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Fabric Addiction…

Uncategorized September 22, 2011
My first work-week post-wedding is almost done, tomorrow is my Friday. I’m really looking forward to getting some one-on-one time with my sewing machine, sewing non-wedding related items.

Fabric is one of those things in life that just really makes me excited. In all but my most current jobs, I’ve worked in the textile industry. I miss line-launches, I miss feeling new goods, I miss the excitement of experiencing a really great linen! I miss being around other people who get ridiculously excited by texture, hand, drape, and weave.


At my last position in Toronto, for a high-end drapery manufacturer, I was lucky enough to go to a few new-line-launches and really get to know top-quality textiles. Some of my favourites remain Designers Guild, and Sanderson. I just love a really great floral.

Sneak Peak!

Uncategorized September 19, 2011

I was snooping on my photographers facebook page when I returned from the honeymoon and saw she had posted one of the photos she had taken of me! Oh, I had such a fun day – despite the fact that the rings never quite made it to the ring bearer and our MC had to make a quick run out to our CR-V to fetch them (just in the nick of time!) and Dan missed his barbers appointment, but still looked handsome as always… the little “flubs” made the wedding even more “us” and totally memorable. People were walking by, taking photos, and were so respectful of us holding such a private moment in a public park.
The food was fantastic, though I was so excited and nervous I could hardly eat (you will be happy to know my appetite has come back at full force), our first dance to Aerosmith’s “I don’t want to miss a thing” was so cheesy I bawled, and my childhood best friend’s lady caught the bouquet – I couldn’t have been happier. Even my Dad, who hates weddings, had a fabulous time. Dan’s mom prepared all of the bouquets, and they turned out more perfect that I could have imagined – pink and purple mums and sweet pea’s perfectly arranged, and the boutonnieres were gorgeous! I can’t wait to share the pictures…
People really picked up on the handmade touches, which made me so happy. They loved the honey favors and the moustaches were a big hit – totally worth the cramped hand. We held the reception in the legion, because it was inexpensive, large, and right next to the ceremony sight. It was surprisingly nice in there, and once I had the cloths on the tables, my flowers up, and a few bunting-banners, it looked absolutely perfect.

Yesterday I tried to get back into a bit of sewing. I have 1 alteration to do, 1 nightie to sew, then I want to work on Ohhh Lulu’s re-launch. I will be hosting a give away in early October on another blog (I am keeping it a secret for the next little while). I really wanted to do a photoshoot at the end of September to prepare for my early October re-launch… but now that September is already half over, I’m not sure how I can do it!
While we were honeymooning I also stopped by a store in North Bay, called The FARM that carries my lingerie. The store was phenomenal – exactly the type of place I have always dreamed of opening. I’m back to work today for 4 days, but I’m really itching to hibernate behind my sewing machine for a week to make up for lost time. I’m planning on bringing back a whole “lumberjack” collection for winter (it’s already freezing here, damn Canada!), and more “everyday” items like thongs and jersey panties and bras… along with more ruffles!

Back

Uncategorized September 18, 2011

We are back after the most fun wedding and relaxing adventure of a honeymoon. We travelled north to Restoule Provincial Park where we ended up staying for a few days. I used to stay here as a kid, and it was even better than I remember – quiet and serene… we woke up to the sounds of loons every morning and were even greeted by a pair of deer on our campsite one afternoon. We eventually found our way to Killarney – It edges onto boreal forest and is part of the Canadian shield. It looked just like a painting – absolutely beautiful, pink granite and white quartz contrast against the green trees and orange maples…

Over the whole trip we saw countless Deer, raccoons, chipmunks, squirrels, some bears, grouse, beaver… I’ve never seen so much wilderness on a camping trip. Next year, we are hoping to be brave enough to try some back country camping. It was pretty cold this time, going down to 0 degrees Celcius at night, but it was totally worth it. There is nothing better than hiking around a forest by day and sitting around a campfire by night.
Yesterday I made a point of going to the Oro Worlds Fair… The Worlds Fair is something I used to do as a kid every year – and if you grew up in the country, as I did, I’m sure you understand how exciting a Worlds Fair really is. We used to enter Cosmos from our garden, handmade doll clothes, chocolate chip cookies. We’d go and see which duck & chicken won the red ribbon, and guess the weight of a cow for our chance to win $500! I was happy to see the fair had not changed a bit, aside from the addition of a Canine Agility show. The local elementary schools still submit the same adorable crafts and drawings, and people are still submitting Cosmos from their garden…
After the fair we started “winterizing” the apartment, in attempt to save on our energy bills this year. We bought lined curtains for all of the windows, peel-off-caulking to fill in cracks and drafts, plastic shrink wrap for over breezy windows. Our apartment is about 700 square feet and costs a small fortune to heat during the winter…
I’m pretty heartbroken to be going back to work tomorrow… I had too much fun over the last week. The wedding was so much fun, and I will write more about that a little later. Our photographer was absolutely amazing, and I hope to work with her again in the near future.

A week and a half!

Uncategorized August 31, 2011


Weddings creep up slowly then smack you in the face.

I convinced Dan to let me paint the frames of the chalk board mirrors white (over black with a crackle glaze in between) to match the 4 art pieces I did. They look a million times better and I’m feeling inspired to paint everything in my apartment white.
I am picking up our honey favors on Saturday from a local bee keeper. I am debating over how to decorate them. I’m going to make small sticker to print out and label the pots with our names and wedding date. I had originally imagined picking up three or four different floral cottons and covering the tops, then tying them down with twine. Now I’m thinking plain muslin…

Craziness Begins…

Uncategorized August 24, 2011

So, up until this point in the wedding planning, I have been pretty relaxed. I’m starting to feel a little nervous… a little anxious… and a little overwhelmed. I’m sure it’s completely normal.

I am heading to Toronto on Saturday for some sort of “Surprise” weekend. I have no idea what it could be, but I’m looking forward to spending time with my favorite ladies… Dan apparently also has something planned, and I hope he makes it back in one piece. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t slightly concerned.
It’s hard to believe it’s been almost a year already! So much has been packed into the last 12 months…
We got engaged on September the 8th. My Grandma passed and I nearly lost my dad. Dan lost his job, got a new one (so did I), and Ohhh Lulu went crazy with a Heartsy Deal! We bought and lost a house in a matter of days… and lets not forget all of the crafts!

Saturday Craftacular

Uncategorized August 20, 2011


I spent all day gathering, painting, and crafting finishing touches for the wedding. We are keeping the decorations to a minimum – Dan and I are pretty simple when it comes to our taste. I did want to have something “special” for the head table. I created a bunting to drape across the front, and today, after finding some great frames at the dollar store (which were jazzed up with some crackle medium, white paint, and sand paper), I decided to make “portraits” of Dan and I.
I took a profile picture each of us, turned it black and white, and upped the contrast. I printed it on some heavy cardstock, carefully cut around the lines of our profiles, and used the negative as a stencil. I stencilled on plain old muslin with some black acrylic paint. I’m really happy with how these turned out.
I grabbed a great old tin wash-basin from an antique store to put our wedding programs and bird-seed confetti bags in, as well as some old lace-trimmed linens.
I’m a little worried about what I will craft when this wedding is all over…

Wedding Card Boxes

Uncategorized August 19, 2011


I am down to 3 weekends before the wedding weekend! I wanted to add a few more décor items to add to my “vintage” theme, and I noticed The Knot had a whole gallery of vintage themed décor ideas.
I took two ideas – Paper Cut “Cards” Garland and the Vintage Train Case, and mashed them together. Instead of using paper, I glued a piece of cotton to a piece of card stock, printed large Bold Letters on another piece of card stock to use as stencils – traced my stencils (backwards!) on the card stock with the fabric glued to it, and cut out my letters with pinking shears. I draped the garland across the train-case and fixed with with small pieces of tape.
All of our RSVP’s are supposed to be back by today – so this weekend we will catch up with the stragglers, and finish off all of our crafts based on the final headcount. I have designated Dan to be “Official Hole Puncher” for our craft-night, since the last time I used a hole punch I managed to somehow get my fingers under the cutter twice and punched pretty painful holes in my fingers. Crafting is a dangerous business, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!
We have also made a few plans to our honeymoon. Because of Dan’s brief stint of unemployment, and my voluntary cutting back of hours at work (though I did get a raise!), we decided to cancel honeymoon plans and just do a roadtrip based on whatever we can afford at the time. We will head up to the Bruce peninsula, ferry to Manitoulin Island, Camp at Killarny Provincial Park, tour through Sudbury and North Bay, Camp at Restoule, and wind our way back home again.

Rococo

Uncategorized August 16, 2011

Who else is obsessed with Rococo Ladies? The frills & Bows & Flourishes & Perfectly Powdered Hair…

I am currently procrastinating before heading out to work. I started a new Tumblr Blog a few months back and finally remembered the log-in for it this morning. Is anyone else on Tumblr?
I did the wedding day count down this morning, and we are down to 25 days. I can’t wait until the honeymoon road-trip… we are goign to head as far north & back as we can get in 5 days… which in Ontario won’t be very Far. I wanted to get to Sleeping Giant but it is nearly17 hours away. What a country! You can drive 17 hours and still be in the same province…

Vintage-Style Slips

Uncategorized August 15, 2011

I love wearing vintage slips. They make me feel so glamorous, like a vixen from a noir film. I have two vintage slips that I love the most, so I knocked off the pattern and made cut 3 slips, each in two sizes. The only thing I don’t like about vintage slips is they are usually plain, old white. I wanted to make slips that were fun, and vibrant with a vintage-flair.

Each slip has a stretch lace detail across the bust, and lace trim along the edge. I made one in a large, gold floral print (I made bathing suits out of this too!), one in a chocolate and white lace print jersey, and one in a candy-purple floral burnout with creamy lace trim. I bought a ton of each of these jersey knits last spring… they make very comfy slips, silky-soft, great for wearing under a dress or to sleep!
Last week I re-opened shop for a few days to take a last-minute order. A “Tied with a Bow” bra with the side-ruffled panties. I absolutely love how it turned out and will be adding this as a set to my shop too! This set will be shipped off very, after I complete all of the finishing touches…

I’ve gotten so much done the last few days. Our camping trip got rained out, which was disappointing, but I managed to check off a bunch of things from my wedding to-do list, including finishing the Flower Girls Dresses (which now need to be taken in an inch), finishing the alterations on the bridesmaids dresses, ordered the flowers, and filled out the application for the marriage license. I can’t believe we’re down to only 4 weeks!
Little Oliver will be glad when the wedding is over and I have some more time to spend with him. I caught him looking longingly out the window at a brief rain-storm we had this afternoon. I can’t wait until we have a house with a backyard where he can play…