Calling all Chicago readers!  Tara from In This Instance alerted me to a must-see this weekend - the quarterly DEPART-ment gift market.  All handmade goods and only for three days.  Here’s the info:

the holiday DEPART-ment is this weekend! 

please join us for the next DEPART-ment, just in time for the holidays! we have everything you’ve come to love, plus new items from over 120 local + national makers. from housewares to art, fashion to jewelry + accessories, bath + body to paper goods, to plush, knit + more – we’ve got a wealth of gift-friendly goods for anyone on your list (including yourself!). the details:

DEPART-ment at AV-aerie (formerly open-end)
2000 W. Fulton, at Damen, *310 (third floor) Chicago
Friday, November 30, 7-11p opening
Saturday + Sunday, December 1+2, 11a-5p
cash only/atm onsite

Please comment if you are going - I’d love to meet up with all of my Chicago guys and gals!

Thank you to Abby over at Style Me Pretty for mentioning Elizabeth Anne Designs in her post today on Reader’s Wedding Blogs.

You can find the post here - please take a look… and read the other amazing blogs that she’s highlighting!

We are so flattered!

Christmas is the one time of year I think about jewelry (until next year that is when bridal jewelry will be first and foremost in my mind for a few weeks I’m sure).  We have cocktail parties to attend and gifts to buy.  And we all want to wear or give something unique. 

Kincaidesigns fits the bill.  Holly makes lovely handmade items that are sure to make your friends ooh and ah.

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Today we’re featuring PaperFish. Kirsty sews up adorable kitschy gifts. My favorite are (of course) the bride and groom pins. They come with ribbon to easily transform into glass markers. Perfect for a shower or party.

And some more….

Enjoy browsing!

If you’re in the Southeast, it is sometimes hard to find a photographer willing to go outside of the “now stand with your mother and father, a little to the left, there you go. no we don’t give you electronic copies of your photographs” type of wedding photographer. Enter, Jason Wallis Weddings. He’s willing to play it up a little, as much as the couple allows. He also does amazing portraits. You can see more of those at his photography website. I would love to have a shot of myself in a bathtub, fully dressed, with my husband and dog!

All images copyright Jason Wallis 2007

I love making mini albums and other types of books using chipboard.  Most of the time I use pretty scrapbook papers for the cover and lining, which works very well and makes very crisp, precise corners.  But there’s no substitute for bookcloth!  After being very frustrated on a recent project by finding bookcloth that a) wasn’t incredibly expensive and b) exactly matched my project, I decided to turn to the greatest invention ever, the Internet, to see if there was a way to make it. 

There is, and it’s easy!

You will need:

• An iron
• Iron on fusible webbing (I used Wonder Under, purchased at JoAnn Fabrics)
• Fabric, or your choice of handmade papers for the cover and/or lining of your book
• Plain Kozo paper from Japan (two good sources: Washi Accents and Paper Arts)
• A presscloth to protect your ironing board

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My Gocco, that is. I need a project to break it in - any ideas? Best idea receives 10 free sets of whatever I make, including envelopes! The only rules - it has to be a single screen, since it’s my first project, and less than 4×6 in size. You can either send designs to elizabeth at elizabethannedesigns dot com or just post ideas below - be as specific or as general as you like! Contest ends Friday night at midnight so I can Gocco this weekend - winner to be announed on Sunday evening along with a step-by-step photo gallery of my first Gocco experience!

Many of you have asked where I purchased my Gocco from, and for some more details on the machine itself. I purchased a PG-11 from the ebay seller printaddictjapan. She shipped from Japan in 4 business days! I decided on the PG-11 after reading many articles about the different models - the PG-11 is an upgrade over the PG-5 machine because it has a registration plate that makes printing multiple colors easier.

My ink came from Northwood Studios - they are in the US, have a great selection of ink and supplies, and very reasonable and fast shipping. The ink also came today - as you can see I got LOTS of colors!

OK - give me some good ideas please! I’m waiting to play until I hear from all of you.

E.

I found Michelle Doll Cakes today and thought I would pass it on. I’m loving this black and white creation.

And these are some of my other favorites…

Searching for a photographer has by far been the most frustrating and difficult decision for me in planning my vow renewal. I’m sure this is because my one regret about eloping the first time is not having photos of us with our friends! So obviously I have been scouring photographer’s blogs and websites and here are some of my FAVORITE photographers.

The Image Is Found - San Diego, CA.  I love their use of color and the interesting poses they come up with!  Absolutely amazing pics.  Notice the lighting and the focus on each of their subjects even if they are not necessarily standing together.

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Rebecca from White Aisle is sponsoring a fantastic project to aid women working in Cambodian brothels.  These young women were forced to enter the sex trade industry at an early age and have the freedom to leave but have no money.  Rebecca has partnered with a training facility in Phnom Penh to give them a chance to earn income and hopefully a way out of their current situation.  There are lovely items for sale in their shop, and 100% of the profits are returned straight to the center to pay salaries for the workers and build housing.

Image courtesy of White Aisle

Thank you to Danielle from Oh Happy Blog! and Mackenzie from Something Old, Something New for helping to spread this around the blogosphere. 

Please, if you can, support this wonderful cause by having a look at these gorgeous items - buy a ring pillow, help save a life!  Sounds good to me…  :)

E.