going to turn all this trash into wedding treasures. I have ideas but I don't want to reveal all of those just yet...I would rather show than tell. Be prepared for a lot of trials and even more errors.

Isn't she lovely made from love?

I heart the Renegade Craft Fair. The view from the California Market Center 13th floor penthouse is amazing. We could see the backside of our venue from here. These are my favorite vendors:

oh, hello friend.
She designs the delightful jewelry that I wrote about here.

Check out her etsy shop here and her blog here.

It was so nice to meet you, Danni. You are super sweet just like your shop.

All my purchases from oh, hello friend. You might recognize three of these from here. This means I loved her stuff just as much as I did online. I wanted to buy EVERYTHING (but had to restrain). mr. c helped out and bought me the lemon sherbert one.

This is one of her new designs and my now favorite necklace.

ex libris anonymous
He turns old hardcover books into journals. What a great idea!

Check out his shop here and his blog here.

I bought mr. c "The Golden Book of Science for Boys and Girls" to help him become a doctor.

Thea Starr
She specializes in kimono fabric flower accessories, perfect for weddings.

Check out her etsy shop here and her website here.

A gorgeous alternative to real flower bouquets.

I talked to her about customizing a (bigger) bouquet for me using these black and cream flowers.

Mehoi
She designs cute accessories that would make unique wedding party gifts.

Check out her shop and website here (where I got all the following images from).

necklaces.

earrings.cuff links.

tie pins.
money clips.

destroyed by design.
She makes adorable animal shaped jewelry, which are customizable! Another possible bridal party gift.

Check out here etsy shop here and her website here.

acrylic necklaces.

acrylic earrings.

Crayon Fawn
She makes these funny hair accessories. Maybe not for the wedding ceremony, but oh so cute for an engagement session.
Check out her etsy shop here (where I got the following images from).

sushi hat.

cupcake hat.

Steppie
Nothing to do with weddings, but just because I love pandas.

Check out her etsy shop here and her blog here.

Panda rings are too cute.

You're just a product of loveliness.

There are so many crafty things going on this weekend!

Renegade Craft Fair

When: July 11-12, 2009 11am - 7pm
Where: California Market Center Penthouse
Admission: free!
Parking: $10 with validation

The Broke-Ass Bride posted about this yesterday. I am super excited about her post because my new favorite Etsy vendor, Oh Hello Friend, is going to be here. She makes the most lovely jewelry! I love everything she makes. Here are a few of my favorites from her Etsy shop:

oh hello friend. lemon sherbert

oh hello friend. chang(ed), set III

oh hello friend. blossom

oh hello friend. flower nest

I hope this is still there tomorrow when I find her booth:

oh hello friend. this is love

Rose Bowl Flea Market

When: Sunday, July 12, 2009 9:00am - 4:30 pm
Where: Rose Bowl in Pasadena
Admission: $8.00/person (They also have earlier admissions, as early as 5am, for an added cost)
Parking: free!

This is where we found our centerpieces shown here. It only comes every second Sunday of the month.

image from here.

Rubber Stamp Convention (RSC)

When: July 11 - 12, 2009
Where: Carson Community Center
Admission: $6.00 one day or $8.00 for two-day pass
Parking: free!

I know you can't read that! Click on the image!

I know, it sounds really geeky, but I've been a few times and I always walk out with something new to add to my craft supplies. It's not just rubber stamps! They do tons of demos and there are other vendors that sell paper, paper punches, trinkets, and embossing stencils. My favorite things are the box patterns from Darcie's Country Folk.

favor boxes?
I know you can't read that! Click on the image!

bridesmaid's gift box? I know you can't read that! Click on the image!