Karen Smallbone

With the economy not being so great, more and more brides are trying to cut costs while still having a fabulous wedding. One way to achieve this is by making things yourself. 

My husband sent me a link to this awesome blog full of wonderful ideas for a Do it Yourself Wedding. iDiY has tons of free downloads for place cards, patterns you can use on labels and invites, vintage clip art and lots of fantastic ideas. You must check it out!

After spending some time on iDiY, I want to have a party or something just to have a reason to create something beautiful. 

Looking for some great ways to use kraft paper bags? Click on the photo to go to the original article.

Hello again! I’ve been away for way too long. I haven’t been slacking off though, I promise. I am going to be back on a regular basis to post some neat ideas for weddings and parties and maybe some home decorating too. If you happen to see something that you think would be interesting or inspiring to our readers, please feel free to send me a link. I’m always looking for new and exciting things to share. 

If you are getting married and would like to share your story, please send it in. It is always inspiring to see what other creative brides have planned for their special day and I would love to feature you on my blog. 

I want to take this opportunity to announce that we have a new member of the Smallbone family. She is a tiny bundle of fun and trouble. This is our new kitty Lily. She is always very helpful finding any stray ribbon or typing on the computer. 

Be sure to come back and visit us often. There will soon be some exciting changes to the store and my new line of handbags. 

See you soon!

I’m sure if you are a regular reader of my blog you may have noticed my absence over the last few weeks. Although I would love to say it was because I was away on some tropical holiday, it was because I was busy working on a new project. 

This year for Christmas, I decided to make gifts for my friends and family. I’ve always loved handbags and so I thought why not make some cute purses for everyone. As I was busy sewing, I realized that this was something I could add to my business. So I decided to start a new branch of Karen Smallbone called Bee Good Bags. So to make a long story short, I haven’t been blogging because I’ve been furiously designing handbags, cutting fabric and sewing. 

I am happy to announce that Bee Good Bags is now open for business! Hurray!  I’ve decided to sell my handbags over at Etsy. As you know I’m a huge fan of Etsy!  Please take a look at my shop. You can find it at BeeGoodBags.etsy.com

I’ve attached some photos of a few of my bags. I will be adding new ones to the shop all the time so be sure to check back often. I will always have new and fun fabric and every bag is carefully handmade by me and there may only ever be one made using that fabric.

A big thank you to Emma of barebonephoto for taking these gorgeous photos for me. (What a relief. The ones we took didn’t look quite so nice.)

In the next few weeks I will be having a contest. The prize is one of my Bee Fun handbags. I will be looking for some ideas for naming some new bags so put on your thinking caps and come up with some things you can “Bee”. The details of the contest will be posted soon.

Bee Fun in Green with Blue and Brown Circles - $50.00 US

Inside detail

Bee Fun in Green with Pink Circles - $50.00 US

Bee Fun in Yellow and Red Pattern with Acrylic handles - $52.00 US

Bee Rich Coin Purse - Popsicles $11.75 US

Bee Cheeky Handbag in Green with Pink Circles - $40.00 US

Bee Fun Zippered Bag in Pink Daisy - $ 9.50 US

If you are looking for a handbag that is fun, fashionable and just a bit different, be sure to check out Karen Wilson Handbags. I am in love with all of these and would have a hard time picking just one. I love the colours and the shapes of these handbags.

Bubblegum

Medallion Blue

Beanstock Fushia 

Wandering Vines Black

Rust Popcorn Floral

Be sure to visit www.karenwilson.ca  . A list of Canadian retailers is available on the site.

Etsy is a great place to find beautiful garters to go with any colour scheme. Many Etsy sellers will custom make items so don’t be afraid to ask if you don’t see exactly what you are looking for. Here are just a few sexy and fun garters I found.

Classic Tiffany Blue

So fun. I love the feathers and the green polka dot fabric.

Perfect for a pink and brown colour scheme.

 Elegant and frilly.

So simple and classic. 

Something a little bit naughty for under your dress.

As you can see there is something for every taste. Be sure to take a look.

What could be more fun than rolling around in the sand in your wedding gown? Or taking a swim with it on? If you are not planning on saving your dress for future generations and want to get some great photos, maybe a Trash the Dress session is for you. My wedding dress has been hanging in my closet for almost 12 years now. I’m getting a bit sick of it taking up space, so I’m thinking maybe I will do a Trash the Dress. I just need a photographer. Any volunteers? Emma? He he. I’m thinking this would be so much fun.

Here are some great photos I found of some brides who were brave enough to Trash the Dress. I found these pictures on a lovely site dedicated to trashing the dress, www.trashthedress.com. Be sure to check it out.

Photo by Perez Photography

MMMmmm Pie! I love pie. A pie buffet would be so fun to have at your wedding. Not everyone loves cake and having a whole table filled with different flavours of delicious pies would appeal to everyone. I would have apple, lemon meringue, chocolate cream, pecan, cherry, pumpkin,coconut cream and maybe a bumbleberry. Mmmm now I’m hungry for pie. I might need to go and make one.

Yummy pie buffet.

Perfect for a wedding.

So pretty. I would love to do this.

Mini pies would make a great favour for your guests to enjoy later. MMmm Pecan Pie, one of my favourites.

My kids were behaving like little monsters today so I was inspired to look up some monsters on Etsy. All of these monsters are soo cute and they are quiet too, unlike the monsters at my house.

These would make a fun thank you gift for any kids you have in your wedding.

This is a teeny tiny forest monster named Chase. Made by Ubercoolpirate

Victor the love monster. Made by dkoss2

Bub the Beastlie made by Beastlies

Yeti In My Pocket made by loveandasandwich

Harold the Horned made by Ultrapunch

Tiger the Little Monster made by gush4plush

So you were given a beautiful ring or a lovely necklace from that someone special. Now he isn’t so special and you are no longer together. What do you do with the jewellery he gave you?  You probably don’t want to wear it and be reminded of what once was. Check out Ex-Boyfriend Jewelry. You can sell your unwanted treasures and another girl can enjoy them without the bad memories that are attached. You can attach a story of your break up with your listing so everyone can see how wonderful or terrible he was.

This is also a great place to shop for beautiful pre-loved jewellery at a fraction of the cost of new. Perhaps you have a big heart but a tight budget. This is the place to go. 

There is also a section called “Gifts That Should Have Been Jelwelry”. A great spot to find designer handbags, jeans, shoes and other great stuff.

On Monday, I posted the recipes for some yummy cookies that I was going to make for Valentine’s day. I finished mine and thought I would show how they turned out.

I packaged them up in a tin box and added a custom hang tag.

These are the ones I made for Ronan’s class. I put one cookie in a glassine bag and tied it with a ribbon and a hang tag. Very cute. I am thinking something like this would make a cute and inexpensive favour for a party or wedding.

Monday is Family Day so I won’t be posting anything for Yummy Monday. Hope you enjoy the day off with your family. Maybe you can bake some “Family Day” cookies.