Graduation word book

This was made for a friend and cohort that I work with. It's for her daughter that is graduating from High School this year. I've been working on this for a while, so I'm very relieved to finally have it finished. WHEW!!! I cut the word book with my Pazzle and word book cd which I purchased from Hallmark Scrapbook. All the DP is the FABULOUS Basic Grey Lime Rickey line. I fell in love with it and felt it would be perfect for this. I hope they agree. :) It's all put together with my Bind-it-all.

I used several Martha Stewart border punches throughout. The backgrounder stamp is from Cornish Heritage Farms. I also used my Nestabilities almost all the way through it.

B was cut with my Cricut Expression. the 4 and the swirl are BG Lime Rickey chipboard.

These stamps are by Kim Hughes, colored with copics.

The ladybug and bee friends is a stamp from Stampendous colored with my Copic markers.

skull and crossbones is from Life is a Beach cartridge, rose is from Indie Art.

Stamp is a downloadable freebie from Dustin Pike colored with copics. The rain clouds are from a Magnolia stamp. Sentiment for this cute bee was computer generated.

camera and flash is from Locker Talk cartridge, the label for the little album is from Fabulous Finds, and the word fun was cut with the Sesame Street Font cartridge.

All of these cuts were from the LIfe is a Beach cartridge. The umbrella was made into faux chipboard by cutting six of them and gluing together.

The clear envies and file folders are by Rob and Bob Studio, and the family stamps are some that have nothing with them to tell me who made them. Sorry about that!

That's it! That's what I've been working on for weeks in my free time from work. I hope they enjoy it! Whatcha think?? Thanks for stopping by to visit me today, and I sure hope you come back to see me again soon! HUGS!

OH! Today is the day for a new challenge by Kerry over at Three Clovers Designs. I wasn't able to participate this week, even though I really wanted to. But please be sure and pop over there to find out what the new challenge is for this week! It's a fun one. I promise you'll love it!

Real Wedding {Andi & Joe}

I am so excited to share this wedding with you for the first "Real Wedding" here on Under A Paper Moon. Andi and Joe's wedding, as you will see, is classic and elegant with a perfect touch of New Orleans thrown in the mix.


The Couple: Andi and Joe
The City: New Orleans, LA
The Location: French Quarter-- St. Louis Cathedral & Omni Royal Orleans
The Day: December 13, 2008
The Photographer: Chris Williams of Zoeica Images

Getting Ready

A carriage ride through the French Quarter on route to the church.

The breathtaking St. Louis Cathedral

The Ceremony Begins

Off to the reception with a perfect New Orleans tradition- a "Second Line."

The exterior of the Omni Royal Orleans decorated beautifully for the holiday season.

With a New Orleans wedding, surely you were expecting a party... looks like this one did not disappoint!

And, finally, some action on Bourbon Street.

How did you decide where to hold your wedding?

Andi: I always knew that we would get married in New Orleans. It is my hometown, and my favorite city in the world. It also helped that Joe really likes New Orleans as well. It's just the general "feel" of the city... there is such a vibe of happiness and love... and the people are what make the city. It's something hard to explain unless you have visited before.

That being said, I knew that I specifically wanted to get married in the French Quarter. I love the architecture, and we wanted everyone from out-of-town to be able to come to the hotel and walk to everything from there. So, we chose St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square as the church and the reception was at the Omni Royal Orleans, which is about 2 blocks away.

What special touches did you incorporate into your wedding day?

Andi: We incorporated some New Orleans touches. We did a traditional Second Line with a brass band from the church to the reception. Everyone in the bridal party had umbrellas, and the wedding guests were given handkerchiefs with our logo for the Second Line.

And, this would only happen in New Orleans, the police blocked off an area outside of the church where a bar had set up tables to hand out drinks, which were "something old" (old-fashioned,) "something new" (mojito,) "something borrowed" (cosmopolitan,) and "something blue" (blue hawaiian.) This started the party off right!

Also, for Joe's groom's cake we did Baked Alaska brought in from Antoine's, which is a traditional New Orleans dessert and Antoine's is the oldest-family run restaurant in the country. Joe loves ice cream cake, so it was a surprise for him. The waiters brought them out with the band and paraded around the ballroom. It was a hit.

Lastly, my "something old" was my Nana's holy medal of the Blessed Mother. We wrapped it around the base of my flowers.

Do you have a favorite memory of the day?

So many! I would have to say it was our vows. I started to cry and TOTALLY had not thought that I would. I remember Joe's smile when my voice broke, and it was priceless. Also, as a while, the recption was a blast! I danced with my Dad to "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," and everyone was clapping along. We had a "routine" :) We also had an after-party at the Bourbon Street Blues Club, and it was great... 8 hours of open bars, so it was naturally New Orleans!

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A big "thank you" to Andi and Joe, as well as Zoeica Images, for allowing me to share this gorgeous wedding. There were so many beautiful images, it was difficult to chose which ones to show, but you can see all the images here.

Also, if you missed Andi's bridals portraits earlier today, be sure to take a look at the stunning photos, taken in New York City on a blustery November day.

*Update: Chris wanted to make sure that he credited his second shooter Amy Brassette for her work on this wedding too.