Progress updates: hitting the post office and wiring brooches

Once the Save the Date cards were made I made the envelopes (using silver and black stamps on the front and lining them with a lovely blue paper to match the cards) I'm now writing the envelopes (i'm attempting calligraphy and it's turning out OK!) which believe it or not is the hardest job: I actually don't have anyone's addresses (i'm an email kind of gal!) so gathering all the addresses is taking longer than I thought. We're planning to send these out on Monday though - I can't wait to get them out of the house, and get peoples reactions to them (and then I can show them you guys properly too!) I've also been sat in front of the TV making Thank You cards: these are really simple cards using just two stamps and a ribbon bow, so they didn't take too long to do (unlike our complicated invitation design, which i'm dreading getting started on!!)

The other job i've been working on other the past couple of weeks is starting to put together the brooch bouquet. So far only three brooch "flowers" are complete, but i'm really pleased with how they're looking. I think finding the right brooches is going to be the hardest job, because I really want to use some enamel flowers, and they're difficult to find!

To put them together I have been threading wire around the pin to lock the 'flower' and the 'stem' together. Then for extra security I wrapped a pipe cleaner around each end of the pin. The pipecleaners were then drawn into the middle and twisted all the way down the stem, making it thicker, sturdier, and ensuring the brooch can't fall off. My mum had to show me how to do the next bit: take florist tape and wrap tightly around the stem and create a bulb around the bulk of your pin and wiring work: this makes it look more like a flower, and makes sure none of the pipecleaner will be seen at the end when you put the bouquet together

This is a massive job: so far I only have 3 completed flowers, and the final bouquet will need 75. I haven't quite worked out how these individual flowers will turn into a bouquet yet, but as I have another 72 brooches to source and wire before I have to worry about that, it's a bridge we'll cross when we come to it!

Love, Tor xx

It's getting late, so save the date!

Yesterday was a flurry of activity in the home of chief crafty sister Lucy: chief cupcake bakey sister Amie and I turned up for a day of hard work creating the save the date cards. We'd decided we wanted to get them created in one day. So we organised ourselves into a production line, and got to work! It was actually a lovely day (although both sisters complained their hands were left like misshapen claws) It was nice to sit around a table and have a good gossip, whilst having an activity to keep our hands busy!

I don't want to reveal the final card design until we send them out next month (I want it to be a suprise for some of the guests that might be reading this!) But I will share some pictures of the "making of" (usually saved for the special edition DVD!) Here we go:

I'm really excited about how they turned out, and can't wait so send them: we're going to do that at the beginning of next month. The cards are now finished, I just have the envelopes to work on. I've stamped the fronts of them (and they're looking great!) They now just need lining with some lovely blue paper, which is very time consuming and a labour of love. Yes, apparently, love is lining envelopes. Who knew!

Love, Tor xx

Stationary money saving tips part one

Today on folksy I fell in love with these gorgeous Alice in Wonderland place cards:
However at £5 for just 5 cards, they were a little over my stationary budget (I need 75 cards plus there is all the other stationary to get too!)But i'm not one to be deterred, and a little research found the exact same stamps used on these cards from Kaycee Crafts and each stamp cost just £3.25 and you can use it as many times as you like!!


Obviously there is a little more work involved in making them yourself, and it's lovely to be able to pay someone to do the work for you, but I am looking forward to doing some of the wedding stuff myself! You can buy the blank place cards on ebay for£2.99 for 100, which means the total cost of creating my place cards will be just £9.49 (plus the cost of the ink), leaving me with 25 cards left over in case of errors, and the best thing is, i'll have the stamps to use again to really bring the Alice in Wonderland theme to the fore. It's all starting to get very exciting!!

Love, Tor xx