Weddings and anniversaries

I have been absent from this blog for far longer than I realised until I started to organise this post today. I have kept up with what other people are doing but have lacked the time to record my own activities! I've been working on a sculpture module with college and it has eaten into my days. I have been having a ball making things and working on ideas. Time has happily flown by until I brought myself up with short, sharp, shock on Monday morning.

You see, we're off for a few days away this week to celebrate our 22nd wedding anniversary and the dates conicide with the wedding of a young couple we know. We had to turn down the invite to the wedding evening as we did not think we'd be around but I wanted to make something for Emma and Sam as a reminder of their special day. In fact, I mentioned it in a recent post because I wanted to use some small figures in something. I ordered the figures from a railway model shop a few weeks ago and priced up a shadow box at the local framers. The cost sent me reeling and I decided that I must be able to do something myself.... musn't I? I'd also hankered after using some lexicon type game cards since seeing a post by Wend over at Ticking Stripes a while ago, so when I found this old box for a £1 a while ago I knew it would get used in something soon!

It's all very well having the threads of an idea in your head but you need to get on with things and on Monday morning I suddenly realised that time was not on my side and I needed to actually work out how I was going to tie all the loose threads together... and fast. A quick search in my faithful shed found two old canvas frames that I had papier mached over and painted a long time ago. I had planned to hinge them like a book and put something in the two internal niches made by papering over the rear of the frames but had just abandoned them. Now, I could see that the two niches could house both of my 'ideas' in one place.

So, first up I measured the niche and made an accordion fold book. Luckily the game box contained enough letters to spell out Mr and Mrs Allen, their married name from Saturday, so I used them in the book and made a little cuff to go around it with the date on it.

The wedding has a colour theme of green, ivory and silver. Luckily I had a piece of decorated Indian lokta paper and some silver wrapping paper so I covered both of the frames inside and out with a combination of them both. Then I used some rub on lettering to partner my two little figures.

A wrap of silver ribbon around the edges and a paper hinge to hold them both together completed the job. I am left with a two part hinged box which opens to reveal the wedding couple and the accompanying book. It has been a rush job and I wish I had got around to it earlier, although I sometimes do think that I work best when I have to make it up as I go along. I am pleased with it and hope it will be a memento of the start of their married life together.

As for me and my young man, I don't know where we are going yet to celebrate. I think we'll just take off and decide en route, as we do. We'll be thinking of Emma and Sam on their special day and hoping it will be as bright and sunny as that Thursday in March 1990 that we got married. If they are half as happy as we have been in our marriage they will be blessed.