Wedding Invitation Ideas #1

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

I just finished this mammoth wedding invitation for a customer. Very satisfying, but heaps of work and I'm glad I won't be doing anymore of those until next year. It was a beach themed invitation, with paua shells on the front, tied with gold cord and attached to a shiny black eyelet. Inside, it opened up to white translucent vellum fastened by chrome brads in various shapes. I didn't have a camera to take any photos of them all before giving them to my customer so this photoshop sample will have to do. Doesn't quite do it justice though. Hope to be posting more invitation ideas up next year!!

On the day...

Monday, November 2, 2009

I just love our wedding pics! Didn't actually think both Jay & I could look nice in more than a couple of photos hehe Stephen and Jessie did such an amazing job!

Thanks to everyone who came to our wedding and gave of their precious time, money, services, gifts, etc. We love you all xox

My last week as a single woman...

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

So it's my last week as a single woman...

I've had good times and bad time but am looking forward with great excitement to the journey ahead of me!

Goodbye old, hello to the new chapter in my life.

LOVE, battlefield or other?

Monday, October 5, 2009

I found this little article online and thought it was an interesting take on things.
Let me know what you think...

Is love a battlefield?

How hard to you have to fight for love?

If you listen to pop radio, you have to fight really, really hard for it. Right now, there’s a hit single describing love as a battlefield (not to be confused with Pat Benetar’s “Love is a Battlefield,” which was a huge hit way back when in the Eighties).

I’m always hearing songs sung by well-lit young women describing their pain in love, and these songs usually become giant hits. And it’s no wonder. They can be pretty catchy.The problem is, a lot of other women listen to them and come to the conclusion that love equals pain. If we’re not feeling sad, if we’re not feeling the drama, then we can’t be in love. Furthermore, a lot of us who are in bad relationships tell ourselves, “Hey, this is the way it’s supposed to be. Love is work.” This causes some women to put up with a lot of substandard behavior from the men they spend time with.

Love is not a battlefield. It’s supposed to be joyful, exciting, uplifting, full of mutual attraction, affection, consideration, and fun. (Does this mean you’ll never have a doubt or a disagreement? No, of course not, but if you’re crying more than you’re laughing, something is seriously wrong.)

Love is supposed to be you making a special someone’s happiness your priority. That person should be making your happiness his priority (that’s where the work comes in; sometimes somebody has to make a sacrifice, and and it shouldn’t always be the same somebody).

Accept nothing less than a man who doesn’t expect you to settle for crumbs.

I really liked this article. I thought yeah for sure in marriage there's going to be tough times, and times when you don't like the other person at all & find it impossible to "love" them. But with the right attitude, good support from great friends and a whole lot of prayer, I think it really is possible to love someone for a lifetime. Remembering you're on the same side as your spouse and not at war with them; rather warring together against the god of this age. I can't wait to begin our journey...

Spent, Sore and Swindled

Thursday, September 24, 2009

I'm tired.


As in, completely and utterly exhausted.

I don't even have kids to use as an excuse either.

A combination of long days at work doing thankless jobs for grumpy customers, wedding planning (which I'm so over: 'let's just elope' has been my key phrase these past couple of months), too many late nights due to not being enough hours in the day to get everything I want done. And this is all the while knowing I've cut back my commitments so I hardly have any "church" stuff to do anymore.

But, on the up-side after I've enjoyed a good moan, I'm going on holiday in 2weeks.


I can't wait!


To start a new chapter in my life complete with fresh vision and dreams, to rest, to draw closer to God and my new husband, and to capture anew the meaning of why we're here on this earth.

Wonderful Wednesday...

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

My dress is finished!! WAHOO! That means I don't have to get married in overalls.
Or jeans. Or chuck taylors heh

Thanks to mum and Debra Sampson for all their hard effort these past couple of months

Sorry no pics of it - it's a surprise. You'll just have to be there on the day.
(which is only 3 and a half weeks away YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY)

Did I happen to mention that I'm a
teeny bit excited?

God cares about the little things...

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

I went on a road trip with my bridesmaids on Monday, the first time we've been all together since I got engaged.

It was a hugely successful trip! We had the first fitting for the bridesmaid dresses and they just look so beautiful! We also got some really cheap, but pretty jewelery.

But the really amazing thing that happened was, while we were heading to the dress place, we missed the turnoff and ended up in Onehunga. As we were going down the street, we passed the shoe shop where I bought my wedding shoes. So we stopped to have a look.

Lo and behold, we found the exact same shoe but in gold instead of silver which is the exact colour that we wanted to get and they match my shoes perfectly! And they only cost $20!

It probably doesn't seem like a huge thing, but it really spoke to me, and made me realise that God is in control. Not only is He in control, but He cares about the tiniest details in our lives. Even when it comes down to getting the right colour and style of shoe.

If He can be that interested in our lives, surely He's worth getting to know, and know well.

Things I'm loving at the mo...

Thursday, July 9, 2009

* My Francesca Battistelli cd

* Good books

* Sleeping in my own bed after House sitting for 2 and a half weeks

* Eating all the white Jellybeans before anyone else gets a look-in

* Iced coffees at Shiraz Cafe - Bright Cafe makes a pretty good one too!

* Watching super cheesy movies and laughing really really loudly

* Cheap Haircuts...
I'm sure there's cheaper out there, but it's the cheapest I've found lately.
Only $25 from Excel on Cameron. Wahoo!

* Wedding invitations - 90% done!

* Crazy, funny & downright ugly wedding pics

Running shoes anyone?

Crazy invites

Um?

Click here & here for more wedding posts/good times!

* Offers of help to tidy my room
I still have boxes I haven't unpacked from my last move (about 8months or so ago woopsy) so some very kind people, namely Jon Dylan & my spesh have offered to help!
Yikes could get dangerous...

marvelous mushrooms & the mundane

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

I have decided South Africans are very generous people. Not that I thought they weren't before, but I haven't seen any Kiwis come running back to bring me gifts and apologies for not keeping their word.I also got shouted brekky this morning too by an amazingly gifted gal! Mmmmm beautifully done mushrooms on really nice grain toast with bacon and eggs, topped off with a perfect cappuccino. YUM!
Jealous? Yes, you should be.


A few months ago, I designed some flyers for a customer. I spent quite a bit of time on them and realy went out of my way to make them look good and to give them a competitive price too. They just had one last thing to check over before they got them printed, but they never came back. Boy was I ticked. Sometimes we get a deposit before we do drafts and things, but most times people expect to pay at the end, so we rely on a customer's goodwill and honesty. Anyway, I had forgotten all about it when yesterday, this customer came back into the shop. He was armed with a goodie bag filled with chocolate truffles, a really nice card & a pretty good explanation of why he wasn't able to come back! Turns out his visa had run out and he now has to go back to South Africa for 6 months in order to get new work permits. Crazy times. So I was pretty blessed by this and it really made my day. Goes to show, you can't always judge people for not keeping their word...

Fascinating Friday

Friday, June 19, 2009

My Wedding Planner - Things to do:

Choose a cake...


Invest in some quality his n hers furniture...

Find the perfect decorations...

Hire a band to play at the reception...



Roll out the red carpet for the quality guests...

the spoils of love and war

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

So for my last birthday as a 'single' woman & to mark a quarter century, I got extra spoilt this year. Flowers, chocolates, fudge, clothes, soap personally carved in the shape of a fish, funky mugs, yummy smelling shower gels and moisturisers, jewelery & handmade jewelery holders, books (sorry Flannelgraph - all non-fiction), Chris Tomlin's latest cd (yay), 2 free dinners & Dad even cooked me a self-saucing chocolate pudding! Not to mention an extra spesh 'Jon Dylan' gift yet to come...

So thanks to all my precious friends and family... I am truly loved and blessed!

Wordless Wednesday

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

A picture paints a thousand words...

What is it with me and cars?

I arrived at my car parked in its usual spot in Hatea Drive Car Park to find an empty glove box with stuff strewn all over the floor of my car. Must have been a male thief as all the girly things I had in my car (shoes, tissues, tampons, panadol, perfume, etc) were still there. Although, they didn't take my guitar amp which was in my boot! They were probably dumb and set the alarm off haha. So all's well and waiting on insurance to get back to me so I don't have to pay for window to get fixed. Oh the endless Joys of life...

Tips for ruining your big day...

Thursday, June 4, 2009

As you may know, I'm getting married soon YAY! I've been researching some wedding dress ideas & decided to share my top ten ideas with fellow bloggers...

Number 10: Gone with the wind

Number 9: Look Mum, puffed sleeves

Number 8: Catwalk bride

Number 7: Snow Queen

Number 6: Did someone forget to call the babysitter?

Number 5: The mummy returns

Number 4: Taking tree-hugging to new levels

Number 3: Need some extra decorations? Don't worry, just borrow some of mine!

Number 2: Where'd she go?

Number 1: Ultimate Queen Bridezilla

Things I'm loving...

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Relaxing weekends

Had a great trip to Auckland where we pretty much did nothing the whole weekend except watch music DVD's, play mini-golf & eat at the infamous Kyou sushi place beneath Brendan's new flat. You never realise just how tired you are until you begin to wind down and relax.


Presents
Handmade for me by my spesh :)

Belated engagement present from a very lovely older lady in the church. Presented with a massive hug to go with it.


Bargains
Scored some metallic paper which is usually around 50cents per sheet at the very cheapest for 20cents each! STOKING. Can't wait to make some more invites with them.


'Nifty fingered' friends

A very awesome friend of mine sewed a 50's dress for me. I had cut out the material, but didn't have time to sew it so she very lovingly did it for me (and probably did a way better job too). Add that to my $10 warehouse shoes and you have a complete outfit for under $30!