Monday, November 9, 2009

I am a married woman!

It seems like it took forever to plan and then the day itself went by so fast it was like a blur. But a good blur--we had perfect weather, great food, great music, beautiful flowers, and so many of our friends and family were there to share it all with us. It truly was a perfect day. :-)

We spent a few sunny, 91-degree days in FL and then came back home and the next day we made a stop at the the Humane Society. We were thinking of getting a kitty to fill the hole left by Lucy, but we ended up with:

Meet Bonnie and Clyde, the latest additions to the family. They are brother and sister and just turned 4 months old. Cuteness overload!!!!

The bad news is that we got them last Friday and over the weekend they both started having some problems--It turns out that they both have upper respiratory infections and parasites, and Clyde has an eye infection too. That's the only thing about shelter kitties is that they're like kids at daycare--they all share all of the germs and illnesses with each other. $300 and lots of medicine later these two are hopefully on the way to being happy, healthy little kitties.

Right now they live in my craft room since they have to kept away from our older kitty. There is no way I'm getting anything crafty done in there until they are free to roam the house. LOL

Thanks for stopping by and visiting. Within a week or so I should have a link to share with pics from the wedding. I can't wait!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Into the home stretch

I just finished tying bows on 100 programs for Saturday and couldn't be happier with how they turned out. The pictures don't really do them justice, but they are a really pretty ivory with a pearl border. The ribbon colors go perfectly with our Fall color scheme.


I can't believe the wedding is almost here. It seems like forever since I started planning and now all of that hard work is going to pay off. Come Saturday I will be a married woman!

Hopefully after that things will settle down and I can get back to being crafty for things other than wedding stuff. My blog has been pretty quiet lately, but I hope to get back to it soon. (After the honeymoon of course, LOL!)




Thursday, September 10, 2009

Easy Peasy Bracelets

I got some necklace and earring sets from a local trading company for my bridesmaids to wear, but I was having a hard time finding bracelets that would go with them. I was feeling pretty confident that I could make some myself, so I headed to Hobby Lobby's bead sale and picked up some aurora borealis swarovski crystals, a few other pretty beads, and a package of memory wire. I couldn't be happier with the results.

As you can tell, the lighting is not the best in this shot, but they really catch the light and sparkle. And if you know me at all you know my favorite color is sparkly. :-)

I hope that my girls like them.

The invitations are going out by this weekend--I can't believe it's almost here.

Thanks for stopping by.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Yes, I'm still alive and kicking

We had a very nice vacation in Gulf Shores, AL a few weeks back. I love to walk the beach and look for shells and I found a bunch of really nice ones. We didn't have any activities planned, we just used the time to relax and not think about the wedding so much.

Then it was back to the reality that this wedding is happening in 2 months!!! This week I had my first dress fitting, we had a meeting at church, and then another with the caterer. Next major thing is to get our invitations addressed and mailed out.

The good news is that there hasn't been any more major family drama (knock on wood) so things seem to be going much smoother than expected. I'm sure there will be a few more bumps in the road, but hopefully they'll stay on the small side.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Bows

This week I've been working on bows for the church pews and have not been happy with the results. I think that if I had bought wired ribbon it would've been different, but since I already have 100 yards of the non-wired kind I'm making do with what I have.

Tonight I finally decided on my final bow design. I was trying to make them with flowers and I think it just got too busy--I decided to simplify and am happy with my results. I only got 3 of them made before I got distracted by the Cardinals vs. Brewers game, but it's a start.



I think they're going to look very nice--not too obnoxious. I have to thank Joe for buying me the Bowdabra last weekend when we went to Michaels. It really comes in handy for holding the ribbon in place.

In other more exciting news, I got a call Monday that my wedding dress was in--that was 2 1/2 weeks earlier than expected. I went up and tried it on and am VERY happy. The dress is going to be perfect--I can't wait to see it once it's altered for me. My first fitting is scheduled for next month.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope to keep updating as I get things accomplished. Have a good one.


Friday, July 3, 2009

Happy 4th of July!

It has been a pretty hard week for us, but it's getting a little easier each day. We received two sympathy cards signed by the vet staff at both locations of the humane society--the one where we adopted Lucy/took her the first time she was sick, and from the other location that treated/diagnosed her FIP. One of the girls there made a point of putting a nice personalized note to us--she had let me cry on her shoulder when I first found out, so she knew just how much we cared for our sweet girl.

I'm really looking forward to taking a few days to relax and spend time with my family. I hope everyone has a safe holiday weekend.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Trying to keep myself busy...

... so I don't think about how much I miss my sweet little friend. This weekend was really hard--especially while Joe was at work and I was home by myself. I'm used to having my little shadow with me and instead I just felt really alone without her. Being on the computer is very hard--I'm used to having her curled up next to the keyboard, sometimes "helping" me type-LOL.

I spent today looking for some crafty things to use for church/reception decorations and I found some great flowers at Michael's that are going to be perfect for my pew bows. I ordered the ribbon online today and once it comes in I plan on getting started. I will be sure to post a photo when I get a few done.

Today I did get one thing accomplished--a floral headband for my flower girl. I bought a very plain ivory one and added some flowers and ribbon to it so it coordinates with my colors. I think it is going to look adorable on my niece, but then again, pretty much everything looks adorable on her.

:-)



I really needed to get to work on some of this stuff anyway and it's a great way to keep my mind off of things. It almost doesn't seem real that I'm getting married in less than 4 months! Yikes--that's coming up fast!

Thanks for stopping by.


Friday, June 26, 2009

RIP Little One

I'm heartbroken to say that Lucy lost her battle with FIP just after 4:00 a.m. today. She was absolutely the sweetest, most affectionate and loving kitty I've ever known. She was very loved during her short time with us and will be missed more than she'll probably ever know.

RIP Little One. :-(

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Still Fighting

Every time I think it's hopeless she surprises me again. Our little Lucy is definitely a fighter. The most important part to me is that she doesn't seem to be in any pain--if that changes we're going to have to make that hard decision, but so far she is getting around well and eating/drinking on her own.

She even jumped up to help me make some Father's Day cards tonight although this time she didn't try to eat them. LOL





Here's the card she "helped" me make for my Dad:

I'm not really sure what's going to happen, but I've been making sure to give Lucy lots of kisses and treats. I want her to be able to relax and be as comfortable as possible. We're still taking it day by day and as long as she keeps fighting I'm going to do whatever I can for her.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Hopefully a good sign for Lucy

Lucy still has not given up so I'm not giving up on her. She had almost completely stopped eating on her own, but I noticed she would lick canned food off of my fingers. So I've been mixing canned food or baby food (chicken+broth) with unflavored Pedialyte and feeding her with a syringe. I'm hoping that it's starting to help her (along with all of the medications she's on).

Last night while we were eating dinner she came in and started begging like she used to before she got sick. I gave her a small piece of chicken and she ate it so I gave her more until she ate almost half of my chicken breast. After dinner I decided to cook another one and a small piece of salmon to have on hand for her. Joe started giving her a few pieces of salmon and she ate them too. (This was even after I had fed her about a 1/2 cup of the cat food/pedialyte mixture before dinner.)

This morning she ate a little bit of chicken and salmon, but not a lot. I gave her some medicine and then fed her some baby food/pedialyte and then I had to leave for work. About 20 minutes later Joe called and said she threw up. I was a little upset as this is the first time that has happened, but then he said it had a fur ball in it so that made a little more sense. Hopefully that was the only reason.

We're going to separate her and the other cat while we're at work again and leave her some food and see what happens. She honestly is starting to look a little better and she's being a little more active so I'm staying positive. She's a little fighter she's got lots of people praying for her so we're still taking it day by day, but I'm feeling a small glimmer of hope that she's going to recover.

I'm going to keep praying for the best and I appreciate all of the prayers and positive thoughts we've been getting. I truly believe they are working.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Poor Sweet Lucy

My heart is breaking right now for my dear sweet Lucy. She is the cute fuzzy kitty I introduced back in October and now she is in a fight for her life at the young age of 14 months. I took her to the vet on Friday and they told me she looked healthy other than the weight loss that I brought her in for. They were going to send her off with some antibiotics and told me to give her 3 or 4 months to see if she improved.


I had a very bad feeling about it so I pushed them to some blood work. They called me yesterday and told me it was not good. She has multiple infections attacking her liver, stomach, etc. They gave me another antibiotic and a steroid and told me that if she doesn't respond to them there is nothing else they can do for her. They are not 100% sure, but they think it might be FIP which is always fatal as there is no cure for it. From what I've read about FIP she may only have days left. She is still eating a little bit and trying to be her snuggly self, but it is not looking good. At this point I hate that her last memories of me may be forcing medicine into her tired little body 5 times a day and constantly trying to make her to eat.

It is so strange that she seemed just a little skinny, but otherwise fine 2 days ago. She was even being very social with everyone at the vet's office and they all said they wanted to take her home because of how sweet she is. Now she's clinging to life and slowly slipping away.


She has been the sweetest, most loving cat that I have ever had and I can't even bear the thought that she's leaving us so soon. Without some sort of miracle I'm going to lose her and that has kept me crying for 2 days straight. I'm trying to be strong for her, but it is so hard.

I took this picture of her yesterday.

She barely looks sick then, but there is quite a change today. I don't want to take any pics of her now because I don't want to remember her like that. I like to think of her as the sweet beautiful little fuzz ball that would curl up and sleep on my chest with her head on my cheek.

If anyone who reads this could say a little prayer for Lucy I would really appreciate it. I pray that she'll get better, but if she can't that it will be quick and painless for her.

For now she's getting all of the treats that she will eat and lots of snuggles and kisses from her heartbroken "mommy and daddy".

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Another day, another card

I made a quick wedding card tonight for my fiance's cousin who is getting married on Saturday. I used PTI's shimmer white paper with some black accent pieces and a little bling. (I know it looks pretty silver in the photo, but I don't have very good light right now.)



I think the swirl pattern from the Cuttlebug embossing folder coordinates very well with the wrapping paper I used.



I'm glad I had a little more time in my craft room tonight, even if it was quick. I had a very busy, but productive night after work. I got a tan, got my nails done, got 7 inches cut off of my hair, wrapped two wedding gifts, and made a card. Now I'm going to get ready to hit the hay--We've got a long weekend ahead of us.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a great weekend!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

I'm still alive--and I made a card!

I finally made a card this past week for my cousin who graduated from high school. I remember my HS graduation like it was yesterday, but it was actually 17 years ago. Oh to be 17 again.

Anyway, on to the card. :-)


I used almost all Papertrey Ink products with the exception of a few misc. star stamps I've acquired over the years. I used kraft, vintage cream, ripe avocado, and spring rain cardstocks. The sentiment and the large and small polka dot stars are from PTI's second anniversary set--Everyday Classics.

I'm surprised I could remember where anything was in my craft room. It seems like ages since I've been in there. I need to get started soon on some thank you cards so that I have them ready when the showers/wedding come around.

Speaking of the wedding, the planning has been going well. I won a drawing at a bridal shop so I'm getting my hair done for free. (Let me tell you, free is sounding very good right about now.) I also found an online vendor who is going to custom make my veil for an unbelievable price, especially considering all of the beadwork she is doing by hand(http://www.weddingsbychar.com/). I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Next major step is to decide on a china pattern we BOTH like so we can register. I've set up an online registry with Pampered Chef, but that is as far as we've gotten.

Thanks for checking in with me today. I'm glad I finally had something to share. Take care!

Friday, May 1, 2009

MIA

I know I've been MIA lately, but I haven't had time to do much of anything. It seems like time gets away so quickly.

The wedding planning is going pretty well. We have our limo and our photographer lined up now and the bridesmaids are starting to order their dresses. It feels nice to at least be accomplishing a few things off of our seemingly endless list.

Thanks for checking in and for the sweet comments you've left. I really appreciate the kind words.

Have a great weekend!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Look! I made a card

It's not my best work, but I completed a weekly challenge card from the PTI forum. It was a challenge from 2 weeks ago, but it was the first time I've been in my craft room in weeks.

It was an inspiration challenge and we were given this photo:



For my card I came up with this.



It was nice to be back in my craft room, even if it was short lived. I miss having time to be creative.

I did make this card a few weeks back for a wedding shower. The photo is not good, but there is glitter on the light pink flowers to add a little sparkle. The color scheme was inspired by the happy couple's wedding colors.


Thanks for stopping by today. Have a good one.


Tuesday, March 31, 2009

I promise...

... that my blog will not become all about my ring, but since I've only had it for a few days I'm still a little obsessed. So you will just have to bear with me until I have time to add some crafty stuff. LOL

I love how this pic captured a little bit of the rainbow sparkles from the sunlight. :-)


Sunday, March 29, 2009

Another Ring Pic

We had a little sun so I tried to get a better shot of my ring and this is what I came up with. I still need to work on my photography skills, but that will have to be for another day. It does seem my glass rooster is a perfect ring holder though. :-)


Saturday, March 28, 2009

Ring Pics!

At last....I have my ring! I'm having a hard time getting good photos that show how truly sparkly it is, but I'll share a few that I took anyway.





Even without good photos, I am so happy with how it turned out--I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful ring. From every angle I can see so many tiny little rainbows. (I just cant seem to capture that on film right now.) Maybe when we have some sunlight I can try some outside to see how they turn out.

Thanks for stopping by and thank you so much for your well wishes. It really means a lot to me. I hope you have a great day!

*It's hard to see in the photos, but it is a round diamond in a square setting. I had originally wanted a square (princess cut) stone, but there's just nothing that seems to compare with the sparkle you get from a round cut. (IMO). I figured that this way I get the best of both worlds and a more unique ring too. I really have to get some better pics to post. :-)

Friday, March 27, 2009

Today is the day--Finally!!!

This has been the longest week ever, and today in particular is going to be agony. After about 3 months of waiting I am finally getting my engagement ring tonight! I am so excited!

I'm going to keep this short and sweet so I can try to think about other things to help make it through today. I promise to have some photos up within the next few days. :-)

Monday, March 23, 2009

Wedding Flowers

I had my first meeting with the florist on Saturday to get a feel for what I want and how much it's all going to cost me. I was happily surprised that I can get everything I want + delivery (with some room for upgrades) for under $1,000.

The only problem I had was that my wedding is in the Fall and right now they have mostly Spring flowers available, so there were a few that I had to imagine in different colors. One thing I know for sure is that I am having Circus roses as my main flower (for bouquets and boutonnieres) no matter what. You couldn't ask for a more perfect Fall colored rose. I love them and my honey said they were pretty cool too. If you've never seen them before it is the 2-tone rose in my photo below--yellow with reddish edges that seem to blend into a nice orange-ish color once they open up a little.

They sent me home with a bouquet of a few of the flowers and I couldn't be happier with them. I did have a slight change color-wise from what I had originally wanted, but I think that my flowers are going to be beautiful. I took a picture right after I got the flowers home:


And then a second photo the next day, after they had started to open up a little more:



I still plan on adding a few orange spray roses and some dark purple stock flowers to these, but I love all of the colors and I think they will look great with my dark purple bridesmaid dresses. I am going to order some ribbon in the color of the dresses to tie around the bouquets as a finishing touch and to tie everything together (literally and figuratively).

I can wait until closer to the wedding to see some of the other Fall colored flowers and place my order. I am so happy to have one more thing taken care of--one less thing to stress about.

The main thing that I cannot wait for is my ring! I am finally getting it Friday evening--I am so excited!

And we have a winner!

I had 14 entries for the contest. After entering that info into the random number generator at random.org, I have a winner of the 2nd annual Papertrey Ink limited edition anniversary set.

And the winner is #9

Ronna said...
I too just discovered PTI this year, not in time to earn the Anniversary set. I am anxiously awaiting my first order from them placed last week and will definitely be on the list for the set next year. My favorite is the Simply Stationery set, but it is so difficult to pick a favorite, there are so many great ones. I discovered you blog recently and have added it to my favorites to check daily-nice design work. Thanks for the opportunity to win this set.
March 22, 2009 9:48 AM

Congratulations Ronna! Please send me your contact information so I can get your new stamps out to you. (You can click the "email me" link in my profile to send directly to me.)

If you didn't win, be sure to check out the forum on PTI where several ladies have extra anniversary sets that they are willing to sell or trade. Here is the address: http://forum.papertreyink.com/forum/

Thank you for coming by and visiting my blog. I hope you have a great day!

Friday, March 20, 2009

Attention PTI Fans!!!!

As I'm sure most of you know, the limited edition 2nd Anniversary PTI stamp sets have started going out to all loyal customers who have purchased at least 12 PTI sets in the last year. (Yet another reason PTI rocks!)

Some of you may have found PTI too late in the year, or maybe your budget just didn't allow for you to purchase 12 stamp sets, and now you are sad that you have missed out. I understand that feeling all to well as I was in the exact same situation last year at this time. That is until I was lucky enough to win the 1st Anniversary stamp set from Anya (a generous PTI blogger who offered up her second set as blog candy.)

After feeling so blessed with good fortune I decided that if I earned an extra set this year I would offer it up for blog candy as well. So here I am, extra Anniversary set in hand, ready to offer up the goods.

If you would like to win, leave me a comment on this post telling me what your favorite PTI stamp set or product is. (Be sure to leave me an email address so I can contact you.) The contest will close at 8:00 a.m. Monday (Central Time) and at that time I will pick a winner at random to be announced later in the day. International entries are welcome.

Good luck to you all.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

A Few New Cards

Somehow yesterday I was able to stay late at work, stop by the jeweler's, get home, make delicious pork tenderloin w/rosemary red potatoes for dinner, and still have time to make two new cards. Not sure how that happened, but I doubt it will be repeated anytime in the near future. :-)

Anyway, on to crafty stuff....

The first card was inspired by my wedding colors. My girls are wearing Eggplant from Alfred Angelo (a very deep purple) and the flowers are going to be purple and orange.

The second card was in anticipation of my PTI order with the new Guide Lines 2 set. I got out the original Guide Lines set and last year's anniversary set and got to stamping. Then I colored with my white gel pen to add some highlights.


Not exactly masterpieces, but not half bad for stealing away a little time to try to play in my craft room in the middle of so much rushing around.

When I mentioned the jeweler above it's because I am finally getting my ring next weekend! I am so excited I can't stand it. I saw it yesterday and decided that the center diamond was set way too high so I'm going to see what they can do about that and then that baby is finally mine! I'll be sure to post pics as soon as I can.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you have a good one.

Friday, March 13, 2009

CAS PTI Challenge & More Wedding Stuff

I know it's been a while since I've posted, but things have been crazy lately. Between work, home, wedding planning, etc., I haven't had much time in my craft room. I do have a few cards that I made about 2 weeks ago and never got around to posting. They were for PTI's weekly challenge and the focus was on a CAS (Clean and Simple) card--one layer, very few embellishments. I was on a roll and made two:


I used all PTI supplies for both cards with the exception of the tiny bling--and that's only because PTI doesn't make it's own bling (yet). If you have any questions about colors/stamps used leave me a comment and I'll get back to you with details.

OK, now on to wedding stuff. I have my dress picked out, but I'm not sure I want to post a pic here because I'm afraid my honey might see it. (I'm not sure if he comes here or not, but with my luck he would.) My only dilemma now is white vs. ivory. I am not sure which way I want to go right now. I was almost 99% sure I wanted ivory and now I'm second guessing and thinking about white. I can't seem to make a decision on anything anymore since I've had so many things coming at me at once.

I did make one decision--I bought myself some of the prettiest earrings to wear with my dress. They are at Macy's for about $900, but I went to the location that is closing and paid around $200 for them instead. They are white gold with tiny diamonds and finished off with pearls--they will go so perfectly with my ring too.


I tried to get a good picture this morning, but I was already running late and had to get out the door. I promise they sparkle in person and they are so "me". I can't wait to wear them! :-)

I know I haven't posted my ring yet, but I don't have it yet. We don't want to finance it so we're keeping it at the jewelers until we get it paid off. So as much as it kills me not to have it yet, I know we'll be better off without that debt over our heads once we get married. I hope to have it next month and I promise to post a pic ASAP!

Unfortunately I started biting my fingernails again with all of the stress of the last few weeks, so I'm hoping that getting my ring soon will be enough to help me stop again. I don't want to show off my ring with chewed up hands. I KNOW I can do this.

I'm sorry I don't have more crafty stuff to share, but right now wedding stuff is taking over my life. I plan on decorating my own unity candles so I'll be sure to post a pic of that too once I complete that.
Thanks for stopping by today.