Weddings, Paper Flowers, and Delayed Cards

 First, I simply must show off my adorable brother, Mikey, (If you're reading this, I think you're adorable too, Nick!) and his so very fabulous bride, Cassie. I wish I had better pics, but there were incidents of cameras left in cards, lighting issues, etc. Cassie promised me a CD of pics, which I can't wait to get my filthy mitts on so I can scrapbook the hell out of them. :) I've already bought a half-ton of papers and other supplies I found that totally match their invitations.
Anyway, this pic was taken at the rehersal dinner. Unfortunately I didn't get any really good ones of the wedding, but hopefully that cd will rectify the situation.

And here's one of Mikey and me at the reception. Don't you love my dorky pose? I was a bit giddy.

 I got to make all the bouquets for the wedding, which was incredibly trusting of Cassie. :) These pics aren't the greatest (I'll post some of the actual wedding later), but hopefully you can see the basic design. This one was Cassie's. I used unicorn lollies for the center, then made pinwheels out of book pages and when the pages proved a bit too dusty to hold together very well (the adhestive was slipping on the dust and page rot) I added some Stampin' Up simulated book page papers, too. There are tiny satin ribbon flowers with rhinestone centers in the middle of each pinwheel and I made leaves from black chenille stems. The white flowers are actually made from cupcake liners (3 per flower) and there are tiny pearly pips for stamen in the center of each one. There are black and white jellybean stamen floating around as well (could I be more freudian?) The colored flowers aren't showing well in this photo, but they are made of red, blue, and yellow polka dot vellum. Again, different colored pearly pips are stamen inside each one. They matched her nails and shoes perfectly!

This is one of the bridesmaids' bouquets, made with one unicorn lolly and pinwheels. I put different types of centers inside each pinwheel, from black heart gems to clusters of googly eyes.

Okay, okay, let's get back to the subject of cards. Here's one I'm entering into the Buttons and Bows Challenge at Fab and Funky Challenges. I love those wee little carrot buttons! Check out that french fry brad in the middle of the bow. I'm also entering it in Sparkle's Forum's "recipe" challenge--2 papers, 2 embellishments (er..a little extra never hurt!), and a bow. Plus, you know, I liked the "recipe" pun. :)

This is one I made for the Phindy's embossing challenge, but the Blogspot debacle made it impossible to enter in time.

The swirls are embossed using this neat peppermint scented embossing powder I had in my stash. It's red and white mixed together so it comes out really cool.

Even though I'm too late for the challenge at Phindy's, it's not a total loss. This is one of the cards I made to send in my next package to Card Cupids.

Speaking of Card Cupids, their current challenge is cards with flowers...ta da! Card Cupids is an organization that sends handmade cards and care packages to kids in hospital. If you're inclined to contribute, they have a special need right now from a Title I school. They need donations of journals, cool pens or pencils for the kids to write in the journals with, a card wishing them a happy summer, and handmade book marks to keep kids reading and writing till school starts again. In addition to being a really nice thing to do, you can also win some neat prizes with every item you send. For more info and guidelines, visit this post.

Just one more, and this one has cupcake flowers! This one's being entered in Craft Your Passion's "check" it out challenge. I'm so digging this mouse stamp!

Sorry to cram so much into one post, but I was knocked off kilter by the Blogger breakdown. Have a happy weekend everyone!