Throw your mittens around your kittens and AWAY WE GO!

So you've probably been wondering where I am and the answer is I've been working my wee tail off to get the new site up and running! Oh and I sprained my ankle which if anything has only helped by leaving me stranded in front of my computer for hours on end.

Here's what I see on my end but if you're not a Firefox 3.5.3 and on a mac... well I just hope it looks the same as it does on my end! I'm working on other browsers so if it's not 100% just stay tuned.


There are a lot of new features; I almost don't know where to begin! First of all, you can change your RSS settting or blog roll because The Future Mrs. Darcy website and The Future Mrs. Darcy blog are now one in the same!! Blogger and Wordpress don't play as nicely together as I would like though so I'm going through and manually re-adding all of the photos so as of now anything pre-late June '09 will have a lot of crazy looking code in it. The new RSS feed URL for Feedburner/Bloglines/Google Reader/etc is: http://thefuturemrsdarcy.com/feed/. If you don't use RSS just go to: http://thefuturemrsdarcy.com/category/blog/

Second, you can streamline your planning process by sharing you new favorite design with the world via facebook, twitter, wordpress, blogger, linkedin, reddit, stumbled upon, myspace, or digg or save it to your delicious links.

Third, you can promote what designs you like the best. Each design has a "heart" and the 4 designs with the most hearts at the end of the week will be featured on the home page.

Lastly, you and email me with questions and start an order from the website. Just fill out the form below each description and you're on your way to checking "invitations" off your to-do list.

Head on over and let me know what you think!

Weddings galore!

So if facebook is any indication, a good percentage of you is looking blearily at your computers this morning after a weekend of wedding madness. I've seen photos from 4 sets of wedding not including the one I went to myself, our very own Harry Potter girl, R.'s and let me tell you: my cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

Here's a quick hit of what I loved about it:


Everything was simple and elegant. Candles lined the way from the Church to the reception hall (bottom right) and they had different lanterns and tea lights as the centerpiece for each table. Both the Church and reception hall were natural wood and white so all the flickering candles gave it a magical touch without needing to find a way to float thousands of candles in the vaulted ceilings (a la Hogwarts). It seems odd to write, but with the simple elegant set up let them be center of attention. The wording in the ceremony, little wax seals on the place cards, Knight and Queen table toppers were little extras that helped carry though their personalities without being IN YOUR FACE but it was that their friends and families helped with what they could and were all just really exciting for the couple that all the minutiae that usually goes with weddings wasn't necessary.

Well done, Mr. and Mrs. V. I hope you're having heaps and tons of fun in Quebec!

Lady and The Tramp

Hello All! I'm back from camping and NYC and loving this half summer/half fall weather we're having up in New England. Can it just stay like this until November please? Cool in the mornings and evenings and warm and sunny during the days? Please!

Anyway, as I've mentioned before I have some new custom designs that will be released soon but I really liked the initial designs so I've been re-working them to couples as well. We started off with Bonnie and Clyde (which I've already acknowledged is a crazy name but it's such a lovely invitation that I think it can carry it) and now we've got Lady and the Tramp.


The original background was the wood grain but I figured we'd already covered that in the last one so I changed it to this fun swirly pattern in red since Lady and the Tramp should be red in my head.

When I started working with this custom bride she had sent me the link to their wedding website and what should I happen to find on there but several photos of their darling pug. Now he didn't make it to their final invitation but he does make several guest appearances on their RSVP and directions card. If there are no pugs in your life (admittedly I don't think there are any in Lady or Tramp's) I can add in another breed or a whole other species (bird, cat, butterfly, hedgehog) or the line can end in a pretty bow or can just run off the page but OPTIONS!!- you've got some options.

Invitations, as they have been since the great pricing restructure of June '09, are $5 a set (set includes invitation, RSVP and 2 envelopes) which means for that same price you can get a samples of this invitation or any of the others with your lovely name and wedding information on it. This isn't available on etsy yet but feel free to email me at kristenhcox (at) gmail.com.

In Love...

...with this photo.
Here's what Martha says about it:

60 Outdoor Party Ideas

Bottle Beauty Hurricane

Bars and buffet tables must be adequately lighted, but they're often located far from electrical outlets. An easy, inexpensive solution is to gather clear apothecary bottles and fill them with lamp oil and wicks. Arrange the bottles under a large hurricane for protection. We set these on a sturdy glass cake stand.

Yes, please! Of course, I'm suspicious, though. Do you have clear apothecary bottles in your house? No, I didn't think so. But quick google search took me to ebottles and SKS and faster than Emeril can say BAM!-- BAM! tons of glass bottles. Same went for the lamp oil and wicks. Now, the search for giant hurricane (I'm assuming they meant hurricane "lamp" or "lantern") didn't prove as easy because that glass pieces is HUGE! I mean check out how many bottles they fit in there. BUT don't fear, several years ago my mom had foot surgery around that holiday which meant that when she needed something I had to go track it down. I was sent out of roughly 12 billion search for a mystical kind of dish called a "trifle bowl" and I believe that will do just nicely in this situation. In fact, Martha sells one at Kmart for $10. Here's a photo so you know what you're in for:
And then when you're done you can make tons of tasty desserts. Or if you're worried that people will set themselves on fire not having such high sides, there's a cool lantern on sale at Pottery Barn that you can put your bottles in.

So it's official. This is totally possible.

In other news:
I thought of couple to use for the second of the custom invites but it requires some changes to make it work so it won't be showing its pretty face just yet.

My website for my corporate design work is done. Or hopefully will be by the time you click that link. If you know of anyone in need of some contract graphic design work, you know who to point them to (me!)

And lastly, it's my husband's birthday next week so he's taken the week off and we're heading off the grid so in the meantime... here's a funny video, a trip down memory lane, some lovely photos, awesome trinkets, and lastly, coffee cup drawings.

Bonnie and Clyde

Since you're all brainstorming couple names for the upcoming reveal of the custom invitations in September, I thought I'd make it worth your while.

When I start custom invitations (or really any design work) I talk everything over with the client about what they're looking for and then I create around 3 designs as a jumping off point. Usually one will stand apart from the pack in my mind but for the most recent custom designs- I loved them all which is GREAT because now you all get 3 new designs coming your way.

First up is: Bonnie and Clyde. (Details to the right)


I know it's kind of an odd couple to go with but I was scanning through lists of famous couples and it just popped out at me.

Invitations, as they have been since the great pricing restructure of June '09, are $5 a set (set includes invitation, RSVP and 2 envelopes) which means for that same price you can get a samples of this invitation or any of the others with your lovely name and wedding information on it. This isn't available on etsy yet but feel free to email me at kristenhcox (at) gmail.com.

To add to your Oprah repitoire

We've been through picture posing before but, really, you can never really go over it too much. This time it's not my vague remembering of a friend telling me about an Oprah episode she saw once but an article by a former model handler from Elite. Oooh Aaaah.

10 Ways to Look Good in Photos

I'm sure you'll have read some of the tips before but the one that really stood out to me is #2: "Put your tongue behind your teeth and smile, which will relax your face." Let me know if it works for you but I find it hard to put my tongue behind my teeth gently. I've been practicing this in the mirror for the last day and I keep having to clench my teeth together to keep my tongue from not showing. Ok. I think this blog post has officially gotten weird.

Better luck to you with the photo tips.

Yay! Exciting!

More lovely custom invitations on their way out to the post office today! I like to wait until the RSVPs are due until posting photos of the actual invitations themselves so no one gets the drop on actual wedding guests. Buuuuut in the mean time think of couples that have a connection to trees (oak specifically) and/or good ole Southern roots. And if you want to hit the trifeca- pugs! Intriging stuff, huh?

Here's a sneak peak:

Spotted: rare weekend posting!

So I'm usually not a big fan of Guinness World Record things but this one is so adorable and very appropriate for my site. I don't want to give it away but this is the setting of the "longest whisper chain" record. It's a little over 3 minutes and you have to wait until the very end but it's worth it!

Jewelry How To- FINALLY!

Subtitle: I'm baaaaaack.


Whew so it's been a crazy week. I went to my parents' last weekend (where Bailey had the most fun ever playing with my Mom's dog, Jazzy, and swimming up a storm in the pool) and then my teenage sister and her boyfriend came to visit Monday-Thursday and since it's hotter than death here my sister's boyfriend stayed up in our air conditioned offices and long story short (too late)- I've been in severe computer withdrawal. I'm also desperate for people to make concise decisions. Is that something all teenagers are unable to do?

ANYWAY- ON TOP OF THAT I can finally explain the jewelry how-to since I've been purposely trying to be vague as hell. So. One of my friends does this thing where on the year that you turn the day of the month that you birthday is on, it's considered your "Golden" Birthday and you get a corresponding number of daily presents each day of the month. Let's use a real world example, shall we? Jen is turning 31 TODAY (Happy Birthday Jen) on July 31st so all month a bunch of us gave her 31 objects each day of the month. I had two days so I gave her 31 mini cookie cutters one day and decided that 31 of anything was a lot of something and she's kind of OCD clean freak* so I wanted to give something consolidated. Like a necklace! With 31 beads on it!! Fabulous idea, n'est pas?!

Oh wait. I have NO beading jewelry experience. I did take a metals class in college but that was more bending wire and using a blow torch (which I've since probably forgotten how to do).

So the first time around I just winged it and I basically finished but broke the chain by accident and all the beads started falling off which is completely un-related to the chain breaking and related to the fact I was kinda doing it wrong. Here's how you do it right:

First I have some new tools (and found correct names for the others):
Your chain probably won't have a failed attempt at beading on it though. Also the "flat head pins" are special jewelry pins (they're not sharp) so don't go raiding your sewing kit.

I had found some translucent purple, green and white beads that reminded me of glass and the ocean so I was going for a big cluster like coral or something. If that's not your style- spread those beads out! And we begin:

Step 1: Take a pin and add your desired bead(s) on it. I sometimes had to use the small beads as a stopper because the larger beads had holes that were ever so slightly too large for the pins and some were falling off. The examples below only use the one beads though.

Step 2: Using the round nose pliers bend the pin so it's at a 90 degree angle like this:

Step 3: Keep the grip on the bead the same and using your free hand bend the wire back over the top edge of the round nose pliers making a question mark shape like this:

Step 4: Add the chain to the end of the pin. Sometimes I'd move the chain to the curve of the wire so chain would be on the left and pliers keeping it on on the right but whatever is easiest for you.

Step 5: Wrap the end of the wire to coil around itself creating a loop for the chain that will keep the bead secure. (The photo in Step 6 without the pliers in the way will show the desired result)

Step 6: Admire your handiwork.
Step 7: Once I had a couple of beads on I wanted to make sure it was staying even from left to right so I attached the clasp to the smaller jump ring and both to the chain and the larger jump ring on the opposite side. I forgot to take any photos though so read up here on the proper way to use jump rings. It's basically bend it towards you to open and backwards to close again. I'd model it on my leg and pick out a new spot for each bead.

Repeat Steps 1-6 until you have the desired look. Again- that's my leg. I'll see if I can get a photo of the birthday girl in her finished necklace so they'll be a more proper end to the post.

There you have it. I think it took one and a half DVR'ed episodes of The Closer from start to finished (after I'd taken off all the beads done incorrectly the first time and repaired the chain).

Oh-- repairing the chain. That's what the wire was for. It was the same process as 1-6 but done to both sides to create two loops which each attached to one side of the wire.

Anyway this was quick, cheap, and easy once someone told me the correct way to do it and could be a great bridesmaids gift option. OR to be even quicker, cheaper and easier- EARRINGS! If you make either or both or something similar, send me a photo and I'll get a little gallery started.


*Hi Jen! :D

Chill pill, dude.

(This is what we're trying to avoid)

So here we find ourselves. Smack in the middle of wedding season. Let's take a deep breath.

I've always thought when I was ready to have kids I'd want to plan it so I wouldn't be 9 months preggers in August. But for some reason I never equated that gem of knowledge to other aspects where it might be valid like "I don't want to spend my entire summer freaking the F out planning a wedding" when I set a September 15th date. In fact, I compounded it by moving from DC to MA at the same time. But that's my own bowl of crazy.

And it seems like a lot of people are in that boat. Every time I chat it up with a bride-to-be lately at some point they half shout "IF I EVER MAKE IT THERE!" and by "there" they're referring to it "THE BIG DAY". In honor of all of them I'm going to pour a flute of champagne* on the ground for all my brides who've fallen down the rabbit hole of insanity.

Remember it's all about getting MARRIED. You about to hitch yourself to one hell of a man who has been smiling and nodding (albeit somewhat terrifiedly) about fabric swatches and flowers and guest lists and favors and more. Do you know where I got the name of my business from? Have I shared that story yet? Well, it's been awhile if I have. This is from the most recent Kiera Knightley P&P:

Mr. Darcy: How are you this evening, my dear?
Elizabeth Bennet: Very well... although I wish you would not call me "my dear."
Mr. Darcy: [chuckles] Why?
Elizabeth Bennet: Because it's what my father always calls my mother when he's cross about something.
Mr. Darcy: What endearments am I allowed?
Elizabeth Bennet: Well let me think...”Lizzie" for every day, "My Pearl" for Sundays, and...”Goddess Divine"... but only on *very* special occasions.
Mr. Darcy: And... what should I call you when I am cross? Mrs. Darcy...?
Elizabeth Bennet: No! No. You may only call me "Mrs. Darcy"... when you are completely, and perfectly, and incandescently happy.
Mr. Darcy: [he snickers] Then how are you this evening... Mrs. Darcy?
[kisses her on the forehead]
Mr. Darcy: Mrs. Darcy...
[kisses her on the right cheek]
Mr. Darcy: Mrs. Darcy...
[kisses her on the nose]
Mr. Darcy: Mrs. Darcy...
[kisses her on the left cheek]
Mr. Darcy: Mrs. Darcy...
[finally kisses her on the mouth]

That's about to be you! You're going to be "Mrs. Darcy" and be completely, and perfectly, and incandescently happy. Not always... but you'll have someone to go through it all with!

So screw favors. Screw flowers and crazy relatives and the like. They'll be great. Think about weddings you went to before you got engaged. Do you have one in your mind? Great. What kind of chairs did they have? Were they covered? What did you eat? What kind of centerpieces did they have? Hmm... do I hear crickets? If you happen to remember it all, you crazy loon-- go poll some co-workers. It's in the name of science and getting up from your desk.

What people remember is whether they had fun. And people will have fun if you're having fun. When you perform, even if you screw up if you just keep going- 90% of the people don't notice. If you fling yourself to the floor and stamp your feet, 100% of the people will notice. And that won't be fun for anyone.

BUT most importantly it won't be fun for YOU! So elect a bridesmaid to be extra chipper and bubbly so things stay happy (and not cry-y- ugh- puffy eyes- don't get me started) and make sure there are plants in the audience to start dancing and to keep it going. You'll be just fine and you'll make it there with all your hair intact and not in a pile around you.



*Symbolically. I a) don't have champagne on hand, b) would be so sad to see undrank champagne on the floor I might cry and c) would probably have to clean it up after.

Birdcage Veil How-To

Good afternoon all! I am almost ashamed to post what I am about to post because it is just too damn easy and too damn cheap. It's ridiculous. A short while ago I went down to DC to help R. with her wedding veil since I (kinda-sorta) had practice making Brandy's party veils.

To do this exactly as we did you must begin by eating scrumptious mexican food (along with pitchers of margaritas, of course), watching copious Drunk History on YouTube (1, 2, 2.5, 3, 4), and discussing the pros and tragedies ("cons" is too soft a term in this instance) of fairy/faerie-inspired weddings. Then the previously banished husband/fiance team calls up and asks how things are going and you go, "Ummm yeah. It'll just be a little bit longer" and decide you need to get started N O W.

First review the piles of things you've bought or in this case what people have bought and foisted upon you.
We have 4 ivory silk flower pins from Claire's, wrapped wires with beads (check around your local craft store), feathers on wire (again, craft store has told of this kind of stuff), 2 colors of birdcage veil (which sells at fabric stores for around $5 a yard), regular bridal veil (smaller holes), scissors and a hot glue gun on-hand (off screen). The silk flowers from Claire's were (I'm told) $5 a piece and if you're looking for silk flowers YOU MUST GET THESE. The reason these flowers are amazing AND why we didn't need the glue gun was they had both a safety pin AND a hair clip attached to it. And by "hair clip" I mean this:


If you have thick hair or don't think this would do the job they also sell ones just like this with grooves to lock your hair in a bit more but either way if you have a silk flowers you like that don't have clips or safety pins of them, you can get clips/pins like this and hot glue it on the back. But we didn't need to.

R. isn't entirely sure how she wants her hair to look but she does know she wants it low on her head and the veil to cover it so we played around with some looks. We decided we liked the ivory veiling (as opposed to the white) with ivory flower. Starting with the top gather the fabric from either sides to the top. This, unfortunately, looks like a giant tangle in all photos so I made a little diagram:
Pinch the fabric where there are the finger prints and bring to the top corner. In other words, create 2 or 3 pleats on each side to bring the top and bottom corners of each side together.

The photo below was a trial was one flower and many pleats to make a more bubble-like shape around the hair:


But we all ended up liking the two flowers with a more open flow-y veil, as seen below:
(These were just trials to get the look down which is why you see the ends of the veil on the right.)

Since we weren't sure about the final hair AND we were using the two flowers we decided to make an adjustable veil. I'm pretty sure we're coining a phrase there too. The Future Mrs. Darcy- Home of the Adjustable Veil!!

Anyway, we gathered up either side of the veil with a minimum number of pleats and pinned it together using the safety pin attached to the flower BUT we kept each side separate so each side of the veil is attached to a single flower like this:

To attach to R. we slide each flowers' clip in from opposite sides above her hair-do. This way we're not fixing the veil to the impromptu bun that we had her in while we were creating. We then hot glued some of the beads on the wire to the underside of one of the flowers so they could poke out with a little extra shine and texture.

Here's how it looks on:

Feathers and beads and actual (fake) birds are all optional as well. Either sew them on or hot glue it on but make sure all your work is covered (obviously) by feathers or petals or veiling. This process is all about just trying it out so maybe instead of the "make a fake dress out of toilet paper" game at the bridal shower maybe get some craft materials and let your friends and family help out on the trial and error.

So we were done... and we had all this stuff left over... and a camera out. GAG REEL!

If you have any questions just let me know! Also, all beads are a go on the jewelry How-To, I just need to find some other pliers to put on the clasp, but that is for a later date!

So instructions ARE good... hmm. Interesting.

So here are all the ingredients for the jewelry how-to buuuuuuuut well I nearly finished and IT BROKE! IT FRIGGIN' BROKE! LAST BEAD-- BROOOOOKE. Crap. So went to the bead store and SHOCKER- asked for a general guideline of how to proceed. For not knowing a damn thing I did pretty well but I now have some better pointers. So if you have some pins (top left), beads (bottom left from 15 to 60 cents a piece), clasp and jump rings, cutty snippy jewelry tool and roundy bendy jewelry tool (top to bottom- each $8) and some chain (that I'd already put two beads on) then you will be ready to go when I post correct instructions!!

Now I just need to go re-do the entire necklace. This bringing back frogging knitting anxiety that I had back in the day* but I'm SURE a beer will help!

*I'd love to be able to say I don't need to frog anymore because I'm the knitting shit but alas, it's because all my knitting stuff lives in a big storage box in the basement and doesn't get much love these days. Although YOU KNOW this has been snagging by eye for awhile-- Mrs. Darcy Cardigan-- why you gotta be so cruel knitting gods?!

Whew!

I was in DC last week then had some monitor issues (that have now been resolved- finally) but unfortunately not feeling so hot today. Stomach has not been friendly and there's been some slight dizziness (wtf?!) so I may go sit and think of something brilliant that I'll share tomorrow.

Toodles!

Oops!

I'm currently working on a "How-to" jewelry project, which has been much easier than I thought (I have no jewelry experience) but as I was attaching the last bead I somehow broke the chain! And I saw somehow because I was kinda sorta watching tv...and eating... at the same time so not sure how it all went down but I'm pretty sure it's easily fixable- I just need a "jump ring". I think. Everything I've looked at online seems to say "jump ring" is to "jewelry" as "carbon" is to "life" so I'm placing my bets there.

The second "How-to" I'm flying to DC tomorrow to do. I'm going to work with R. (of Harry Potter fame) to make her veil. I made veils for Brandy's (from Modern Toile) birthday last year so I'm sure this will be as fun. I don't have written or photo documentation of how those veils were made but if you just CAN'T wait the recipe is kind of like this: bird cage veil (from fabric store) + fake pearls (which you can't really see in the photo) + bag of feathers + hot glue gun + beer (for imbibing although any alcohol will do) = veil. Ta-da.*


*The real veil how to will be more informative- don't worry! :)

Martha's Crafts

For some reason about 2 months ago I went momentarily ga-ga (more so than normal) for Martha Stewart and signed up for a slew of daily emails. Because apparently getting 20 you-asked-for-it corporate emails (target, IKEA, macys, crate and barrel, borders etc) a day just wasn't enough for me! BUT Martha's have been kind of great. I get a dinner email and craft email every day.

I'm not sure about you but just about every other day I have a near melt down at 5:30 when Michael and I look at each other and go "what do you want for dinner?" "I don't know- what do you want?" and back and forth that goes. Now I have little email folder called "dinner" and everytime I get something that seems appetizing I save it in there. So the other night we had:

Aparagus and Gruyere Tart.

First, it actually looked just like the picture (which almost never happens); second, it was ridiculously easy to make and third, very tasty. Also, it looks really fancy-schmancy so if you needed some finger food for a bridal shower- there you go!

Next, there are two crafts that would be perfect for weddings. I can't justify buying every Martha Stewart Wedding issue lately so forgive me if these are repeats.

Under a Big Sky: Craft How-Tos and Leaf-Covered Candleholder
and

Both nice and nature-y but each in a different way.

Linkage

So it's Thursday... the day is winding down... it's maybe been gray outside your window for so long that you can't remember what the sun looks like... you might need to just go download the new Wedding Style Guide. I wrote about them back in May and what I didn't realize then is that is besides having awesome free downloads, the downloads of past issues are only AUD $4.95 ($3.96 US)! Instant gratification for cheap!

(photo by AMYATLAS.COM)

Doesn't that just look fun and bright and summer-y? OH you know what ELSE looks fun and bright and summer-y and if I had known was possible would have totally been in my wedding?
Cotton! Yes! The fabric of your life! As featured in NY Magazine's Weekend Bash in the Country. Also as in says in the caption "The best part is that cotton doesn’t die, so I’ll have it forever." Wha? I can't testify to the accuracy of that, but even cooler if it's true!

Lastly, I kept seeing the AMAZING Jordan from Oh Happy Day! Mentioning posts she's written for Project Wedding. Since everything I see that Jordan creates on Oh Happy Day is so wonderfully well-thought out and creative I headed over and was really surprised at what I found. Project Wedding looks like it's giving The Knot a run for their money! There are tons of wonderful ideas like this:DIY Weddings: Mapping it out!

and this:

DIY Weddings: The Purple Picnic

So lots of pretty pictures to look through to make it to 5pm! Enjoy!

Awesomeness

So despite the incessant rainyness (raininess? meh- I'm making up a word so let's go with the first) in Boston I have found AWESOMENESS.

First- I agree with Kathryn from Snippet and Ink and this is "currently my most favorite wedding ever" too. Why?

(photo by Josh Goleman)

Yeah. Prepare to blow your mind. The first several photos are photos of them getting ready then it escalates to you gasping a lot then finally by the end you're just doing silent guppy mouth gestures. Also I was really glad to see that they had a wedding planner. I'm not saying that the couple is any less talented but I'm always glad to see that someone didn't just fall into being amazing with no wedding experience. By the way, in case you're in the South, their wedding planner was Liz Demos from Vintage General, a blog I may have to start stalking.

Secondly, I came across Camp Comfort via Nib's Blog and HELLO, NEW HAIRSTYLE!

(collage by Camp Comfort)

I've (thankfully) come to my senses and realized summer in all its humid glory is not the time for me to getting bangs but when Fall rolls around my hair should be long enough where it can be cut to that. The woman in question is apparently Alexa Chung who is "an English television presenter, model and fashion journalist" (thank you Wikipedia). Camp Comfort is definitely bumping out something on my google reader (I'm trying to restrict how much I have on there otherwise I get overloaded) and will hopefully help get me past my summer style which has been dubbed "out of work camp counselor". Iterations have been "slutty camp counselor", "this is the only time I get out camp counselor", or "my clothes are the same age as these children camp counselor" so it's nicely ironic that Camp Comfort will bring me to a newer better level.

Voting Has Begun!

So remember when I was all stressed out getting the holiday card ready in time? Well in the half an hour I had left I made ANOTHER one after that. The little girl in the other photo was just too frickin' cute to pass up.
I had a bell quote floating around my head and I went with "The bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe" from the Polar Express but after it was posted I remembered the one I REALLY wanted to use "All that the children could hear was the ringing of bells" from Dylan Thomas' A Child's Christmas in Wales (which his read of is just about my favorite thing to listen to around Christmas despite the fact it's about 20 minutes long).

But voting is open so please please please go vote for the one above or the one below:

You can click on the images to get to their pages on Minted.com!

HOLY CRAP!

Ahhhh so I knew minted was doing a ginormous xmas card design and I kept MEANING to enter but with the whole losing of the job (did I mention this before- meh- it's depressing- we don't need to dwell) I've been busy trying to both get the new The Future Mrs. Darcy site up as well as find some new freelance clients. This weekend I decided I should really enter and I knew the deadline was Monday so I'll work on it all day Monday and voila! So imagine me strolling upstairs to the office after the dog's been fed and whatnot, thinking about some breakfast and tea for myself, and casually replying to some facebook comments, then FINALLY head over to the Minted site only to realize the deadline is 9am pacific. Which- HOLY CRAP- sends me into a tail spin. PACIFIC?!? Think think think. When is pacific time?! Crap crap. So it's now 9am and by my calculations it needs to be in by either 12. Frantic frantic frantic type type type design design design. Fast forward an hour and a half and-- though I still have low grade adrenaline rush and my hands are both clammy AND shaking it's been uploaded!!
Back up to this past weekend where my last pairs of flip flops and more of our couch were half destroyed by the little pup and -- light bulb-- we have an idea. The only issue was I really expected the images to be of older kids. All the families were of a Mom, Dad and wee baby. Maybe it's just my family but all the Christmas cards we get are of various school age children and/or pets so I had to adjust and use our pup. Whew!

Anyway, as always, if it doesn't win, in 90 days I can sell it myself AND as a matter of fact, putting up all old minted non-winners onto etsy and hopefully the new site is one of my goals for this week! But hopefully it'll just win. :)

And NOW I think I'll get some of that food and tea I was thinking about 2 hours ago.

Getting close!

Hello! I've been kind of AWOL lately- as I'm sure you realized- but I've been alternating by playing photographer and errand girl. Since you probably don't want to hear about my trip to Lowe's, DSW or Crate and Barrel (meh, maybe that last two aren't bad) but the photos of the invitations are pretty nice, if I say so myself. This is all gearing up for the grand unveiling on the website but ye olde programmer/husband has been extremely busy this week.

But in alphabetical order:

Adam + Eve

Allie + Noah

Ariel + Eric

Bogey + Bacall

Elizabeth + Darcy

Ginny + Harry

Holly + Paul

Jim + Pam

Josephine + Napoleon

Rose + Jack

Sally + Harry
(Photos coming soon! The first round didn't come out well so I need to re-shoot)

Sandy + Danny
(Again some photography issues with the rest of the pieces but I did get one of just the invitation)

Sloane + Ferris

So there you have it! Consider it your very own sneak peek!