Guest Book Art

Sure I love my new husband, but I also love my latest craft. So that's what I'm blogging about today. Guest book art - an idea I got from Etsy, but made myself for much less coin.

Before the wedding, I used a stamper to pre-cut a hundred little hearts - super easy. Then I made a little sign explaining for my guests that these hearts were actually the guest book. My brother and sister-in-law set them up at the reception site before the wedding. It looked like this:

And when people signed, it still looked awesome:

Now, ten months after the wedding, I finally got around to making the art.

First, I googled the lyrics to our song, 'Hey Mama' by Mat Kearney, copied and pasted it into a Pages document and changed it into a pretty font (I used Apple Chancery). Next, I printed the lyrics and stamped out a few hearts with that.

Then I organized the hearts in a shadow box I got at a local craft store and stuck them with a short straight pin. Oh, and I stamped a teal heart and wrote our wedding date on it. Here's the final product:

And a close up:

So much better than a guest book that would gather dust on my shelves.

Something Kinda Special

"I think he stood me up."

It was supposed to be our second date. Proud of myself for arriving five minutes early, I did a once through of the front of the restaurant and the bar area. Thirty five minutes later, I was still lurking around waiting for him.

"Really?" my girlfriend whispered back, "I thought you had a good first date."

"We did."

"Well call him."

"I texted him. He didn't answer."

"Call him."

"Ok." I hung up with my girlfriend and dialed his number. I got his voicemail and left a message.  Four minutes later, I had a text. 'I'm here.'

I looked up.  No you're not, I thought. I went back in the restaurant. Nothing. I texted, 'I don't see you. I'll be in Barnes and Noble.'

I perused the books with one eye on the front of the restaurant. Out he came with a sheepish grin, "What are you doing?"

"Wha?" We giggled about poor communication and phone service. He led me into the restaurant - way into the restaurant - to a table in the back in a shadow (ok, the shadow part is creative license).

We sat down and a woman at the table next to ours was so relieved. She leaned over and said, "Oh, honey, I'm so glad you showed up.  He has been waiting for you forever. And he is such a nice young man." I'm pretty sure the teenagers she was with were cringing, but I appreciated her assessment.

That night he had me laughing until I cried. I knew he, like Mary J. Blige, was something kinda special.

I just wish we could tell that nice lady how it all turned out.

From the Beginning...

I didn't know our first date would be the beginning of the end for the Dauntless Dater. But if I did, I'd have happily bid her adieu.

It was a brunch date.  October 17th, 2010 if you ask me.  In the fall a couple years ago if you ask him.  Just before I parked, I saw him waiting on this bench outside of a neighborhood cafe.

He was so handsome, my heart skipped a beat.

I knew he had a personality from his emails.  When I offered to meet him halfway between our homes, he refused, saying he'd make the trip to me using his compass and maps.  He was a smart ass and I liked it.  In person, he was confident with a side of silly.  Guarded for sure, but fun.  His hug at the end of the date told me all I needed to know.  It was a full-body, sincere, steal-the-breath-from-your-lungs kind of hug.

Less sappy coming soon.