Darling don't go without Me

I'm moving in three weeks to what will be Drew's and my first apartment once we are married! Wow, time sure does fly by. It has been a very exciting and challenging year, filled with Maiedae's exponential growth, a sweet time of engagement and marriage planning, and now the fun involved with moving to a new place. :) I'm one of those people who sort of obsesses about moving. Growing up, we never moved. Ever. From the time I was born until I left for college, I lived in the same house. And I loved it. But, then I discovered the fun involved in moving. Growing up, I always had a knack for re-arranging, arranging, and then re-arranging my room. I was always thrilled with the process of rediscovering a space after painting or rearranging the furniture. And my mom and I loved clipping out floor plans from magazines and designing houses. 

Moving was like that, but on steroids, for me. I had a whole new layout to work with and the opportunity to start fresh with furniture, paint, and decorations. It's like a breath of fresh air, filled with wish lists and design schemes. I'm almost done with planning the layout for our new apartment, but I will wait to show you the furniture and decorations at a later date. Here is a picture of the color palette and floor layout of our new casa!

I can't wait to show you some items I am hoping to purchase and a few DIY projects I am planning to do once I'm moved! :)

DIY: Boutineers

One of the many things I am working on are some boutineers for the groomsmen to wear. I'm really trying to make our wedding not only a sacred, fun, celebration, but also "homemade." I absolutely love the rustic, earthy, yet elegant look that we are striving for with our wedding. But, we are on a tight budget and really do not desire to go overboard with things that we can make ourselves. It's much more fun that way anyway! :)

Here is a little bit of my inspiration for the boutineers. The bridesmaids are wearing powder blue // mint blue dresses and bright coral shoes and the guys will be wearing white button down shirts, light grey pants, grey suspenders, and a tie (haven't decided on the color, but most likely neutral.) Because of that, I wanted the boutineers to have a pop! of color to them that will bring out the other colors we have chosen. Our colors are coral, mustard, powder blue, grey, and white.

Here is my inspiration before I started:

Supplies: In order to create the boutineers, I went and picked out some fake flowers in the right color combinations from the local craft store, along with some green floral tape to wrap the bottoms together with. I also bought some green raffia to wrap on top the floral tape to make it look more finished. I think twine would have worked well also.

Step 1: Using wire cutters, or some really good scissors, you can cut the flowers to the desired length (Note: I would suggest cutting them a bit longer than you estimate so you have plenty of stem to work with when wrapping them together)
Step 2: After cutting all of your flowers, play around with arranging them together.
Step 3: Once you have the desired arrangement, wrap the stems together first with a rubber band and then with the green floral tape. (The rubber band is important for keeping them secure)
Step 4: Make sure the boutineer is securely wrapped by adding raffia or twine around the floral tape. I would suggest using a little bit of fabric glue to make sure it doesn't come undone.
Step 5: Tah dah! You have a boutineer! And you don't have to worry about it wilting.

And here is the final result! I think they turned out really good. I'm digging the coral // mustard combination. :)

I hope you enjoyed!

A Few of My Favorite Things

I updated our registry today with a few things from Anthropologie. I had registered for some dinnerware, but wasn't very happy with my selection. So... I decided to start over and mix and match!! My suggestion if you are getting married: don't feel pressured to register for the "traditional." You are the one that's going to have to look at it for the next 20+ years, so get something that you are going to really enjoy looking at.  That also means take in mind if your taste changes quite frequently. I am REALLY happy with how it turned out and am most excited about these pieces.

You can check out the rest of my wish list here. Enjoy!

March Showers!

Can I just say that I have the best friends in the entire world?! Seriously, if you think your friends are good, mine are amazing! This weekend was so much fun!! It started out on Friday with a couple's shower for Drew and I. Savannah, Anica, and Jon hosted it and had a bunch of our friends in the Atlanta area over for a grill out, games, date night themed gifts, and, of course, a candy bar! By the end of the night, my face was hurting from laughing so much. Drew and I felt extremely blessed to have such supportive friends to celebrate with. The night was full of fun and laughter as we celebrated this special time.

Then, the weekend continued on Sunday with a lingerie shower in Rome hosted by Savannah and Anica.The theme was "Cookies & Milk" since growing up, all you could ever see in my hand was a huge cookie and a smile on my face. Needless to say, I love dessert. Especially cookies and milk. :)

I'm the smaller midget on the left. Notice how my sister is eating a sandwich and I'm eating a doughnut. Haha!

I was so blessed by these lovely women! Not only did they provide me with some beautiful lingerie, but the fellowship time with them, and the special blessing of their company was enough to make me cry. At the end of the party, the ladies gathered around and prayed over me and Drew's and my future marriage. What wonderful women!!!

Some things you might have learned about Drew and/or I if you had been at the showers:

1. I don't have any "stupid human tricks," but apparently Drew can touch his ears behind his back and I never knew it.
2. Drew likes to passionately express his excitement for our wedding! Haha.
3. Our first kiss was on October 6, 2006, outside of Frost Chapel at Berry College.
4. Drew's top 5 strengths are: Adaptability, Ideation, Intellection, Command, and Learner.
5. Three words to describe me are: Passionate, Creative, and Artistic.
6. The first thing I noticed about Drew was his stunning blue eyes.
7. Drew and I love going to the movies :)
8. Our wedding is in 89 days!!!
9. In college, our song was "You and I" by Michael Buble.
10. Something that not many people know about Drew is he loves taking care of plants and animals. He is also very into aquaponics and would love to be an aquaponics farmer one day!

Well, I hope you all enjoyed your weekend!

Maiedae Business Photo Peek!

This week is all about photography!!! You remember when I showed you a sneak peek of our Maiedae photos and interviewed our photographer, Danielle Valimont? Well... THEY ARE HERE! I am so excited to give you a tiny sneak peek into our new business photos for Maiedae. Savannah and I are thrilled with them and I'm so excited that Danielle will be shooting Drew's and my wedding this June. Enjoy!

Don't forget we are closing our handmade shop at the end of this month! Click here to receive a special coupon :)

Our Engagement Photos

Savannah was sweet enough to take our engagement photos on Saturday up in Rome, Georgia. I am so excited about how they turned out! Here are a few of my favorites:

My New Nephew

My sister had her baby on Friday and I am so excited to announce that Garner Owens is the cutest little nephew I could ever imagine!!! Drew and I drove up on Saturday to middle Tennessee to visit the new little family and we had such a great time while we were there. Garner is only 4lbs 3oz, so he is a tiny fellow, but he captured my heart from the first moment I saw him. I have always imagined being an aunt and have been so excited about it ever since my sister announced they were pregnant. But, in the past few weeks, it has grown more and more real until I saw him on Saturday... and then I was overwhelmed with the amount of love I felt for this baby I didn't even know yet. I teared up as I touched his little toes and began to wonder who he was going to be and what his personality would be like. I am so excited to have a new little nephew. I love you, Mary and JT, and I hope that I can be a great aunt to your beautiful little baby.

Handmade Shop Closing + Sale

On April 1, 2012, Savannah and I will be closing our handmade shop on Etsy. It has been a joy making and selling handmades, however, we have truly found that our passion is for graphic design. :) We do plan on participating in a few craft shows each year, including the 2012 Holiday Indie Craft Experience in Atlanta. For those of you who have been customers of our handmade items, we want to thank you for your support and love!

Savannah and I are both thrilled about where our little Maiedae is heading. We have already talked about many upcoming changes for this year and can't wait to show you our new look and feel when we launch our website very soon! Focusing on graphic design is the first step in a new and refined direction for Maiedae and we can't wait to continue down that road.

If you would like to purchase a goodie from the handmade shop before it closes, be sure to enter coupon code: CLOSINGSALE at checkout for 35% off your order!

Thank you!

Pinterest Party + Sponsorship Giveaway Results!

It's time to announce the winners of the Sponsorship Giveaway!!! Thank you for your cute posts :) Ladies, please contact me at jenny@maiedae.com with your 250x200 widget.

Also, I wanted to share with you the results from the Pinterest Party that Savannah and I hosted. Our craft for the party was the Photo Canvas Transfer DIY from Elsie's blog. We each printed out pictures on regular paper and had a fun time creating the first half of the project. Because we had to let it dry overnight, we didn't get to complete the project together. However, we did have a LOT of fun sharing, learning more about each other, eating a lot of cookies and fruit (maybe that was just me...), drinking punch, and painting!

It was so wonderful to spend time with some incredible ladies. I absolutely love this tradition that we have created and I hope to meet more crafty faces in the future!

 

Feature: Danielle Valimont

I'm so excited to tell you about the photographer that we picked to shoot our wedding day!! She also shot photos for our new MaieDae website (seen below)! Her name is Danielle Valimont and I found out about her through a friend of mine. From the moment I met Danielle, her enthusiasm and sweet spirit ensured me that she was the right woman for the job. Danielle's passion is for couples' photography. Not only does she own her own business, Valimont Photography, but she also runs a blog, is about to finish her masters Degree in Organizational Leadership, and travels frequently around the world (but especially has a heart for India.) I asked Danielle a few questions in order to get to know her heart and passion for photography. Enjoy!

"I signed up to volunteer in India one summer and I was soooo stoked! The Lord really opened doors and I couldn't wait to get there to volunteer for Calcutta Mercy Hospital. They called and asked what I could // would do when I got there. I said, 'ANYTHING! I'll do anything you need! I can't wait! I'm so excited!' They replied, 'Can you take pictures?' I said, 'Yeah! Sure.' At this point, I had never held a DSLR camera and I'm thinking they are asking me to just get a few snap shots, but as time neared, I realized they were talking about PROFESSIONAL pictures. I had a freak-out moment. Actually, many of them... lol. I was calling my mom, asking her how did I fail to communicate so badly?? She said, 'Danielle, maybe this is something you should consider. If this is what God has opened up for you to do, then you need to do it.' That calmed my fears a bit and I started searching for a camera. Let me tell you -- that was wild. I was in college, had no extra cash and here I had 3 weeks to buy a professional entry level camera before I left the country! AND learn how to use it! Haha, what was I thinking?

"So, I started searching. Pawn shops, online, everywhere. And then I found this camera. It was $60 in a pawn shop and looked big and professional.Good deal. And the Lord told me not to get it. At this point it was 3 days before I left and I had a struggle in the shop of whether or not to get it because it was such a good deal but I eventually left it. Then God steppped in and totally rewarded my obedience. I had no idea how or where I was going to get the camera and told no one that I needed it. That evening I went to Red Cross to donate blood and this lady came up and we started chatting. At the end of the conversation, she said the Lord spoke to her and told her to give me a check for $50! A complete stranger. So then my faith was building! My college sent me to the airport to pick up a guest and on the way back she asked if she could take us to dinner. We were broke and excited to eat a steak at Longhorns! While we were there, I told her about India and miracles God had done and the following day she came to me and said the Lord spoke to her to give me "this" and handed me a women's devotional book. I was thrilled! I couldn't believe that she gave me that because the hospital asked me to do women's devotions and I had no clue where to begin. She told me to be careful because there was something inside. I opened the book and a check for $500 was sitting there. I burst into tears and told her about the camera thing and how much a blessing it was.

'So, at this point, two strangers had given $550. Then, later that night, another lady came up and said that she had watched me in school this year and heard I was going to India and wanted to bless me... $100... $650-- from complete strangers and without sending one support letter! That is God! On the way to the airport, Best Buy had a one day sale on the camera I was looking at, so I bought it and read instructions on the plane. And knew a LITTLE. After I brought the pictures back home, everyone was amazed. My response to that was, oh... seriously.. anyone can take good pics in India. It's a beautiful country. After their encouragement, I decided to give it a shot. I had amazing photographers that encouraged me and gave me tips and, of course, lots of prayer and hard work in developing my talent. Which is still a work in progress!

"What I most love about shooting is the people. I love making friends with 'clients' and having them become part of my life. It's crazy. I get an hour or two to shoot them and we become life-long friends. :) "

"That is tough. If we are talking photography, I love Jasmine Star and Esther Haven's style. Esther Haven is doing what I would dream of doing one day!"

"I love traveling and feel like I was born in the wrong country -- India definitely has my heart. I'm addicted to Etsy, this blog, haha, I love any kind of teas, and Zumba rocks my world. I love taking pictures with my Papa's Minolta... he just gave it to me this past year!"

"Finish my masters degree in Organizational Leadership. May 4th never looked so good! I also want to focus on branding and different lighting techniques, this year, to really hone in on my target market. Big goal -- attend at least half of the Collages-Atlanta classes this year! I learned so much last year from Catherine Ritchie Park of MyLife Photography.... she's a photography mentor of mine and pretty much Atlanta's best!"


I hope you enjoyed getting to know Danielle a little better! We had a great time at our photo shoot with her on Sunday. Danielle is so talented and makes you feel completely at ease. She is great to work with and I would recommend her to everyone I know.