Bunnies

A couple months ago my cousin, Lily (who is 9 years old), sent me a letter and also a few drawings she drew of her pet bunny.  She already loves to draw, and is really good at it too! I drew these bunnies for her, which I haven't mailed to her yet but I'm still gonna post them because I'm pretty sure no one reads this blog anyway. 

Umbrella guy

I quickly drew this guy tonight as I was watching tv.  I normally color my illustrations in with color pencil, but today I decided to just leave it as a pen sketch.  

Post Wedding!

I know I've been slacking with my posts the past few months, but I finally got married a few weeks ago!  I have been so preoccupied with wedding stuff, that I really haven't had time for much else!  The good news now is that I get to post some of the wedding projects I've been working hard on!  Aside from hand making every invitation and response card, and making my garter, I also hand made the table name cards, gift box, bubble basket, and favors!

This was my gift card box.  First I have to admit, that I was completely inspired by a card box I saw on Etsy by Lacey Claire Designs.  To me, it was perfect, but the $107 it cost was just not in my budget, so I decided to make my own!  I bought a set of three cardboard boxes off amazon for $6, then I went to Walmart and bought two yards of black silk for $11, and a spool of satin ribbon for $2, and I went hard at work!  I carefully measured and cut the boxes so they lined up perfectly so when someone dropped a card in the top it would fall down to the bottom.  I then measured and cut the fabric and spray mounted the fabric around the boxes.  I used a hot glue gun to glue the boxes on top of each other.  Then wrapped the ribbon around the top and bottom, and designed a sign on my computer and vola!  The whole box cost me $19!  It was a little frustrating at times, the fabric kept fraying, and there were times I didn't use enough of spray mount, but it was the first time I ever made anything like this and was very happy with how it came out! 

 

This was my bubble basket.  This was something I did last minute.  I had bought red and black bubbles 6 months ago, but totally forgot I needed something to put them in until my friend gave me a basket she used for her wedding thinking I would be able to use it.  I left the top as it was, but she had the bottom of it covered in white tool.  I, personally, am not a fan of tool, so I took it all out and put in the left over black fabric I had from my box.  I wish I took a picture of it with the bubbles in it, but I didn't!

These are my favors that I put together!  It took me forever to think of something cool for my favors.  I knew I wanted something edible because let's face it, guests don't want some stupid knick knack with our names and wedding date on it.  I found these cute little spice jars at The Christmas Tree Shoppe for $0.89, then I ordered some red and black M&M's online (I really wanted to order the M&M with our names and dates on them, but they wayyyy too expensive!), then I bought some red and black ribbon, and finally designed the little card on my computer and spray mounted each card on black card stock, so it could match everything!  The only frustrating part about these were tying the ribbons, because that is one thing I am not good at.  I also liked these because when the M&M's were gone, the jars could be used for spices.  I have about 10 of these empty jars filled with spices in my kitchen!  In the end, I was very happy with how everything turned out and got so many compliments on them!

This was my last project that I finished 3 days before my wedding.  I hand made all the table name cards.  Very similar to my invitations, which is what I wanted so that everything could tie together.  I probably spent more time on these than necessary, but I was so happy with how they came out!

Well that is it with wedding projects.  I did make a mock up of wedding programs, however last minute I decided not to proceed with making them because 1. I just didn't have the time to make 125 of them, and 2. I know every wedding I've ever been to I always left the programs on the seat or on the ground when I got up to leave, so I didn't want to invest in all that time and money making these if they were just going to be thrown on the ground after the 15 minute ceremony was over.  I'm not the greatest photographer, so when the professional pictures come in hopefully there will be a few of these shots that I can post so you can see how they looked the day of!

Ice cream anyone?

It's been so long since I've done any sketches!  It felt awesome to draw again!

These are actually two separate illustrations, but when I scanned them in, I kinda liked the look of my sketch book's binder so I left it.  These are just some random doodles I drew.  I guess you could say I was in the mood for some ice cream!

Invitations are out!

Ok so wedding invites are out, and I am so relieved!  I honestly didn't think it was going to be that hard doing my own invites, and if I only had to make a few it would have been a piece of cake.  But no, I made 57 of these babies.  It felt like the good ol days of my college internship, where I had to do tons and tons of mock ups.  As crazy as things were making these, I'm super happy with the final product.

Wedding Garter!

I got an awesome sewing machine for Christmas that I haven't been able to step away from since!  It's a Bernette 12.  It's a beginners sewing machine, which is perfect for me since I have very little experience using them.  I've been so busy playing around with it and experimenting with different stitches, patterns, and fabric, that I really haven't been doing much else!   I just finished my hand made wedding invitations (which I will be posting after I mail them out so no one seems them before hand), and figured my wedding garter would be next!  After doing a lot of research, and frequenting youtube tutorials, this is what I came up with!  I wanted to stay away from the typical "something blue" (that is just not me), so I figured I'd make it in my wedding colors, which are black and red.  I did two different ones, and I'm not yet sure which one I am going to wear!

Tis the holiday season!

When most people think of the holiday season, they think of the most joyful time of year!  Spending time with close friends and family, eating delicious baked goods, driving around looking at all the christmas lights and decorations, sending out and receiving Christmas cards, and not only giving, but receiving great gifts!  Not me.  I see the holiday season in a completely different light.  Ever since I've entered adult hood the holidays just haven't been the same.  Decorating the house becomes a chore.  You feel cluttered with the over abundance of christmas decorations in your house (my house definitely looks like Christmas threw up in it).  There are crowds in malls, crowds in grocery stores, traffic everywhere, getting stuck behind UPS trucks driving slow in the fast lane, road rage, and the lovely gesture of flipping someone the bird when they cut you off.  I long for those happy Christmas nights as a child when I didn't have to deal with any of this.  When I was too young and naive to think anyone would ever dread the holidays.

There is one thing, however, I do enjoying doing.  Making Christmas gifts!  Some of my friends have kids, and this is the best/cheapest way for me to give them something, without feeling guilty about not spending a lot of money!  This is a gift I made my little cousin Gennaro.  He is 18 months old, and LOVES popcorn!  I got this awesome little popcorn bucket at Amazing Savings for .99 cents, personalized it with his name on the front, and the word 'popcorn' on the back with my paint pens, and drew little pieces of popcorn and pretzels all over.  And of course I filled it with some weird blue popcorn I found at Target for $2.  Not bad!