Every year I try to make my own cards. I have a weakness for letter pressed cards and could buy them til I’m clean broke! But barring total financial irresponsibility, my irrepressible need to create, and my genuine belief that homemade cards are awesome, I managed to do it this year amongst all the rest of the madness. It was a glorious solo late night pursuit, my favourite kind : )
For the tree bodies, I used these gorgeous scraps of Nigerian fabric from my dear friend (and fellow sewing/fabric nerd!) Jen’s travels in that country. I cut out little pine trees and sewed them down the middle, easy as can be and so pleasing!
I discovered about 2 years ago that one could carve stamps from erasers and have tried it a few times since. So for the trunks I carved a wee eraser-stamp and l-o-v-e how it came out. I find carving incredibly satisfying. I guess I’ll have to tuck that into the drawer of “things I really want to do,” along with pottery on a wheel, letter pressing, silk screening, stained glass, soap making etc … sigh  🙂
Yes. There are 3 “weddings” in the title. Not a mistake.Whew! On June 30th I was so honoured to act as Matron of Honour for my dear friend Jen’s wedding on Toronto Island. It was an exquisite, homemade, 100 mile wedding that went without a hitch. I made fun kits for the kids in attendance. I made the bags out of fabric that Jen had collected in Nigeria, hot glued the first initial of each kid on his or her bag with Scrabble letters (which I LOVE for crafting!) and stuffed them with snacks and age-appropriate toys, games and activities.
Then on July 1st, in addition to celebrating our nation’s birthday (O Canada, oh my!) we attended the wedding of another dear, dancerly friend. It was held in Dancemakers Studio theatre in Toronto, which was converted into a beautiful space for an afternoon cocktail wedding.
I helped plan and execute the decorations for this one, we tried to stay with the Canada theme without getting cheesy and I think we did well! We cut out hundreds of cream and white maples leaves and doves to hang from the theatre’s grid. I think the effect was magical as hoped!
I designed and made little red and white felt bags that got stuffed with custom-ordered M&M’s in red and shimmer pearl. And the tags were stamped with a maple leaf stamp I’d used for my own wedding invitations almost 9 years ago!
Lastly, I was so honoured to be asked to make a wedding dress for a dancer I’ve costumed a few times in the past. She’s a gorgeous woman and knew just the dress she wanted, a copy and formalized version of a dress she already had, a very vintage 50s looking piece. I am so proud of how it came out but will superstitiously only include a couple of details here til after the July 8th wedding, which is, of course, still to come!
And now I’m hittin’ the road Jack, making my way across the vast space between Toronto and Edmonton. I’ll be posting a series of interviews with amazing woman artists and entrepreneurs in the stead of my usual Rearview Fridays, so watch for that to start this week. And I’ll post some Road Reports as I’m able. Happy summer days all, may there be much long laziness.
Bonus shot: deliciously tired and dirty 10-month-old feet after all the wedding madness …
I find carving incredibly satisfying. I guess I’ll have to tuck that into the drawer of “things I really want to do,” along with pottery on a wheel, letter pressing, silk screening, stained glass, soap making etc … sigh  🙂
