Project Life - Last Week of December

I'm done with 2012!!!  I can't believe it; so excited to have finished a whole year and with every single week represented.  I feel like I really accomplished something, looking back at all the little details I've recorded over the past year is so rewarding. 

The year ended with my friend Jill's one year wedding vow renewal and party.  She and her husband Jas were actually married a year ago in Australia and this was the friends and family celebration.  I saved several mementos from the event that I knew I wanted to include.  It made the most sense to put them all in inserts and on the right side of the spread. 

Click on any of the images in the post to see them larger.

On the first side of the spread I most of the week, deciding to keep the wedding all together at the end.  In the top left is a picture of Brad shoveling us out from the first big snowfall of the year.  I used a swirly overlay and a "brrr" sticker on top of it for a fun touch.  The snowflake paper that I added grid paper on top of for journaling is actually the backside of a journaling card from the previous week.  It's so nice when placement works out and you can get use out of both sides of a really cute piece of paper.

The camera card is from a journaling paper pad that I just picked up at Michael's.  It's from their Creative Chaos line by their in house brand Recollections.  I wrote about my family's visit on it.  Next to that is a filler card representing when the wedding happened in the timeline of the week.  The top right photo is of their reception.  The last card is for New Years Eve and the collage on the bottom right is from our lunch at PF Changs.  That pretty much covers the highlights from the last week of 2012.  I decided to end my album on the 31st so all of 2012 would be together. 

Jill's photographer took this fabulous photo of her and Jas; as soon as I saw it I knew it would be perfect for Project Life.  I resized it to 8X10 and then created a journaling block right on top of it in PSE.  I picked up the teal color from the mittens that Jill's Grandma knit her and color matched the text.  I also filled in the little border with the same color so everything would coordinate.  I also added the color to the couple's initials and date circle.  Then I printed the photo out with all the elements already on it.

Jill and Jas had a travel themed wedding because they met while on Safari and got married while on a three week trip of Australia and New Zealand.  Jill made her own invitations and many of the decorations.  I used the same paper she used for the background I put some keepsakes on.  The dinner menu was absolutely amazing, the food absolutely yummy!  I wish I could've eaten twice as much and I managed to put away quite a bit.  This was probably the best wedding food I've ever had.

They had a photo booth and as you can tell, since I'm not in the third photo, Brad and I were not exactly experts at using it.  We were trying to reposition when the last picture was taken.  We decided it was funny and looked like the wife was running away from the husband.  The photo booth printed out two copies, one for us and one for them.  Jill is going to use their copy along with a travel themed postcard we wrote a message to the couple on in a special guest book.  Isn't that a fantastic idea?

I used some travel themed stickers I've had in my stash from a previous project from about 9-10 years ago to decorate this page and the following insert as well.  This was one time I guess pack ratting your supplies turned out to come in handy!

Design E, cut in half - Views from the front and back of Insert

I had to keep the invitation, but it was a little thick and my second binder for 2012 was becoming overstuffed.  So I made the decision to cut it in half...(gasp of disbelief)...which I still kinda can't believe I did.  But in the long run it was the right idea, now I will enjoy it a lot more.

Front Side:

Jill used the prettiest sparkly brown envelope that had the invitation on one half and a little pocket on the other, where she inserted guest information printed on staggered pieces of paper.  When cut in half they fit almost perfectly inside of the 6X6 pockets of Design E.  The cancelled postage image and bookplate are both stickers I added on top of the page protector.

Back Side:

On the other side I put more the matching paper and a copy of the wedding program at the top.  The program was another handmade touch Jill put into her wedding.  Jas wrote most of the text and they used stamp and travel poster images to further personalize the program.  Then Jill stitched each and every program together to bind.  The cover of the program is brown and all the sticker stamps, words, etc. you see were once again put right on top of the page protector.

At the bottom is the front of the wedding invitation envelope.  I cut it to fit because I wanted to keep all the pretty stamps Jill used for postage.  They included stamps to represent each of the countries they've traveled to together or that are meaningful to the couple, like the Canadian one - which is where Jas has family.

Here is another look at the wedding program.  I love how it fit inside of Design E and is easily accessible so I can take it out and look at it again in the future.

The second side of this week's Project Life spread is devoted to wedding pictures, mainly of the many personalized touches Jill did.  At the top left is the map seating chart.  The name of each guest or couple was written on a die cut airplane.  Then they were attached by string to a destination that the couple has been too.  Each table was all named for places Jill and Jas have been. 

Brad and I were seated at the New Zealand table with Jill's stepbrother and two stepsisters and their spouses.  It was a merry bunch to sit with and we had great conversations all night long.  Jill made the wraps for the candles and the photo blocks that held each table's name, as seen in the bottom left. 

At each place setting was a miniature suitcase that opened to hold teal M&Ms and caramels.  Attached to each was also a little hand stamped and inked luggage tag.  I helped Jill make all of those one night when we met to scrapbook at Archivers.  It was so neat to see the finished tags on the tables. 

The paper flowers at the top right were also made by Jill, some stamped with a subtle text pattern and others inked.  They made up each bouquet the girls carried and Jill's too.  She also made each of the flowers that the groom and groomsmen wore. 

I'm linking up with The Mom Creative.