house wren studio

wedding photos

Oh Darling! has some photos from The Wedding up on their blog. Maggie and James!

cookies for the road

Back to the wedding!

Here's a little DIY project we did for the tables at the reception. Maggie and James opted for platters of fabulous Italian cookies and pastries in lieu of wedding cake. Dessert arrives at such a busy time at the wedding - lots of dancing, visiting and moving around. In case not everyone had a chance to sit and eat cookies, we made a box for each table with bags and ties for take-away. And yes, they were all gone when it was said and done. Not a single bite left anywhere. (I went to the bakery later to get a taste of what I missed! Fantastic mini- eclairs and napoleons!)

Maggie art-directed this project and I had a fun day making 20 boxes for the tables. Started with a simple penne pasta box (freebies collected from the local deli the day after a big pasta salad project for a catering job). Different sizes would have been okay since the boxes are on different tables, but it was nice that I didn't have to reinvent the method for other sizes. We got the clear, gusseted bags and ties from Michael's. Important note: inside the store, the very same clear bag product is cheaper in the candy/cake decorating department. The ones in the gift bag/wrap department were 2x the price.

I cut the tops off the boxes and cut down the sides at an angle and then across the front. After the first one with marker lines drawn for cutting, I knew where the box design points were to use as cut lines.

Then I got out the vintage sheet music stash and started decoupaging with Mod Podge. Each box took about 1 1/2 sheets for outside and inside. I didn't go all the way down the inside walls but didn't want the gray inside to show when empty so the back wall got the most papering.

The biggest challenge was how to store the twist ties without losing them inside the box. Took some thinking and playing around, but I was soooo proud of my little origami folded pocket for the side!

I folded the paper down for a strong top edge, then pleated the side edges and glued the pleated sides and bottom to the finished box. The decorative ribbon (left over from the invitations) helped hold them in place as well - those twisties are slippery, wild little things!

For the front label, I used cardstock, a rubber stamp for the plaque and a sharpie to write the message. You have to know how much I loved doing this. Just a little thing really, but one of my favorite wedding details start to finish. Who doesn't love a little bag of cookies to take home?

It's a holiday weekend! Make something just for fun. xoxo

thinking about :: spring bridal veil

When I was at the farm that day, I found a bridal veil shrub (spirea) against the stone wall. It's a signature spring flower for me. Our pink house in Oak Park was hedged with a porch-wide bank of these out front and on the southern side yard too where the mock orange grew. In the spring, in a good year, the bushes went completely white, the branches massed with tiny blooms spilling over the sidewalk path in a flopsy, careless way that defied pruning or taming. I loved that drenching wildness and remember the girls running up the porch stairs, their hair dotted with the little white petals....just like a bridal veil.

The perfect flowers for children snipping a sprig for a doll or their mother clipping armfuls for a basket, bridal veil stands out as The Flower of that house and time. Scenting the room with the unique bright hope of spring, their little white confetti petals scattered everywhere. Things like that stay with you, like the sound of a certain door opening, the light through a morning window. The shape of that little tiny flower is so pretty, so delicate and strong.   

I grew up in Missouri- clear across the state from Joplin. So much of what I love and care about began there in the midwestern countryside. It is magical and true. What anyone in Joplin would give right now for the strength and beauty in a simple flower out front, the laughter of a child playing in a backyard garden. My heart goes out to all who have lost so much. I'll be home again in St. Louis next week for Mary's workshops. I'm thinking about something we can do together for Joplin. I'll keep you posted on that.

pillow perfect

Hey, Mom - your pillow's finished!

Gosh, it looks really, really sweet at my house ......

....................  ?  .....................  ?  .....................

Okay, okay. I know. Be right over. xoxo

(and Jane, yours is in the hoop!)

looking for lambs

It has been raining and raining and raining here. My side yard is a pop up duck pond (with a mallard pair paddling around) and it's hard to recall the gorgeous, sunny days we just enjoyed. But .... last week we went back up to Stone Barns to see if there were any lambs yet. A week earlier the farmer said he thought around the 10th. 

See that tractor path winding up the green meadow? The sheep were way up there. Mom's caregiver, Larisa and I decided to go for it. We pushed and pulled the wheelchair up the path to the sheep on the hilltop. That was something - ruts, stones, the hill. It took a long time. Seriously, a chuckle and a fierce work-out.

But, alas, no lambs. See Stella over there on the right? She decided not to bother about us, panting and weary. Not much of a threat to her girls resting in the shade. 

Back down the hill, there was plenty to see and admire all around.

The beekeepers were having a training session.

Piglets snuffling around.

I'm partial to the authentic, working parts of the farm.

The late afternoon sun was warm and intense. 

Up by the restored barns, shop and restaurant, everything is manicured and pretty.

The red bud. My favorite tree. Transitioning from spring flower to summer leaves.

After the hill, my mom and I looked back from the bottom of the tractor path. That bumpy climb was as hard on her, white knuckle holding on, as it was on us. She said the place reminded her of where we grew up in the country outside Saint Louis. We chatted about that for a few minutes - some memories - both sweet and sorrowful. It made me so sad that she couldn't hear the red-winged blackbirds, the cows mooing or the tractor puttering in the distance, the sounds that made me feel like a carefree kid, nostalgic and happy. But when she took my hand to say thank you, I was really grateful that we took the chance and climbed that raggedy hill after all.

Didn't really matter what was up there at the end of that twisting rocky path. 

No doubt, one of these days there will be baby lambs too. 

trimming

Today's to-do is to finish up that sampler pillow and start trimming the stash pile. I'm making up some studio fabric bundles with a special bonus project to share with you.

Have a lovely Monday!

wedding papers for their scrapbook

We're still waiting for the wedding photos which is why I haven't had much to share after the first blast. One of these days, there will be more. For now I want to show you the paper parade created just for their day. Not all matchy-matchy, the designs came from different designers with their own styles: Maggie, Mary, Anne and Erin. Each has its own look and we love each especially for that reason. So if you are starting to create for an event, maybe these will encourage you to go in your own direction. 

Above is one of Maggie's early inspiration boards. It was a place to start shaping up all the many details to follow. The colors and feeling stayed pretty true to this version. Forgot to forward this to Mother Nature for a bit of sunshine and spring warmth.

******

Maggie's postcard to save the date. Printed at Overnight Prints using a postcard special. The Year of the Rabbit (and on this occasion, the Artichoke).

Anne's program, printed locally on cardstock, folded.

Anne's menus. Per cent'anni! (for a hundred years!) Best food ever at a wedding!

Erin's coasters printed online for the after-party at a local pub. (Beer pong, anyone?)

Mary's thank-you cards from the invitations she designed.

Maggie made this quickprint sheet to go with the welcome gift bags for those staying at the hotel. (She also made custom activity/treat bags for each of the 12 children [!!] attending the wedding. Good idea and big hit!)

This is so Maggie. I love her handwriting, cleverness, humor and the thoughtfulness that went into this whole presentation. 

Details on getting to the party the night before.

And the wedding the next morning.

And the farewell brunch on Sunday.

The contents ...... including the most amazing locally baked scones + Advil for "the weekend warriors." 

Each piece of paper was designed and shared with a great deal of love, the spirit of fun and blissed out celebration. Really, that's what it's all about, right?

Exactly what we enjoyed on the day of their wedding!

happiness is .....

I finished my new sampler Sunday afternoon on Mother's Day. Such a wonderful day. Each of my girls fussing over me and their grammy in their best, sweetest way. The sun was out, the birds were singing and flying, the dogwood was fully in bloom. Mom was there watching me take the last couple of stitches. 

And then she said, "Can I have that?" She never asks for anything. Especially these days when she is feeling way past the need to acquire stuff. It's Mother's Day. Of course, I said yes. 

Problem is that I also promised it to Jane for her birthday. When I got around to naming the design, it was halfway stitched. Even though it wasn't a perfect likeness, I thought of her Katie and Andy up there in the windows, her Ben at the door and Roxy in the window. The whole thing just sort of (and I do mean sort of) looked like her beloved house in Barney Park- sold last summer. With her birthday coming up, I thought it should be for her. And I told her so.

But Ben was a black lab and Roxy is gray. I was planning to take out these dog/kitty stitches and redo them for her. Instead, I'll make another one. This time I'll drop the spots and make Ben's tail longer so he looks like a lab. 

Works for me too. I get to stitch it all over again!

artists united with love for Japan

Jenny Doh and Rebecca Sower organized this wonderful effort to raise money for Japan. It's a reverse auction with 100% of the proceeds going to benefit the American Red Cross. I'm so honored to be invited and included among such outstanding artists.

Please visit the link at Crescendoh.com and take a minute to view the gallery of art created and offered just for this cause. So exciting to see what we can accomplish when we work together to make a difference in the world!

Happy Mother's Day! xoxo