6 months to go... DUN DUN DUN!!!

A huge thanks goes to our dear friend Raymond (who is the talented photographer behind the lens of these photos... and a huge apology goes to him as well for ruining his usual pristine and professional photography style with our weird poses and my token burger quote)... thanks for still being our friend after this. HAHA. As I continually promise, a few more of these photos will be coming soon but for now, why don't you head over to Raymond's site at Vivid Moments Photographers for some amazing shots of other couples =D. 

By the way, in my opinion the best part of this photoshoot was finding those two branches lying on the ground and putting them on my head as deer antlers... and my fiance being okay with that. Although he did veto the idea of me crouching over like a grandma and using the branch as a cane. Oh well, a relationship is all about compromise, and saving each other's dignity once in awhile. =P

In other wedding related news, I've been busy trying to design our invites lately... and it's been tough! I've realized I'm very indecisive about this sort of thing because when it comes to my own art, I'm very critical about all the minor details and it's never quite up to my ridiculously confused and ambiguous standards. haha. I don't even know what I want. Currently, I'm trying to hand-draw a sketch for our invites and I'm finding it hard to infuse all the different elements we like - "woodsy with a vintage flair with some cute cartoons but still professional and simple-looking" - without giving into the fact that realistically a perfectly harmonious blend of said elements does not exist.  In the midst of all this confusion, my tendencies for artistic perfectionism are kicking in. haha. HELP. 

There have been small victories though - mainly, the mint-green website banner that I designed (above) with those quirky little birds. I'm also quite happy with that random font that I came up with for our names which was my take on "woodsy + cute". Anyway, if you have any ideas for wedding invites using kraft paper (you know, the woodsy brown paper that looks like glorified cardboard), send me some links! I'd really appreciate some design inspiration right now =D.

DIY: floral hair wreath

During such a cold and frosty December, it seems counterproductive to be making whimsical floral wreaths but that's exactly what I did yesterday, for no apparent reason other than the fact that I had recently acquired some floral tape and some pretty rose garlands from the dollar store. That was a good enough reason for me so here are some pictures from that little craft session and thankfully there was enough daylight to give off a pseudo-summery atmosphere. 

These floral wreaths are super easy to make: all you need are some flower garlands, floral tape, scissors, and (optional) green floral wire. First, I pulled all the flowers off the garland. Then I measured the size of my head and cut a length of the garland to wrap around as the wreath. I joined the ends of the garland firmly together with floral tape. I also wrapped some floral wire around the entire garland length to make the shape of the wreath extra secure. Then I arranged the flowers as I wanted them to look and attached them to the garland using floral tape. As an extra touch, I cut some leather scraps into thin strips and wound these strips around the whole wreath. I made two of these flower crowns - one with large flowers all around, and the other with two simple yellow rosebuds and a little bit of (fake) baby's breath. The large flower one looks too awkward and "costumey" in my opinion but I really like how the more simple, understated wreath turned out! 

The last step is to put the wreath on your head and prance around your room like some weird fairy nymph... but be sure to close your curtains before doing so.

Right now I am picturing myself dancing around in a meadow wearing that yellow floral wreath and my favourite mint green dress. In reality, here I am huddled over a computer screen, bundled up with a cup of hot chocolate beside me. 

Side note #1: the "fly away home" sign was drawn on a scrap piece of cardboard one day and it currently resides above my vintage dresser. I painted the edges with mint green paint. Ideally it would be nice to have a wooden sign, but I suppose for now, cardboard will have to do. haha. You can make your own interpretation of what the quote means but it's something that's been on my mind for awhile. 

Side note #2: I finally have some links up on my DIY links page (it's just a compilation of all my old projects from this website) but at least it adds some organization to this chaos. Feel free to check out my old projects and I'll be sure to add some more to the list soon! =)

Side note #3: I went to my work party this week (it was a painting party!) and I got to paint something that incorporates a lot of the elements in this post (such as mint green, flowers, a bird, and a floral wreath!). I'll be posting that painting later on this week! 

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so...check back soon ;)

-Laura

my own little prison

I've been pretty unmotivated to keep up this blog lately, but ironically I've actually been drawing more this week. I work full-time now so I'm usually too tired to upload all my random scribblings (although if you're my friend on Instagram I tend to post more of my drawings there just because it's so quick and easy). But anyway, here's one quick sketch that encapsulates many things that are characteristic of my drawings... flower crowns, vines, little birds, and intentionally disproportional bulbous heads.

my song is love...

During a sporadic session of room cleaning (yes, it's still going on), I found this shirt that I drew a long time ago. I thought it would fit my musical friend Pauline (style-wise and size-wise), so I forced her to take pictures with it in my front yard before she could take it home. HAHA. What a friend.

I drew this with black and red fabric markers on a cheap cotton t-shirt. For those of you who don't know, I love birds (maybe not real ones when they release a certain white fluid from above), but I love cartoon birds and bird graphics, bird-print clothing, those little blue birds that fly around Disney princesses in the forest, and the thought of birds. haha. So that's probably why I drew this shirt long long ago. There's even a little songbird at the back! :)