another passion

wedding envelopes, a photo by Digital Heather on Flickr.

This is a shot of our wedding envelopes-- all hand-decorated. We bought manila-style clasp envelopes, but recycled brown in color (like a paper grocery bag), from Staples (10 bucks for 100). We cut off the top few inches where the metal clasp is attached and folded them over to accommodate an invitation. We used a flowery decorative punch to make the flap closure a little cuter. I'll post a pic of a 100% finished one soon. The bride and groom and chandelier are all hand-stamped and the back of the envelope has some stamped peacock feathers too.

Jason and I have slaved at our kitchen table all weekend pumping out wedding invitations. I can truly appreciate the concept of an assembly line now like never before. We recruited friends and family members into our little sweatshop. Jason's mother sent us a portable 3D/blu-ray player which was a godsend in the hospital and we also used it in the kitchen to watch netflix and keep ourselves entertained while doing the same task over and over. (She also used her clout in the scrapbooking world to get us beautiful paper and lots of it and much more quickly than we could have locally.) The whole experience has been a lot of fun! We are very close to being done, but we have enjoyed it. We could have paid thousands (no we couldn't have afforded it!) but our invitations are incredibly beautiful and we'll always remember all the time and effort put into designing and assembling them.

I'll post photos of the invites soon. They are very scrap-tastic! If you told me a year ago that J and I would be making our wedding invitations out of scrapbook paper and using decorative punches and stamps, we would have laughed at you. I can't hide how fun it is. My friend Elysia turned me onto the idea for the invites and now I can't wait to go back to NY soon and scrap with Jason's mother and aunt. I have turned into one of those crafty wives.

We have spent weeks designing the invitations and now they're finally materializing. It's been a good project to keep me side-tracked and get me out of bed. I found out last week that the video game store which I manage is closing and I will no longer have a job. I have been on disability since April and will very soon be unemployed.

I go back to work the day after tomorrow and at the end of the week I will have a severance package and 5 years of memories. I'm not sure what I'm going to do next. I joke about my diseases and say, "Oh well, I'll live" because I need to stay positive... but I'm still shocked and upset about work (or lack of work) and haven't reached that next level of enlightenment.

Bottom line, I'm lucky, even if I can't feel like it or believe it every day. I am alive-- which is no accident after what I have been battling. I have my family and Jason's family and a wonderful network of friends. We're going to have a beautiful wedding and start making beautiful babies and everything else isn't worth writing about at 2 am or any other time for that matter. I'll find another passion and pursue it just like I have in the past.

It'll happen.