Craftyminx

Wedding Wednesday

Today I'm going to share a few of online tools that we are using. There are so many useful tools out there and I can't review all of them, but these are the ones that I'm using because they are free, easy to use, and make wedding planning efficient.  Sorry this post is so wordy. I'll share some photos later.

Registry

I have found myregistry.com to be a godsend. You can link all of your registries to this one site, or you can choose to keep it as an "everything else we want" list, which is what we are using it for. We are registered at Target and Macy's for the sake of our family and friends that don't like to shop online. There are people in our families that don't even have the internet.  But with Myregistry.com, you can link to any item in any online store on the web and this includes places like etsy. I love it! The downfall is that things change so quickly on the internet and items sell out fast, especially on etsy. You have to check up on the items you list to make sure that they are still available. As someone that has shopped a lot of registry lists, it is very annoying when you find out what you want to buy is no longer available.

Planners

This is the part where I sing the praises of google docs! I have never really used google docs for the purpose of online collaboration, but a wedding in this day and age requires it. Style me Pretty has teamed up with google to make some pretty awesome and free tools. Before you get overwhelmed with the 20 different templates you can download, I would suggest looking at the wedding planner first. It has all of the templates in one workbook. We didn't need the whole planner so we are just using it for a guest list (we changed up some of the columns to match our preferences) and the address form. Let me tell you about the address form... If you know a lot of your wedding guests' emails, you can send a form to them and they can fill out the spreadsheet for you! I don't know a lot of the email addresses, but I have been able to use it by sending the form to my mom so she can add all the people that they want to invite to the wedding. Sheldon and I share the document, so any changes that either of us makes can be seen by the other person, that way we always have the most updated list.

A rep from myweddingworkbook.com recently tipped me off to a really great wedding organizational tool. My Wedding Workbook is a must for anyone planning a big traditional wedding with lots of vendors and many guests.  I could see someone with a smaller wedding being able to use it, but I think a lot of it's functionality wouldn't get used. I have too much information in other places to want to move it all over at this point, but this is a wonderful tool that is robust enough for any wedding. I might have to use it for our budget, since we haven't got a lot of that in writing yet. We'll see.

Websites

Oh wedding websites... what a headache you have caused me. I really didn't want to pay for a website that was only going to be live for a year. Wedding websites, through the actual wedding website vendors are expensive compared to a regular website's costs per year. A few of the more popular sites are ewedding.com mywedding.com theknot.com weddingtracker.com and weddingjojo.com.

We went with mywedding.com because their site is 100% free and has a lot of functionality. I also found that they had way more theme options than the others. However, wedding websites are kind of corny and if you're a DIY gal like me, you're not going to be 100% happy with the themes that they have and then throw the fiance into the mix who thinks that "all wedding websites are lame" and you'll have issues. It took Sheldon and me quite awhile to agree on the template and in the end the one we are using is kind of boring, but it works. I really had to get past the fact that the website was in no way going to match our Save the Dates or Invites and that it was only going to be an information tool for our guests.

I hope you all enjoy this little detour from my normal crafty exploits. I promise Wedding Wednesdays will have a lot of my DIY projects in the future, but right now it is all about the planning. In fact, next week I have an exciting thing to share with you all... our save the date cards! Handmade the lazy way by yours truly :)

Oh Hai

Bella wanted to peek in and say hello this evening. She had a bath and was feeling pretty.

I have class this weekend and hopefully we'll be painting on Sunday, so I may not be around until Monday. I might have some studio progress to share :)

Have a good weekend! And for you Okies out there, I took some new goods over to DNA. Galleries in the plaza district if you feel like shopping. There are Embroidered onesies and bibs, crocheted bows, scarves and some jewelry.

Wedding Wednesday

I've decided that I should have a scheduled wedding talk post once a week, so welcome to Wedding Wednesdays!

With all of the crazy things I have going on in my life right now, wedding planning is probably somewhere closer to the bottom of the list at this point, when it should be at the top. However, I am on schedule and have a lot of plans already in the works. My favorite friend throughout all of this is the Real Simple Weddings publication.

 I know there are plenty of books and planners out there to assist with the wedding planning process. I've looked through all of them, but none of them have been as helpful as this little magazine. I'm not sure when Real Simple began this publication, but I bought the 2009 copy as soon as we got engaged. And when 2010 rolled around I bought that one too. They are pretty much the same as far as all the resources are concerned. All of the inspiration photos, real wedding features and everything else are updated in the new issue.

While you should definintely pay the $15 for this magazine (it's so much cheaper than many of the planners out there and comes with some really great inspiration as well) most of the best resources in the magazine are free! All of the great checklists and lots of other great information are on the Real Simple website. The ultimate wedding planning checklist is perfect for me because it has about 10 things you should be doing at certain times throughout the months before the wedding. I do those, I check them off the list and I'm  golden. I love it. :)

We also found the registry essentials checklist to be very helpful while we were registering at Target on Saturday. We were able to decide what we could get at Target and what we wanted to get at Macy's or other online stores through myregistry.com.  There were a few things we could check off because we already had them, and didn't need an upgrade. It really helped keep Sheldon from getting trigger happy, although we did get a little over excited in the electronics section. 

This publication is my bible right now. And did I mention that if you buy the magazine all of the checklists are in a little tear out booklet that you can keep on your person at all times?! The 2009 version was smaller than the 2010 so I have it taped into my little inspiration notebook I keep in my purse. I love being able to have everything at hand and not having to lug around a big notebook.

So wedding graduates, what were your favorite tools for wedding planning when you had to go through the process?

This post brought to you by...

...my neighbors who are wonderful and don't have a password on their wireless network. Our internet has been down all day so I've found the perfect spot in the house to leach off of a neighbor. 

I just thought I would share a few things from our Valentine's Day. 

Sheldon was sick all weekend so we didn't do much. He had some beautiful flowers delivered on Friday. 

We registered at Target on Saturday. This was great fun! Sheldon was so excited he could hardly contain himself. 

On Sunday, I decided to make donuts. I used the Pioneer Woman's recipe, because really she's never led me astray so far. I have had a really bad history of making homemade donuts so I was a little skeptical that these would be any better. They turned out perfect! Light, airy, and not overly sweet. Ok, so they could have been even lighter, but I have a super drafty kitchen and it just wasn't going to get better, but even in my case, these were awesome! The only thing I will change next time is to make chocolate glaze, because that's my favorite. 

I would like to say that these are hearts just because I thought it would be cute for Valentine's Day. They are awfully cute, but really hearts are the only cookie cutters I have in the right sizes. I don't even have circle cutters. I make biscuits with a Wonder Woman glass from the 70s. That's the biscuit making glass, not the donut making glass. 

We also had dinner at the Paseo Grill on Sunday. It was wonderful! Best food I've had this year. 

Anyway, we had a great weekend of love. What crafty/fun things did you all do for heart day?

Ice Days

We had a "wonderful" ice/snow storm come through on Thursday, giving us a 3 and a half day weekend. It was lovely. The laying around doing nothing part, not the being scared that our electricity would go out part.

I don't think our street has ever looked so pretty.

Let's ignore how dirty the gutters are.

Ok so I say I did nothing, but really I managed to get some embroidering done. These are from the sexy librarian transfers from Sublime Stitching. I don't know why I waited so long to stitch them. They are wonderful and my boy and I both work for the library system. It's a natural fit.

I'm not sure what to do with them yet. I will probably just leave them in hoops and put them on my wall at work.

Speaking of embroidery... I had the cutest idea for a free downloadable embroidery pattern just in time for Valentines day. Once I actually started working on it though, it morphed into three images! So I have some work to do. One is finished, I just have to stitch it. I still have to clean up the other two in photoshop, but they will be ready soon! I can't wait for you to see them. I'll post the first installment as soon as I can stitch it up :)

Why hello there 2010...

source

I have been so busy working on goals that I haven't yet been able to post them on here...oops

1. Wedding prep!! - the most important thing this year. This wedding is a go and I haven't really done anything.
2. Blog more - Inspiration, wedding updates, tutorials, and more. I have a lot to say, but often, not a lot of time to say it. I think this will require writing on weekends and posting throughout the week. It could work ;)
3. The blog needs a facelift.
4. House renovation - there are many things that need to be done, but I would really like to concentrate on the craft room, dining area, and kitchen this year.
5. Etsy - I've been slowly collecting things to open a vintage shop on etsy and I also plan on reopening the handmade store.
6. Craftyminx - I decided this is the year for Craftyminx to expand. My goal is to sell in 3 brick and mortar stores and do at least one more craft show this year. (I have already started working on this goal and I now have homemade goods in DNA Galleries in the Plaza District!)
7. Graduate - This is my last semester of Library school. It would be great to move past school and not have to ever go back!
8. Cook more - Sheldon and I both love to cook, but we find ourselves eating out way more often than we should mainly because we like to go to new places. But we really need to be making our own food and this will probably be the hardest goal, because of the time it takes. I don't want to cook when I've been working all day and know I have crafting fun that I would rather do.

Of course there are the old standby goals of saving money, being healthy, and paying off the credit cards (which is definitely happening this year!) but do I really need to add those to the list?

So what about you? What is your biggest goal for 2010??

Home

We had a lovely Thanksgiving. We spent most of our time with Sheldon's family. I'm getting more used to being with a big family. It's nice. There is always something going on. Especially with the girls around.

My favorite thing to do after I get home from a trip is sleep in my own bed. Now that I am well rested, I have two days to do whatever I want before going back to the daily grind.

I have to make our advent calendar!!! and finish my holiday organizer. I worked on the latter a lot on Thursday night at my parents' house but it still needs some work.

I crocheted most of the weekend. It was the easiest thing to do without taking up space. I made 3 granny square scarves and 4 hats. I would post a picture right now, but I'm going to be lazy this morning. :)

We are going to clean today and get out the Christmas decorations. I love decorating for Christmastime. Sadly, my house is so small I don't have room for many things. I guess I'm ok with this, but I would really like to be able to put up a big tree and all of my ornaments. 

Tomorrow, I must finish my coat! It is getting really cold here and I'm ready to show off my handmade creation. I'm really close to being done. I just have to hem it and do the buttons. I probably need to take it to the dry cleaners to get off the fuzzies and give it a good pressing, but I probably won't. 

Ok, I've got to get busy! I'll leave you with some cuteness from the weekend...

Just Breathe

I've been telling myself that a lot lately. I'm also catching myself with a clenched jaw at times. No idea why. I'm so happy right now, but way busy. My day job is really busy right now, which is wearing me out. My brain feels fried about 60% of the time. I had to drop one of my classes. It was silly for me to believe that I could take two classes in the fall... craft fair season and the busiest season for work don't mesh well with school.

I've managed to make a few things. I've finished the portrait of Sheldon's niece Anna. Now I'm working on one of his other niece. Take a look... I'm really proud of how it turned out. You can see a detail shot and the original photo on my flickr page if you're interested.

My embroidery  class at the Deluxe Craft Weekend turned out really well. I hope my students had a good time and learned a lot. I'll be teaching a 4 hour embroidery class in November that will cover the basics as well as portraiture and transfer methods. I'm hoping to finalize a date and time by next week. I'm still working on the class description for it. 

Yesterday was Sheldon's birthday. It was really important for me to give him something handmade. And with him living with me, it was hard to make him something myself so I asked my friend Stephanie to paint a Virgin Mary planter that my friend Jenny gave Sheldon. He has a pretty big collection of Virgin Mary art and had taken a liking to one of Stephanie's pieces at Deluxe in the spring, so I knew he would love it.

I probably should have taken before and after pictures, but didn't she do a wonderful job!? If you are ever in the market for some wonderful art, check her out at http://www.myspace.com/crypt_o_licious. 

Our weekend plans include birthday dinner tonight at Iron Starr, Football watching for Sheldon and crafting time for me. Sunday is the Native American Festival at the Downtown Library. Sheldon has been coordinating it and it's going to be great. For more info check out the library webpage.

My light in the darkness

Thank you all for your kind comments/e-mails regarding my anxiety problems. While I'm sad there are many of you that feel the same way, I am glad that I'm not alone. I started Lexapro about three weeks ago and things are much better. While I am still getting slightly anxious about things, I can process it and make it go away without it being overwhelming and turning into a multiple day freak out fest, which is really nice. I prefer this much more over the prozac that just made me feel like an unemotional zombie. I kind of like feeling things.

So anyway, My crafting has been back to a work in progress and as per my usual I am doing about a million things at once.

I've been embroidering more for blankets and I added a couple more designs. For some reason, I'm currently finding embroidery much more comforting than knitting. This is a weird thing for me because I usually just want mindless movement that becomes repetitive and soothing. Now, I'm finding the details in embroidery to be calming.

This is my newest design:

I've been toying with the idea of making a Bella portrait for awhile. Mainly because it is going to be my next tattoo. While a regular black and white portrait would be fine, I just had to make it crafty.  And after scouring the interwebs for pictures of actual embroidered looking tattoos, (there really aren't that many) I decided that it should be the medium I use. I talked to my tattoo artist last night and he loved the idea and told me to get stitching so he can tattoo it. It's nice to have him as excited about the tattoo as me. I'm not quite sure I'm ready for the tedious four and a half hour session it will take, but I'm going to hope that the back of my shoulder doesn't hurt nearly as bad as the back of my leg (damn those were painful!).

I never thought I would be someone who liked getting tattoos. I always wanted at least one, but figured I would stop after that. Seeing how I got two my first time, I guess I should have realized that I wouldn't be stopping any time soon. And much to my family's chagrin, I intend to get more. I just love the idea of being able to carry around artwork with me at all times, especially when it has a special meaning. My Hello Kitty bows always remind me of my mom, because she would take me to this little drug store by our house when I was about 3 and would let me pick out Hello Kitty stuff. Little did she know she would start a life-long obsession.

Bella is the first dog I've had that is truly mine. She came into my life during a really awful period of depression and anxiety and I needed her just as much as she needed me. Her little 3 pound self brought me out of the darkness I had been in for months. She always makes me smile and reminds me that there is something in this world that needs me to survive. I will be so happy when I can have her with me at all times!

Happy Friday!

Allergies have made me feel a lot like a zombie this week, so I'm hoping a feel better this weekend. I have so much to do! I'm going to make a list here so I can be held accountable.

1. Finish class work - I have 2 quizzes, 2 online disussions, one 2-page exercise and a 5-page paper due by Wednesday. Along with many journal article and book chapters to read. My goal is to finish everything this weekend. This will be the hardest thing to focus on!
2. Clean for house guests - Sheldon has some friends staying with us on Monday. I'm still scared to show people the craft room for fear that they will be eaten, but Sheldon loves "showing off" my studio even when it is a death trap.
3. Take Bella to the vet. shot time = hate mommy for the rest of the day
4. Give Bella a bath
5. go thrifting with my friend Jenny.
6. Relax and drink some wine (this will be the reward of so much work)

A picture from our Oklahoma Vacation at summerside winery. They make THE best blackberry wine!

I hope I get all this done, though knowing me I'll take bella to the vet, go thrifting and lay on the couch until Sunday night and wonder where the weekend went. Then I'll have to stay home and do homework while Sheldon and friends go to pint night at McNellies and dinner at Iron Starr. Allergies do this to me. I don't feel like people for weeks, and then I wonder why the dishes are piled up so high that I can't walk through the kitchen.

What are your weekend plans? And please, feel free to drop me an email to ask how my list is coming, or to tell me to get off my ass and do something. I need constant motivation. :)