Wedding Day

 Last week I posted about our preparations for my oldest son Jon's wedding.  Well it's over and it went off without any glitches!  I absolutely am thrilled with how well it went.

The theme was a southern vintage style.  We held the wedding outside at the beautiful Alexander Homestead in Charlotte, North Carolina.  This is a historical site with a very old home that has been converted to a venue mainly for weddings.  The grounds include a beautiful gazebo and garden.  The reception took place in the on-site spectacular rustic but elegant "barn" - not a true barn but barn style building.

Here are some pics of the events leading up to the wedding.

First the Bridal Luncheon - a Mexican Fiesta style at the Mother of the Bride's home:

Bridesmaids enjoying some of the delicious food and refreshments

Bridesmaids opening their gifts

Ashley with her mother (on left) and aunt (right)

The Rehearsal Dinner:

Jon and Ashley exchanging gifts

My family - myself, son Jon, Mike (my youngest son) and Jerry (my husband)

 The Big Day - Bridesmaids getting hair and make-up done at my house:

Great pics taken by Bridesmaid Heather Rickelman

Ashley and Angela (Matron of Honor) having some fun

Ashley with hair and make-up being finished

Ashley getting finishing touches on her hair

The Groomsman getting ready - pictures taken by my husband:

Best Man Matt Miller and my son Mike - trying to tie their bow ties

The Groom and his Groomsmen all dressed - a handome bunch!

The Bride and Bridesmaids putting the finishing touches on just before the Wedding:

Bridesmaid Sarah and Matron of Honor Angela

Ashley just before the Wedding

After the Ceremony:

The Bridesmaids - all so beautiful!

The Groomsman getting ready to have their picture made by the real photographer

Mother and Son's Dance at the Reception

Another Picture of The Beaming and Happy Couple!

Wedding Jewelry:
I mentioned in my previous post I would show some pictures of the Bride's jewelry that I designed.  For the necklace I used Swarovski crystal pearls in Cream and Rose Gold, then Swarovski crystals in Palace Green and antique brass bead caps.  I used antique brass wire to wire wrap the beaded links and used a bit of antique brass chain for the end. The earrings have the same beads and antique brass ear wires.

Bridal Necklace and Earrings

For the bridesmaid jewelry I used a small antique silver heart on which I handstamped their first initial.  Then I added a small dangle with Swarovski crystal pearl in Rose Gold and put both on a pretty antique silver chain.  The earrings have larger matching crystal pearls with antique silver bead caps and clear Swarovski crystals.

Bridesmaid Necklace

Bridesmaid Earrings

All in all, I felt the wedding was a huge success.  I will post some pictures taken by the professional photographer in a week or two - I'm sure they will likely be better than mine - but I still enjoyed capturing the moment with my amateur style pics!

Getting Ready for a Wedding

In just five days, we will be having a wedding in my family.  My oldest son Jon is getting married on Friday May 17th.  Such a joyous and hectic time!  I spent today with Jon and Ashley (my soon to be daughter-in-law) taking care of some last minute items.

First I framed the "guest book" - which is actually a poster sized piece of art filled with hearts on which the guests will sign.  Ashley found this on Etsy.  She wanted a distressed looking white type frame, but alas, none could be found that were the right size.  So I found a plain light brown one and sponged it with cream colored acrylic paint giving it a nice vintage look.  We will set it on an easel for guests to sign in on.

I also worked on the bridesmaid jewelry - which I'm still finishing up on. But here's a sneak peak at one of the necklaces and pair of earrings.

I've already finished Ashley's necklace and earrings, but will wait to share pictures of them until after the wedding as I think she wants to save showing them until the Big Day.

Have also been getting the house ready as we are expecting some house guests.  Finally finished decorating my guest bedroom.  I've never had a romantic or feminine room - I've raised two boys and my house has always been filled with boys and all the things that go with them.  But when we did a remodel last year, I made some changes.  And one of them was making the guest room - which over the years had hosted many of my two sons' friends - into a softer prettier room.

I painted the walls a soft yellow and hung curtains in a pretty gold sheer fabric with beaded fringe - I love anything beaded, you know!  The bed has a light yellow bedspread with a light blue quilt at the bottom.  Some vintage looking pictures and lamps finish the look.

As for what I will be wearing at the wedding, I have found a pretty navy blue dress embellished with - what else - beads!  Here is the dress, shoes, a pretty beaded purse I found, and a beaded hair clip.  By now you know I like beads.  You know, I could have beaded the hairpin myself, but found one I just loved on Etsy from DesignsbyDeb. 

I forgot to photograph the shawl I bought, but it is a pretty sheer silver with - what else- more beads!  Will share some pics of the wedding after it's all over!

Handmade Earring Wires With a Vintage Touch

I recently wrote a post on my Gemstone Drop Jewelry - a collection of my gemstone pendants and drop earrings.  The earrings are all made with my handmade earring wires in either antique bronzed copper or oxidized silver.  Well, I made so many pairs of earrings for this collection that I used up my supply of handmade ear wires I made a while back.  So this week I have made another batch and thought to share them with you all.

I prefer a vintage look so chose a copper wire with a burnished or bronzed finish.  For the silver, I started with a bright silver wire and then after making the earring wires, oxidized them for an antiqued look.  I use liver of sulfur to oxidize my metals, but for a quick easy DIY way to oxidize metal, you can actually use a hard boiled egg in a plastic bag ... you can read one of my old posts on how to do this here.

It might seem ridiculous to some, but it is always amazing for me to see plain wire transformed into something pretty and useful like earring wires.

And then to take the transformed wires and add some beautiful drops and dangles for a finished jewelry design ... like these:

In case anyone is interested in making your own earring wires, I have a previous post on How To Make Fish Hook Style Earring Wires.  

Thanks so much for visiting!

Altered Jewelry Displays

I mentioned in a previous post that I was working on some altered jewelry displays.  Well I finally finished them last week and am sharing them with you now.

I started out with a pretty lavender glass vase, a plain white candle holder and two inexpensive plain white lampshades.

Next, I cut the covering from the shade leaving just the metal frame.

Using E-6000 glue, I attached the metal lampshade frame to the lavender glass vase.

The metal frame will be used to hang jewelry from.  But then I thought I could add something to the top of the vase to give more room for hanging more jewelry.  So I added a small clear glass vase using the same E-6000 glue.

This design will allow me to use the wire frame for longer items such as necklaces and the small clear glass for small items such as earrings.  Here it is displaying some of my necklaces:

But after looking at it for a couple of days, I decided it looked a bit plain.  So I decided to embellish it a bit.  I spray painted the lavender vase with Frosted Glass giving it a bit of an old look.  Then I used a cranberry acrylic paint for the clear glass piece ... for this I poured the paint into the glass, swirled it around, then turned it upside down on some newspaper and cardboard to let the excess drain.

Looking better, but still looked unfinished.  So I used twine to wrap around the metal frame giving it a less sterile look, then finished it with some pretty red ribbon bows.  Here's the finished design.

As for the plain white candle holder I showed at the beginning of the post, I sprayed it with a metallic paint in a soft silver color, then finished it much like the piece above with a small glass vase, lampshade frame, and twine.  Here are the two pieces together:

And here is the lavender design holding some of my necklaces:

I also photographed several more of my recently altered glass jewelry displays.  I found some clear glass vases at a local thrift store for $1.00 each and painted one with frosted glass for a vintage look, and the other with a mirror finish for a deco kind of look.  I did not take "before" pictures, but here they are after I painted them along with my other two designs from above.

These designs are now being used to display some of my jewelry at Ruby's Gift in Charlotte, NC.  Hope you will visit if you are in the area!

Thanks for visiting and have a great week!

Irene

Gemstone Drops

Last week I posted photos of some new beads I received and promised to show you what I did with them.  Well, here are the first of a new collection I am calling Gemstone Drops.  This is a collection of pendants and earrings with beautiful gemstones all in vivid bright colors - perfect for spring and summer!

The earring wires for these pieces are all handmade by me in either silver or copper.  I oxidized the silver for a pretty antique appearance and used gunmetal bead caps, chain and findings to compliment the antiqued silver.   I made the copper ear wires using dark copper wire with a beautiful bronzed appearance and added antiqued copper bead caps, chain and findings all with a warm rich glow.

Turquoise Blue Agate Earrings
Handmade Oxidized Silver Earring Wires

Turquoise Agate & Crystal Pendant & Earrings - Silver & Gunmetal

Red Fire Agate Pendant and Earrings - Silver and Gunmetal

Strawberry Quartz Pendant and Earrings - Antiqued Silver & Gunmetal

Strawberry QuartzPendant & Earrings - Antiqued Copper

Red Fire Agate Pendant & Earrings - Antiqued Copper

Green Agate Earrings and Pendant - Antiqued Copper

Turquoise Agate Pendant & Earrings - Antiqued Copper

Ruby Jade Heart Earrings
With Ruby Quartz Rondelles & Ruby Zoisite Beads

These designs are headed for Ruby's Gift (Charlotte, NC) where I sell my designs along with a number of other very talented artisans.  Be sure to visit if you are in the Charlotte area!  I will also soon be making more similar designs to post in my Etsy shop so visit there as well.