Long Time, No See!

Hey there, readers.  It has been quite a while since I've been able to post a good quality blog!  Life has been busy now that we're back to full weeks of school and the weather is getting nicer.  I'm trying to spend more time outside, rather than inside on the computer or glued to the TV.  But that's not to say that crafting, cooking, and celebrating are going to slow down!  In fact, my "creative life" has exploded in the past couple of weeks!  I'm in the midst of planning and preparing for my best friend, Beth's lingerie shower/bachelorette party that I'm hosting at the end of March.  So I've been busy brainstorming, gathering inspiration, and working on design for the shindig.  I don't want to give away too much, yet.  That's part of the reason I haven't posted much.  I love the element of surprise, especially when it's a party!  So I'm keeping most of what I'm up to under wraps until the bride-to-be herself gets to see and experience it.  I'll share little tidbits along the way, and would be happy to share what I'm doing with you individually if you're trying to come up with something before April.  But I'll save most of my blog posts related to her shower until afterwards.  I will tell you what I've already told her, though!

As I was looking for ideas for showers, I came across this cute, cute idea from 100 Layer Cake for a Sweet & Spicy shower.  It is PERFECT for Beth, because, well...she and I are pretty much exactly alike when it comes to "bachelorette party" -type things.  I knew she would want something that is classy and nice, something more sophisticated than what most bachelorette parties end up being.  But I know that she wants to also take advantage of this time in her life and that it's okay for things to be a little risque.  We're not doing penises everywhere...in fact I don't know that we will do them anywhere.  But it IS a lingerie shower and bachelorette party, so there will be some "spice".  Anyway...this sweet & spicy theme is perfect because it blends the best of both worlds.  We can keep the class, but bring in a little sexiness, too.  I know she says straight off in her blog post that most showers aren't as designed as this one, but I am using it as inspiration.  It's fun for me, and kind of interesting to dip my toes into the party planning world for a bit!  I chose to do things a little bit differently...not copying exactly what she shows in her pictures.  For the color scheme, I chose to use a deep midnight/navy blue, bright pink, and a hint of Kelly green.  I love that color combination and it reminds me of Beth...some colors she might put together in an outfit.  She's very stylish and always looks cute and sophisticated.  :o)

The plan is to start at my apartment to open gifts, play some games, snack, and get acquainted with each other.  We're all coming from different parts of the country, so we'll need time to loosen up and get to know each other.  After the lingerie shower, we'll head out to dinner, then down to Nashville for a girls' night out.  It should be a ton of fun!

Well...I don't want to bore you with too much information, and I want to save some for later on.  This weekend, I've been working hard on the invitations.  I definitely want to get them sent out this week.  I've got some more work to do on them, but here's a preview:

I'll do a full tutorial post once I send them out and give the girls time to receive them.  I'm so proud of how they are turning out!  I'm still not quite done, but getting there!  I think my biggest challenge will be finding envelopes to fit them in.  I saw some at JoAnn's today, but they were vellum and see-through...not ideal for mailing.  

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend, and is hopefully getting warmer weather like we are here in Nashville.  Goodnight, all!