Bird Song

The shades I designed for Bird Song.

So what have I been up to lately? Well for one, my crafty friend and fellow blogger Karla Nathan is planning a creative weekend at her lovely farmhouse retreat in nearby Lawrence, Kansas so she asked me to join the group of crafty chicks to lead a Spring themed class called Bird Song.

No two will be alike; the stash of antique laces and trims for the class to use.

Karla works well in advance. All of us that have teamed with her during Miss Frenchie's or Silver Bella marvel at her tenacity to get 'er done. Weeks ahead of schedule, Karla has her items made, tagged, packed up and advertised- while the rest of us are up and down the isles at Hobby Lobby still searching for the right thing to start our projects. As the poster girl for procrastination, this baffles me! So true to form, Karla advertised her event weeks ago (or maybe months?!) and I was the last poor soul to finish my project and send her the images to post on the Bird Song site.

Lyrics from a Spring song, old millinery flowers and vintage pearls are glued about.

Today I finally added the last drop of glue to a pair of sconce shades that I will lead the class of 20 to make. I began with images from a stash of vintage photos I have. Then I layered an illustrated flower, colored the buds, and added lyrics from the song sheet Karla got her inspiration from for this event. After printing the girls on a wonderful linen paper I embellished the shade with bits of antique lace, millinery flowers and pearls. With the extra two inches of lace at the bottom, these could easily be used on small boudoir lamps but I have also shown them as sconce shades in my own bathroom.

Shown in my bathroom.

Maybe this will inspire you to start cutting and pasting something!
Enjoy.

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New Easter items just added!

BEHOLD

I heard it was coming and now it has been confirmed: Anthropologie has stepped up once again and launched a new business sure to send the retail world into a spin. Announcing BHLDN.


While our economic world is still learning how to survive, Anthropologie noticed where people were spending their money: on weddings. That's right, Anthropologie is now in the wedding business.


Last year I heard through the industry grapevine they were opening new wedding stores. Immediately my imagination went wild. I imagined the dresses of course; brides and bridesmaids, maybe even groom attire; then I went on to veils, jewelry, shoes but of course I could not stop thinking about the centerpieces! The props! The candle holders! What on earth would they do???


Last month I asked my friend and former manager of our local Anthro to give me the scoop. All she knew was there were no stores happening just yet, but she heard a little something was on the back burner. Then yesterday Elizabeth sent me the new link. Silly me not to realize they would start first where women are also spending.... online!


To be honest, last week I was giving some thought to a wedding category on the Curious Sofa website. I love the funky (inexpensive) jewelry I find as well as votives and possible antique centerpieces; all perfect for the informal wedding.

Necklace 27.50, Crochet Scarf 26.95, Lace Rose 17.95

The BHLDN (Beholden) website is currently simple and pretty, a little less funky than I expected from this retail icon but I am giving them the benefit of the doubt. It is still new and in the beginning stages so I can only suspect they are testing the water to see what the reaction will be. But if I know Anthropologie like I think we all do, get ready. This may explode into a fresh and new direction for Holy Matrimony. Enjoy looking for now.

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Snow Bunnies

From Texas to Connecticut many of us have been hit with an over abundance of a winter snow. I may be the only person that has appreciated the timing of these blizzards. Since closing the store I have enjoyed staying home, hibernating and resting while the city has been immobile. Although I will admit 48 hours into it I became a little antsy. I concluded home is a great place to be when you can GO to it, not when you have to STAY there!


My little Pearl is a bit confused by our new schedule. She is not much of a homebody and always looked forward to leaving the house everyday to go to the store. Having 12" of snow outside doesn't help either. Not only does she get lost in it, she can't figure out where to do her business! It's only during these snow days do I admire the bigger dogs who love it. This lead me to finding some great images of dogs in winter. Enjoy.

The image above is the best I can get from Pearl in the snow!

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