A Wedding

Last Saturday, one of my closest friends married her man of the past 11 years. She asked me to make a "wedding -- this way" sign for the beginning of the path to the venue. After spilling the primer on my studio floor, I was able to get to work...

Lois is my thrifting co-hort, therapist-over-a-cup-of-coffee friend, we support each other, she's short, I'm tall, she's conservative/preppy, I'm hippy chic, she's a grown-up, I'm a grown child. We can depend on each other when in need (unless it's between the hours of 11pm and 8am then I'm to call someone else,) 'cuz she's zonked and will sleep through a bomb and we have a lot of laughs together.

Sooooo, knowing she has a sense of humor, as I was designing it, I was having fun with the words. She wanted something a little whimsical and said I could put just about anything I wanted on it...."within reason," she said. 

I thought this one was appropriate...

...she didn't agree.

I thought this one was even better, snarky and fun....

she laughed but I guess she wanted this to be a more serious matter -- go figure! 

So this is what she got, and she loved it...

I made it with all previously used materials. The sign is the back of a drawer, the pole is an old wooden broomstick, the paint was left over from various jobs I've done. 

It was a beautiful setting by the river. The 3pm lighting from the clouds starting to cover the sky made for a nice light, the breeze was coming in, the rain held off and the vows were spoken.

Lois preplanned for the possibility of cooler weather. On the back of every other chair was a Pashima shawl for the female guests in case they got cool, and we got to keep them. What a nice touch. 

It was a small gathering of their closest friends and family. I've known Lois for only about 3 years, maybe not even that long, I was honored to be included. 

Yeyyyy, garbage!!

Look at this beautiful thing.

OK, not everyone would feel this way about an empty dog bag. I completely understand. But since I make things out of them...I'm excited when a new one makes it's way to my house. One day I had an empty bag in my hand and I thought, "hey, this is a neat material, maybe I can use it for something" and voila! This design hit me. It's amazing when you request these 'garbage' items (oh the stuff I gather!!) how many people think you're crazy, and might rather throw it out than give it to you.... Until they see this....

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Then they oooh and aaah and ask me if I sell them. I say "yes," hand them my card and explain that each is an original and they are made out of at least 90% (usually more) of recycled materials. The interior of this one is made up of the leg of a pair of jeans. The flower is from discontinued decorator fabric samples, the flower center is a vintage glow in the dark tack, embroidery stitching is made with vintage embroidery thread. It is machine quilted. It has a hard bottom insert to prevent sagging. Fun Fun Fun! 

Now you may understand my excitement. I recently got two 'Cat Chow' bags, too, that are such a pretty limish green. If you saw me, you would have thought I just received a birthday present. I picked them up from a gifter from Freecycle that left them on her porch for me...I was skipping down the walk like I won a prize...I was so excited when I saw the color!! Oh the brain started whipping all kinds of wonderful design images around. One of the bags has already been tagged for a commissioned handbag that will be given to a cat owner/lover. I think it might be a hip-bag....hmmmmmm I just received some old belts that just might work as the strap. Of course, my mind could change a 1,000 times before I actually sit down to make it. When I'm holding the materials in my hand, that's when the design pops into my head.