Spring Wedding: Cherry Blossom Chic

The springtime wedding of my favorite clients of all time - a bright, fun, gorgeous lady and her sharp, funny, nice British guy. Plus, a tutorial on how to transform a plain-jane book into a custom journal, album or guestbook like the one I made for them (below). 

clockwise: 1 programs with luminescent blush pink cover with monogram and ivory interior; 2, 9 All Souls Episcopal Church, Washington DC; 3, 7, 10 cherry blossom cake with buttercream-lined fondant; 4 minimal cherry blossom, pink peonies, celadon green viburnum arrangements, 6 custom made guestbook in taupe with modern blush pink satin ribbon accent and monogram book plate; 8 escort card favors of dark chocolate squares

guestbook/journal how-to
1. Buy these supplies from craft, paper, book stores:
plain journal, book cloth, large sheet of book cloth or decorative paper in different but coordinating color, letter size paper in coordinating color, spool of satin ribbon, bookbinding glue, spray glue
2. Play with the ribbon on the journal cover to create a design. Photograph the design. Cut ribbon into corresponding lengths, with enough to tuck each strip over the back of the cover by 0.5" at each end.
3. Measure out side of book from cover to cover. Add 1.5" to that measurement. Cut book cloth to that size, making sure there's enough length to cover book when closed.
4. Coat the back of the book cloth with bookbinding glue and carefully cover the front and back of journal. Press and smooth with a ruler. Cut 2 slits aligned with center binding along top and bottom. Shorten the resulting tabs, coat back with glue, and tuck into the center binding. Cut some of the cloth at the corners so the sides of the cloth barely overlap (for a smooth, almost flat corner). Fold over and glue the sides of the book cloth onto the back of the cover. Press and smooth.
5. Measure the inside of book 1/4" from edges of cover all the way to the edges of top page.  Cut coordinating book cloth/sheet to that size, ensuring enough length to go into binding crease and allow book to close easily.
6. Place the ribbon strips on the front cover according to your design, wrap around the back/inside of the front cover and glue in place.
7. Use either spray glue or bookbinding glue on the back of the cloth/paper and carefully cover the inside of the front cover and top page. Press and smooth. Because you measured from 1/4" from the cover's edges, this lining will cover the edges of the main book cloth (and the ribbon edges) while leaving a 1/4" margin on the back of the front cover but no margin on the top page.
8. Design your monogram, print out on letter-sized paper, cut, and glue onto top page.

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stationery: natalieS@calliope; photos: amydeputy

For the Love of Books

What was my first love? Books. I was a 3 year-old wishing someone would teach me to read already. It was a pop-up book about the seasons. I fell hard and am still giddy over the stories, the ideas, the images, the characters, and the cover art.

Penguin has been publishing many classics in beautifully designed, cloth-bound hardcovers. Once I discovered this edition, I wasted no time starting a collection of my favorites: Pride & Prejudice, Alice in Wonderland, Little Women, Jane Eyre, A Christmas Carol, Tess of the d'Ubervilles.

Then I discovered the Rolls Royce of books: Penguin Threads Deluxe Classics. Penguin commissioned illustrator Jillian Tamaki to design and hand-embroider covers for The Secret Garden, Emma, and Black Beauty. A few years ago, we sold limited-edition journals covered in vintage embroidered handkerchiefs. These Deluxe Classics tower over our little journals. The detail is just astounding. Look at the rich tones, nuanced shading, the texture, and 3D-like effects. The work continues on the back covers! How did Jillian not go blind on this project? Consider me first in line at the door of the Jillian Tamaki fan club.

O t h e r  E m b r o i d e r y  P r o j e c t s

This Monster Quilt was Jillian's first embroidery project, which she completed 5 months before embarking on the Penguin commission. That isn't right. I can barely sew on a button. Well, I can, but the utter boredom prevents me from doing so. I prefer to attempt minor-league embroidery, such as the gift  I crafted for a friend who loves ice skating and hedgehogs. (see etsy artist's pattern last image below)

images of Jillian's work are ©Jillian Tamaki

Nicole Vos Van Avezathe

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Favorite Halloween Ideas I

I love holidays, because they give us an easy excuse to celebrate, to imagine, to play. After Christmas, my favorite holiday is Halloween because we get to play and be crafty (in a good way). Every year, we decorate the house inside and out, to the amusement of neighbors and trick-or-treaters alike.

Halloween has many styles: gory, gothic, cute, whimsical. Ours is more of a whimsical gothic or spooky whimsical style. We are not interested in staging murderous scenes, so there is no blood and gore in our decor. (Cheesey rhyme, I know.) There is not a single homage to axe murderers or evil spirits. Instead, we like to create a little mystery, a hint of an other-worldly something in the air, in itself an experience a little magical. We use suggestion - an approach more subtle and deliciously goose bump raising - through scent, sight and sound. Fog rolling across the lawn. A light flickering behind a window. Something filmy staring out into the night. Trees grimacing at the sights. Spooky music escaping from the house. The scent of roasting pumpkin seeds dancing in the air. Creepies and crawlies, silhouettes and dazzling pumpkins frolicking inside.

This month, I will share some of my favorite Halloween ideas from the web, starting with a glimpse of those we used at home.

graves: leaf piles, black-painted faux pumpkins with flickering battery-powered votives

dancing ghosts: shower-curtain liners pinned to half-circle styrofoam heads on wooden rods; light at center covered with orange cellophane (check heat safety first)

poster-board silhouette

poster-board silhouettes on painted canvas

Friday Finds

REINVENTED CLASSIC

Map quilts! Heirloom blankets, quilted maps of cities and neighborhoods. One-of-a-kind, handcrafted and organic. Ingenious. Thanks to ApartmentTherapy for telling us about Emily Fischer's work.

  

THE GROWN-UP TREEHOUSE

I couldn't live without trees. There is nothing quite like the pattern of light and leaves when you look up through the boughs of woods, the soft rustling of leaves as the wind passes through, or their fiery autumn hues. My husband and I are very fortunate to have a few large picture windows facing trees and prefer nature-inspired decor. This great idea from the folks at MarthaStewart definitely give rooms the treehouse effect with a graphic, modern aesthetic. Let's just hope it's critter-free and has eco-friendly potential. The pooch better not get any funny ideas!

PIX OF PICKS

What is this prickly tuffet made of? Hint: no porcupines were harmed in the making of this object, although pigs in blankets are running for cover.

Answer: Toothpicks. Yes, clean ones. How does one not get a million tiny stab wounds crafting this cool frog? Thanks to DCDesign for this photo by Infinity Pix.