Beautiful Babies

A special congrats to Tom and Amy Wilker of New Bremen. They were blessed with a beautiful set of baby girls. I was thrilled to print the birth announcements. They now have five little gals and Amy running the house. I would feel a little sorry for Tom being the only man but he's probably okay with it. Double diaper duty, maybe not so much.

Now onto fall related stuff. Crafty friend Kat and I had our booth at the New Bremen Pumpkinfest. Her sister Amy added her pottery to the pleasant mix of stuff. We had Kat's hand dyed wool, my notecards, her little clay pumpkin magnets, all kinds of stuff. It was a perfect day, perfect weather, and perfect pumpkin brats and cookies.

I hate to ruin a perfectly nice post about fall by bringing up the matter of Christmas. I know, I know it's too soon. But it's really not. If you are a business or organization you likely have a large Christmas Card mailing in front of you. Best to look over your options now. Chck out this site for some ideas and give me a call. http://viewccproduct.singleresource.com

If you just need cards for your personal family and friends you can tinker away for another month. But at some point you have to tackle that job. So start thinking about it now people. Find a great family picture and make a mental note to contact me for a personal card.

Look at your gift list and see who would appreciate a gift of :
- Personalized stationery,
- Notecards basket with a self inking return address stamp
- Personalized recipe cards
- A gift certificate to a new bride. She can order invites, programs, a guest book, cake topper, whatever.

And now a gem from Amy Vanderbilt Complete Book of Etiquette (circa 1952) regarding household management.

"If you have a one-employee household and a busy family it will certainly be necessary for you to give your maid some systematic assistance, as well as careful supervision.

Ms. Amy then describes (at length) how to instruct the maid with regards to the groceries. She helpfully tells us we can save money by doing the grocery shopping ourselves though she warns that while phone in orders from a charge-account store is convenient it is also expensive. If you opt to have the maid do the shopping her wise advice is to "check up" on the staff. She encourages us by saying, "Don't be embarressed at checking up. Your employees will respect you more if you are not "easy".

Atleast Ms. Amy has another chapter entitled "Gracious Living without Servants". Ohhhh the horror!

Falling for . . . Long Lost Brides

Yes, it's the first day of Fall. Autumn. The weather has been beautiful lately and I was pleased this past Saturday to know that three of my brides (one of which was having an outdoor wedding) would be enjoying beautiful, beautiful days.

This coming weekend I have three more brides getting married. Whew! No wonder the summer flew by. Saturday is not only a wedding day but it's also the day New Bremen holds its annual Pumpkinfest. Kat and I will have a booth. I know she's been working hard to have some cute items for sale and I intend to do the same.

I decided to get on the ball and post a couple more Bride Photos. This is Kimberly Hausfeld and Zachary Wiford, formerly of Minster, currently of Dublin. It's sort of rare that I met the groom, so I've never met Zach. But I got to know Kim (and her nice mother Elaine) very well and I can tell this picture is reflective of a fun, and fun loving couple.

Their bridesmaids were decked in a colorful green for the June wedding. I know they had a fabulous time.

Awhile back I purchased an etiquette book at the Canalside Bookstore in St. Marys. I wanted a book that would be a reference for the sort of things that don’t go out of style. The book I purchased was admitably outdated but I thought it would make interesting reading material. “Amy Vanderbilts Complete Book of Etiquette” was published in 1952 and still holds correct information for addressing wedding invitations. However, later in the book proper Ms. Amy devoted 68 pages to the proper ways a woman should present herself (in 1952) to the world. I didn’t read them all but here are some highlights. I thought it would be fun to post them from time to time.

On the subject of dining: “Every woman should change for dinner, if only into a clean housedress. Dinner is the high point of the day. Fresh clothes and make-up are psychologically sound.”

For women business execs. According to Amy Vanderbuilt a woman executive paying for a business lunch is beyond akward. Her advice is to plan ahead and arrange prior credit with the restaurant, or (and this is unbelievable) “quietly lay a bill on the table toward the end of the meal and say (to the man), “settle the check for me please. Of course it’s on my expense account.”

I won’t even tackle the two pages devoted to the proper way a woman should sit. But I can assure you, I'm definately doing it wrong.

Well, forget Amy Vanderbilt. Finally, from my collection of favorite quotes,

"October gave a party;The leaves by hundreds came

-The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples, And leaves of every name.

The Sunshine spread a carpet, And everything was grand,

Miss Weather led the dancing, Professor Wind the band.

~George Cooper, "October's Party"

Lots of things cookin!

Okay, so we're two weeks into Buckeye Season. I've already hit my mom up for a batch of her famous Buckeyes which Adam loves. When we got married (back in 2002) I had a Grooms Cake made for Adam and my mom covered it with Buckeyes. In total we had over 900 Buckeyes at our wedding and Mom made every single one of them.

Weddings and parties are in full swing. Recently Denise Busic, one of my clients, threw a "Knights and Dragons" party for her son Colin who turned 4 in August. Ofcourse she needed a perfect invite to match.

According to Denise, "They pelted the 4ft dragon with 300 water balloons. They were vicious! The pinata took forever. The girls gave him a good beating. I've been told to sabotage it in the future. They made shields for their family crests as a craft. And my neighbor drug over her bouncy castle. " Sounds like an awesome day for everyone.

Other exciting news is that I recently purchased a corner rounder. I have three dies to make different levels of corner roundness. It's a really fun tool and it gives an extra something to some invites. I've also been searching for new paper and ribbon. Almost everyday the nice UPS guy brings me something new.

I've been promising pictures of brides - I have a few saved up for another post.

What else? Well my friend Kat and I enjoyed a nice shopping spree on Sunday at the Flower Factory in Dayton. I have lots and lots of ribbon now. Beautiful burgundy, burnt orange, browns and greens. All beautiful. Kat is gearing up for the Fall Harvest Festival being held this weekend at Lake Loramie. She's having a booth to peddle her yarn and jewelry and she's been kind enough to make room for my notecards as well. In addition to notecards I will have my "Bag of Scrap" which is essentially a ziplock bag full of odd and ends, pretty papers, bits of ribbon, buttons and whatever else I sort of forget about but am relunctant to throw away.
Anyway, this is a big weekend for the Lake and it's a worthwhile trip. Check out the Fort Loramie Chamber website to learn more. http://www.fortloramie.com/index.php

I'm really excited for Sunday. The Country Living Magazine is having a Fair/Festival of it's own in Columbus. I've talked (okay forced) my husband into going with me. There will be antiques, crafts, demonstrations and good food. Who knows, maybe one day I'll have a booth at one of these big shows. http://www.countryliving.com/antiques/shops-and-shows/cl-fair-2008

A-hoy Strangers!

I've been meaning to update my blog, I really have. I was shocked to get online today and realize that it's been almost a month since my last post. While the hazy, hot (and dry) days of summer are still technically here, I do see autumn on the horizon. Since this is my favorite time of the year I'm happy to say good bye to festivals, water aerobics (thanks to my bride Leslie Stienecker who invited me to the pool and got me hooked) and even Turtle Sundaes from the Tasty Treet.

September I will say hello to Adams chili and my apple crisp, a couple antique festivals, the Buckeyes and a lot of exciting things in store for Sara Paper.

- I intend to have my price list and some photos online so all curious brides can check me out.

- I'll be unrolling Christmas card options! I have four new albums from carlson craft with some really great stuff. Lots of photos cards, funky modern colors and even some "green" options.

- Most exciting of all I'll be offering a 2009 Grand Prize. A Wedding Invitation packet worth $500! You don't want to miss this opportunity. I'll have more details after Labor Day.

- More photos of happy brides (and grooms). I've been storing them up.

And now a "shout out" to my husband Adam. He deserves all sorts of credit for his role in the Bremenfest Parade. His family and friends worked really hard on their float entry and won the prize for "Best Novelty" and the "Mayors Award" as well. They designed an incredible float complete with "canons" and smoke and pirates and well, all sorts of things. Adam felt it was important to be an authentic pirate and devised for himself a wooden leg. Luckily he wasn't so authentic as to sever his limb. But he endured the pain of walking a mile or two in a heavy and uncomfortable leg.

A New Addition - to the office

I'm so excited about my new addition I feel like I should mail out something akin to Birth Annoucements. I have a new dining room table set! If anyone has visited my office recently and sat at my table you were probably being polite when you didn't say, "wow, this chair is really wobbly". My friend Laura wasn't so polite, mostly because she thought she was the problem not the chair.

In the morning sunlight.

Anyway, on Sunday I was in sort of a stupid mood. Poor Adam had no clue what my problem was so I decided to spare him. I went on a jaunt to Wapakoneta to bum around the antique shops. It was at Gild the Lily (102 East Auglaize Street - lots of great items there) that I found the most perfect table and chairs. Deep mahogony wood, antique-ish character (however, I couldn't tell you when it was crafted) and beautiful aqua upholstery. I loved it, though I reasoned in my head that I don't have anything aqua in my home for it to match. I have red curtains for crying out loud. And an orange office chair. Still, I sat on each chair and was pleased that only one had a flawed arm. It was a fabulous price, proof that if you spend years searching and longing for such a treasure it will eventually happen. I called Adam (who was even more confused as I was suddenly in a good mood) and got the okay to make the purchase. He picked it up yesterday (Special thanks to brother Munch for helping Adam carry it into the house - sorry I couldn't chat) and I'm just thrilled. Somehow, aqua fabric and all - it just works.

A closeup of the fabric and the craftsmanship

Just a fun picture. A vase (or vaaaase if you want to be fancy) from our wedding, a doily I believe made by Adams grandmother and of course the top of the new table.

Me, being goofy - I guess I should get back to work now.

Some recent brides in all their glory (the guys look pretty good too) Jason and Neily (Dingledine) Iannantuono

Married May 31, 2008 in Chicago Illinois

(aren't they all beautiful)

Caton and Teresa (Dubbs) McLear

Married June 14, 2008 in New Madison Ohio

(in an impressive motorcycle themed wedding - you should have seen the pics)

Photo by Stockton Studio, New Madison, Ohio

Kurt and Chrissy (Homan) Albers

Married June 14, 2008 in St. Sebastian, Ohio

(on probably the first HOT day of the summer in an un-airconditioned church)

Photo by my old buddy, Todd B. Acker, Sidney, Ohio

A Weekend Getaway!

All sorts of fun. Brides getting married, the weddings a fleeting blimp on the course of their marriage. Some will get to enjoy the rest of their summer in newlywed bliss. Other have the summer to sweat out the rest of their wedding plans.

My husband and I finally took a little weekend getaway. A nice relaxing jaunt to Cincinnati, or more specifically across the river to Covington, Kentucky. We spent Saturday walking the streets of the Main Strasse Village http://www.mainstrasse.org/, lounging at the hotel pool and finally an evening at Newport on the Levee http://www.newportonthelevee.com/ where we enjoyed excellent German food and beer at the Hofbrauhaus. http://www.hofbrauhausnewport.com/.

Imagine our surprise to be seated at a table next to a fellow New Bremen resident! Talk about trying to get away. And then later we enjoyed chatting with three Navy Men and their wives, one of which originally hailed from Coldwater. These men served in Korean War and were enjoying a nice reunion. We had fun talking to them, especially Adam who worked so hard to find the ladies a nice felt tip pen so they could add their marks on the already written on table. These ladies were so nice that when they left they came back into the hall and presented Adam with his very own Hofbrauhaus mug. The big one. I forget the whole story behind it but I know Adam was sweet talking and pretending it was his birthday. Anyway, we got a great kick out of it.

We spent the rest of the night meeting new people, including the band, Monica with her harmonica and her brother Joe, and a nice group of Dayton students celebrating their friends 21st. Apparently too, the Hofbrauhaus, and I guess Cinci in general, is an excellent place to have a bachlor/bachlorette party. In fact, we met a bachlorette party participant on the bus on the way back to the hotel. She was from Bradford. So future brides take note and make the trip to Cinci to have some fun.

We capped off the trip with a visit to the Freedom Center, the Reds Museum and finally shopping at the Ikea just off of 75.

Now it's back to work and I'm very excited to be brainstorming with a new bunch of brides with fabulous ideas!