Sometimes I Amaze Myself (in good ways and bad!)

Last Saturday Andy and I attended the wedding of a very special young couple. The groom works for Andy (who thinks the world of him!) and was kind enough to ask us to share in their day. This couple has already stayed together through events that wreck many marriages. One of the biggest obstacles they overcame was the May 2011 Joplin MO tornado. They survived by curling themselves and their two year old son around a toilet and holding on! The groom's beloved car actually helped protect them from debris. Since both of their homes were destroyed, they had to rebuild. That is enough to do in any relationship, but they managed to live with their parents during the process! Impressive, right? 

I put together a 12x12 album using black, cream, and kraft and enclosed a note with the card, telling the bride that we could change the colors to whatever she wanted. I also said that if she would send it back to me with the photos she wanted to use that I would be happy to add them for her. Imagine how thrilled I was when we walked into the church and saw arrangements of dried hydrangea with cream colored feathers and black accents! Even the attendants wore black dresses and tuxedos. I couldn't have matched her colors any better if I had known them in advance! 

The album is covered in a simple diamond-quilted black patent leather.

The first page is matted for a single large photo.

I kept the layout of each page very clean. A wedding album should be about the WEDDING, not the album....

All the mats are 4x6, so photos can be added after trimming off just a tiny bit.

With just a few pics on each page, we could easily trade out the 4x6 mats for 5x7's.

"There is no such thing as a mistake in scrapbooking. Just opportunities for embellishment." The butterflies cover the corners where the punched design didn't line up. 

I am nothing if not frugal. Use your paper trimmer to cut a square from the center of two 12x12 papers then switch out the centers and add some mats. Easy, right?

I don't have anything new to say here, but I can't stand to leave ONE pic blank!

I love, Love, LOVE this page. The clocks are printed on canvas. The whole 12x12 was a bit busy, but using a three inch strip down each side is just right. The script paper is from a pack of five 12x12 sheets of tissue paper I found at Michaels. I tore it into strips, inked the edges, and added a piece of black ribbon down each side.

The key paper is also a piece of tissue paper from Michaels. I cut one sheet in half diagonally,  put the pieces edge to edge to make the diagonal stripe, and adhered the lace. Do you like my attempts at symbolism with the keys and the clocks?

I didn't put any mats on the last page. They might want to add more 4x6's or use the script paper as a mat for a single larger photo.

 So there it is! I included a couple sheets of die cut stickers, too, just in case the bride wants to put the photos in herself. (I hope not! I want to see how it looks with pics!)

We missed our opportunity for an awesome fix-up. We were seated behind a 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist (who recently announced her retirement at the age of 20!) How cool would it be to say to my 19 or 23 year old son, "There's someone I'd like you to meet...!"

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be back later in the week!