A Beautiful Blessing (and Beautiful Blankets!)

Alright, to start this post I must first make a confession - my first job at 16 was as a farm hand.  Yep, I said it - I was a farm hand!!  For an entire summer I planted seeds, hoed fields by hand, picked sweet corn in the rain, heaved melons onto a tractor and painted a few houses for the soon-to-arrive migrant workers.  After that summer I had strong arms, a fabulous tan and some great friends.  Sadly, most of us have lost touch throughout the years, but whenever we come back in contact with one another it's so nice to catch up.

Recently I ran into one of my former fellow farm hands, Aimee, on Facebook.  We chatted and I checked out her and her husband Kurtis' blog (they were dating back when we were high school farm hands!) - Life in the King's Castle.  There I found the touching and inspirational story of Aimee and Kurtis King's life since our farm days.

Kurtis and Aimee were married in 2004 and hoped to have a baby within a few years of their wedding.  After trying for several months, testing for everything that could be preventing them from conceiving, a few false alarms and being frustrated beyond belief - Aimee and Kurtis started considering adoption.  They set a "date" that if they weren't pregnant by they would go through with an adoption - their date was two years from when they started trying.

Aimee and Kurtis chose a birth mother in June of 2008 - not just any birth mother, but one with a baby due in JULY!  They welcomed their beautiful baby girl, Nadia, and during the first week of her life they found out that Aimee was pregnant.  Sadly, at six weeks along Aimee lost the baby she was carrying.  The King's faith in God helped them through this very trying time and they continued to celebrate the life of their Nadia, who is six months old now.  The icing on the cake of Aimee and Kurtis' story is that Aimee is PREGNANT and due in August!  Such an amazing blessing and a beautiful, inspirational story!

The King Family - Kurtis, Nadia & Aimee

Although adoption is AMAZING it is a very pricey process - to help with the costs, Aimee started creating crocheted blankets that she lovingly calls Blessing Blankets.  Check out her etsy shop to purchase or contact her about making a custom blanket.  She makes matching hats and scarves now, too!

Little Nadia in a hat made by Mommy!

Congratulations on your ADORABLE six-month-old Nadia, your baby-on-the-way and your inspirational faith in God!

HOT, HOT, HOT!

I told you I hit the jackpot when I found Chelsea's Oh My Deer! blog - check out this AMAZING shoes she personalized for one of her brides.  They seriously could not get any hottter!!

Creative, Yes. Crafty, Maybe Not So Much. . .

Three of my cousins had babies last year and I always try to get new babies something for their First Christmas.  I wanted to be creative so I thought I would make initial ornaments for all three.  Sounds simple, right?  WRONG!

It all started off fabulously (except for the fact that I wasn't able to make them before Christmas since I came down with the plague around the holidays) when I found very affordable wooden letters and the perfect grosgrain ribbon at my new favorite store, Pat Catan's.  I thought I'd be able to write on the ornaments in a heavy marker.  Turns out that doesn't work, the marker bleeds.  So I threw out the "D" I bought and went back to buy another and some acrylic paint and children's paint brushes (I thought this would make it easier on me).

Today (I know, it's almost February, but Christmas is over so what's the rush?) I sat back down to create the ornaments since I'm going home this weekend and thought I'd bring them along with me to give to my cousins.  Well, that probably isn't going to happen. . . turns out I don't paint - who knew?!?!?  I should have realized this when I opted to buy the children's paint brushes.  All I wanted to do was write "Drayden's First Christmas" on the wooden "D" and it looked AWFUL!  The children that the paint brushes were intended for could have written clearer.  That is when I came to the realization that yes, I am creative, but maybe I'm not crafty.  Or maybe I just can't paint!

After the horrible writing was on the letters I decided to "start over" by painting the whole thing brown.  Once the paint dries I think I'll spell out their names with pretty stickers so I don't have to subject them to my handwriting (which is fabulous on paper by the way - I guess this doesn't translate to paint on wood).  What I'll probably end up doing is tying the ribbon on them and calling it a day - it's probably safer that way.

Wish me luck.  My formal apologies to Drayden, Amara and Alexandria for your lack of ornaments - maybe they'll be ready by next Christmas :)

More Adorable Headpieces

After seeing the beautiful peacock headpiece in the last post, my eyes have been drawn to so many more!  When I found Chelsea's Oh My Deer! blog I knew I hit the jackpot :)  Her blog is predominately about handmade pieces - check out some of the gorgeous headpieces I found on her site:

My New Obsession - PEACOCK!!!

I admit it - I obsess quite frequently, hopping from one thing to the next.  However, when I obsess it is well justified!  My new love is the peacock color scheme - deep blue, teal green, chocolate brown and maybe even a little dark purple or tropical green!

Beautiful and Eco-friendly Peacock-themed Wedding Invites from Baron Cards

Hand-made Headpiece by Bethany Lorelle

Hot-as-you-can-get Teal Green Bridesmaid Gown from Susan Neville's Niche Collection

Brandy J & Sticky in The Knot!

I have known that our friends, Brandy J & Sticky, of Brandy J Photography were going to be featured in The Knot Ohio for a little while now, but last night I finally went out and bought it!  It is truly the coolest, you must hop on over to their blog to check it out!!

Congrats, Brandy & Sticky!!

Happy Birthday to baci!!

January 2009 marks baci's One Year Anniversary - I absolutely cannot believe that I have been helping engaged couples create their dream wedding invitations for an ENTIRE YEAR!  I am so blessed - thank you to everyone that has made this first year possible, especially my computer-genius husband (who knew smokin' hot nerds existed?!?!), the greatest photo duo ever Brandy J and Sticky of Brandy J Photography and my dear friend Alaina from Ace of Images.  You have all made a huge difference in baci's first year - Thank you so much!

Happy Birthday baci!  Here's to many more :)

Vera, Vera, Vera!

Ever since I was a little girl I have been in complete and utter love with Vera Wang, well imagine my happiness when I found this:

Vera Wang on Weddings

It is what it says - Vera Wang on Weddings :)  Shop everything Vera from her China (like my Grosgrain, which I ADORE!)

to her Fine Papers (my upcoming line of ready-made couture stationery was inspired by them!).

After you've rocked the shopping cart, move on to create your bridal registry with Vera's help.  My absolute FAVORITE part of the site (other than the gowns, of course!)

is Ideas & Inspirations.  Here Vera discusses the proper way to tell people you're engaged, how to find out what type of bride you are (I'm a Traditionalist) and the simple, yet elegant color  of white.  It's absolutely beautiful :)

Junebug Weddings' Best Photographers

Junebug Weddings, a "We Do It All Wedding Shop" in Seattle, creates a "Best of the Best" list every year and it is, of course, always worth taking a look.  I fell in love when I took a look at their list of "The Best Images of 2008".  Go ahead, indulge!

The Heat is On!

First of all, I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday!!  Ours was fantastic aside from an illness we both caught the week of Christmas, but then again that happens every couple of years anyway :)

Second, I am sorry I have been MIA, but I am helping plan a Valentine's Day wedding with a tiny little budget.  You say, "Big Deal, Amanda, people have weddings on Valentine's Day all the time and tons of people have smaller budgets." - well it is a huge deal when you only have EIGHT weeks to plan it!!  So needless to say that I have been a little preoccupied (and I came down with yet another stinking bug after the New Year - can I be healthy for a little bit or is that too much to ask here?!?!).  I am super excited for the big day - the bride chose me as one of her bridesmaids - YAY!!  Such a fabulous honor :)

Now for the details - so far the bride (my cousin), her mom (my aunt), her friend (Bridesmaid), my sister (Maid of Honor), my mom and I have accomplished the following in just three weeks (I think we deserve a round of applause!):

* Found a Church

* Found a Hall - SO very lucky that they live (and I grew up) in a small town or else a holiday would have been near impossible to snag.

* Found Ceremony Musicians - We have some rocking vocalists in the family, as well as a very talented pianist at our church (I had all of them at my wedding, too!).

* Found a photographer - Once again, our family is super talented :)

* Found a DJ

* Found a Bridal Gown - Isaac Mizrahi is AMAZING!

* Found AFFORDABLE Bridesmaid Dresses

* Planned a Bridal Bouquet and 3 Bridesmaid Bouquets thanks to our lovely local grocery stores' florist department and some beautiful ribbon.

* Planned for the food - My mom has everything written down from every large party she has ever thrown (think my high school graduation party in 2001 and my sister's in 2005!) so she has a pretty good grasp of what things will cost.

* Planned the cake - More family love coming through. . . my Mom is a baker and actually did my amazing wedding cake!

* Made BEAUTIFUL invitations for the weddings (Images to come post-ceremony of course!)

* Made BEAUTIFUL invitations for the shower that include just a little bit of bling (Once again, images to come later!)

* Planned a Bachelorette Party - Can you say SLEEPOVER!!  I can't wait :)

* Planned a Bridal Shower complete with hand-made heart-shaped chocolate candies

Now that I'm out of breath and you're in shock that we could do ALL of this in just three weeks I'm going to get back to work :)