Very Merry

So as of today I'm all done with the semester! I'm very excited to start break and have some breathing time to enjoy Christmas time. It's been a good semester, but there's always some crazy business going on.

So after teaching an RS lesson about being prepared and recently teaching a YW lesson about time management, you'd think I'd be all set, right? {snort}

I got a late start on this final painting- my teacher explained the project options to us and then only gave us basically a day to come up with a fab idea and gather all your materials. That's a tall order when you want to do something good, not cliche. It took awhile to gather everything and glue the still life together. So I found myself finishing my painting at 2 am this morning. Other painting students stayed even later!

And even though yesterday started off with no snow, by the time I left school there was three to four inches on the ground. I didn't have boots or a heavy coat with me because it'd been so nice out earlier when I'd left for the day.

Oh, and I had to be at school at 8 am this morning for my other final. And and keep in mind I live nearly an hour away from school.

The best solution was to get a hotel room in Edinboro, by the time I got McD's and got checked in it was 2:40 am. So there I was- no pj's, no toothbrush, no change of clothes, no makeup or hairbrush. I'd taken my other clothes out that had been in the car. I made do, got up at 6ish, showered and picked up a couple things (like a toothbrush) at Wal-Mart. There are few things grosser than having to put back on socks that you've already worn!

And I'm having to walk around campus in my tennies when I should have had boots. Blech.

So that's a lesson to me to 1) manage my time better so I don't have to do projects at 2 am and 2) to be more prepared in all this snow.


Anyhow, on to my painting. It took a long time to do because I wanted it to be good. Things went well in critique today and I got an A! I was also asked to bring it back for display at school next semester.

Am I painting bubbles? Nope, Christmas ornaments!

Normally you would work your entire painting from general to specific, but since I had so many colors and a large canvas (18x24) that was pretty impossible. It became kinda like paint by numbers! You had to look at each ball and separate the reflections into shapes.

A good start:

A little more progress...

and then it was done! It's even more colorful in real life. My teacher liked how they gleamed like vintage ornaments, that was the look I was going for. I really like how the colors popped against the dark. The trick in painting is not to use black but a very very dark color, like blue. If you use a true black then it becomes rather dead looking.

So act surprised....this will likely be used for next year's Christmas cards!

Ame's Shower

I've been doing a ton of party/event planning lately, as you can see- last Saturday I threw a bridal shower for my friend Ame (pronounced Ah-May, there should be an accent over the E). You may remember her from the Preception party. Anyhow, she is staying around longer than the others did so I had the opportunity to throw her a shower. I've been to many but never thrown one before, so it was something new. I have fun doing things like this, and Ame made it easy- she loves butterflies as much as I do so I used stamps and punches that I already had. I have fun being crafty, and it's always fun to make things with someone that you enjoy in mind.

Ame has been a good friend to me since I moved here; she was one of the first YSA that I met out here and we had an instant bond since she is from the Bay area like my parents. We've had some fun adventures since, so it was a pleasure to do something for her.

I was responsible for invites and decor, Ame's mom did the food and helped out with the games. I used my little vintage bride doll on the top of a cupcake tower, each cupcake had flower and butterfly paper punches for decoration. Mom and I collect pretties like cake plates. I was pleased with how things looked and how the day went. Everything was lavender and yellow which are Ame's wedding colors when she marries in California in January.

Cupcake tower:

I hemmed a long strip of lavender fabric for a table runner and I made a paper punch garland for the food table, all you have to do is string random punched paper onto a long length of crochet thread. I knotted the thread about every six inches so that the punches didn't clog up in one spot.

The tables had paper punches too, and everyone got a little candle. I stamped the yellow cards for people to write advice/wishes for Ame, those will go into a book when I have some time.

We had the shower in the overflow room in the Meadville building because my home was too small and far away and we didn't really know where to have it. I wish the curtain looked better, but the room was fine. Here's the room:

After munching and mingling, we got started playing games. For the first game, I had Ame's mom enlarge a bunch of photos of Ame at various ages. People had to guess how old Ame was in each photo. Since she's only 21, it's hard to tell how old she is since she looks about the same after age 15! It was cute to see the photos of Ame, and the person who got the most right won a prize.

After that game, yup, we did the toilet paper bride thing. You have to, it's the law. We had 4 teams of three and Ame would choose the winner (despite being wrapped up herself). It was hysterical, easpecially watching a team of three elderly ladies! They actually had the best craftmanship. Everyone was a good sport. Ame's mom Shirley and I wrapped up Ame, that was funny.

Ame had an 80's/Pocahontas vibe going on:

What good sports: Ame's Mom-in-law, My sis Laura, a friend, and Ame:

Then it was time for presents! I didn't want to do too many games because I have been at showers that took forever. It's no fun when people have to leave before they get to see their gift being open.

My mom and I like to be a little creative when it comes to shower gifts. One thing we've done in the past is to divide the gift into four: Something Old, New, Borrowed, Blue. I decided to do that for Ame. Each gift was in a white box with lavender ribbon, lableled on a white butterfly punch. Something old was a vintage tea towel in her wedding colors along with a butterfly plate that is the same discontinued pattern that I collect.

Something New was personalized kitchen goodies.I made a hotpad and embellished towels and an apron for Ame. I've never done a hotpad before, it was a bit wonky but not bad for the first try. I tihnk I'll use a different binding technique next time- the bias tape i bought was so stiff and hard to work with. I'd never used Insul-Brite (a batting made for things like hot pads) before. Embellishing kitchen towels with a strip of fabric is super fast and easy, I imagine I'll do some more. It's fun to create a personalized gift by matching the fabric design to the person.

Made a ruffle and used binding tape to embellish a pre-made apron:

Something Borrowed was a butterfly pin from my collection that I knew Ame would like but that I wouldn't mind if it flew away. When it came to Something Blue, I just had to embarrass Ame- she gets mortified easily. I decided to fake her out by making her open a Victoria's Secret bag (what were people thinking of me when I was walking around with it at the mall? haha) that contained.........Victoria's Secret brand lotion.

But then I got her with the box that the bag was attatched to, muh ha ha ha ha!

Not bad for $3 at Marshalls, eh?

Ame got a lot of other sweet gifts from the other ladies and her mom. Laura helped out as the gift scribe and I had her put the gift ribbons on a plate as a "bouquet". Found the cheesy butterfly tiara at Wal-mart for a BUCK...and it lights up too!

It was a little nervewracking because I was not totally in control of everything- I never had the opportunity to see the room before we set up, etc. But I think it went well- people seemed to be having a good time. Most important, Ame had a good time cause I got lots of thank you hugs.

Several have commented that I should do weddings- and yes I've thought about that. Doing stuff like this is fun for me- it's a good mix of my planning/crafty skills and I have fun being creative. Not to mention, it runs in the family-my grandmother used to do weddings. Maybe one day I will. I think part of me might feel too J-Lo in The Wedding Planner....always the wedding planner, never the bride. School, YSA and YW also keep me quite busy now, though. For now I am content to do things like this, though I would like to sell my wedding wares, etc on Etsy. I have cake toppers floating around in my head (instead of sugarplums).

And no, that's not the last of the event planning that I've been doing lately....stay tuned!