Wedding Invitations

 
So, this week I decided to highlight my wedding invitations.  The invitations were all handmade, mostly by myself, with a few little helpers.  I got most of my supplies from Roberts whom I just adore, but no longer is in business.  I got most of them at various sales throughout the year, so they didn't cost me as much as they look like they cost me :)  I got an idea from my friends Sarah and Kirstin to do hand stamped letterpress invitations.  I found a letterpress that would fit into my cuttlebug that I already owned called L Letterpress.  Then, Kirstin and I designed various templates that we sent out to New York City to get made into my custom plates.  The plates are plastic, and they adhere to the letterpress.  Each plate costs $40, but the plates can be cut, so you can put lots of objects on one plate.  Kirstin did a fantastic job with this.  Next came the learning how to use letterpress and stamping.  When it said that you only needed a little ink..... they mean A LITTLE INK!  I learned this the hard way and me and the Clorox company became business partners as I used a lot of Clorox wipes to clean the plates off... again.... and again.... and again.  (It was the only thing that would take the ink off!)  The punch around the edges is a Martha Stewart punch that my mother-in-law had used before, and I knew it would be perfect for my invitations.  Then I added some lovely twine to the invitation, a maple leaf cut from my Cricuit, and my favorite... a little wooden button!  There is a stamp on the invitations that was custom made (another blog post to follow).  Inside the invitations were a map and driving directions as well as a response card and where we were registered along with our cute picture provided by Kirstin Roper.  I believe that they turned out better than I had ever imagined them.  However, I do believe that I learned a lesson here, my cards are fantastic in small supply, not quantity and demand!  So, unless you are family, I don't think that I will be making any more wedding invitations in the near future as over 300 of these babies took quite a while to make.  Cutting, punching, stamping, drying, gluing, tying, embellishing, and putting together took a process that I don't even know what kind of hours we could calculate.  Again, another DIY project of love that my family and friends came together on for our wedding.  Jordon said I was crazy for making all of the invitation, but I loved do it, as I am a card lady, who knew that handmade wedding invitations would make the difference for our wedding.  Although I do not really believe that anyone saved their invitation, I would hope that it is framed somewhere in someones house, as I loved making them for everyone.  (It will soon be framed in our house!)  A huge thanks to my Mother and Mother-in-Law for sending these babies out and putting them together, my mother and sisters for finding the cute envelopes, my sister in law Sable for puting "b & j" on the little maple leafs, my Mother in Law and Father in Law for making those cute buttons, my Mother in Law for helping me punch the edges on the invitations, and my whole family for helping me pick out our wedding photo that we all loved!  Pictures courtesy of Kirstin Roper.  

Invitation set (minus the gorgeous brown envelopes).




Invitation




Invitation



Wedding Photo :)



The reply cards are not included in these pictures, becasuse I wanted to save that for another blog post, as my darling Husband filled out one for himself and sent in to be counted towards the wedding... another day, another time.  Enjoy!

xoxo Britt

Moving on up and out!

Another week has come and  gone, and we are busy as every packing up and moving on out.  Jordon got all of his stuff moved this past week (well his three boxes) and I, well.... I have a few things moved, but it's difficult because I want to keep crafting, and I don't want to pack everything up and move it somewhere where I won't see it for a while.  So, as usual, I will probably pack everything up except my crafts, and save them for last!  Bella likes to help me move my stuff, which can be a little bit tricky sometimes.  She always likes to get in the car first, so that she knows I will leave a spot for her.  The other day, she jump right on in when I opened the door, but she didn't look to see what she was getting herself into.  She got tangled in a chair, and wouldn't get out.  After about ten minutes, we finally coaxed her out.  She was afraid if she got out of the car that I wouldn't take her with me.

Disregard the filthy car :)

The new house is so beautiful, and they moved the "for sale" sign that was out front, so now I feel like it's "our home".  I am loving every second of it!  No pictures for now, but I am working on it!
School was a bit busier than usual this week, as I picked my capstone location.  The Capstone instructor at the U of U said that I should be somewhere busy and that will improve my educational experience.  While I love pediatrics, I sure wanted to do something that would keep me on my toes.  I wasn't able to do my capstone where I currently work in the PICU/CICU at PCMC, so instead I picked Shock Trauma ICU at IMC, the Thoracic ICU at IMC and the NICU at PCMC, so, we will see what I get.  It is a big surprise!  This was also my last week of clinicals for psychiatric rotations.  I will miss this rotation as I have learned a lot about myself during this time.  I really enjoyed the experiences that I received while on this unit.
Jordon is busy as ever, he is going to run a race tomorrow in his turn-outs!  It is the fight for air competition, where they run to the top of the Wells Fargo Building as many times as they can in full firefighting gear!  He is super excited!  I am not sure if I will make it to take pictures or not, but we will see.  Jordon's sister and her family were in town this week.  I was only able to see them for a short time, but they looked so good.  Jordon was able to spend more time with them, and it sounded like he had a blast.  They are all so adorable, and I wish that they lived closer.  Reece and Porter, his sister's kids, are so cute and funny.  They make me laugh constantly when I see them.  Reece calls me "Britain" and Jordon "Jordy"  it is so adorable!
Finally, I broke our house for the first time.... big mistake.  I was pulling out of the garage, and accidentally backed up too soon.  All of a sudden I heard a loud crash!  Oh gosh, I had backed into the garage.  The damage is minimal, and you can barley tell that the garage was hit, but my heart is still broken that we haven't even owned this house for a week and I broke it!  Hopefully I will feel better about it soon, but it makes me sad every time I see it. 
I have been busy making up for lost time with the cards this week and have a few new ones to show off.  I made some thank you cards for my psychiatric teacher and the unit that I did my clinical hours on as well as Jordon has a co-worker whose wife is having a baby girl.  I love making baby cards, but don't get to do it very often, so it it quite a treat when I do get someone who needs one!

Thank You card for the Unit

Inside of card

All wrapped up!

Thank you card for my instructor.



Inside of card (some people had already signed it).



All wrapped up!

Baby Card for Reaggan and JJ.

Inside of card

All tied up.

So, we are going to be busy again next week as I start a new clinical rotation (Peds) I will love it, and Jordon continues to move stuff into our house.  But, we are loving life and having a great time as newlyweds!

xoxo Britt

Monster Love, Home Sweet Home, and Lovely Belts

So... it's been two weeks, and I am a bad blogger, but.... I promise to blog next Friday.  I have been so super busy that I just haven't had time to blog lately.  With being sick and school and....dum da da dum.... closing on our house :) (huge smile)  we have been so busy!  So... here's how the past few weeks have been. 
I am finishing up my psychiatry clinical rotations, and still loving work each and every day.  I am getting a bit nervous about my capstone experience, but know that it will be absolutely amazing.  I have been super busy with homework, which has left me very little craft time :(  breaks my heart!  But I know that going to school is very important. 
Valentine's Day was this week, and Jordon made it extra special.  First, we got up really early and went to the gym together (we're romantic, I know) and then he went to the Library to do homework, while I set him up a little surprise.  When he cam home, he brought me flowers (such a sweet guy!) and then we went out to lunch at Mimi's Cafe.  I love their french onion soup!  Everyone should really try it!  After that he took me to see The Vow, which was a bit of a let-down for a romantic movie.  But, alas, Channing Tatum was in it, so I didn't really care what the movie was about as long as I got to stare at gorgeous Channing for a few hours! (Jordon knows that I have a huge crush on him)  Then we headed up to Snowbird for some swimming and hot-tubing fun at the Cliff Lodge.  The pool and hot tub are outside, so it's fun to go up and swim while it is snowing outside.... kinda magical.  All in all, the day was so nice.
Jordon has been very busy between work and school.  He seems to never be home!  But, we both like being busy, so I know that he is doing just fine.  He is working on his Master's Degree and loves to learn.  The other night he was reading a book about addiction, and I was really quite interested in it.  Hopefully someday, he will pass his knowledge onto me.
Finally.... We signed for our new home on Friday, February 17th, 2012!  We are in heaven to be done with the bank and all of the papers.  I am so happy to have a home where I can live with my handsome Husband and lovable puppy!  Jordon did a really good job of making my Christmas, Valentines, Birthday, New Years, and Anniversary dream come true!  I guess he doesn't have to get me any more gifts this year!  I am so very thankful for my husband.  He is me best friend, and certainly the better half of my heart.  He tries each and every day to make me happy, and he goes above and beyond happy most days.  Thank You My Love, for our beautiful Home.  I will post pictures as soon as we take some.
Here is my Love's Valentine's Day Card... He didn't really get how I tried to convey { Eye Love You} as an eyeball on a monster, the monster's Valentine, and a letter U, but he certainly liked the card... and so did I. 



His sweet present ( a sweatshirt, from his wifey).



Jordon's Monster Card {Eye, Love....



...U}



My Life, My Love :)

I also would like to keep on track with adding a little craft that went with our Wedding.  This week I am going to showcase my cute sister's belts.  Nikki's belt was handmade by moi, and Ashley's belt was made by some very talented person on Etsy.  They both looked so amazing on our Wedding day.  I am so lucky to have both of these girls in my life.  I am not sure what I would do without them most days.  They let me call them up anytime of the day or night and I am so thankful for thier strength and encouragement in my life.  I hope that I can be half of the people that they say I am.  Nikki's belt was made using various soft fabrics (tulle, chenille, satin) and beads of various types.  I was able to get the fabric at Joann's and the beads at Roberts ... I am still so sad that they closed thier doors.  I made the curled edges using a lighter and melted the edges of the fabric a bit.  I was so happy when Nikki asked me to make her a belt.  Ashley asked me as well, but I was just so busy, and she found an amazing belt for super cheap, so I was thrilled for her! Again, all photos are courtsey of Kirstin Roper.

Nikki's Belt

Nikki on the left, Ashley on the Right with thier bracelets.

I love Nikki's face in this one.

 

Beautiful Ashley in the Mirror.

Oh, my gorgeous sisters!

Nikki

Such a model.

Ashley

How Gorgeous.

The ceremony

The Ceremony

Look at those cute belts!

My adorable family!

February beginnings

This week has been full of ups and downs with all sorts of adventures in between.  First off, I can't believe that it is already February!  It started off with me getting very sick... I think I had another kidney stone.  Monday I didn't feel well at all and had to leave clinicals and go home to sleep all day!  But, alas, the week has gotten better as the days have gone by.  School is getting busier and busier.  I counted yesterday, and I only have 24 weeks left... holy cow! Jordon is busy working on his schooling as well.  He has worked down at the Cirque Lodge a few times this week as well.  He seems to really enjoy working with that population.  I have always admired that he has such a soft spot in his heart for recovering addicts.  The house plans are moving right along.  The appraiser went out on Tuesday and got all of his things done.  We are set to close on the 14th of February!  What a great Valentines gift!  I couldn't have asked for anything better.  It is getting so close now, and I am really beginning to get super excited.  I wil post some pictures of our humble abode as soon as I can.  I was able to go and visit my family this week, and they are all doing well.  We had dinner, and I missed out on my little sisters super Heath Cheesecake, because I left early.  Next time Nikki... I promise.  During the holiday season, we had a "secret santa" gift exchange at work.  My little santa was super adorable,and wrapped my presents so nicely.  She gives Martha Stewart a run for her money, and I could also use some pointers :) So, I wanted to give her a huge THANK YOU, but I haven't had time, so I got around to it this week, and since Christmas was over, I went with a little more of a spring theme.  Enjoy!



The front... pink and oranges with ivory



The Inside... with a few buttons



All tied up!



Oh How I love Bows!  Mixing ribbons is so much fun!

I have also decided that I need to start posting about my wedding crafts, since so many people have asked about them, so each week, I am going to throw in a few pictures of what I made for my wedding.  So, it would only be fair to make the first post focused around something that I fell in love with from the beginning, and made thousands of for my wedding....my favorite..... little wooden BUTTONS!  We made a billion of these, and tied them to everything!  Most of the credit goes to my fabulous in-laws on this project as well as my adorable Husband.  I got the idea when I was surfing a craft website one day that showed how to make them from wooden dowels and sticks.  I knew immediatley, that with my rustic wedding, I had to have these little gems.  So, away we went cutting up sticks, and drilling holes, sanding down the sides, and even putting a layer of laquer on them so they shined.  Then we tied them, glued them, and crafted them onto anything and everything to do with my wedding!  Just a little note.... credit needs to be given to my fabulous photographer for the following photos... Kirstin Roper.  She did an amazing job at capturing all of the little details that went into my wedding.  Please do not take these photos without contacting her.  Thank You.

So we started off with the invitations.  Each one had a little button tied to it.

Invitation



The napkins had buttons tied to them thanks to my friends who came out the night before as well as the menu's for dinner.



The groom's sign thanks to my lovely Mother-in-Law.

The bride's sign thanks to my lovely Mother-in-Law.

All of our line's flowers had buttons tied to them thanks to Flower Patch.

Every bouquet had buttons tied to it thanks to Flower Patch

My bouquet.  I just loved how it turned out!



This is a funny story.... so one day Jordon's mom was drilling the buttons and he picked one up and said, that's not a button, that's a Monkey!  (because of the way the holes were drilled, they looked like eyes).  So, we found another that looked like a monkey as well, and my fabulous Mother-in-Law framed them for us.  They now sit in our apartment on my favorite shelf, as our "Monkey Buttons".  The bottom one is me and the top one is Jordon.



My Handsome Husband.  doesn't this remind you of an ad in a magazine?

Our handsome Ring Bearer Porter... with his buttons!

This is Reece... our Flower Girl

Flower Patch tied the buttons to her head wreath

I think it turned out fabulous!

She was absoutley adorable, and stole she show!

She loved the head wreath as well, and wore it all night!

The programs for our ceremony and the list of events.  Jordon helped me tie these ones on... he did such a good job!

My supermodel sister Nicole... with her lovely button bouquet.

My other supermodel sister Ashley.... with her button bouquet.

My photogenic brother-in-law Stone.

Gotta love those little buttons... they just look so adorable!

Jordon's boutineer.

Oh, how sweet...

Me,... being well.... I don't know, but the buttons are so cute!

Love those buttons!

And finally, Buttons on Jordon's sign that his Mom made him, because of his tee-shirt that he designed, fitted with little dangling buttons in the corners.  He loved the sign, I loved that Rebecca did such a great job and the fact that he is smiling in this photo!

 Most of the buttons for our wedding were tied on with twine, hemp, or ribbon.... pretty much anything that looked rustic.  Well, since the wedding, I have become addicted to these little gems.  Including them in all of my thank you cards as well from the wedding.. (pictures to come).  Jordon is getting a little annoyed with the buttons, but I think they are just fab!  If anyone wants to know what to get me, it is a drill, a stick, and a circular saw... with a tiny bit of laquer.  Pure Rustic Button Bliss.  Oh, by the way.... just a few stats for you... each button has to be handled five times before it found it's final resting place.... and we have used over 3,000 buttons... this means that someone has handled buttons for our wedding over 15,000 times..... and that right there folks is pure love!  I cannot place a dollar amount on the time spent on DIY projects for my wedding, but if you can only imagine over 15,000 little pieces of people's hearts that they gave... absolutley incredible and we are so blessed!

xoxo Britt