You are cordially invited...

I've been away (from my blog not like away away on holiday) for who knows how long. But in my defense I have been busy, super busy with super exciting things! After the wedding I will start regular posts again and I'll probably start a little Wedding Wednesday post to share my experience and tips and all that but until then I can't promise much.

The last two weeks have been about wedding invitations and nothing else. They are finally finished and ready to be dished out so I thought I'd give you all a sneak (Instagram) peak as to what they look like and then after we've handed/posted them all I'll do a proper post to show them off - because they are AMAZING! I'm allowed to say this about them because my fantastic Maid-of-honour Jen made them, not me. I'm completely in love with them and can't wait to spread the joy to everyone!

Oh and most exciting news (yes potentially more exciting than the all-consuming wedding) is our honeymoon destination...CAN. NOT. WAIT! There will definitely be a reappearance of Travel Tuesday after our honeymoon cuz the places we will be going are breath taking. It's not your typical honeymoon spot and we won't be spending the days getting pampered in a spa or lying on a beach - Colin is way to ADHD for that!

Wedding Stationery

Ok, so I don't normally just re-post things from other blogs...ok I never do that. But I feel like this is more ok to do...because I helped with the stuff that's in the photos.

A friend of mine recently asked me to help her design the wedding stationery for a friend of hers...who subsequently became a friend of mine as well...anyway. She got married on her farm and basically had MY dream wedding. Everything looks so beautiful and exactly how I would want my day to be (except for the weather). I'm so happy that I could be a part of making her day special, she is such an amazing person and I'm very glad that I got to know her through the process.

We did all the stationery, from the invitations to the order of service/program/menu booklets and the name/jam tags.

I will post some more photos when I get them from the bride, but here are a few from the photographer's blog in the meantime.

These (above) were the booklets that served as programs, menu's, hymn books and table seating. The bride came up with the lace handle idea which was brilliant. It allowed the booklets to be slung around your wrist so that you could still have two free hands when you weren't reading the booklet.

Gita, you looked stunning and I'm so happy for you and Slime. You guys are such a stunning couple and I hope that you will be happy together forever. Thanks for letting me be a part of your special day.

If you want to see more photos go to the photographers blog here - all the pics are from tarynrahlphotography.co.za

Travel Tuesday

Amsterdam was possibly one of the strangest places we went, now that I have to think about what to say about it. It was strange because of the massive contrast I felt between Amsterdam at night and Amsterdam in the day.

We arrived in Amsterdam in the evening (well it's winter in Europe so evening is from about 4pm!) and went straight to our hotel. After dinner we started the night with a canal cruise with free wine and Heineken. It was great to see Amsterdam from the canals but it was raining to you couldn't really see much. Since this was our very first night together as a group we got to know a few people and met most of the people who would later become great friends.

After the cruise we went to explore Amsterdam at night...which is a bizarre experience to say the least. Walking through the red light district is a bit like walking through a dream, everything feels kind of unbelievable and so real at the same time. A friend asked me after our trip if I noticed how pretty some of the girls were, to be honest I didn't really, because I felt like such a voyeur that I didn't want to look properly, it just felt weird.

The next morning we were dropped off at Anne Frank house, where everyone on Contiki went in except for my sister and I (we later learned that we didn't miss much). We took the famous picture in front of the green door and then made our way to the Van Gogh Museum, we were only in Amsterdam for a couple of hours so we decided to do the Museum and then go to the Heineken Brewery.

Walking through Amsterdam that morning had the strangest effect on me. It felt like home. I loved it so much. I can't explain or understand why, but for some reason it just felt like I could easily live there and feel completely at home, and the city is as different from South Africa as you can get, but there is something there that just feels right. This is one of the big reasons why I loved Amsterdam so much.

Another reason was the Van Gogh museum.

Seeing a Vincent Van Gogh painting in real life is truly unbelievable. I can't describe how amazingly beautiful they are. My favourite was this picture, which I have in a book at home, but I have never really noticed it or paid any particular attention to it. It was so fresh and light and beautiful. I stared at it for ages.

I kept having to resist the urge to take the paintings off the walls. I literally had to hold my hands behind my back so that I wouldn't touch them and then probably get arrested. They just pull you in and consume you completely. I want them all.

At the museum we bought playing cards for our Secret Santa party that evening (it was Christmas Eve). Looking back now I do wish I had bought myself something as well because it was definately one of my highlights of the trip.

After Van Gogh we walked across to the Heineken Brewery. They call the visit The Heineken Experience because you get to walk through the old brewery and see the history of the beer - I have never seen a beer with so many medals and awards - there was even a Cannes lion there! We also got to have a beer tasting and you get two free beers at the end, which we didn't have because we ran out of time, but I'm very glad we went, it was an awesome experience.

We also walked past an awesome little shop with lots of random design things in it. It was closed when we walked past so we just drooled at things through the window.

Loved these signs - This is how you push a button, in case you aren't 100% sure.

I loved Amsterdam and would definitely love to go back there someday.

I'm thankful for...Friday

I had a bit of a mini a-ha moment this week.

I bought this really nice set of pens while I was shopping for my santa shoebox and as I was standing there in the stationery aisle I was thinking about school days when you bought a whole set of new stationery at the beginning of the year. Wow did I love that! Stationery is one of my favourite things in the world, I love it so much. New stationery particularly, but stationery in general is something I could buy every single day and never get tired of it (I could dream of buying it every day at least, I don't have a money tree).

I thought, I actually haven't bought stationery in ages, and maybe I'm not so obsessed with it anymore. When suddenly I realised...my stationery has just grown up with me. Now I buy Moleskines and beautiful paper and ribbons, tons and tons of ribbons (I'm totally classifying ribbons as stationery here). I also spend a lot of time designing and making stationery, custom stationery - that's like the utopia of stationery! Wedding invitations and menu's, letterheads and business cards, notepads and books. I'm completely surrounded by it, and it's amazing!

Yes...that is a pencil case made completely out of a very long zip! :)

I am so thankful that I have a job that I love and that I studied a degree that completely satisfies my creative urges. You see, I was going to study Accounting, but luckily I changed my mind and I have awesome parents who were totally fine with sending their child off to study some arty-farty course just because she loved it.

So thanks Mom and Dad, and thanks Staedtler

Sir Juice

I love fresh fruit juice. It's usually too sweet so I water it down but it's still my favourite type of drink. I also love beautiful design and packaging. A while ago I found both of these things combined! I bought the juice just because the packaging was so cool, but it was great to find out that the juice is pretty good too.The strawberry juice is like eating strawberries through a straw, it's amazing.

Check out their website here, or go outside and buy a bottle of Sir Juice.

Thanks for poppin' by - here's a free printable for your effort

Since we have moved in to our new house we've had quite a couple of people over to see the place and visit and general friendly things like that.

The other day I was thinking it would be really nice if I could give them something small to say thanks for the visit (I'm not the best host so I'm trying to be better here). Or how great it would be if every party you have, even if it's just a braai, involved some sort of thank you present. And then this brilliant idea stuck.

Popcorn. In a jar. With a tag that says...Thanks for poppin' by! Lame I know, but so fun.

You don't necessarily have to do popcorn, I just enjoy the pun and it works out really cheap if you use popcorn, but sweets or chocolates or anything delicious will work just perfectly. Anyone who gets an unexpected gift like this will be over the moon and they can keep the jar and re-use it for something else later.

You can get the free printable here.

Just print it out onto card, paper, sticker, whatever you like, choose some ribbons to match your label of choice and voila...a perfect little gift that will make anyone feel special. You can always make your jars extra special but adding some buttons or bows or extra bits that you like.

 Now if only someone would come visit....

Obsessions!

I went on a bit of a shopping spree this weekend. I bought things I don't really need, like MORE ribbons (see those SEVEN new rolls on the right).

I'm completely obsessed with ribbon and buttons and Moleskines and material. I have an abundance of all of these things - like an ABUNDANCE. There are a large amount of little bags full of buttons and random metre long pieces of material that I have no plans for - they are simply just pretty I and love them.

When we moved I created this little area to keep my ribbons and Moleskins. Some of these ribbons (as you can see) have not even been opened yet, I just buy them to look pretty on my shelf. Similarly there are a couple of Moleskines there that are completely blank, and others that get used daily. But I do plan to use everything at some point...eventually...and you never know when you might just NEED some stripy brown ribbon?!

I did buy some things that I actually plan to use. If my plan is successful then maybe someday soon you can own your very own [one]...it's a surprise!

Check back soon for a sneak peak of what it is that I'm making!

Pretty in Pink

Imagine you are a 7-year-old girl who loves all things girly and pink...

Wouldn't you be excited if these were for your birthday? I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty excited when I made them, I didn't even need to be 7 or like pink!

I also made a little cupcake boxes for them to go into. It's super easy and adds tons of excitement. Each child gets their own little present to unwrap at the party.

These boxes are so simple to make, all you need is a couple of cupcake boxes (which you can get from places like Kadies, a baking supply shop that I LOVE, or The Flowerspot), a roll of theme wrapping paper (boy, girl, baby shower, anything!), a can of spray glue, some ribbon and an NT cutter.

- Lay your wrapping paper face down on a flat surface
- Spray the glue onto the outside of the box
- Lay the box down on your wrapping paper and rub it down to stick properly - it's much easier to place the box onto the paper than the paper onto the sticky box
- Then cut it out. Make sure you remember to cut all the slits open that are all ready cut into the box


Use the ribbons to tie the box securely together once you have put all your cupcakes into their boxes and voila! A special treat for everyone.

Peace of Paradise

We bought a house.

You might have picked up on this from a previous post, but if you haven't then I'm just putting it out there again.

We bought our first home together about 2 months ago. It's been great so far and we are loving every moment. I'm hoping to do lots of before/after posts of how I transform our space into a beautiful, happy home...but you might need to wait a whiiiiiiiile for those. At the moment we are still trying to get all the boxes out of the lounge and find our feet amongst tons of new bills and responsibilities.

Last night I tried to suggest some deco ideas to Colin and he flat out hated them...we are having a bit of a clash in tastes (I think he thinks I'm mental and have NO taste what-so-ever), so we are back to just unpacking boxes and will slowly get to the decorating part of the whole moving business. We also need to find a magical money tree if we ever actually want to do anything.

I've been looking at this blog a lot - The Brick House.

It's beautiful. It's amazingly written. It's so inspiring. She makes me want to buy things and move stuff around and make my house look like hers. I mean look at it!

The problem with me spending hours dreaming about a house that looks like this is that I actually don't like a lot of the stuff she has, like if you had to place individual items from her house in front of me I would say NO WAY, but somehow it just looks so incredible in her house that I want it! I need to broaden my inspiration search a bit before I start buying pieces of furniture that will never work in my home.

For the moment though, I'm painting our bedroom wall black...or VERY dark grey at least. I bought these two cushions in anticipation.

Ignore that mark where we took a random mirror off the wall, it will disappear when we paint and put the new headboard up.

This is my dream colour swatch I keep in my purse in case I have the urge/guts to actually buy the paint!