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Wedding DIY: invitations

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 10:56:24 +0100

I'm going to be doing a few of these DIY posts in the run up to, and after, the wedding but the invitations seemed like a pretty obvious place to start.

We'd sent out email save the dates a few months ago which set the tone (in so much as we weren't taking things too seriously) and also gave me a chance to use the 'wedding font' - Hawaii lover.

When it came around to the actual invites I knew I wanted to make them and had done a pretty rubbish doodle in paint which my friend Tilly then transformed into a lovely illustration.

I didn't have an exact idea of what the invitations themselves would be like until the night before making them. I'd ordered card and envelopes and bought lots of pretty paper, a corner punch and a heart punch.

We'd set a day aside for invitation making with the mums but as always these things never quite go to plan. My mum had to babysit my young cousin due to an emergency situation and naturally she wanted to join in - luckily I had the bright idea of employing her to make heart shaped table confetti with the heart punch!



Also, typically, I couldn't get my dad's printer to work properly. I reached meltdown when I'd been trying for two hours and had James, his mum, my parents, my cousins, my uncle and his girlfriend all standing over me making suggestions. Eventually, after I'd lost it a bit, I got it going and a production line was formed. The mums came into their own cutting and sticking everything together.



The final design was very simple but I think really effective and I think they really set the tone for the W day!



It also ties in with the wedsite I designed which has all of our additional information on it. In fact my wonderful bridesmaid Bex even made an RSVP card by printing images from the site - it's AMAZING!

I was also really keen that we jazzed up our envelopes so we made envelope liners out of some Poundland wrapping paper.



We've had some lovely comments on them which I'm really pleased about.

The next DIY projects are cake toppers, favours, reception decor, place names and the dreaded table plan!

After 8 cake!

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 11:20:41 +0100

As I've not posted anything for a LONG time, I thought I'd share a new recipe with you all.

This is a recipe I've made up after James told me about a cake he'd loved as a child - luckily he loved it just as much as a grown up!

Base ingredients

125g dark chocolate

150g plain flour

30g cocoa

125g unsalted butter

125g caster sugar

1 free-range egg

Base preparation method

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.

Break the chocolate into pieces and melt, along with butter, in bowl over a pan of barely simmering water.

Mix the sugar into melted chocolate/butter mix then leave a couple of minutes to cool.

Beat in the egg, then mix in the dry ingredients.

Pour mixture on to a greasepoof paper lined tray so it’s about ½ an inch thick.

Bake for approximately 18 minutes, or until a skewer comes away clean.

Leave to cool on the baking sheet for 4-5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to harden.

Topping ingredients

150g plain chocolate

2 egg whites

500g Icing sugar

Peppermint essence

Green food colouring

Topping preparation method

Whisk the egg whites until fluffy and add some of the icing sugar to make a drizzle consistency.

Add 2tsp of peppermint essence (to taste) and few drops of green food colouring.

Gradually add more icing sugar until the mixture has a stiff buttercream like consistency.

Check taste and colour are how you want them.

Spread peppermint cream over the cooled base mixture.

Melt chocolate & pour evenly over the top of the peppermint cream.

Put in fridge to cool.

EAT!

Winning!

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 11:10:43 +0100

I won a competition! How exciting is that! I NEVER win ANYTHING!!!

At our wedding we will now have a properly mixed playlist of our choice of tunes - how cool is that.

I'd like to say a massive thanks to Kelly at Boho Weddings and the guys at Wedbeat.

WOOP!

A bit of an update

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 18:23:09 +0100

One of my new year's resolutions was to get better at blogging. And I appear to have failed rather dramatically! So I thought I'd give you a quick update on what's been going on over the past couple of months.

I've been rather busy with a little thing called wedding planning. We've now got a registrar, venue and photographer booked and plans are coming along nicely for the reception with the location 99% sorted, decor ideas coming together and some exciting musical delights in the pipeline. I'm not going to tell you any of our plans but if you follow me on Pinterest you'll probably already have an idea of what's in store for the big day.

Just before Christmas I ran a little giveaway on Fifties Weddings blog. The prize was a birdcage veil with a big tulle bow, much like the one worn by Leesa here, and the winner was Victoria McIntosh who said that she wanted to win because the veil reminded her of the one her grandma wore when she got married. I can't wait to see the pictures of her wedding day, I'm sure to get a little tear in my eye.

I have been increasing my obsession with the bastion of common sense and reality in amongst all the pretty that is Any Other Wedding. I wrote a somewhat controversial post for them back in November and will be popping up again soon as part of their Books That Made Me Me series - I can't wait. (Also watch out for their relaunch a week on Monday!)

I've had bronchitis. It hasn't been fun.

Congratulations Lauren and Mark!

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 11:38:20 +0100

I found out yesterday that one of my old Uni housemates has just got engaged! Lauren is a librarian and Mark works for the Book Depository and together they run the Book Monkeys blog! Taking her antique ruby engagement ring (and the fact that she looks awesome in red), their shared love of books, his fondness for hats and each of their heritages (there's a crazy mix of Scottish, Singaporean & Welsh in there!) I got to imagining what their big day might look like and here are my thoughts:

I can't wait to see how close I've called it! Congrats again guys.

In other news our wedding plans are coming along nicely but I'm not going to give you any clues as to what we've got planned just yet - watch this space!

The view from the other side

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:43:14 +0100

No, I haven't launched a new range of Disney inspired headwear (although I like the idea!) - in fact after 9 years and 4 months the boy proposed yesterday at Disneyland Paris!

I'm very excited to be joining the legions of brides to be and interested to see what the industry looks like from the other side.

Amy x

30 before 30

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 08:46:18 +0100

Here’s what I’d like to accomplish in the next 17 months:

Marry the boy
Get a dog
Grow my hair long enough to sit on (it’s currently at my waist)
Make a dress for myself and wear it somewhere fabulous
Go lots of places in Bertie
Go to America (but not in Bert)
Go part-time at the day job
Study a new subject
Have something I’ve written published
Finish the series of paintings I’m working on
Get a new bed
Have my ‘colours done’
Climb the 3 peaks (but probably not all at once)
Get much better at surfing
Try skiing
Replenish my savings account
Have singing lessons
Write the script for ‘Beards Through Time’ (working title)
Learn more HTML
Get my teeth fixed
Move
Spend a whole day in bed (but not because I’m sick)
Read more of the ‘classics’
Get whatever’s the matter with my blumming hip sorted out
Develop an actual skincare regime
Get generally better at keeping things tidier
Spend more time with friends
Do more fun activities with the boy
See the northern lights
Stay up all night (the best I’ve ever done was 5.30)

And finally, when I’m 30 I want to get my nose pierced with a teeny tiny sparkly stud as an act of ‘I’m not a grown up really’ rebellion.

Pimp My Bertie (a DIY inspiration post)

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 09:27:16 +0100

Bertie is our 1978 VW camper. We bought him at the start of 2007 and had a couple of years of running him around the UK and France before deciding that it was time he had a little make over. Originally we thought this would take us about 6 months. In reality it took almost 2 and a half years!

He originally started life as a panel van and a previous owner converted him to a camper about 15 years ago (we think). Great! All the hard work done you might think. Unfortunately not. Bert's previous DIYer turned out to be a total Bodgit Bob! Panels were held in place with vast quantities of silicone glue. Seats were welded into place. The paintwork had been done with gloss. The entire interior was covered in carpet which had been superglued in place. And I won't even go into some of the mechanical bodges.

After completely stripping the interior and removing the glass and engine we started the long process of restoration armed with sanders. This was a mistake. We should have had him dipped or blasted because 5 months later we were still sanding away.

Then came James's favourite bit. Destruction. Armed with his 2 best tools - a hammer and an angle grinder - he went to work cutting away all the rusty and rotten bits of poor old Bert, with me constantly watching over him pleaing for some good metal to be left behind.

The end result was terrifying and looked fit only for a scrap yard. But after spending a fortune on new parts we were ready to tackle the rebuild. Well, I say we. Before taking Bert off the road we looked into welding courses. It was unanimously decided that I'd be better at it than James so off to evening classes I trundled. I was working for a dance organisation at the time so much 'Flashdance' related hilarity was had by all.

18 months later I was having to put my skills into action. And it was tough. None of that lovely thick clean metal I'd learned the craft on. Oh no siree. Instead I was dealing with uneven edges and thin and mottled steel. Coupled with the fact that a lot of the work involved me laying on the driveway underneath the van welding right in front of my face. Every time James said 'I've just got another little bit that needs doing' I wanted to hit him. I did hit him when he unsympathetically found it hilarious and started calling me Ricky Bobby (after the character in Talladega Nights) when a spark of weld found its way through my clothing and burned my right boob resulting in me running around shouting 'I'm on fire' and stripping off. I still have a scar.

Finally though all the new panels were in and it was time to perfect the bodywork. This involved vast quantities of filler and a lot more sanding. The combination of dust and masks is not good for your skin let me tell you.

A year and a bit after we'd started we'd finally reached the stage where we could make him all shiny again. We had contemplated doing the paint ourselves, but having learned from Bodgit Bob's mistakes we shipped him off to a professional for a full respray. It had taken us ages to choose the colours we wanted but we settled eventually on Ibis White for the top half and Icelandic Blue for the bottom.

Naively when we got him back from the paint shop we thought we were nearly finished. Wrong. It took another year's work to fit the windows, doors, custom built (by me) interior, engine, electrics, wheels, brakes and a whole host of other bits and bobs. But finally the moment came where we were ready to fit his VW badge and hit the road.

We have managed to get away in him 3 times this year but unfortunately he is now poorly and at the garage to get a new carbuarettor (the joy of owning a classic), afterwhich he will be safely stored away for the winter. But we are already planning plenty of adventures in him for 2012.

I hope you've enjoyed the story of Bertie - please let me know your epic DIY stories.

Any Other Welding - a different kind of headwear

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 03:21:48 +0100

This post is inspired by a recent twitter conversation with the lovely Anna K and Penny.

Headgear:

Me welding:

A metal creation:

Friendship

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 11:34:00 +0100

Check it out, I've written a little post for the amazing ladies over at Any Other Wedding.

I LOVE this blog and it's fabulous team of Clare, Aisling and Anna. If you've never visited before then I have to warn you now, you're not going to get a thing done this afternoon!