Art Gathering (supplies update added)

Well, this past Tuesday I hosted an art gathering for locals (Winnipeg and surrounding areas) involved in Documented Faith and Illustrated Faith. I love a good party and I think it turned out fairly well. There are always things I would go back and change or adjust, but that's my event management training and since I haven't decided to go into the event industry, I can take it a bit easy on myself, right? I will spare you all the thought processes and ideas that I sifted through and show you where I landed.

My first event weakness if food. I quickly solved this by asking people to bring snacks and thank you ladies, they were great. I made our traditional Christmas cider drink. I figured since it was cooler outside, it would be a nice cozy thing to sip. My next party weakness: pictures. Ugh! I really need to delegate picture taking to other people. I'm usually too involved in the event to think about pictures, and then when I do, I'm in such a fluster or hurry that they're not great. Sorry. This would be so much better to share with good pictures.

Probably my favourite thing about hosting events is making my guests feel a little spoiled. I could easily spend a fortune on giving gifts, but I try my best to have parties on a small budget so as to not stress out my dear David who works so hard to provide for our family. This means I get to exercise my creative gifts. If you're ever curious just how creative you can be, limit your resources. It's fun and surprising to see what comes out! In the end I made fabric cuff bracelets with "made to create" stamped on them.

Each bracelet was slightly different and imperfect.

I printed out free embellishments and quotes etc. from various blogs I found through Pinterest. I made little bags filled with fun post-it flags, shaped paper clips, hand painted star cutouts and other embellishments that could be used in everyone's Bibles and/or journals. Candy, of course. One of my guests brought bookmarks that she carefully stamped for us and another guest sent Illustrated Faith goodies to share. All to be put into cute decorated bags. I also made lanyard style name tags.

The evening itself included sharing our journaling stories. I asked everyone to share what kind of journaling they do (Documented Faith and/or Bible journaling), how they heard about it or began, what it means to them and anything else they'd like to share. This is a great ice breaker for those of us who hate icebreakers. It gave us each a chance to talk about something we all had in common.

We shared a group art project experiment and laughed our way through our insecurities. We started with a blank canvas and had about ten minutes to apply our base, then we rotated the canvases and added to each one as we continued passing them around ten minutes at a time. I'm not sure it was completely a success, but it was a fun experiment and a great opportunity to create and visit. Then we pulled out our Bibles and journals creating and sharing our favourite pages. 

These ladies are all lovely and I hope to get to create with them again. (boo! blurry! )

In the event invitation, I asked each person to bring a favourite art supply (under $10) to swap with another person. We drew names to see who got whose supplies. I shared a bottle of Martha Stewart acrylic paint and a Staedtler pigment liner in my favourite size.  I received a whole package of favourites including number paper clips, washi tape, alpha stickers, clips to hold the pages during the creative process and ribbon - spoiled, I know! Other items shared were watercolour pencils, washi tape and Illustrated Faith pens (I was slightly jealous over that one). 

Don't these all look so great?!

Sadly, four ladies were unable to make it and two others had other plans, but it sounded like everyone would be interested in another gathering. Who wants to host, let's say in January?

UPDATE:

Hello, friends from Documented Faith. Thanks for stopping by. A question that I've been asked is how did I handle supplies. In the event invitation (I created a Facebook event - easy access to everyone) I asked everyone to bring their own favourite on-the-go supplies to use. I also put out my few paints, brushes, paper, ephemera and glue. I only put out items that I wasn't worried about being over or misused. Keep your best pens and markers to yourself if you want them to be in good condition by the end of the evening. Whatever supplies you do share, share with open hands and heart. If anyone has any specific questions, I'd be happy to answer either here or on Facebook. Again, thanks for stopping by.

P.S.  If you're curious about faith journaling, you can learn about Documented Faith here and Illustrated Faith here. You can also read about my DF story here and my IF story here and here. I post pictures of each week in my DF journal and all my Bible journaling pages on Instagram (user name: mrsgingras)

Checking In

Phew! What a crazy month April (and into early May) turned out to be. Let's get to it...

• April is my favourite month to throw a party! My birthday is as good of a reason as anything else, right? I knew that I wanted to have another My Favourite Things party and when I asked a few people what they thought, the resounding answer was "YES!" It's such a great party and it almost throws itself. You can read about the last party here and here. How it worked is I had everyone bring 4 of their same favourite item/s (under $10) and every one went home with four others' favourite items. My favourite items this year were a carton of Tazo Chai Latte mix, fun socks, a pen, a soap sample, straws, an essential oil sample and a couple of dishcloths (Compliments - microfibre - seriously the best dishcloth EVER). I had so much fun with this! By the way, if you didn't get invited, please don't be upset. I wanted to invite so many more of you, but my place can only hold so many. In my heart, you are all welcome!

My favourite things package

• Here's a list of what everyone brought.... Soy candles, journals, Starbucks gift card, jellybeans, pens, mugs, hairspray, lip balm, cuticle cutters, jar mugs, drink tumbler, napkins, chocolates (store bought and homemade), soaps, homemade laundry detergent, collapsible bins, zipper storage bags, a pansy plant, various stationary items, mesh laundry bag, socks and candy. I think that's everything. It was so great to hear things about the gals that I didn't know as each person had to answer a random question about something that was a favourite. I also had everyone bring a favourite drink or food to share and once again - the BEST party food!

London Fog cupcakes from my friend, Sugar Momma and her truffles, too!

• I chose to set up an Italian Soda Bar as my favourite beverage to share. David and I enjoyed testing these and David made the strawberry, orange and butter rum flavour syrups. I'm a big fan of "help yourself" so I doodled instructions and let everyone do just that.

Italian Soda Bar

• I could've easily spent a month on the plans and preparations for a party, but thankfully I didn't need to because I spent the month sewing and crafting for my first craft sale. Our church hosted a craft sale fundraiser for some missionaries who will be going out with Wycliffe. David and I spent every spare evening and weekend working on growth charts, (David did the bulk of the work on those. I just lettered them) scrap buntings, mini scrap buntings and cake toppers. I had a goal of 12 growth charts and 40 each of the other items. We spent many evenings late into the night making. It was fun and tiring and my poor house got pretty neglected. I met my goals! David's amazing growth charts sold really well. I came home with three and they're now all spoken for, too. I have most of the rest of the products still. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them yet, but I'm so relieved to have it all finished that I'm okay to just put it aside for now. Sadly, there wasn't a whole lot of customer traffic at the sale, but we recovered our costs and were able to make a small donation to the missionaries. 

Buntings!

Craft Sale Booth

• Michaels Arts and Crafts are moving into my neighbourhood! It's going to be nice not needing to drive across town to shop!

• Mothers' Day was a quiet and relaxing day finished off with my favourite family "date". We call it Pajama Van. It's usually a Saturday evening tradition, but I'm glad we saved it for last night it was perfect. (pajama van is where we load the littles up in the van in their pjs, put on a movie for them to watch, grab tea and timbits from Tim Hortons and go for a nice long drive).
• I got quite spoiled with mail lately! I love my dear pen friends!

Top pictures are my birthday package from dear Annemarie and the bottom two from dear Donna!

• I was crazy spoiled for my birthday, too.

L-R ink and pens from David's family, essential oils from my family (card signed by my Daddy - a big deal for a partial quadriplegic) flowers from friends and a drawing book from my David.

• And in case you needed a reminder of how adorable my David is...

 

Our 10th Anniversary Party ~ The Rest

So, let's talk about our venue for a minute. We were graciously hosted by Rob & Lois Friesen at their family farm and it was so amazing! Rob & Lois are no strangers to hosting events and ours was a small one in comparison to events like Farm Fest and their daughter's weddings. The outdoor stage was such a picturesque backdrop for our ceremony and the barn provided a shady getaway. The landscaping is gorgeous and so lovely, it suited us and our needs beautifully! Thank you, Rob & Lois!

After the official ceremony, we had time for people to just play, visit and explore. We had music playing in the background and the children took the opportunity to turn the stage into a dance floor. David had fun putting together a playlist and I thought I'd share it in case you were interested.

click image to enlarge

Supper was simply a hotdog bar with potluck salads and desserts. My friend makes the most amazing London Fog Cupcakes, you should definitely order some!!! We considered a traditional cake, but decided that cotton candy was a bit more our style. David spun the sugary goodness and let me tell you, fresh cotton candy has me spoiled for anything less.

Instead of a guest book, we decided to have a wine bottle time capsule that people could leave messages for us to open in one and five years. Our Abby spent a long time at the table, so it will be fun to see what treasures she's put in there for us.

THE DRESS! Thanks to your support, I was able to find a dress that I LOVE. Thank you!

We didn't actually pose for any pictures, so I have an action shot here for you.

Finally, the Gingras family tradition quiz and First In Bed ~ Official Rules. We wanted to end our party with laughter and fun. David and I love quirky traditions and we thought it would be a good time to share some. I made a little quiz and we shared the details. If you'd like to play along, feel free to answer the quiz in the comments and I'll share the answers later.

click on image to enlarge

The final tradition we shared was a game that David and I have been playing almost every night for 10 years. It's ridiculous and funny and we love it.

click on image to enlarge

And just because, here's a few more great pictures....

Oh my! He's so handsome!!!

My favourite picture of the two of us

Our 10th Anniversary Party ~ the Creative Details

What a great day! We had so much fun and from what I've heard, it sounds like it was fun for everyone. I've kept details under my hat for so long that I hope to remember everything I wanted to share. Let's begin with our save the dates.

I printed these on card stock and used marker to mark the date. I chose this format so that I could design and print them before even confirming the date. 

Then the invitation:

These are Wonka Bar knock~offs complete with golden tickets. This was a Pinterest find as many of my details were. In fact, I've just taken the private lock off my anniversary party idea board if you're interested in seeing most of my inspiration.

The main crafting project that kept me busy for weeks was the backdrop. A few notes before I show you:

• I had help. A few of my girlfriends came over for an evening to help and my sister also helped me for an evening.
• Even though the backdrop got destroyed (wind and transport etc) I would do it again! I loved the result
• The end result was not quite the end I would have left it at if I had more time. 
• I loved this backdrop!

The details: there are 12 foam backed poster boards attached with zip ties covered in paper flowers. The only thing I used was plain printer paper and glue (low temp glue gun). I researched tutorials on Pinterest and in the end I just made things up as I went. It took an average of 2 boards per evening to complete. 

A close~up from my Instagram

I wish I had followed my original instinct to make some extra fill flowers, but as I finished two nights before the party and having out of town guests, I decided to call it finished. The gaps are obvious. Within the first hour of having set it up, I lost one of the larger flowers in the wind and I decided not to try to save it. Transporting it was a bit of a pain. If I make one again, I hope to sell it to a photographer. I think it would be especially nice in a studio.

The only other decor piece we had anything to do with from the picture above was the program.

We actually started late, but we managed to catch up and finish on timer anyway. We wanted to be sure families with littles weren't out too late. Anyway, the rest of the stage...gorgeous right? We were blessed to be hosted on a family farm by an awesome family who are no strangers to hosting events. Their property is beautiful and full of the host's creative touches. 

Our family outfits had some creative touches added here and there. Bow ties, boutonniere and a hat brim change.

Instead of making traditional bow ties that wrap around and under the collar, I removed the top button on the shirts and put a snap in its place with the other side on the bow ties. It worked quite nicely. I couldn't resist popping a piece of wheat into the bib pockets of the boys' coveralls. They looked so cute. I'll show you them dressed up in another post.

We decided that David wouldn't wear a suit but instead a dress shirt with blue jeans and suspenders. He looked so hot! Yes, it was a hot day, but I mean he looked really great! I whipped up his boutonniere with matching ribbon from the boys' ties and my hat brim.

This awesome hat I purchased at the Haberdashery here in town. Friends from church own this great shop and I was so happy to have an occasion to need a great hat. Luke hooked me up with this one and I love it, but the trim was black and my dress, navy. I took matters into my own hands and changed up the trim with a ribbon. 

It's not the best picture, but you get the idea.

I made some digital designed printouts, but I'll share those with you as I get into the ceremony details.

I had a lot of fun with this party. I had so many ideas and some of them didn't make the light of day, but in general I'm happy with the results.

Checking In

4 days until summer break! We are sooooo ready to have David home and for a new season to begin. Let's catch up and talk about what we're looking forward to.

• Micah celebrated his 2nd birthday. We had a couple of friends over for a very simple backyard barbecue and pool party. I didn't do much for planning as I have a big party to plan for this summer and I think one big planned event is enough. For not having much of a plan, it turned out rather well. I think everyone had a good time.

• I made a mini cake. It was cute and perfect for the birthday boy.

• I painted Micah a t~shirt. His favourite song is "What does the fox say?". I thought the shirt was cute and he always tells what the fox says when you put it on him.

(I'm not sure why this picture is sideways~sorry)

• We bought a small backyard pool for the summer. It's filtered which is nice and deep and large enough for us to climb in with the littles. I think it will be a great thing to have for our summer off at home.

• I made David a shirt for Father's Day. I really enjoy freezer paper stencilling. The final product is so satisfying.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• We have decided against going to Alberta this summer. It wasn't an easy decision, but now that it's made, I'm relieved. I can now go ahead and plan our staycation. 
• We made a summer list~ish. David felt pressure to cross off each item on prior lists and it was never meant to be a "have to do" list, but a "could do" list. I wrote out a bunch of ideas in a pocket notebook for reference if we need ideas on any given day. 
• We have a weekly spot at the Prayer Furnace. The first few weeks were a gong show with the children, but I've come to really enjoy and treasure our times of family prayer. There is something so sweet about hearing your children pray. They have no pre~conceived ideas about how to pray, they just say what they mean and mean what they say. We love to teach them about prayer, but they teach us just as much.

• We visited a farm this weekend. The littles got to run free, explore, feed chickens and soak in the outdoors. I often think I've been in the city too long to really enjoy the country, but then I get out of the city and think "my heart remembers this". David came home happier and more relaxed then I've seen him in some time. We need to get out of the city more often.

• I have Loved the last few Saturday mornings. They are slow and close and sweet. I will miss these times with my littles when life gets busier and as they grow.

• I apologize for the duplicate pictures if you've already seen them on instagram. I love my phone and the convenience of taking pictures on the go often leaves our actual camera on the shelf. I do have plans for it this summer though.

• What I'm looking forward to this summer: David being home, our 10th anniversary!!!, backyard play, projects worked on and finished, family coming for a visit (hopefully), celebrating our one year Vanniversary, lots of creative time, party planning and secrets (this blog will be hopping after the party) and whatever adventures we have in store.
• I hope you and yours have a wonderful, adventure filled summer!