In His Grip

I lost My Purpose?

If you have followed this blog for any time at all you recognize that I have not been around much this year.  I am still here doing my creative thing. I just have not been posting much.  There is no excuse or reason other than I have lost sight of my purpose for this place where I share my thoughts, creative ideas, and just a bit of my life.  However, I feel  I am back on track, my purpose has been renewed and I am ready to reenter the land of my blog-o.  So let the blogging begin once again and thank you for your patience.

Bridesmaid Cupcakes

This week Anna received this beautiful cupcake from a girlfriend of hers.  Ashley is getting married in May and she wants Anna to be in her wedding as a bridesmaid.  Wow, what a cute and fun way to ask your friends to accompany you on your big day.  The cupcake not only was cute but even came with its own little "diamond" ring and tasted good as well.  If this is what it looks like for Ashley to ask her bridesmaids, I cannot wait to see the wedding.

Linked up to:  Today's Creative Blog, One Tough Mother, Silly Little Sparrow, Skip to My Lou, Sugar and Dots, My Girlish Whims, The Thrifty Home, Blue Cricket Design, Sew Woodsy, The Tablescaper, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter,Itsy Bitsy Paper, So Much Ado, One Tough Mother, Sweet Peas and Bumblebees, Handy Man, Crafting Woman, Women Who Do It All, Seven Thrity-three, Someday Crafts, Tea Rose Home. Lil' Luna, Momma Hen Scoop, Sugar and Dots, {Primp}, Sommewhat Simple, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Tales From Bloggeritaville, Gluesticks, Momnivore's Dilemma, Beyond the Picket Fence, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Simply Sweet Home,Truly Lovely, Finding Fabulous, The Shabby Nest, Someday Crafts, Passionately Artistic, Goodbye city, Hello suburbs, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Make it Great Monday,Vintage Gwen, Sew Country Chick, 5 Minutes Just for Me

Wedding Post #4 -- Just Married

Several months before the wedding Ryan made one last request of his dad.  Could he and Paula use his "lil' red truck" to drive away in?  If any of you know my husband you know how much he cares about his "lil' red truck" keeping it in tip top shape. This request came with a number of problems first, the wedding was in Lincoln and we live in Kansas.  And then they really had to have a "Just Married" sign on it too, right?.  This was Jeff's only assignment of the entire wedding.  He has a great friend that loaned him a car hauler so he could tow the truck to Lincoln rather than drive it and get road dirt on it.  Yes, really, this was a worry. First problem fixed.  The next obstacle was to figure out how to get a sign on the truck without adhesive or anything that could damage the paint job.  This required Jeff to take a trip to Hobby Lobby.  He is not a big fan of the store, but he would do anything for his kids.  He found foam in the necessary colors and made his sign out of foam and tying it onto the tailgate with ribbon.  Problem solved.  There was concern about rain, but the weather cooperated and the "lil' red truck" did not get a drop, whew!  The "lil' red truck" was a great get away vehicle.  I cannot wait to see the photos.

Wedding Post #3 -- More Details

Ryan and Paula took so much time and effort in the details that I just cannot leave any out. It was these details that made this wedding special and so much their own. One of their artist friends took the chalkboard that Paula found on sale for 60% off (see I told you she fits right in with the Sturmans) and made this wonderful sign to greet the guests as they entered the church.  My favorite thing that Paula chose to do was the pictures down the center aisle instead of expected pew bows.  She purchased frames from the Dollar Store, spray painted them all gray, and placed black and white prints of their engagements pictures in each.  We had to get a bit creative to get them to hang straight on the pews, but nothing a little hot glue won't take care of.  Yes. . . the hot glue just peeled right off later no need to think we defaced the church.  The string globes were a last minute addition to the guest box/book table. I had made dozens of them for the rehearsal dinner tables so we just reused a couple of them to dress up that table as well.  If you are getting bored with my wedding posts, I think there will be only one more so stay tuned.

 

Wedding Post #2 -- The Fashion

On day two of the wedding post I will be highlighting the fashion that was part of the big day.  We have known for a long time that Paula would fit right into the family but when she said the colors for the wedding were pink and gray, confirmed it for us. I always say, when in doubt, pink is always the right choice.  As far as we are concerned the "right" choice has been made all around.  I helped Paula with the alterations for her dress, so it was at our house in Kansas City for a couple of weeks.  I came upon the idea to embroider the wedding date into the hem of her dress as a surprise. Needless, to say she loved the added special touch.  Paula's dress was beautiful and she was a stunner.  For the reception she added a pink satin sash with a fabric flower and antique broach in the middle.  I am so disappointed that I did not get a good picture of the sash, as it added a fun, yet sophisticated element to the dress for the party.  In looking through photos of Ryan for the slide show at the reception, I realized I had been posing him for pictures of his clothes since he was a little boy.  So why would that be any different on his wedding day.  All I had to say was, I need to take a piccture of your outfit and he struck "the" pose.  The entire bridal party wore Toms shoes, the gals wearing gray wedges and the guys black lace ups. What a great looking group the wedding party made.  More detail to come.  

 

Wedding Post #1 -- Crafts & Details

This is the first of several posts that will highlight the fabulous wedding that my son and his new wife (I love saying that) created for us all to celebrate. On August 19th our son married the one that stole his heart and we added another daughter to our family. I arrived on the Tuesday before the wedding to help with some last minute details.  Ryan, Paula, and I had a great time finishing up some of the crafty kinds of things that they wanted to make their wedding a one of a kind.

The two of them came up with the idea that instead of having a guest book, they had a guest box that they made. The guests were able to write a note of well wishes to the bride and groom and place it in the box behind the proper alphabetical heart.  

The large gray bucket had all of the bubbles for the bride and groom get away and the small pink damask buckets were for the flower girls to drop their petals from.  We spent a couple of late nights embellishing all of these items. The small buckets were Mod Podged with pink and white scrapbook paper and I love how they turned out.  

Ryan and Paula designed and put together the programs as well.  I cannot tell how long it took to punch all those holes and then run the ribbon through each one, but in the end, the additional effort was so worth it.  There are more details to come so check back real soon.

Bridal Shopping

With the wedding planning going on for Ryan and Paula's big day, I was very honored when Paula invited the girls and I to Omaha to see the dress she had picked out.  How great to get to see her in the dress.  Having not shopped for a wedding dress since my sister's wedding over 20 years ago, this was going to be fun.  She tried on many dresses that day and to be honest she looked great in every one. 

 
There is really a dress out there for every bride.  But how to choose, these dresses of white come in all kinds of styles, shapes, and sizes.  I was in heaven just looking at all of the work and detail that goes into some of these masterpieces.

A bride can loose herself in a crazy amount of ruffles or if she wants, be adorned with as many sequins and beads as a dress can hold.  None of these dresses shown here are  the "one" that Paula picked, that is top secret, but her choice was none other than perfect for her.  I cannot wait to see how Ryan reacts to seeing his beautiful bride walking down the aisle towards him. We have bets out there, will there be a tear in his eye or not.  My bet is, when he sees how beautiful she is he will not be able to help himself and there will be a tear or maybe two.

 
This whole wedding process is going to be a lot of fun, but the best part about it is that we end up with a great addition to the family.  I think she fits right in, don't you?