two trick pony: behind-the-scenes tour + screenprinted wedding invites

{ photo by two trick pony }
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while you're waiting for me to get it together, my friend rachael forwarded this lovely post on how her custom-screenprinted invites were made. in person these invites were unbelievably beautiful -- done by two trick pony, whose blog combines mouth-watering recipes with gorgeous printed things. yes please!

here are a few etsy items of theirs...



more at twotrickpony.etsy.com

thanks for the introduction, rachael!

viabella: custom bridal clutches

{ ivory linen silk-lined clutch }

the perfect little bridal bag, lined with silver dupioni silk, with your choice of pearl/dupioni silk rose (shown above), shabby chic linen flower, or just plain vanilla. the ivory version (bottom left, below) has a pale "something blue" silk interior, but i think my favorite has to be the scooters.

viabella loves custom orders, will work with your fabric, and also makes cosmetic cases, zipper pouches, and eyeglass cases for great bridal party gifts.






more at viabella.etsy.com

poetry sampler: words of the heart

{ poem customized bangle bracelet in sterling by bddesigns }

today i volunteered as a poetry "coach" for DC organization higher achievement's* fourth annual literary love poetry performance, which meant i got to see ten amazing love poems performed by ten great kids. love is anger, love makes his face a red apple, love is vicious in the good deeds, love is why he works *every* day. it's an internal uprising, a butterfly on delicate flowers, it's playing hide and seek, and it's finally, sincerely saying "thank you -- i love you more than you've ever, ever known."

naturally this made me want to poke around etsy.

for those of you who write or love words, books, poems, how do you plan to incorporate them into your wedding?









{each photo links to its shop}

*for more info on higher achievement's wonderful activities and programs, see higherachievement.org

thebrokenplate: unique bridal party cufflinks + pendants

{ custom matching broken-plate cufflinks for groom + four groomsmen }

how great are these?

thebrokenplate makes wonderful, quirky matching sets for bridal parties, with something cool for the gents: mod cufflinks. plus rings, pendants, fascinators, belt buckles --

*and* two great ideas, from the artist's custom order page: first, let's say you already have a broken plate, maybe grandma's precious china -- or let's say hypothetically a collector's mid-century modern vase that your boyfriend can't believe you put flowers in and then the cat knocked over ("you couldn't have used an IKEA VASE???"), that sort of thing... you can send in the pieces and have them transformed into pendants for your sisters or cufflinks for said irate boyfriend. neat!

second, check out the idea for making jewelry from plates broken during the jewish tenaim engagement ceremony -- i love the symbolism (and drama!): mothers smashing plates to make way for their children feeding each other, and �may a plate be broken for you soon...�

baltimore-based thebrokenplate loves custom work and has a huge assortment of colors and plates pre-smashed (oh, the catharsis!) to choose from, or you can send your own.








more at thebrokenplate.etsy.com and ibreakplates.com