What to do about June gloom?

If the weather is going to be all misty like this we might as well pretend to be in Ireland. My friend recently got back from a trip there and I've been checking out her blog for photo postings of the trip. Those Irish sheep are so darn cute that when I took Cory to the groomers this morning (so misty I had to use my windshield wipers!) I asked for a lamb chop. Or maybe I didn't quite ask for that, but Cory came out with a nice short 'lamb cut' and he reminded me of Sissel's photo of some lambs. Really, check out her blog Cory looks like a lamb. Oh how I'd love to go there!

Well, Ireland is out, for now anyway, so I'll just enjoy our hydrangeas which make me very happy when they are in bloom like this. I bet Ireland has hydrangeas too.

With a gloomy day like today I think I'll create a wedding invitation in shades of gray, with maybe a touch of yellow since I'm hopeful the sun will come out... tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar!

Another something new...

I have a shop on Etsy.com. Pretty crazy. Inspired by the invitation in my last post, I decided to concentrate on a "banner" niche. Invitations, announcements and cards that are a declaration! The first one I created was the card for our niece and that got me hooked. My gift tags are just mini banners. Somehow my padded hangers got in there too! Please check out my shop on Etsy at http://kimgrantink.etsy.com/ and spread the word!

And a big "Congratulations" to Dave & Marsha who are now grandparents, and to Matt & Katie the loving parents of their new baby girl Ryen.

Celebrating Marriages

Back in 1980 my parents celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary and in 2006 my husband and I did the same. They had a big bash, we had a small gathering, but a special invitation is something both couples did. My mom had acquaintances that made stunning screen printed artwork for invitations and calendars and such so she went to them for something different, and WOW it's still fabulous 29 years later. (lower left) Printed on gray felt with lavender, fuschia, silver and white ribbons sewn on it made for a declaration invitation. I guess we share a love of lavender as I used the same as well as pink for our theme. I created our invitation in shades of gray with the purple and silver paper as a background.

I asked our guests for their wedding albums the week before the party. As part of the table decorations I scanned some pictures from each album, printed them on vellum paper and matted them in silver and put three framed photos together with a votive candle inside to illuminate them. Then I printed out photos, one of each guest, and used them as place cards as well as favors. I asked everyone to sit at the place where their spouse's photo was. Gee, we were all so young!

The invitation by Marilyn Pace and Karen Wilson still inspires me almost 30 years later! Thank you ladies.