Under Construction

I once promised an update on this personal project of mine and it will come soon - I just need a few days off first, which as luck would have it, are coming later this week! For now, here are the beginnings of the construction of this piece, right at the point when I commandeered the living room table for about two weeks and forbade the opening of any windows for fear the wind would scatter my vision. Can't wait to show you how it turned out.

Dear Etsy,

I don't trust my banners with just anyone and you shouldn't either.

Caitlin of Nice makes The best, best-looking, and best quality fabric-and-felt banners. I had one made for the Nicole + Tom's photo booth, another to hang outside of the venue, and also put Caitlin on a special project with absolutely amazing results. (Photos of those sort of details will be posted soon. I'm waiting for the event to make its appearance on one of my very favorite wedding blogs. Who am I to spoil the big reveal?) For now, enjoy this "Sweet Action" mini banner by Nice, available on - what else - Etsy.

Day and Night

I was browsing nytimes.com this morning and came across the story of a woman who built a tiny Victorian home out of a shed. It is cute and inspiring as can be. Oh, but you have to read the whole story and see her real home. The writer called it a study of contrasts, which is a perfect understatement. Photo by Trevor Tondro.

Power of Packaging

At Felt and Found...

Dear Etsy,

I shudder to think of a world without Etsy, which is why this blog wouldn't be complete without a regular feature highlighting some of my favorite Etsy sellers..."Dear Etsy,". To start, a story of handmade fate!

In the planning of her wedding, Nicole and I regularly came back to Sam + Ian. (Side note: We quite lovingly refer to a few of the couples featured in wedding blogs by their first names. Who is Adam without Halli, after all?) One detail we wanted to borrow from Sam + Ian was the "Happy Tears" stamp to use on envelopes with vintage hankies tucked inside. But for some reason I couldn't find the source. Not even with an exhaustive Google search. I finally relented and put out an Alchemy request on Etsy, but not without quite a bit of guilt - the creator was out there somewhere and I hated to ask for a copy. A friendly Etsy regular responded to my request and referred me to Blossom Stamps as a great source for custom works. So I wrote a quick, hopeful note and received a quick, sweet reply: "Did you know I created the Happy Tears stamp?". The stamp came out perfectly and when I needed another, it seemed Blossom Stamps had created and shipped it before I could even say "Thank you." Quality craftsmanship and speedy service. Happy tears, indeed!

The Little Things

I love this grainy cell phone photo. In fact, I love it so much that I look at it once a day. It was just about 48 hours before Nicole and Tom's big day, I was in their apartment alone, stringing garland out of the fabric flowers I had spent hours upon hours making. Tracing circles on fabric, cutting out circles, gathering circles one by one, threading circles. And poof! A cute little flower. To say it was a labor of love would be an understatement but it was at this moment, when I took this grainy cell phone photo, that I realized everything was coming together. And I loved every bit of it. And I knew the bride and groom would, too. There was a huge sense of relief, and an overwhelming feeling of joy. The tutorial to make these tiny gems is right here.