A busy week

Well I haven't been posting so much lately. This week was a bit nervewracking because I had made a taxes appointment and I had to finally sort out all my receipts. Being a freelancer has made my taxes much more complicated and I knew I would owe money for illustration income from last year. It was a bit of a shock how much, but at least now it's resolved and I don't have that feeling of dread anymore!

Thank you everyone for all the nice comments about the wedding location. I'm feeling a bit encouraged to tell you a bit more about the wedding (my other reason for not posting much last week was that it was a big week for wedding planning). I had been making putting off doing anything for a long time. I did start looking at pictures of invitations, dresses, cakes and favours etc. in Martha Stewart and flagging my favourites, but we hadn't actually found or bought anything other than our wedding bands. I had also learned that most of these things need to be ordered well in advance, usually 4 to 6 months and we're at the 5 month mark.

So the visit to Spadina House was a good start, to resolve how things would be set up. We worked on the guest list and agreed on the other details. And I found my dress! That was my favourite part, because I tried on so many in numerous stores, and for some time I was thinking I would have to compromise. I wanted something very simple, but still special. I really love the dress I finally bought, it's exactly what I was looking for. It's an A-line ivory dress with spaghetti straps and an embroidered satin sash. The dress is long, but without a train. And there's a sheer top layer of fabric on the skirt that I think is really pretty.

I took some pictures of the dress in the shop (after I ordered it of course) because I would like to copy the embroidery on the sash on my veil. I would love to show you a picture, but of course Bradley can't see it yet! Veils are quite expensive, but I found out that you can buy a veil kit at fabric stores. It has nice quality tulle already hemmed in a curve, and you gather it at the top and sew it to a comb or whatever you're using. I found a lovely little vintage comb at Courage My Love, a store in Kensington market. It's clear plastic with a narrow little braid at the top, very plain and small which is what I wanted. I imagine it will be the best bargain during all these expensive wedding preparations, at $0.30! I'm thinking of embroidering the border of the veil, and adding some small flowers at the top where it attaches to the comb.

And finally since I can't show pictures of the dress, the picture at the top is of another nice craft project for the home. I took the idea from Martha Stewart magazine. It's a cover for your sewing machine. When I'm doing a lot of sewing I leave it sitting out and it does get quite dusty. In the magazine they used a tea towel, but I just used some of my recently thrifted fabric, hemmed it and added ties on either side.

In case you're wondering, I do use this old sewing machine and I love it! It's a Singer 128-13 lock stitch machine. No zig-zag, doesn't even reverse, but it came in perfect condition with lots of attachments and it still works beautifully!