Due to the fact that the birds were enjoying more of our tomatoes than we were, we decided to try roses instead. Most of the rose bushes came from the wonderful Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham, Texas. (worth the drive!) Here is my first one for this year! And, it smells as pretty as it looks! (Above: one of our garden fairies, Rose, wanted to welcome our first Souvenir de la Malmaison to Cathy Heck Studio!)

Well, here we are one year later. Thank you, Mom, for sending us the last bites of wedding cake and cookies. (I was not a talented enough food designer to manage to make the petits fours photogenic, but they still taste lovely!) Here are two cookies alongside the two “marriage mice” that my Aunt Ellen gave us for Christmas. I can’t look at these little felt critters without feeling all gooey inside. :)

We played tennis this morning with our best man and the weather was beautiful.

Wishing you too a wonderful day (and European Father’s Day)!…

At this time last year we were knee-deep in wedding preparation. The thing about weddings is that they take so long to prepare, and then they are over in less than 24 hours. So, we thought we would just relive it for a moment to celebrate the one-year anniversary of that fun day: 06.07.08!
Ellen and her wonderful groom, Andrius, actually had two weddings–one in America and one in Lithuania, Andrius’ home. Both weddings were like fairy tales. This story will be about the American version and Ellen will tell you about the Lithuanian event. Luckily I have lots of pictures from which to choose, many of which were taken by our great photographer, Denise Prince Martin.

Of course, I have to describe the event from an artist’s point of view, because you are reading an artists’ blog. First, Ellen chose her “colors” because that seemed like a good place to start for an artist bride. She chose the hues of hydrangeas: blues, teals, and greens. The wedding invitation, from Paper Place, introduced the color theme and the mood that Ellen and Andrius wanted to have for their wedding. The tactile letterpress invitation invited guests to come to the small chapel in the lower school which Ellen attended as a little girl. Her memories of this chapel were all happy … Christmas pageants, 6th grade plays, and 4th grade Music Memory contests. (Some of her wedding music pieces were the same “name that classical tune” music that she had memorized as a little 10 year old!)

Above: Our welcome boxes were filled with cookies from Sweetish Hill and the guests received cds with a playlist of Lithuanian music for the ride home. The programs were covered in several different hydrangea-colored papers bound with satin ribbons. The bride’s cake wasn’t a cake, but rather beautiful pale-blue petits fours provided by our wonderful caterer, Eddie Bernal at 34th Street Catering. The bridesmaids picked their own dresses from Unbridaled… using the hydrangeas from Westbank Flower Market as their guide for color. So we were all awash in blues, greens, and teals … except for one little accent. The shoes! You just have to go a little crazy sometimes!
And that is a little recap of our happy wedding, one year ago today! Happy Anniversary Ellen and Andrius!

While we were looking for some fun wedding pictures to share with you, we came across this invitation for a wedding shower that we thought you might enjoy. Ellen and Andrius are both voracious readers, so what better way to celebrate their upcoming union than a Book Shower! Here is the book-themed invitation, and you are welcome to copy it straight away! We scanned a piece of marbleized paper and added hints of sewn leather. The copy was reminiscent of a fairy tale. The invitation encouraged guests to share their favorite must-reads with the newlyweds and included a book plate that matched their wedding invitation. Ellen and Andrius loved opening each new book to start their library, AND I think all the guests had just as much fun choosing their recommendations for the new couple. Interestingly, there wasn’t a single duplication, and the books ranged from fiction to biographies, art books to cook books! If you have an appetite for books, this is the party for you … and don’t wait for a wedding, it’s a great theme for birthday parties and baby showers, too!

We recently received this sample of the fleece fabric from our Noah Two Of A Kind collection. Neville, our new puppy, recommends it for lazy summer naps!