Slowly But Surely...

I'm coming out of my hole. (: Just a few more random things to share. After posting my "wish list" last time, I realized that I am kinda artsy - my dad was an illustrator for a long time and owned his own advertising company, and that rubbed off quite a bit. So I decided that I should try my hand at illustrating my own save the dates and invites. Other than the trees, it turned out pretty well. Here's the first draft:


One thing no other illustrator can do is write in my own hand writing. I like it. It's quirky and me. And it is especially fitting to have my own handwriting on these babies because I am a hand-written thank you note queen. I love hand written notes. So my thought is, why would I send a hand written thank you note to someone for having me over for dinner, but have a machine or a stranger write a note to those I love inviting them to the biggest day of my adult life?? Hmmm.... Added bonus: the writing on the invite will actually match the writing on the envelope. And I don't have to pay anyone. (:

The only thing I'm stuck on is how to put an organic element into the illustration. We are not having a very "urban" wedding, except that it is in a major city. We are having as much of a garden wedding as you can have outside of actually being in a garden. The trees say "Lincoln Park!" to me, but I don't know if they read that way. I think it reads as being a bit disjointed. In any case... the treas as they look there are OUT.

Also, I made this hat ages ago (December, I think?) and it needs to be shared because it is a winner.

Pattern: Ariosa Pom-Pom Hat
Designer: Hanna Fettig
Source: HERE! Free! WOO!
Fiber: Malabrigo Worsted in Stone Blue
Needles: Size 10

I wonder why I always look so mad in these photos...

The pattern called for bulky but this worked just fine. It was much floppier and much less pinky looking before I washed it. On cold and everything! And I didn't dry it! But it shrunk and absorbed some nice pink color (the camera didn't pick it up, I guess) and the braiding looks weird now, but whatever. I wear it all the time and I don't care.

Last but not least, my latest quilting catastrophe. I wanted to make this awesome quilt from Twin Fibers. She even posted a tutorial - how nice! Turns out, even with the aid of a grid square thingy, I am totally incapable of drawing straight lines. So, my project went from easy to unbelievably time consuming. 3 inch squares. Nuff said? Here's what I could get done so far:

17 different fabrics. Love everyone of them.

I'm making the quilt for Riley's 3rd birthday, which is next weekend. She is getting a big girl bed and I think she needs a big girl quilt. I hope she falls in love with it. If she doesn't I'm going to steal it back and hoard it for a future pink-lover.

Okay, back to legal misery. Hope you all had a good V-day.

I have more to say than this.

But I don't have time. In fact, this moment is precisely the wrong time to try an "come up for air" from the depths of the non-blogging underworld in which I have been living for the past... gasp... four months? Really. Wow.

In any case, I'm making my first quilt in months this weekend (Thursday marks the day that it is acceptable for me to come out of hiding for the time being) and I wanted to show off some of the incredible fabric I got from Hawthorne Threads for this very special "I'm getting a big girl bed" quilt. Yeah, it's a cell phone image.... that I took when the fabric arrived at school. So...



Wedding planning is full steam ahead. I wont talk much about it... I don't think. There are certain things that I really really want that we really really (probably) can't afford. Even though I'm D-I-Myselfing a ton - my dress and bridesmaid dresses with the help of my very elegant and talented friend Taylor; the centerpieces; my make up; my nails; my shoes (yeah, I'm going to make a pair from payless look like Louboutins, and I don't just mean make them have a red sole); the save the dates; the table numbers; the escort card box; the huppah - we are still having a hard time making our budget stretch to pay for the rehersal dinner, wedding, and honeymoon. So here are the things I would have if I could have anything (materialistic and wedding related):

1. Betsy Dunlap Calligraphy.



2. Rifle Paper Co. invitations



3. The ability to letter, paint, and illustrate as shown above.

4. To find a place to have the rehearsal dinner that we can afford and that wont burn down.

5. A wedding planner (if this was a longer list, this would be cross referenced with "sanity").

Alright, back in my hole. Hopefully I'll have something crafty to show you for next time. And hopefully that will be before June.