There is nothing more beautiful than a formal, white wedding!  This past weekend my girls and I went to the movies to see the box office favorite, Great Gatsby.  You can bet this movie is going to start a trend in formal weddings with a 1920s glamorous feel;  diamonds, pearls, feathers and butterflies adorned the set for this period wedding.

Bazzill has some of the most beautiful specialty cardstock,  perfect for most  weddings.  The Wedding Whites collection includes some of my very favorite papers.

The  collection includes, Pinstripe, Butterflies, Satin, Tiny Diamonds, Linen and Taffeta.

The elegantly embossed, textured cardstock with an opalescent sheen will surely catch the eye of any bride-to-be.  From the invitations to the thank you cards it will give you that glamorous feeling for the most elegant day imaginable.

Having two daughters of my own, I look forward to the day we can plan their wedding and make it unique to them!

My nephew is getting married in June, he is from Utah, and is beautiful bride-to-be is from California.  They have chosen to have an open house in one state and a week later travel to the other state for another open house. My sister-in-law asked if I would help with the decorations for both events they will be hosting.  I am in heaven.  There is nothing I love more than to help with a party.  I am in my element when planning, creating, and pulling the whole thing together to achieve the perfect look.  You can imagine having to host not one, but two events might just push any mother over the edge. Let me show you a few ideas that are easy to create, cost effective and make a huge statement. We need to save your sanity!

If you know me at all, you know how I love garlands! There is NO waste with garland-making!

The first of the many garlands I created was for the gated entrance. Then it can easily be transferred to the “getaway car.” No need to worry about a paint or shoe polish mess, they will just enjoy a darling garland stating the obvious!

I began by using the Bazzill Wedding Whites: Tiny Diamonds and die-cut the letters M-R-&-M-R-S using my Cricut. Another fun idea for a garland would be, to cut  the couple’s initials, or the date of their marriage.  I love the way the paper is going to glisten at night with it’s pearly finish! The possibilities are endless.  So fun!

To make each letter stand out a little, I added a strip of Bazzill’s Antique Paper Tape. I chose the script design to give the garland a more formal look and a perfect little hint of black!

Next, I  sewed the letters together and onto a piece of  ribbon. This gives the letter garland something to hang from as well as making sure the letters all hang straight.  It is just that easy!

The next garland I created was cut with a Cricut to make a series of Xs and Os divided by hearts. This time I used the Bazzill Wedding Whites: Tiny Diamonds.

One of the events will be a backyard reception. We chose to hang this garland on the fence in the yard, giving that romantic, whimsical feel. I just love the look of the garland when they all hang together.

Since there will be thirty tables filled with guests, we wanted the tables to make a big impact (as economically as possible)!

You know how I love my Dollar Store. Guess where I went on a hunt for the perfect centerpieces?  I came up with glass vases for $1. With a little imagination and great scrapbooking supplies, I think I have a plan – and you just can’t beat the price.

I created the most beautiful bands for the vases using borders punches and the Wedding Whites cardstock. I cut a 4 x 12 strip using the Bazzill White Wedding: Butterfly. I was able to cut three strips per 12 x 12 sheet.

I border punched each side to create an elegant lace look.

 Next, I adhered a piece of Bazzill Antique Paper Tape, (Script to match the garland), down the center of each band. The paper tape added a touch of distressing, while still keeping the look  formal.  I LOVE the added texture and hit of print.

To give the vase even more dimension, I die-cut a butterfly using a hand punch, then added it to the center of the band.Then I punched smaller butterflies and attached them around the sides of the vase. With a votive candle inside, these butterflies will glow! I want to marry these!

The tables will be dressed in white linens, the glass butterfly vase will sit on top next to another milk glass vase. To finish it all off, each vase will have a bouquet of babies breath and a few ribbons. Simple and elegant.

The last idea was to come up with the perfect thank you notes. As you may recall, last week I attended the bridal shower. My sister-in-law showed me what she had been working on, and it has to be the most sentimental idea I have ever heard. My sister-in-law is making the wedding gown by combining the grandmother-of-the bride’s wedding dress and the groom’s mother’s wedding dress. This creation is so beautiful, yet simple and elegant. What a fun idea of using both mother’s gowns.

As I looked around the room I noticed the bits and pieces of both dresses laying all over the floor where the gown was being constructed. Always the scrapbooker, I had an idea!  I wanted to create something for the bride using the scraps from the wedding dresses. So here is my creation.

Using left over bits and pieces of the Wedding Whites Satin cardstock, I created simple A-2 cards. I border punched the outside front edge to give it a lace look, then added some of the  Antique Paper Tape, Script down the side. Gathering some of the beaded trim from the gown, I place it over the edge of the paper tape, then added some ribbon.  To add the finishing touch I created a feather using the Script Antique Paper Tape a Bazzill Paper Flower and Bazzill Paper Silver Leaf. I love that each thank you note will be a little different!

To create the feather, I folded a piece of the Antique Paper Tape over a tooth pick…

cut it to the shape of a feather,

cut diagonal slits toward the center until you reach the toothpick in the center. Then, using your fingernail, you can curl the edges of the feathers slightly.

So simple! This is a great idea for cupcake toppers too! I love, love!

There is nothing more inspiring than a good love story. A happy ending. Creating for a wedding is one of my all-time favorites things to do. For me it’s such a gift to be included. Here’s to love!

I hope some of these ideas have inspired you for an upcoming wedding, or a fun summer party!

Happy Friday!

kiss kiss

m.

Cute gift bags can be expensive. Inexpensive gift bags can look ugly. Looking for an easy way to solve this problem – PAPER TAPE (Bazzill’s very own version of washi tape)!

Margie Romney-Aslett found this inexpensive silver gift bag at her local dollar store and makes it sing with Bazzill’s paper tape. There are a 10 yards of tape on a roll, so imagine how many gift bags you can gussy-up with a few rolls.

Stay tuned for some cute tag ideas on Monday!

Margie Romney-Aslett has a brilliant idea! She grabbed her favorite Bazzill Paper Tape colors and got busy “decorating” her phone cord.

“I don’t know about your family, but we have SIX cell phones in our house that use all the same type of cord! I decided to use Bazzill’s Paper Tapes to decorate mine so no one will be saying ‘Hey! That’s MY cord!’”

There is so much going on at Canvas Corp. They have added a huge variety of patterned paper for their customers to drool over. If you want to find the perfect Bazzill cardstock matches, we can help you. Just click here and you will see how easy it is to get coordinated!

These new collections are now available:

dog words & bones
black & white
gold & kraft
white & kraft
tan & Ivory
grey & Ivory
navy & ivory
chocolate & ivory
cat words & paws
orange & ivory
silver & Kraft
lips & stache
turquoise & white
royal blue & white

Margie Romney-Aslett created this cute project using a dollar store frame and Bazzill’s Paper Tape. What a clever idea!

She started adhering the paper tape along the left and right opening of the frame. By lining up the tape in these two areas it makes for a lot less trimming.

Continue applying the tape in strips along the top of the frame. Run the tape across the opening and down to the bottom edge. Margie used a straight edge to cut out the opening and then tucked the tape to the back to create a nice clean edge.

The variety of widths, colors and designs make this a really pretty gift for a girl. Just switch out the pink to red or blue and you have a great masculine gift, too!

There is no better gift for a graduate than an album ready to fill with special photos from this major life event. Margie Romney-Aslett shows you the album she made using Bazzill’s School Days collection.

Bazzill Chipboard Albums are really fun to use for theme-projects like a graduation album, travel album, baby shower and wedding albums. The album is just the right size for gift-giving. There are divider pages made to go with this album and there are really fun page protectors, too.

To customize the graduation album be sure to make the inside front page of the album include the school name or initials and the graduation.

Before you begin, make sure you cut out a nice supply of ’13s from your die-cutting machine. The graduation year is a really nice embellishment to add somewhere on every two page spread. If you don’t have a die-cutting machine, remember Bazzill has a great selection of die-cut numbers available.

 Margie leaves plenty of room to display photos, add memorobila, and even get a few autographs on these pages. About half the pages have a simple two border vertical stripe on the page.

On some of the pages, Margie positioned the stripes horizontally,  just to mix things up. Margie made all of the pages at once so the project  goes together quite quickly.

 Once you have all the numbers pre-cut, the coordinating cardstock ready-to-use, and the patterned paper ready to go you can design this project in about an hour.

Remember, Bazzill Matchmaker is a great resource when trying to find the perfect cardstock colors to match your favorite patterned paper design. The information is updated all the time.

Margie treated the last page of the album with a little extra love. She added the graduation date… but the entire number this time “2013.”

Last weekend my daughters and I attended a bridal shower for my nephew’s, darling, bride-to-be!

Summer is one of the busiest times of year for weddings! In Utah, where I live, it is one of the most beautiful times to have an outdoor wedding. I think that is why summer is an obvious choice. Why not use nature’s backdrop?

Handmade weddings are more popular than ever.  It’s suddenly hip to have a personalized wedding that represents the bride and groom’s personalities and their courtship.

This happy young bride and groom-to-be, wanted to follow the trend of a handmade wedding. To start the preparations they had their wedding invitation handwritten by a friend who is in art school. The font is unique and the art on the invite is original.

The couple printed their invites at home on Bazzill’s Kraft cardstock. Just knowing their cute personalities this choice just fits them. I am in love with it.

I am so inspired by wedding blogs and wedding pins on Pinterest. It is a great place for ideas and inspiration. When you look around this site, you will notice another trend in wedding invites – having a theme. One of my favorites is a travel wedding.

I love the idea of old globes and luggage showing the possibilities of a new adventure together. Bazzill Wayfarer collection by Janet Hopkins‘  is perfect for a travel-themed wedding invite.

Wayfarer is filled with old world maps and a vintage feel you can use to decorate an entire wedding. Pair up the elements in the paper designs with these trendy Bazzill cardstock colors: Lava, Cool Cantaloupe, Whirlpool, and  Sea Salt.  It won’t take much to pull together the perfect wedding theme.

Another fun trend is creating a beach wedding with a preppy, nautical, theme. A wedding on the beach would be so fun to decorate. I just love the little anchors die-cut from Bazzill cardstock as confetti for the tables. I would be sure to fill the venue with Red Devil, Bazzill White and Huckleberry Pie!

Bazzill’s Beach House collection by Janet Hopkins would be the perfect patterned paper for a nautical wedding. It is filled with fun, unexpected, beach-y elements that can be easily incorporated into centerpieces, a guest book, table markers, signs and so much more.

Bazzill’s Freedom  collection is also a really fun line that you could easily mix into the decor! Open your mind and bring in your favorite patterns and colors. It doesn’t matter where they come from!

If you are afraid of color and never know which colors go together, try out Bazzill’s Matchmaker system. You pick the designs you like and Matchmaker tells you which cardstock color combos look the best. All the work is done for you!

If you are more of a traditionalist, Bazzill has the most beautiful specialty cardstock that is perfect for handmade wedding invites! If you want a more  formal look, Bazzill’s Wedding Whites are stunning.  The textures are amazing and the shine is beautiful. {If you are going to print your own invites using Bazzill’s Wedding Whites, we recommend a laser printer}  Bazzill cardstock can easily be printed using an ink jet printer, and Metallic cardstock and Vellum add a beautiful touch to any invitation.

And who doesn’t love pearls and diamonds? For the bride who wants to add a little bling these embellishments are sure to do the trick.

And so will these Bazzill Buttons…. try the Nostalgic

or the Bazzill Modern Buttons,

or if you really want to kick it up a notch, to right over-the-top beautiful, the Bazzill Vintage Buttons!

I have found so many beautiful handmade invites on Pinterest that can be easily made using Bazzill products.

Some of my favorites are simple, yet so elegant!

If you’re having your invites professionally printed and just want to add your own touch, here are a few more ideas that can easily be created using Bazzill cardstock and our beautiful patterned papers!

I love the idea of a simple cardstock cigar band with a monogram!

Adding a strip of patterned paper gives a printed invite a semi-handmade look while tying the theme together. This got me thinking of so many ideas that could easily be done in an evening.

Bazzill’s Heritage collection has beautiful patterned papers, that when added to a more formal invite would be so unique.

Using book paper is a huge trend in weddings right now! Bazzill’s Antique Papers are a perfect way to achieve the look with a lot less work.

I just wish I was throwing a wedding this summer! HINT HINT – children!

There is nothing I love more than going to a wedding that is unique to the bride and groom and seeing their special day that is especially for them. Everything done with a handmade touch, is done with LOVE.

Let us help to inspire your creativity for this special occasion.

The sun is out, summer is on its way! This is the perfect time of year for a wedding!

Happy Friday!
kiss kiss
m.

** Visit the bottom of this post to find out how you can win the Bazzill Mac Collection, and a Boys Will Be Boys full-size stamp set and a Tall & Skinny Alphabet Die set from Taylored Expressions!

All week we are going to share Father’s Day card ideas by Bazzill and Taylored Expression designers. The fourteen designs are really top-notch so be sure to stop by and get inspired to make the perfect card for your special Dad!

Card designed by Tammie Edgerton

Enter for a chance to win the Bazzill Mac Collection, and a Boys Will Be Boys full-size stamp set and a Tall & Skinny Alphabet Die set from Taylored Expressions.

ENTER TO WIN!
1. Visit Taylored Expression’s blog and leave a comment about your favorite element in the Mac Collection.
2. Then, head over to Bazzill’s Facebook page, and leave a note that says, “I love Taylored Expressions and Bazzill.”
3. Contest ends Friday, May 17 at 11:59 p.m. PST.
4. The winner is drawn randomly from all comments left on the TE giveaway post. If you also have a comment on the Bazzill Facebook page, you win!
5. Winner announced Monday, May 20, on the TE and Bazzill blogs.

** Visit the bottom of this post to find out how you can win the Bazzill Mac Collection, and a Boys Will Be Boys full-size stamp set and a Tall & Skinny Alphabet Die set from Taylored Expressions!

All week we are going to share Father’s Day card ideas by Bazzill and Taylored Expression designers. The fourteen designs are really top-notch so be sure to stop by and get inspired to make the perfect card for your special Dad! More later today….

Dad, you are AWESOME by Heidi Lynn Schreiber

Bazzill Supplies:
6×6 Mac Mini-Prints Multipack: Circuit, Sprokets, Emulator
4×6 Mac Journaling Cards
8.5×11 Kraft Cardstock
8.5×11 Leapfrog Cardstock
8.5×11 Natural Cardstock
Bazzill Marathon Runner

Taylored Expressions:
Star Border Die

Other:
Printable title “Dad You Are” – click here to download. Give it a minute to appear. Be patient.

Instructions:
Cut a 4.25 x 11 piece of Kraft cardstock. Fold in half.
Cut out the “awesome robot” from one of the cards in the journaling cards.

Cut a 1.5 x 4 piece of Emulator patterned paper from the Mac collection.

Cut a 1 x 4 piece of Circuit patterned paper  and a .5 x 4 piece of Sprockets patterned paper from the Mac collection.

Die cut the Taylored Expressions Star Border in Leapfrog cardstock.

Starting one half inch from the bottom of the Kraft cardstock, adhere the strips and border to the card about 1/8” from the right edge.

Download the words “Dad, you are” and print onto Natural cardstock on your home printer. Trim.

Position the title next to the robot and the word “Awesome” glue in place with Bazzill Marathon Runner.

Enter for a chance to win the Bazzill Mac Collection, and a Boys Will Be Boys full-size stamp set and a Tall & Skinny Alphabet Die set from Taylored Expressions.

ENTER TO WIN!
1. Visit Taylored Expression’s blog and leave a comment about your favorite element in the Mac Collection.
2. Then, head over to Bazzill’s Facebook page, and leave a note that says, “I love Taylored Expressions and Bazzill.”
3. Contest ends Friday, May 17 at 11:59 p.m. PST.
4. The winner is drawn randomly from all comments left on the TE giveaway post. If you also have a comment on the Bazzill Facebook page, you win!
5. Winner announced Monday, May 20, on the TE and Bazzill blogs.

My Mind’s Eye has added these paper collections to their catalog of lovely paper, so we have found the perfect cardstock matches. Click here for a peek of the paper and Bazzill’s pretty cardstock colors that match.

Look for Sky’s the Limit, Up and Away, Oxford Lane and Cambridge Court.