As fall is upon us and I haven't updated all summer long... I'm seriously going to try harder this time. I think I say this every time I don't update for 3 months. I'd like to say I've been super busy all summer long, but I really haven't. Instead I moved again and am not used to my work space. I'm still looking for a full time job...
I want to join the Occupy Wall Street crowd, but I fear getting trampled on, pepper sprayed, arrested, squished, and the general anxiety that comes with crowds. I hope Occupy Wall Street doesn't die though. They are there fighting for people like me- college educated with professional experience and out of work for 2.5 years with no government help. How did I survive so long? Well, I was collecting unemployment for a bit, but I also had savings. Now all my savings are gone and my spotless credit is now tainted with over two years of putting all grocery bills onto my credit cards. (sigh)
Anyway, I've been married now for barely over a year. My husband and I wrote an Instructable about our DIY wedding in hopes to win the honeymoon that we never had (due to Mike going to grad school 3 days after the wedding and our lack of money). We didn't win grand prize, but we did win a DeWalt power drill. I totally claimed that drill. My husband already has a power drill and he has broken at least 3 of my glue guns. I think it's only fair. ;)
You can check out our Instructable HERE. I think this means I am done with all wedding blog posts now. Yay!
Monday, October 3, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
Bridesmaids
After watching the movie Bridesmaids with my leather craftin' friend, John Mac, I was reminded that I still have a few blog posts about my wedding that I need to write.
The movie Bridesmaids internally emphasized how slightly disappointed I am in my own wedding. Weddings are stressful, hard work unless you want to be a complete douchebag. While there is a lot of compromising going on within a wedding (not just the bride and groom, but the family and friends too), I can see why women become "bridezillas." If you don't become one, you might end up compromising the one thing that should never be compromised. My husband got his bomb-ass live music... and I ended up compromising the clothing details.
There was a lot of disagreement going on about colors and styles. All my bridesmaids lived far away; all my husband's groomsmen lived far away as well. There were also the "not so happy looks" received when explaining various bridal dress ideas. *sigh* Maybe it would've been better/easier if at least one bridesmaid lived near me to help take the edge off and help in decision making, but there weren't any. Maybe it would've helped if my mom lived near me too... just this once, ha ha. Other aspects of the DIY wedding were freaking awesome, but I still can't shake the green taffeta dresses and my slightly tacky, beaded dress. My prom dress is wayy cooler than my wedding dress!
In the end, when my bridesmaids finally did arrive in my vicinity, they were a gigantic help with preparing everything and dismantling everything. And they all looked great in kelly green. They weren't so great with keeping me chill, but maybe that's my own problem.
For bridesmaids gifts, I wanted to do special things for these ladies since I don't voice how much they mean to me at all...
I purchased some sweet shoe/slippers for when their feet hurt during fancy occasions. I made personal flasks for them with scrapbook paper, mod podge, and acrylic laquer (yes, we're drinkers). And I stitched a one-of-a-kind tote with personal applique for each of them.
The movie Bridesmaids internally emphasized how slightly disappointed I am in my own wedding. Weddings are stressful, hard work unless you want to be a complete douchebag. While there is a lot of compromising going on within a wedding (not just the bride and groom, but the family and friends too), I can see why women become "bridezillas." If you don't become one, you might end up compromising the one thing that should never be compromised. My husband got his bomb-ass live music... and I ended up compromising the clothing details.
There was a lot of disagreement going on about colors and styles. All my bridesmaids lived far away; all my husband's groomsmen lived far away as well. There were also the "not so happy looks" received when explaining various bridal dress ideas. *sigh* Maybe it would've been better/easier if at least one bridesmaid lived near me to help take the edge off and help in decision making, but there weren't any. Maybe it would've helped if my mom lived near me too... just this once, ha ha. Other aspects of the DIY wedding were freaking awesome, but I still can't shake the green taffeta dresses and my slightly tacky, beaded dress. My prom dress is wayy cooler than my wedding dress!
In the end, when my bridesmaids finally did arrive in my vicinity, they were a gigantic help with preparing everything and dismantling everything. And they all looked great in kelly green. They weren't so great with keeping me chill, but maybe that's my own problem.
For bridesmaids gifts, I wanted to do special things for these ladies since I don't voice how much they mean to me at all...
I purchased some sweet shoe/slippers for when their feet hurt during fancy occasions. I made personal flasks for them with scrapbook paper, mod podge, and acrylic laquer (yes, we're drinkers). And I stitched a one-of-a-kind tote with personal applique for each of them.
Voila!
Monday, March 28, 2011
I'm Sew Goth!
One of the reasons I got extremely into sewing was... well, I was goth. Before I knew what goth was, I was already listening to my brother's Cure and New Order albums. My sister got me into Nine Inch Nails and Ministry. MTV got me into Marilyn Manson.
When I was growing up, there was only one store in the area that sold "gothic" clothing and it was almost an hour away and extremely expensive. I shopped for black clothes in the thrift shops and would upcycle them on my mom's sewing machine.
When I moved to Long Island, they had Hot Topic in the mall and Religious Sex on St. Mark's Place, but I had already caught the sewing bug and made my very own junior prom dress.
The blue and lace dress was what I made for my junior prom. I started this dress with a pattern, but I tweaked it a bit. I made the dress shorter in the front a la the November Rain wedding dress (yes, I went there) and I made ruffly bell sleeves. There's a corset that you can't see too well in the first photo, so I included other photos of corsets I made. I used a borrowed pattern for the corsets and ended up being a huge fan of hammering eyelets into everything. I think I owned at least 10 pieces of clothing with eyelets in them.
I think this purple dress was the first dress I ever made completely by myself. I needed something to wear for my band recital when I was 14 years old. I used a pattern from the 1960's. There are lines of purple lace on the chiffon sleeves that I hand stitched. And I hand stitched a boa around the bottom edge and cuffs and wore a boa around my neck. I was big into boas after going to so many raves, ha ha.
Here I am at the age of 16 on my grandma's sewing machine. It hadn't been used in years but I got it working again although the stitches were never very straight. Man, I love making stuff!
When I was growing up, there was only one store in the area that sold "gothic" clothing and it was almost an hour away and extremely expensive. I shopped for black clothes in the thrift shops and would upcycle them on my mom's sewing machine.
When I moved to Long Island, they had Hot Topic in the mall and Religious Sex on St. Mark's Place, but I had already caught the sewing bug and made my very own junior prom dress.
The blue and lace dress was what I made for my junior prom. I started this dress with a pattern, but I tweaked it a bit. I made the dress shorter in the front a la the November Rain wedding dress (yes, I went there) and I made ruffly bell sleeves. There's a corset that you can't see too well in the first photo, so I included other photos of corsets I made. I used a borrowed pattern for the corsets and ended up being a huge fan of hammering eyelets into everything. I think I owned at least 10 pieces of clothing with eyelets in them.
I think this purple dress was the first dress I ever made completely by myself. I needed something to wear for my band recital when I was 14 years old. I used a pattern from the 1960's. There are lines of purple lace on the chiffon sleeves that I hand stitched. And I hand stitched a boa around the bottom edge and cuffs and wore a boa around my neck. I was big into boas after going to so many raves, ha ha.
Here I am at the age of 16 on my grandma's sewing machine. It hadn't been used in years but I got it working again although the stitches were never very straight. Man, I love making stuff!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
The Cheaper Alternative to a Florist
I guess I could have gotten flowers from Costco like I did for the bouquets, but I wanted something totally different for my wedding centerpieces. I went for the birdhouses sold at Michael's craft stores on sale, stocked up on acrylic craft paint and went crazy for painting for a few months. This also let me make the wedding colorful instead of having a color theme.
My husband then drilled tiny holes in each of the birdhouses, sprayed on clear acrylic paint, and made the table name holders out of scrap wire. My bridesmaid, Lydia, used her pretty handwriting and cardstock to make the table names. We chose musical terms for our table names since we have music in common.
My husband then drilled tiny holes in each of the birdhouses, sprayed on clear acrylic paint, and made the table name holders out of scrap wire. My bridesmaid, Lydia, used her pretty handwriting and cardstock to make the table names. We chose musical terms for our table names since we have music in common.
Don't know what a pataflafla is? Check your drum rudiments!
Friday, February 25, 2011
John J. Macpherson Leather Wallets
In an effort to remember to always bring business cards with me, I got these amazing custom wallets from John J. Macpherson. Now I can carry one in my purse and one in my backpack and look pretty snazzy whipping them out. Both wallets are hand-dyed and handmade. The red (for when I'm feeling professional) is antelope and the black (for when I feel goth) is cow but super soft. John J. Macpherson also makes awesome Halloween bags that can be purchased at his Etsy store or custom made!
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