A Harvest Wedding

Well, my sister is married off and the day turned out wonderful. No dark clouds in the sky, no rain in the forecast - just sunshine and fall-like weather. The harvest theme of the wedding suited the barn she was married in and the sun filtering through the windows cast a warm glow to the room. The food was great and the atmosphere relaxing.

The days leading up to the "DAY" were spent running around gathering up the supplies and last minute details that were needed to make the day special. We had tulle coming out of our yin yang and flowers by the thousands. It was hard to imagine just how the barn would transpire with all these "things" but in the end it looked like a professional did it. I guess I could call myself a florist, wedding decorator and a wedding planner! And a cleaner upper!

Here is my dad the day before the wedding loading up the U-Haul he had to rent to haul all of the stuff we had for the wedding.

Hanging the lights and the tulle in the barn...

Loading up the many pumpkins my dad grew for the wedding to decorate the inside and outside of the barn property...

Before all of the decorations...

My helpers I put to work on tying all of the bows and sunflowers to the backs of the chairs and also putting together 100+ napkins with raffia and fall leaves...

The arrangements my mom and me made...

Steaming the sheet for the photo-shoot backdrop area...

It's finally looking like a wedding is going to take place...

The cake corner filled with all my cake platters and antique stuff I brought from home...

And again...

Look at this cool cake that is made with old books and some lace doilies (I added the pumpkin and leaves and berries)...

Love this pumpkin!

My bouquet (my sister and I made all of the bouquets for the wedding)...

A shot of the outside of the barn...

I love the way the sun shines through these windows in the barn...

The runner and flower/candle stands...

Yumm Yumm!! Cupcakes, candy corn and wedding cake!

Waiting for the cue...

Father and daughter...

The kiss that seals the deal!

Some family shots...

A candid moment of the bride and groom...

Mom and dad with the couple...

Our whole family...

Siblings...

The girls...

Waiting for the wedding to begin...

Family...

The head table with the cake I made for them...

Cupcake anyone??

Nephew...

We can smile now that the work is over!

Their first dance as husband and wife...

Awweee......

Father/daughter dance...

Mom cuttin' loose with my other sister...

Something was funny...

Time to relax...

Little Cash stealing a treat!

Yumm yumm!

He's thinkin' about getting another...

He has eyes only for the cupcake!

Me and my sister taking advantage of the photo shoot area...

Strike a pose!

Awweee.....

Charlie's Angels 3??

Me and hubby...

Portrait time...

My sister and her hubby...

Hey there Andy!

Me and my older brother...

Throwing rice at the couple before they leave...

The happy couple...

Off into the sunset they go...

Many blessings to you Jen and Ken on your new life together! May you experience life to the fullest and always appreciate each other and what God has given you!

A Jungle of Flowers

The flowers have been picked up...

Sunflowers...

Calla lily's in the most beautiful fall colors...

Vibrant mums...

Stunning colors...

Ones that look like pincushions...

And some that are "daisy" like...

Yellows...

And whites...

The task ahead of us awaits on the studio counter...

Oasis soaking in the sink...

Getting started...

And finished!

The rainbow of fall colors is amazing...

Sitting pretty in their stands...

Ahh...I can see the wedding colors coming together...

Next up...the decorating of my sister's wedding/reception venue tomorrow! I am getting very sleepy....

Some Art Time

This past week I spent taking some Art and Soul workshops in Portland, Oregon. I met up with my friend from Ontario (I picked her up from the Vancouver airport) and we then drove to Portland. It was a whirlwind week spent shopping some of my favorite places (Ruthie B's in Springfield, Monticello Antiques in Portland, Bridgeport Shopping Centre in Portland, Anthropologie, 23rd Avenue in Portland, Pearl District in Portland - just to name a few). We ate many places too but one of our favorites was P.F. Chang's below...

I signed up for three workshops and thoroughly enjoyed all of them. I came home with 2 finished projects - one still to finish. One of my workshops was the mini copper journal taught by Thomas Ashman. This was an interesting project and I learned a lot of neat things. These next photos are of his work...

Another workshop I was in was the Selective Seeing taught by Stephanie Lee. This was by far my most challenging class and this would be why I didn't bring home a finished project. This will be something I will work on at home and I'm sure it will be just as challenging. We started off with a copy of a black and white photo and painted out what we didn't want in the photo and accentuated what we did. These next few photos were Stephanie's...

This is the one my friend finished...

Another version of it that she made for her parents...

The girl with her arms outstretched in the photo is her...

The last class I took was called Vintage Gentleman taught by Charley and Kerin Gale. I also finished my project in this class. Instead of using a vintage photo of a man I used one of my grandmother. I still have to take some photos of my finished projects so I will post them once I do. Learned a lot in this class too - many techniques that I will put to use in the future.

I think by far the most fun thing was reconnecting with Christina and sharing lots of laughter and stories. We had fun in Italy last summer and again this fall. Check out her website of her store called St. Elmo's Fire in Stittsville, Ontario. She is a fantastic artist and definitely one to watch!