Christening Cards

I promised some pictures of the Christenings cards I was asked to make for my friend to use as thank you cards for the guests. So here they are. I hope you like them Cheryn!

Goodbyes

Podge

After a very emotionally draining week I've been spring cleaning the house. All of Podge's old stuff we will donate to the Cats Protection league. They are appealing for litter and food so hopefully another cat will benefit.

Still very sad and not come to terms with the tragedy but at least I can take comfort in knowing that nearly 1000 people read the post about him so hopefully some of those people will check their rain water catchers and prevent it happening to another cat.

Another small comfort is having his ashes back, they are in his favourite place on the window ledge and I cannot thank Pet Funeral Services enough for their amazing service. they have so much compassion and their services is truly wonderful. They treated him with respect and I know he was looked after all the time.
I take comfort in the knowledge he was well looked after and they even returned a lock of hair for me. Something I wasn't able to do before he went to them, and a great comfort as I found myself picking hairs of his bed to keep close to me :'(

Dangers in the Garden- rest in peace Podge

I know this blog was meant to be full of nice pretty things but I need to get a message to people. On Monday our beloved cat, Podge, drowned. Climbing down from a fence he fell in the neighbours water butt which was two thirds full and drowned.

A tragic accident that could have been avoided had they taken the time to put the lid on properly or pop a brick on top to keep it secure. 

I just cannot bear the thought of this happening to another cat. Words cannot describe how upset and heartbroken we both are. He was part of our family and at 1 years old he is gone. Never again we will hear his purr, see his little pink nose or have him cuddle us on a Sunday morning in bed. 

So please pass this on to anyone with a water butt and if you have one or a similar rain catcher please take the time to make sure nothing can fall in and not get out.

Hopefully his ashes will back Monday and he can sit in his favourite place on the window ledge. 

Loved always our little Podge xxx

Christmas Spirits and Homemade cookies

Sipping vanilla steamed milk and chomping on a homemade peanut butter cookie having made and written my Christmas cards.

I do love this time of year but there seems to be a lot going on at the moment. Wedding is creeping closer and closer and a tiny bit of panic is starting to creep in. Had a long chat with my friend who got engaged at the same time as me which helped. Seems silly to be worrying about the little things so much when the big things are great. 

Worrying about the colour of shoes seems very insignificant when I know I'm marrying the right man for me! 

Funny thing is we are both worrying about the same things, helps to know its not just me. Anyways we went out and drank A LOT of cocktails to celebrate hubby to be's birthday. Had a giggle and just enjoyed ourselves- Lovely. If you are ever in Reading check out Be At One, a fantastic cocktail bar with a deadly happy hour :o)

Been looking at Wedding shoes again. As Ive decided to have a different pair for the evening, a pair of comfortable ball room shoes I thought I could go a bit higher with my day shoes. 
Found a awesome website this morning, Perditas Wedding shoes. I have ordered myself a pair as they have 10% off at the moment, free delivery when over £40 and a free dyeing service (if the shoes are over a certain amount) Amazing! So I'm eagerly awaiting my delivery, if they don't fit I may be going on a road trip to the store. 

Engagement Card

Another engagement! It really does seem like getting married is contagious :-) Here is a really pretty engagement card that I made for a friend of mine to congratulate her. Again quite simple to make but having the inner lining makes it a little more luxurious

The Simple Things In Life

Another busy week in the Frogley/Thompson Household. Long road trip down south for the weekend with the parents, but we made sure we were back for the second dance lesson on Sunday. Again an absolute giggle. So much fun, we've nailed the first 2 steps but there was carnage on the dance floor when we all tried to do the waltz-with turns! 

After a bit of one to one help by the lovely teachers everybody was looking a lot more stylish (well we didn't crash again) Think we are starting to get the hang of it, and the trip to the pub after is keeping hubby to be interested. 

Little word to the wise, avoid open toe shoes when learning...ouch :(

Played around with a very simple invite too. Think this has come out very elegantly and could be used as thank you cards or save the date. Very simple to do as well. Just a stamp and a punch is all you need.

Sometimes less is more

Christening Cards and Christmas Shopping

Christening Cards

Just finished making my first order! A dear friend of mine is having her little boy christened in South Africa and asked me to design and make some thank you cards for her to take with her. I’m going to keep the final pictures a secret until after the Christening but here is is a little sneaky peak. They are lemon, polka dot blue with little giraffes. Very Cute

Hopefully the guests like them, so far the feedback is positive.

Christmas Shopping

So although this started as a wedding blog it is all a bit quiet on the wedding front, apart from being super stressed about paying for it-I’m sure everybody has been there? So I thought I would use the blog to take my mind away from that.

Unless you have been living underground for the past two weeks the Christmas shopping festivities have begun! After yesterday I’m thinking about living underground. After five hours in Reading, a favorite shopping destination for me, I was waving my roll of wrapping paper around like a weapon. Oh my days it is busy out there, can totally understand those that Christmas shop online. I find it’s a teeny bit impersonal but after yesterdays carnage I can see why.

All I ended up doing is buying stuff for me. Oops. It was just easier than trying to look, however this is not helping the first point I mentioned ……

I did use a little promo code I found U437FGBQY on Fat Face and have acquired what I hope to be a rather lovely jumper dress. No idea how long it lasts but if you like fat face then it is surely worth a go. Also if you enter SANTA at checkout with Barratts then you get 30% off. There are so many offers going on at the moment its insane, and making it so hard to save. Need to get some will power

Here’s a happy snap of Podgey helping me write this post

Frames in the Sale and Dancing Shoes

So rather then saving up and doing my Christmas shopping I've been bad and purchased these stunning shoes. After spending a while trying on Bloch Shoes I was won over by their comfort. Honestly they are lovely. Have a look at these beauties, perfect for the evening ceremony. They are in the sale on the Bloch Website

Also just to let any brides that are making their own table plans the lovely farm I found earlier on has gone into the sale....now half price. Heres the link, get in quick, Cream Frame

Ballroom Dancing

I've been nagging R (the future husband) all summer about going dancing. Finally he gave in and agreed to go dancing with me, so much fun :-)


I found a ballroom and latin class near us, that was absolute beginners-very important!  I re-started the nagging, pointed out the fact that in less than 6 months we would have to dance in front of our friends and family. Crucially pointed out we would be sober and eventually R relented and so off we went.

Honestly I haven't had so much fun for £4 in a long while! The instructor was brilliant, really patient and he had a lovely assistant, Holly, who spent quite a bit of time with us. The first few steps were bad, its very difficult to dance when you are stone cold sober and shy. However eventually we got it and started to really enjoy ourselves. There was minimal foot squashing and there is something very sexy about your partner leading you in a waltz, if you don't believe me then try it. We went to a great class ran by Mark of Dance basics

I'm now itching for the next class, looking for dance shoes (well any excuse to shop) and planning how we can fit in extra sessions.

We've also asked him for some private lessons so we can surprise our guests with our first dance.......so watch this space. Any brides to be who have wanted to go dancing for a while nows the time to ask the other half. A weak moment when they are worrying about the first dance may be all you need to get them hooked! 

Orange Bunting

At the end of a rainy and cold week I thought I'd brighten up the day with some orange invites! Without the use of ribbon or embellishments these would be super cheap to make. I think they are really effective and cheerful, perfect for a summer wedding 

Button Heart

A crafty sunday spent sticking buttons in the shape of a heart. This is a really easy way to make a cool bit of wall art or even to decorate a card. 

You will need a deep or memory frame, the one I used was from Hobby Craft. You will also need a backing paper, a colour that matches or contrasts with your button colour and a bag of button. These don't all have to be the same size or colour. 

Heres how to do it:

1. Print a shape or a letter, I chose a heart

1. Lay this over your base paper and use a blunt tool, the ned of a paintbrush will do, to trace over the shape. Now you have an outline to follow.
2. Then you can either use tape to fill the shape or glue each individual button to fill this space. 

Then all you need to do is mount it and ta-dah a really unique and one off piece of art. 

Lilac Shabby Sweet Birds

Fell in love with the bird print paper this morning, so cute and so pretty. I adore the colours and it got me thinking about how I would do my invites with a slightly different theme. 

Everything you see has been handmade by me, including the folded invite which I'm becoming addicted too. 

I'm keen to do a table plan to follow on from this and think touches of bunting and shabby chic would compliment it, I wish I could plan/design more than my own wedding. 

Christmas Sparkles!

For all the brides that love a bit of bling there are so many gorgeous sparkly hair decorations out there at the moment. I'm loving these stunning pins from accessorise, normally I'm all for waiting until the sales but you know these will probably all be gone. Ordering mine today!

If anybody is having a 1920s Gatsby themed event they also have some exquisite head pieces. 

from accessorize

Any stressed out brides to be out there

Been very quiet lately on the blog, just finished a weekend stint at work and have been chilling on the week off.

During that week off I booked myself in for a cheeky hot stone massage. If you've not had one then you are missing out, absolutely amazing and so relaxing. I had mine done by a lovely lady called Angela, of A.D Therapy  She comes round to your house and does the treatments there.

Now I'll confess I have been a bit reluctant to have a spa treatment at home, after all one of the best bits is the whole spa day experience. However after a few disappointing 'spa experiences' I thought it may be time to broaden my mind and also save some money as you do pay for the 'experience'

Also when my friend Sarah was stressing about the day in the week leading up I desperately wanted to take her out for the day but there was no time at all. I called Angela and she could fit us in. We had such a great morning cracking on with wedding bits and then the door bell rings and the lovely Angela is there.

It was brilliant, no travelling or parking and I was able to carry on doing bits and bobs whilst Sarah had a relaxing facial. Then it was my turn, the best bit about Angela is she thinks of the whole package. Calming music in the background, hot booties on your feet which was preceded by a gentle pressure point foot rub. Followed by an amazing massage!

I cannot recommend her enough, she is very reasonably priced, something that had put me off a hot stones before. She is friendly, calm and very relaxing but extremely professional, Will be having plenty more treatments with her. Have a look at her website as she offers so much, including gel manicures, reflexology and facials. She also does Pamper Parties- a brilliant idea for a hen do or a pre-wedding de-stress

Congratulations Naomi!

So pleased to wake up this morning and see that Naomi Thomas has been crowned The Daily Mail Woman of the Year.

So very deserved for an amazing person. What she does for terminal brides and grooms is incredible and to do it all whilst battling herself just makes even more poingnant. In one way Im itching to do something for them but sad also, thinking this will mean someone won't get to spend their life with their loved one. 

Just treasure everybody thats close to you, make to most of the time you spend together and think of those who don't always get very long. Im really hoping that the award brings even more publicity as I think having your special day with the one you love should be something everybody gets to do. I hope future brides like myself will think about this whilst planning table favours or the gift list and maybe give a thought to this charity.

picture from the Daily mail

DIY Duck egg blue and silver flower Invite

I ordered this invite base from Imagine Doing It Yourself whilst I had ordered some other bits so I thought I would have a play with some lace and flowers to see what could be made. 

Overal Im fairly pleased, although I think the font should have been in grey to blend in better. Also some thicker paper would have made it more luxurious 

Wedding Wishing Well Foundation

Having recently lost a colleague who was planning her wedding in tragic circumstances it made me realise how sad that would be, not to marry the man you loved or the woman you loved.

The Wishing Well Foundation  are an amazing and inspiring charity that help terminal brides and grooms have their big day. The most awe inspiring part is that it is ran by someone who has terminal cancer themselves. It incredible how someone can be so dedicated to others whilst going through so much herself. 

There are many ways you can help support the charity, including asking guests to donate for their guest list. 

Reading about this charity made me want to be a part of the amazing work they do. So my exciting news to share is that I am on their suppliers list now. This means I can be part of helping couples dream day come true. I cannot wait to help make someones big day magical in whatever way I can

DIY Table Plan-Spotty and Cream

So I've carried on with the spotty and navy theme and developed the table plan. I added in some lovely grosgrain ribbon to lift the heading but other than that all of what you can see has been been made with two bits of card and a heart hole punch. 

This works out as very low cost, the frame is also less than £20 and really finishes it off. I'd add some navy spotty ribbon to the favour boxes navy table runners and some cream roses. Pretty 

DIY Navy and Grey Invite

Ive been trying out Adobe Illustrator to add a little bit of a focal point to the text on the invites. Im really rather pleased how they turned out and can't wait to start using the technique in my table plans 

Spotty little numbers

As its cold and raining and I'm stuck inside I've been playing around with some spotty paper and a heart punch. Even with no ribbon these look cute and simple. Perfect if you're on a budget. Would look really cute with a relaxed theme, add in some cream wooden hearts and spotty ribbon and you have a winner 

I also like the way the name card stands up and so means name holders are not needed 

xxx