...during the Bride Doll Project...I've mentioned several (and there were apparently a lot) of the quirky little things that I either wanted or didn't want at my wedding...haha...

...and one of the things that I didn't want (for who knows now what reason) were "posed" pictures...I wanted all of the pictures to be taken just as things naturally occurred during the ceremony and the reception...I have absolutely NO IDEA why that was important to me...

...but my sweet Big Brother was really into photography at the time and had a nice camera...so I asked him to take photos at the wedding and the reception...and he did...and we think he did an awesome job too...

...and he and my sweet SIL had all of the photos printed for us as a gift too...several they formatted as 8x10s and 5x7s...but they had all of the photos printed... ...EXCEPT this one...obviously...it was the end of the roll...and they probably didn't think it was worth printing...and I never even noticed that it was missing...

...but...when we lived in North Dakota...I found all of the negatives in a box...(all of the photos were printed and in an album)...and there was still a little photo shop on Main Street (remember those)...and they would take 35mm negatives and somehow copy them to a cd...there were a lot of negatives from the wedding....I think my brother said he shot 3 rolls of film...and the cd cost $40...but I think we were getting ready to move and it got packed up without any (or much) review...

...but I got it out (from an envelope that I affixed to the inside back cover of the wedding album)...to get some digital photos for the Bride Doll Project...and I found this photo...that I had NEVER seen before...

...and I wanted it...fixed...and printed... ...so...y'all know I don't have any fancy-schmancy editing tools/apps...I basically just used MSPaint...and a crazy amount of time...cutting out and pasting parts of the photo and adjusting colours and 'painting'...and I know it's not perfect...but I think I've got a printable photo of the wedding toast now...and I'm pretty happy about it...

~Have a lovely day!

...true to my usual M.O. ...I finished my wedding shawl at 12:15 AM the night before the wedding...Mom and I sat chatting waiting on Scout to come home for the last time EVER... ...I used the same blue/green bead mix that I'd used for the shawl I wore to my nephew's wedding...but added some plain navy coloured beads to the mix...and threaded them onto thread that I only used in the rows where I was adding a bead...in the last valley of the fan on each 4 row repeat...

...and you see that tiny little ball of navy yarn...I love it when that's all I have left at the end of a project... ...at the top of the shawl I went back and added 3 rows of single crochet to make it a little bit sturdier... ...I was pretty pleased with my makeshift fan pattern...using part of the pattern from the Yes, Yes shawl... ...on the final row of the fan I added a bead after each double crochet... ...it's a long 2 foot by 6 foot rectangle and it's kinda hard to photograph... ...and I loved that the final row of beads on the bottom edge added a little bit of weight to the shawl and made it drape nicely...

...still no photo of me wearing it...but I'll post one if I can find it...

...what's in your workbasket?...

~Have a lovely day!

...first of all...I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU!!! to everyone who helped and wished us well...I had so many sweet and thoughtful emails and texts from you all wishing us all joy and peace and good things...and every good wish was so appreciated...Thank you! ...Mom and I got up at 7 AM and went over to the Parish Hall...and put out the cupcakes, nuts and mints... ...and the finishing touches... ...little packets of bird seed for the traditional send off...and the bird cage that Scout painted for the cards... ...flowers and placecards on the tables... ...I think Mom took this photo of me pinning on Scout's boutonniere ...and I'll find a better one of me in the dress...

...again I took so few photographs...I've asked everyone to send me any that they took... ...the only photo I have (so far...there was...of course...a photographer and I can't wait to see all those photographs)...of the wedding ceremony... ...the Bridal Party at the reception... ...the guests... ...the newly married run the gauntlet of well wishers... ...and...the send off...you can see that after a week of pouring rain...we had a beautiful day for the wedding... ...later in the evening everyone who was still in town regrouped for a BBQ in the Parish Hall...it was a fun time of relaxing and visiting after a hectic week...

~Wishing you all a lovely start to your week!

...we decorated Scout's car...I was glad I'd saved the little squeegie thingy that came with the Air Force decal we put on the truck as it made it easy to adhere these to the windows and painted sides of the car... ...then we covered it up so it would be a surprise...now everyone can honk at the Newlyweds on their way to the beach... ...this day flew by...Mom and MIL arrived...and it was time for rehearsal... ...and then the Groom's Dinner...I totally meant to take a LOT more photos than I did...but I had a wonderful time...

~Have a lovely day!

...just a couple of days now until the wedding...and Scout has packed up his bedroom, clothes and bathroom... ...and we headed over to their cute little white rental house... ...this is the sweet view from their front porch... ...there weren't really very many boxes... ...so we carried them in... ...the sanctuary was sweetly and simply decorated... ...little battery tea lights will be lit for the ceremony... ...the wedding banner is out... ...we picked up the tuxedos... ...and the flowers for the reception... ...and then spent the afternoon decorating the Parish Hall... ...I lowered the ironing board to table height...and pulled the tablecloths onto the table as I ironed...it took about 15 minutes per cloth...so about 5 hours in all... ...but here they are all perfectly presssed... ...so just at dusk in the rain...I started on the flowers...outside so as not to make a big mess inside... ...I just simply separated out the flowers...baby's breath...and greenery...then gathered it into a bunch...cut off the stems and put them into a bud vase... ...and there was very little mess to clean up... ...everything was too long so I had to cut them all off to fit in the vases... ...one for each table...simple and sweet... ...then the workmen arrived to finish the mantel on the new fireplace... ...and Scout sweetly helped assemble all the cupcake stands... ...the mantel was finished... ...and we went ahead and set up the drink station...and called it a day...

~Have a lovely day!