Resurfacing

Christmas 2009 has now passed in a hazy flurry of sewing, knitting, wrapping, weaving, packing, unpacking, eating and more eating. I don't even know where to begin. I feel like I'm in that part of a movie where everything is really noisy and screechy and then the next scene cuts to complete silence.



Yes. This is what I'm talking about. Let's just savor this moment of silence and stare at the pretty bird ornament.

It's been a week since we've been back home and I haven't managed to make myself do much of anything except slug it out on the couch. I blame this mostly on the purgatory that is trying to will yourself asleep because your body demands it but is f$%@-ing impossible because your brain is trying to decide between a) not breathing and suffocating or b) breathing and suffocating from the mothball fumes that are embedded in the duvets and pillows that your parents have unearthed from storage to cover the 14 people (not) sleeping in the house.  But let me not speak of this anymore because every time I think about it, I hold my breath, forget to exhale and start to see spots.

R and I actually had friends come over for New Year's Eve and didn't cancel on them at the last minute. (We kinda invited them at the last minute, so I guess it would have seemed odd, even for us, to cancel immediately.) But...it was an awesome evening. Exactly the sort of fun, low-key event we were aiming for. Plus we got to hear a "dad-walking-in-on-sexytimes/penis-through-the-crocheted-afghan" story that is now going down as the most unbeatable amazing i'msohappyithappenedtoyoursister cringe story ever. I laughed so hard, I almost peed.

All the handmade gifting I did this year went over pretty well. Except for the hat I made for my dad. He seemed to like it, then I caught him trying to hock it to my cousin's wife - for her son. I may have made the hat a bit small for the old noggin.

Pictures to come. I haven't managed to upload anything yet and I'm afraid I was too busy with everything going on to take more pictures of my FO's. Ah well. Time to move on and start planning for 2010 anyways.

Happy New Year, everybody!

In which we explore the equivalent of "tinking" while weaving

Dear Tan;

You're right. I did not credit you the lines of weaving you did on the log cabin. This is why. Make sure your BigGirlPanties are pulled up, 'k?


In the knitting world, there is a saying called "frogging". It often comes into play when you are:

a) knitting and drinking
b) knitting (at least, attempting to knit) and playing tug 'o war with Dayna
c) knitting and not paying attention to the documentary R is watching until you hear the words "radical lesbian nuns"
d) knitting and watching an episode of SYTYCD auditions
e) knitting and realize that you've completly arsed up what you were doing for the past two hours of your life.

So you call your rugged, good looking boyfriend over to take hold of one end of the yarn and tell him to pull. And he says "Pull?!" and you reassure him that you did indeed mean pull. Then you watch him enthusiastically rip out row after row of stitches that you've spent the last two hours of your life knitting. (Get it? "rip it rip it").

Alternately, the slower way of undoing your work in knitting is called "TINK-ing". It means to painstakingly undo your work stitch by stitch by stitch. I believe the term was coined by someone's clever husband who noticed that "tink" is "knit" spelled backwards. There's a popular stitch 'n bitch in Toronto who meet at the Spotted Dick and their awesome tagline is "Knit. Drink. Tink". As you can see, it's acceptable to knit & drink - with the understanding that you might have to tink as well.

On the evening of 13 May 2009, you were visiting R and I in London. It was a night of great company, fascinating conversation, a meal that I can't believe you put into your mouth due to the amount of honey & Sriracha sauce you put on it, and drinking. As you will recall, there was even a little weaving (not "looming") because you were curious about the loom.

I showed you the basics and you exuberantly wove a row or two. I believe you said "wow" more than once. Then we were distracted by more interesting topics like hair transplants, world travel and the fact that we now allow Nori & Dayna on the couch. I believe you and R even watched a documentary but not the one about the "radical lesbian nuns".

To sum up the evening, there was:
a) weaving
b) dogs
c) a documentary
d) interesting conversation
e) good company
f) drinking
e) drinking and weaving

There's no easy way to say this, my friend. There is also no redeeming social value for it either, but...

The rows that you did, you did with an enthusiasm that would make any teacher proud. You TAN'd it. Unfortunately,the rows were...um... Tan'd under the influence and you didn't actually weave the full length of the blanket in some spots and you caught threads that you weren't supposed to. It happens.

Because I'm OCD, I had to NAT it back. (Okay, I was trying to be clever, but it didn't quite work out)

But at least a good time was had by all. Ihopeyouaren'tsad.

Please visit us again soon once you're over being traumatized by this post.

Yours,
Natalie

P.S. Did your dad find the answers he was looking for from your most holy and respected Quach ancestors?

P.S. #2: Has his hair grown back yet?

FO :: Dog Walking Hat

There has been a noticeable lack of crafting this week unfortunately. This is due to the number of ideas buzzing around my head and my need to find a used (not-too-crappy) piano for my next creativenture. Anyways, I won't get into it just now.

Thought I'd pop in and show you an overdue FO that's been waiting patiently to be blogged about.

Dayna is convinced these styrofoam heads are dangerous and are about to take over the world. You never know. She might be right.



Pattern: Modified Boyfriend Hat based on the pattern :: here ::
Yarn:: Mission Falls 1824 Wool under two skeins
Colour: Charcoal with the edging done in Black
Needles: US #7

Comments: This is the third time I've knit this particular hat. The other two were gifted over Christmas before I could snap pictures. It was my go-to hat pattern this year. Loved the smushiness of the Mission Falls wool. I got three hats out of five skeins with yarn left over.

Modification: For this particular hat, I ended up making a LOT of modifications just because I wasn't paying attention and ended up knitting the rib in 3 x 3 instead of 3 x 2. Therefore, I had to make up the decreases as I went along. This is what happens when you get cocky because you think you know what you're doing after knitting a pattern multiple times. The knitting gods have their own ways of inspiring humility in their followers.

So when the man of Nori's boyfriend had a birthday coming up, I knew what I wanted to make. I just didn't expect to make such a one of a kind item.



I have to share this picture with you. R took it at the park the other day and I love it!



When Tango decides he wants to eat something, let no man stand in his way of getting that tasty morsel in his mouth and into his stomach; whether it's a kleenex, a bone, a wing, a hamburger or the head of a dead fish or small rodent (...yes, these have all been found in the park) ... good luck trying to get him to drop it. On a cold winter's day, a man's ears can freeze during such an impasse.

Tango's lucky he's so damn cute.

*picture taken by Sanju*

Have a great weekend everybody!

FO:: feather & fan stroller blanket

I was just trolling through my drafts and realized I never posted the FO for this project. Most of the details are now lost in the wastelands of the back of my mind since I worked on this sometime in early 2008.

I was having some fun with the photo shoot.



Pattern :: Organic Baby Wrapper :: here ::
Yarn: Vermont Organic Fiber Company O-Wool Balance (4 skeins)
Colour: Yellow
Needles: US #7

Comments: I didn't check my gauge so the blanket ended up a little a narrower than I would have liked. I would have otherwise added more pattern repeats to make it wider and longer. The yarn also had a lot of vegetable matter in it, so I was constantly picking out prickly bits while I was knitting with it. Is that what they mean by "organic"?

Here's Alexander being wrapped up in the blanket (and Pete doing his demonic impression of a dog knitting.. don't ask.)
Alexander is now around 8mths old and well on his way to becoming the most beautiful baby boy on the planet. If he can figure out how to get out of this seat, that is.

Careful when you embiggen this picture. His eyelashes might reach out and poke you in the eyes.

Sisterhood of Crafts with Vices

I had a crafty retreat this past weekend with a few girlfriends. No structure. Just lots of food, movies, girly chatter, and sangria fueling our inspiration. I rearranged my basement workshop and absolutely loved having people over using the space. I normally spend my weekends working on some project or another, so it was awesome having these quirky gals over for the company. I was joined on Friday night by blogless Heather, Inge, Sue and blogless Laura.

Unfortunately, I didn't get the camera out fast enough to capture Friday night's orgy of crafting and eating. I was too excited. From what I recall, I was speaking in exclamation points all night and it was one giant Show 'N Tell. As I was laying out the smorgasboard of food, Inge made sangria. Hello! I think it needs to become a dietary staple around here.

For the most part, I just fluttered around checking things out. There were scrapbooking magazines to flip through, cool gadgets and doo-dads to inspect and lots of catching up with people. It was therapeutic just being able to share, trade ideas, laugh and talk. The girls discovered my 1" button press early on and it got a steady workout during the night. About the only thing I really accomplished was turning a heel on a sock and part of this secret project for later. I almost squeezed my brains through my ears trying to get these blown up:



Nori had no idea why I was doing this, or really, WHAT I was doing... and it kept freaking her out. Balloons are evidently yet another thing on her black list of "EXTREME DANGER. FIGHT OR FLIGHT".



On Saturday, the group dwindled down to just me, Inge and Heather. I was completely overstimulated, as Heather pointed out, and didn't get much sleep...but WHO CARES? I didn't get out of my pajamas until it was time for dinner. After a monster breakfast, I decided my brains could handle additional trauma and spent the rest of the weekend staining my new toy. Inge and Heather would periodically call out to ensure that I hadn't passed out from inhaling all the toxic fumes. (Sneak peek!! I'm almost done!!!)



Inge was a power house scrapbooking ninja and was really close to accomplishing her goal of 20 scrapbook pages. Here she is working on a starbucks travel mug insert. Super cute! Besides the importance of sangria and bellinis in our daily life, Inge also imparted this bit of wisdom: "Everything looks better with a little glitter." Very key. In turn, Inge discovered hot water bottles at 3am.



Heather finished a whack of cards which were her goal for the weekend. (Sorry, H! I didn't get a picture of them!) We finally got ourselves mobilized on Saturday night and headed to the mall for some dinner. The shopping got thrown in at the last minute while we waited for our table at Milestones. The girls tried on some clothes and shoes while I embraced my inner "crotchety old lady" and tried to restrain myself from laying the smack down on some teenagers. In cahoots with Heather, Inge's hubby, discovered where we were going for dinner and ordered us a bottle of wine to celebrate Inge's birthday. We also ordered a round of bellinis to start us off which almost finished me off for the rest of the evening due to the overwhelming brain freeze I suffered after my first enthusiastic slurp.

And as for R...he was a saint as usual. After everybody left, we had this enlightening conversation:

R: Do you know what the most expensive thing is about having a bunch of girls over?

N: No, what?

R: Toilet paper.

When I first moved in with R, he once tactfully asked me how many squares of toilet paper I used because he couldn't believe how fast we were (read: I was) going through his TP stash. Up until that point, it never occurred to me to count. I think I said "4".

As R has also pointed out many times now... I lied.

Hello Life

Motivated solely by the overwhelming amount of smack talk I've been getting from my readers (otherwise, singularly known as Jane) about how boring my blog has become due to the lack of actual blogging, I find myself writing a quick update post to ...well, how do you say it?

SHUT HER UP.

Since I last posted, this is what I have been up to..

:Planned a surprise 60th party for my mom

:Managed to actually surprise our mom despite our dad being the worse secret keeper EVER

:Turned 31 with a Starbucks birthday breakfast, a BBQ feast and still looking like a 12 year old

:Sewed a tote bag

:Sewed two zippered pouches

:Resigned from my job with a tentative end date that depends on when I get a new job

:Went on my first interview in six years

:Didn't get the job

:Finished five knitting projects: one stroller blanket, two cowls, one pair of pedicure socks and one ballband dishcloth

:Told my parents that R and I are going to move to London and NOT get married

:Stuck to my guns even as my mom tried to bribe me with the grand piano

:Saw two movies - "Wanted" and "The Dark Knight"

:Did not scream during "The Dark Knight" - *cough* Like Jane did *cough*

:Had six weeks of open houses for the condo

:Watched R spend six weeks vacuuming up Nori-fur EVERY. DAY.

:Spent six weeks keeping Nori out of the condo and discovered she has an inexplicable hate-on for schnauzers and most other dogs who rush over to her to say hi

:Laughed at people who asked if the bed was going to be sold with the condo

:Sold the condo; kept the bed

:Spent $75 on a new dog trainer who told us that Nori's fine. She hasn't turned savage on us. She's just telling dogs to screw off because she has no tolerance for inappropriate greeting rituals. Crotch first, then a face -to-face hello. She's a lady, that one!

:Welcomed Baby Alexander, of Pete & Tash fame, into the world of raucous laughter and stupid jokes

:Celebrated R's dad's 70th birthday and did not take any pictures

So it's been a busy summer. I'll provide more indepth details of these events when I can. (Ya, we've all heard that, right?) Well... I'll at least leave you with the details of our Stitch "N Pitch night a few weeks ago.

Jane and I had a rollickin' good time at the Jays game. We went with hundreds of knitters to the Sky Dome (Wait, is it still called the sky dome or did they change the name again?) to watch the Blue Jays play against another team... um, who wore green.

Stitch 'n Pitch was a special event organized by the National NeedleArts Association and I believe there were many of these nights held all over North America.

It was a great blend of interests. Jane got to watch baseball. We got to hang out together (with her cousin, Sarah, who spent the entire time wondering how she got coerced into coming with us) and I got to knit. Jane took out her knitting to show us proof that she belonged in the knitter's section and then didn't touch it again for the rest of the game. She was too busy riding the baseball emotional rollercoaster to knit.


I haven't been to a game in almost 10 years. The last time I was there, I spent the entire time ducking wayward balls flying over to our section. With good reason. The people who had our seats the night before told us that the person sitting in front of them got a baseball in the face. The Hell Kind of Whacked Out Game is This?

I had no idea what was going on with the game. Luckily, Jane knew everything about everybody and why everybody was doing what they were doing. She told me why people were booing. She explained why they were cheering. She jumped up and boogied when everybody else was boogie-ing.

At the end of the game, she turned to me and said: "You seriously just came here to knit?" Yes.

The Jays won the game. (Thank god because I think the other knitters would have pummeled them with their needles if they hadn't.)

I was still knitting when the game was over. I didn't notice that everybody was standing up because somehow...SOMEHOW... I managed to drop a flippin' stitch. It was an intense moment.

Stupid baseball. (Although, note Jane's ecstatic reaction to the Jay's winning and Sarah's "I can't believe we're related" expression)

Global News was there to film the event too. They had the most trite opening introduction to the segment: "At the Jay's Game tonight, everybody was on.... [insert dramatic pause]... pins and needles"

Are you kidding me?

The camera guy got some nice action shots of me knitting my ballband dishcloth. Evidently this was considered fascinating enough for the National News. It did make the segment even though I was very concious of the fact that I was being filmed and I was going to either a) collapse from the pressure or b) swear out loud because the pressure made me drop a stitch or c) start to giggle uncontrollably like the knitter sitting across the aisle from me was doing

I opted for (c) and the segment included the back of my head as I laughed rather hysterically at something Jane said.

Next year ... Jumbo-tron.

I've added it to my list of Life Goals.

Life

Things are moving so fast these days. I lost my blogging mojo again this week. Just didn't have time to catch up with myself. There is so much going on! Work is still busy. Full tilt kind of busy. I went to a Records Management Workshop yesterday and learned that there used to be a librarian on campus who, when he retired, his coworkers discovered that he catalogued his files according to "Lord of the Rings" characters! LOVE THAT. I don't see why that can't be policy.

The hormones continue to fly since another one of our friends just announced that they were preggers. Yes, Dan. We know what you guys have been doing.



We're also eagerly anticipating the birth of 'Spuds' so we can give him/her a baby warming. I'm waiting to see what the baby's name will be. They have a chinchilla named "Chins", a guinea pig named "Cocoa", a hamster named "Hamalot" and a fetus named "Spuds". In the meantime, Tash is evidently nesting and Pete is especially excited as only Pete can be.



I'm planning all of my baby knits but I'm afraid I'm already behind. There's a shower for another couple at the end of the month and I haven't even cast-on for their baby yet.

R and I are purging and spring cleaning. Or at least, that was the goal of last week and for the next few weeks to come. We're going to be helping our parents with garage sales too before the summer's finished.

In the spirit of this, I decided to join a few awesome ladies (blog-less Nan, Carmen & Gwen) I met on Ravelry for a yarn swap/de-stash at High Park. On Saturday, I packed three large bags full of yarn to essentially trade and/or give-away. Hilariously enough, they also brought with them the equivalent of a yarn store. I'm talking bags upon bags. I had mentioned to them that there was a woman who is currently receiving chemo treatment asking for yarn donations (she uses the yarn to make cat blankets for the cats she fosters and to make chemo caps for other patients) and I thought it would be nice to donate all of our unwanted yarn that resulted from this swap to her.

Everybody was so incredibly generous, this translated to a car trunk full of yarn. I only wish I had a picture of it. I'm not even exaggerating. For once.

R didn't say ONE WORD about the haul when he came in to take it to the car. NOT ONE WORD. Even though I made him drive me there in the pouring rain. Even though I told him I'd be an hour and I ended up taking two. (He understood... I was having fun!) Even though I was obviously bringing home more stuff than when I left with and was completely working on the opposite of de-cluttering. He doesn't even know the meaning of the word grouch. I love him.

Precipitiously, I checked out the Toronto Craft Alert :: blog :: this week and noticed a call for donations of yarn and needles. There is a kick-off SnB tonight hosted by a local knitter for a not-for-profit organization called Sistering which helps homeless women get back on their feet. I decided that I had way too much yarn for one lady to take away with her, so I divided up the haul I had from Nan, Gwen & Carmen. Yesterday, I donated four generous bags of yarn to the cause. Knitters are so great. The generosity of this particular species of people is extremely well documented.

My dad is back from Alaska and has been talking non-stop about his trip. Too cute. We're all getting together this Sunday for some family time. I decided last night to cast-on for a small scarf for my mom since my original idea for mani's and pedi's got vetoed. I'm in denial about how fast I can actually knit. Ahh..knitterly delusions. It always works out.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms and moms-to-be. It looks like a nice one. I'm going to be spending it with my moms and my baby:

Oh right... I do that too.

I've long since realized that I actively practice the doctrine "Out of Sight. Out of Mind". Hence, why my organization technique puts me in the category of "Piler".

When I lived with my parents, I would play on the piano for at least a solid half hour every night. I was drawn to it. Here, in the condo...I haven't thought about playing the piano since...oh well, I don't even know when. I think that's because my keyboard is tucked away under the bed and hidden behind a pile of dog fur. (gross, but true). My parents have a grand piano. That's a little more difficult to hide. Since I'm not doing any theatre work at the moment, nor have I been roped into playing at any more weddings, I haven't had the motivation to haul out the keyboard for some idle tinkling.

I was just checking out the pics from Sean and Lisa's wedding last year and I saw this picture from the photographer.


Oh yeah.

It's time for a spring clean-out too. My piles of paper, yarn, fabric and clothes are threatening R's sanity at the moment. In fact, I believe they are currently holding him hostage right now.

Getting rid of the junk in my brain.

Just a random assortment of links and comments today, folks! It's year end and we're all wiped around here taking care of last minute biznez.

I spent an unknown amount of time getting a good laugh out of these David and Goliath Tees . Some of them are really resonating today!


Earth Hour is tomorrow, 29 March 2008. Support good 'ole Terra and turn out the lights at 8pm! I hear that there's a free event at Downsview Park if anybody wants to play glow in the dark soccer. Even though it's not quite on the same scale as what Tel Aviv did when cyclists generated enough electricity for a rock concert, it should be fun! Next year, we'll hook Pete up to a generator and make him think he's boxing with a Wii the whole hour. We can do our own rock-out.


This blog of Disapproving Rabbits reminds me of the looks my mom used to give me when I talked about doing things like going to the mall without her.

If anybody is looking for a new way to send out an evite, check out Pingg.

This is something R's been trying to get his friends and family to do for years - no presents! I recently came across this site: Echoage Party it up for your local charity!

I've also come to realize that I want to leave the city behind and live like a hobbit. Check this woodland home out!!! When R's dad was shown this, he said he wouldn't want anything to do with building a mud hut. We know he's lying. Don't forget to check out the roof on that place. I'm super excited to stock my future cupboards with these mugs from Art White!

Speaking of hobbits, LOTR really makes me covet things. Maybe you don't, but I wish I had:

:: an army of the undead
:: an Ent in my backyard
:: a choice between the immortality of the elves and the mortality of men
:: a Mithril shirt (which reminds me, why don't soldiers in war movies wear bulletproof vests?)
:: a Phial of Galadriel, containing the light of Earendil, so that I can smote fear into the hearts of the enemy... i need to do lots of smiting around here sometimes
:: an all-seeing Eye

To make things even more random, I wonder if:

:: Aragorn and Arwen ever had a big fight after they got married, and whether she threw in his face the fact that she gave up the immortality of the Elves for him

:: The men ever did sexy things to each other - they really acted gay. And hey...it was a loooong journey.

:: Frodo lived in turmoil for the rest of his life because he couldn't actually throw the ring into the fire. Oh well, at least he had Sam to comfort him. Aww.... loverrrrsssss!



:: Frodo ever got an infection where Gollum took off his finger. I probably would.

All they need is a jello pit

Nori had her friend Tulip over the other day for a play date. What's missing are the before pictures from the park. Nori has an "all's fair in love and war" policy when it comes to playing at the park. (Read: She can be a royal turdlet) She loves to wrestle and run. She's become very confident in the last few months. She no longer needs to hide under the picnic table if things get a little heated. Plus, she's too tall now to just run under it. Her street-fight moves have become finessed. She can hold her own and often shows other dogs a new thing or two. She dodges, tackles, turns, rolls and jumps with the best of them. She also listens to us when we (okay, when I) think she's being too rough but we also try to let the dogs just hash things out among themselves. (R often has to calm me down because I get a little too anxious sometimes)

Anyways, Nori was SO excited to see Tulip that night, she decided to show her enthusiasm by running at Tulip full speed and bowling the poor girl over. Repeatedly.

Once back inside, they spent an innocuous minute relaxing before they resumed "playing".



By playing, I don't mean a dainty tea party between two little girls. No, this is more like being on the sidelines of a bar fight. Just without the cussing.

The doggy play bow which always gets things started. It's just civilized that way:

The inevitable tug of war. They love nothing better than to take toys away from each other. It's their favourite thing. My sister and I used to play that way too.

The brawling usually leads to more grappling. Full body contact. No mercy. Tulip was finally warm (and no longer disoriented from being tumbled about) so she was able to get some good bites in.

Seriously, don't let her size fool ya. Tulip may be 9 lbs but she's built like a marine, has no fear (except for subway grates) and she's got a few sneaky moves herself.


Nori just ends up dominating due to sheer size.

I'm happy to say that we did manage to return Tulip to her parents in one piece.

Seamus

It's funny. We see the same people with their dogs almost every day at the park, on our walks, in the building. However, we barely cultivate any true relationship with them. We don't even know half of their names. We just know them by sight and their four-legged companion.

But no matter how lightly they touch our lives... the passing of one hits us deeply.



"Near this Spot
are deposited the Remains of one
who possessed Beauty without Vanity,
Strength without Insolence,
Courage without Ferosity,
and all the virtues of Man without his Vices."
- Lord Byron, Newstead Abbey, November 30, 1808.

Another reminder to hug Nori every chance we get.

The adventures of Super Lloyd and Captain Jane

Jane married her Lloyd this weekend!

The weather was perfect. The bride was gorgeous. The groom got choked up. And the bridesmaids needed to use kleenex from their bras to stem the flood of tears.

Love unfettered

Jess and Jon :: August 18, 2007 :: Mono Centre, Ontario

* perfect setting for a ceremony*

*classic Jess*

Congratulations, you two!

(one down... six more to go...)

Behind the Scenes

I haven't posted any crafty pics in a long time, so I thought I'd show you the inprogress pics of the favours I put together for Jane's bridal shower on Saturday. I had a ton of ideas, but after sourcing out supplies, containers and weighing in the amount of time I actually I had, it all came back to hurt me at about 1am Friday night. Let's just say that in the interest of working within a budget, I was a little ambitious with my DIY talents.

I used mod podge (or as I like to call it "modge podge") and gloss varnish to create coasters. I cut up scrapbook paper to cover some cork coasters I got at IKEA. This was a last minute inspired plan that ended up being emergency trip #1 on Wednesday night. My original idea was to SEW some fabric coasters but seeing as I still don't know how to use my sewing machine, these were my back up. It's a good thing they worked out too since I have difficulty enough drawing a straight line and cutting along a line... sewing a straight line would have been a whole other exercise in frustration.

*my handy bathroom floor*

*drying and waiting to have it's final coat of varnish*

Since I'm always looking for an excuse to use my button machine, I decided that I was going to make magnets for Jane's guests. I didn't have all the magnet parts that I needed so that was emergency trip #2 down to Babble to pick up supplies on Thursday night. Ninety magnets later...

The colour theme was pink & brown. Just FYI to future brides, not a whole lot of pink & brown out there that won't remind you of neopolitan ice cream. I had to incorporate other colours.

Churning out the 1" magnets was a lot of fun. I was partially engrossed by watching Mission Impossible: 3 and almost punched out my index finger, but other than that, it was good times.

These magnets got hotglued onto cardstock. (Thanks to a tip from TheBon!)The tag reads:

"Thank you for coming! Love is brewing... See you on November 3, 2007"

The theme of the shower was "High Tea". Get it? Brewing?

So even with a paper cutter and borders drawn onto the paper itself, I can't cut a straight line. Note the rounded corners. The rounded corners were my saviour. It gave the whole tag an illusion of being cut on a straight line. I LOVE my rounded corner punch. LOVE. IT. (Btw, Risto got roped into glueing the tags together. This is what he did after coming home from the movies. MUAHAHAHAHA)

And here is the sea of favours put together. The tags were hole punched at the top and got threaded with a wire. At the end of the wire, I glued pink hearts (which Risto spent a whole evening punching out for me in a manly way) that were stamped with the letters "J" and "L".

The pouches hold some organic tea bags and I also added chocolates to each mug. The whole sch-bang with the coasters didn't get assembled until the next day because I had to transport everything to Oakville.

FYI #2 to future brides... pink and brown seem to be pretty hot colours in Toronto. Only two out of the four stores I went to had the brown mugs. Now, none of them do. And there aren't any pink ones that don't say "oink" on them. I wasn't originally going to use white in the favour, but there just weren't enough pink pouches. There was plenty of purple though. Or even green. And do you know just how many shades of pink there are? Lots. So if you have your hopes set on matching your pink cardstock to your pink tablecloth... forget it. Use your energy for something else.

Typically, I brought my camera to the shower, but forgot the battery. So I'll try to snag some pics off of Jane pretty soon. The set up for the shower was just gorgeous.

So there you have it... my own little sweat shoppe. If you find this unimpressive, I will eat you.