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Archive for October, 2010

Happiest of birthday wishes

Not only is today our anniversary, it is also the birthday of my sweet, “littlest” sister, Kameryn. She was kind enough to share this special day with us. She was a super trooper by putting up with Bridezilla and the gang on her birthday last year. I think it worked out in the end, not many eleven year olds can say they flew to Hawaii for their birthday.

She’s turning 12 years old this year and this will be the very first year I have not been with her to celebrate her birthday. I even cancelled a Fall Break trip to the mountains during college just to make it to her birthday party. I couldn’t bear having to tell her that I wouldn’t be there. (Does she have me wrapped around her finger? Umm, just a little.)
Kameryn – Even though we skipped town for our anniversary, we haven’t for one second forgotten about your birthday. If I had a Euro for every time your name has come up while we have been in France. We always say, “Oh, Kameryn would love this!” or “Do you think Kamo would like this?” Even though we are all the way across the Atlantic, we’ve both got you tucked right beside our hearts. 

Photos by: Tec Petaja

We wish you a happy, happy birthday. Maybe when you are older, we’ll all run off to France and have one big ol’ celebration!

Posted 10/11/10, Topic: Blog

Happy Anniversary

Today, Mr. Blue Eyed Yonder and I celebrate our one year anniversary and there’s no way my heart could be happier.

In honor of this very special day, I’d like to share with you a beautiful piece written by Oriah Mountain Dreamer. Each time I read this, the words get stronger and stronger. I encourage you to take the time to read it, and better yet, read it to the one you love.

The Invitation

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it, or fade it, or fix it.



I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own; if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it is not pretty every day. And if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand at the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, ‘Yes.’

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

–Oriah Mountain Dreamer



Photos by: Tec Petaja



Posted 10/11/10, Topic: Blog

Au Revior my dearies

Bags packed and tickets in hand. Ladies and gentlemen, we’re off to France!

I will do my best to post a thing or to on the blog while I am gallavanting through Paris and the Provencal countryside. If you don’t hear from me, I might be passed out in a vineyard with croissant crumbs on my face. Living the life, Parisian style.

If you think you just might miss me too much, feel free to follow Blue Eyed Yonder on Facebook. I’ll have lots of updates, pictures and maybe a video or two.

Au Revior!

Posted 10/8/10, Topic: Blog

DIY: Handmade Paper

Dig through your scrap pile and bust out the blender, today we’re making paper folks! To celebrate our Paper Anniversary, we’ve put together a little DIY just for you.
There are many methods to making paper, even snazzy paper-making kits that you can buy. We tried to work with everyday materials that were easy to get our hands on and tried to keep it as simple as possible. You’d be surprised just how fun and easy it is.
Materials:
Wood Frames
Wire Mesh Screen (same size as wood frame)
Blender
Water
Sponge
Cloth napkin or towel
Large container for water bath
Paper Scraps (Plane tickets, invitations, receipts, etc.)
Additional Embellishments (dried flowers, thread fibers, etc.)
Materials for Wood Frames:
8 – 1”x2” wood strips
Wire mesh screen
Staple Gun and Staples
Start by constructing two simple wood frames of the same size.
Line the backside of one frame with the wire mesh screen. Secure the screen to the frame using a staple gun.

To make the paper, first make the paper pulp.
This is where the artistry comes in. Toss the paper scraps and any other embellishments in the blender, cover the scraps with water and blend. The longer you blend the more unified the paper will be. Shorter blend times will yield a chunkier paper.


To form the paper, secure the two wood frames together.
Place the frame with the screen on the bottom with the screened side facing up. Set the other frame on top and secure with vice grips. Submerge the frames in enough water to cover the screen, but not cover the top frame. (You don’t want your paper pulp to escape into the water bath.)
Next, pour the paper pulp into the frame and gently distribute the pulp by lightly swishing your fingers through the water. At this point, you can also add additional paper scraps or dried flowers. Once the paper is arranged to your liking, carefully and uniformly lift the frame out of the water. Allow excess water to drip off.


To dry the paper, transfer the frame to a cloth towel for the drying process.
Remove vice grips and top frame. Using a second, loose wire mesh sheet, gently place it on top of the paper and press out excess water. Holding the wire mesh screen in place, carefully flip the frame over so that the paper is now face down on the drying towel. Using a sponge to continue extracting excess water from the paper, wringing sponge as needed. Gently lift the remaining frame away from the paper.
Flip the paper and wire mesh screen over onto a dry, flat surface. Remove the screen and leave paper to air dry. (If you would like to dry it faster, you can place the paper between two cloth napkins and iron dry.)

Voila! Your very own handmade paper.

And just because I like you so much, here are a few paper making “hints” that I learned along the way.

Hint #1: Throw in colored napkins for a big color punch. A little goes a long way.
Hint #2: You can also toss in dried herbs and spices to give your paper a nice scent.
Hint #3: If you don’t like the end result of your paper, toss it back in the blender and try again.

If you happen to try this DIY, take a picture of your paper and send it my way. I would love to see your craftiness!

Posted 10/5/10, Topic: Blog

Paper Anniversary

Nearly a year has passed since we said our, “I do’s”. 
It all happened so fast. I stood at the entrance to the ceremony lawn. The last rays of the beautiful Hawaiian sun crept into the little hallway casting an amber glow. My bridesmaids and I stood there, waiting to make the journey down the aisle. This was it. The bridesmaids, one by one, started walking. My sister, and maid-of-honor, Katie, turned to me. It was time for her to walk, the director was beckoning her to go. She leaned over and hugged me and said, “I love you”. A moment, an instant forever etched in my mind. 
  
Photo by Tec Petaja
I stood there in that hallway, just me and my Dad. I took a deep breath, actually closed my eyes, and took the first step. I remember saying over and over in my head, “Remember this, remember this.” I walked down the aisle, holding on to Dad’s arm. I promised myself I wouldn’t cry, or at least if I did, I wouldn’t make the duck face. There he was. Standing at the end, sunlight dancing all around him. The sweet notes of the Hawaiian ukelele drifting towards me, surrounding me. Everything melted away. All the stress and nonsense of the planning leading up to that day. Nothing else mattered in that moment. I was safe. 
Photo by Tec Petaja
It didn’t matter that I broken the nail of my ring finger just moments before, it didn’t matter that my Dad had lost his matching tie and had to buy one off a Hawaiian street vendor (yes, don’t ask), it didn’t matter that we had just plain run out of time and didn’t get to write the personalized vows that we both had wanted to read to each other. None of that mattered. At the end of that aisle stood my forever. His eyes so soft; a little smile so tender. I just couldn’t help myself, I let a little bit of a duck face slip out.

Photo by Tec Petaja
With our anniversary right around the corner, the memories of that day have been dancing in our heads more than usual. Such magical moments that we hope not only to remember, but to recreate as well. With the first anniversary being traditionally known as the paper anniversary, we put our brains to the test. We wanted to do something special, while still sticking to the paper theme of this year. We decided to take on a project that would be a first for both of us, a little hands-on action, with a sentimental twist. We would make our own paper.

Not just any old paper. We decided to use special mementos from not only our wedding, but our lives together. Little pieces of us, blended together, forever melded as one. We tossed in the tickets to our Bluegrass Hootenanny and a snippet of our “Party ‘Til the Cows Come Home” Atlanta reception invitations.

We took pieces from our handmade wedding invitation books, including the jute twine and handwritten tag. We sprinkled pieces of a dried orchid lei, not from Hawaii, but from one of our favorite restaurants, Roy’s. This is where Mr. Blue Eyed Yonder surprised me with a trip to Kauai/Oahu, where he would later pop the question.
We threw in a receipt from Honolulu’s airport where I bought my very first wedding magazine. We tore little bits of one of our school papers into the mix, a Structures test. That’s one of the classes we took together when we first started dating.

To represent all of our projects and love for craftiness, we threw in a little saw dust. And of course a tiny guinea feather for good measure.

So now we have this gorgeous paper; a paper melody of our lives together. The sentiment doesn’t stop there. We have decided to finish something we wanted to do almost a year ago – write wedding vows to each other. So we will each take a piece of this paper, and pour even more love onto the page. We’ll roll them up and pack them snuggly in our luggage and read them to each other in France on our actual anniversary.

Listen…do you hear it? That’s the love beating out of this paper. One of the sweetest projects we have ever done.

Photos by CMJ
Now, don’t worry. I wouldn’t go and make something this special without giving you the inside scoop. If you want to learn how to make paper, as a gift or for yourself, stay tuned. I’ve got a fun DIY tutorial coming up.

Posted 10/4/10, Topic: Blog

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