New Print - Detroit Water Tower

Today, I'm super excited to have posted a new print at the shop!  It's simply titled Detroit Water Tower and it is an 8.5 x 11 inch archival digital print with some bright colors you may remember from the Swell Papel all-time favorite, and most popular print, Mountain Range No. 1.

Here it is!

Detroit Water Tower Print

This print was inspired by a picture I took when the husband and I went to the D for Dally in the Alley.  I love love LOVE the geometric nature of water towers and the silhouettes they make.  I try taking pictures of water towers when I can but most of my collection is taken while I'm driving and with my crappy cell phone camera, so they don't make it any further than the confines of my phone's memory card.

Anyway,  I had been working on this print since last fall but I wasn't fully satisfied with it so I just left it.  And left it.  And then I got married and became a "bonus mom" and a wife, and a dog owner, and my workload spiked and I... I... I just left it.  Sitting in my little Drafts folder on my computer, this poor little print was finally pulled from the depths of my computer to fulfill its destiny as another print in the Swell Papel collection.  Yay!

In other awesome news, I was contacted by the writer of a very famous wedding inspiration blog to feature our wedding in it!  It hasn't been posted yet so I can't say much yet, but stay tuned!

Dreamy

It was a really snowy day, our wedding day.  Our wedding venue, Circa 1843, was decked out and glowing from the inside.  We had a small wedding- less than 40 people.  All of them braved the snow storm to join us on our special day.

Handmade Wedding Wreath

The ensemble did a great job and added an extra special touch

Custom papel picado hung over the ceremony area

Our desert table - Yum!

French macarons and Rockin' Cupcakes for desert

A wall of mirrors right behind the buffet

Different vintage chairs and simple antique bottles thoughtfully arranged

The venue was amazing! I loved the lanterns as well!

I'm still in love with our desert "table".  I got the cupcakes from an awesome cupcake shop called Rockin' Cupcakes.  They were amazing! And the french macarons... to die for!

Our photographer, Jen from Jen Lynne Photography, did an amazing job of capturing the coziness and warmth of the evening.  I couldn't be happier of how the pictures turned out and I cannot recommend her enough!

And of course, I couldn't end this blog post without my favorite picture (thanks so much, Jen!).

The Little Missus

Welcome back everybody!


I'm getting started to re-open Swell Papel on Monday morning... crossing my fingers.  I'm so excited! 


I'll be posting about the wedding soon.  I just have to say this: IT WAS AMAZING!  Small, intimate, rustic, and delicious to the eyes!  The ceremony was sweet and touching, with some of our family and friends surrounding us with their love and their warmth, a handsome groom, two little boys who couldn't be any happier to get a "bonus mom", and a bride beaming with love at the realization of her biggest dream.

Happy Wednesday and please stay tuned!

Catch Up

I can almost smell the thick-textured salty air.  The frilly beverages served inside a pineapple or a coconut are almost within reach, along with little cocktail umbrellas that I'll surely stick in my hair.  CAW! CAW! CAW! What's that? Why, it's the sound of seagulls in the not so far away future!


In less than two weeks I'll become a Mrs! And The Fiance (formerly The Boyfriend, soon to be renamed The Husband, or "The Hubs" if I'm in a particularly chipper mood) and I will be headed out as husband and wife to a remote beach in the Mayan Riviera.  Quite the change from the 17°F weather we've been having in our little corner of the world.


I've been MIA from the blog for a while now, I know, but I will be back to the blog, taking photos, and my beloved Swell Papel shop full force once I get settled in to my new life, new house, and new family.


I miss making new prints.  I can't wait to start that up again!  I miss the creative bit of designing something and putting it out there.  I have been able to do a lot of creative things for my wedding, though.  Nothing too major, but just little creative touches like this:

A little ring nest I made for our wedding bands (I put in my engagement ring as an example for this picture).  


Oh! I also have to tell you about my wonderful source of wedding inspiration.  It's called Ruffled, an extremely well-curated wedding blog which has helped me so much these past months to design my own version of a vintage/diy wedding.  Amanda, Ruffled's editor and owner, does a beautiful job of selecting beautiful and romantic vintage-inspired weddings.  The ideas that I've found by combing the blog have been invaluable.  Check it out if you can, whether you are planning a wedding or not.


That's all for now!  I'm not sure if I'll be able to post or not before the wedding, but I'll check in right after our honeymoon, hopefully with some pictures, some cool stories, and a smashing tan!


TTFN!

Breakfast of Brides

I had an early start today because it's the day I picked up my marriage license!  It's less than a month to go until The Fiance and I are joined together in marital bliss and we whisk ourselves off to a sunny and beachy all-inclusive resort somewhere in NotMichigan...  


Well, I got the whole marriage license thing taken care of at about 8:15am and I thought to myself, "What bridal errand can I run at this early time in the morning?"


Naturally, the answer was: CUPCAKES!


[I am hoping to have some delicious cupcakes served at my wedding for dessert alongside some yummy melt-in-your-mouth-if-you-are-so-lucky-to-taste-them french macarons]


Anyway, I parked in front of the first bakery I saw and said "Good morning, I have a wedding coming up and I'd like to serve cupcakes for dessert."  And guess what? BAM! The bakery owner hands me a paper with cupcake pricing and- not one- but TWO cupcakes as samples!


People, this could become a really bad habit.

The Perfect Place

We finally have a date for the wedding, it's less than 3 months away!  It's going to be really really cold here in Michigan where we'll get married, but there will be lots of love to warm us up.

I'm in all-out bride mode... it's absolutely awesome!  We're going with a rustic/DIY theme and found the PERFECT location EVER.  I use all caps because it's THAT GOOD!  It combines my secret love for vintage items and coffee!  Here are some pictures I recently took of the place:

The owner and I seemed to have found each other at just the right time for I was looking for a small, quaint, wedding venue, and she was considering adding weddings to the list of events she wanted to host there. It was perfect timing, and meant to be.  Our wedding will be the first one had there, and it will be soooo beautiful. I can't wait!

Life is Swell

I've neglected the blog a little bit, haven't I?  I do have a good excuse, though.  

Over last weekend, The Boyfriend and I got engaged!  We are so unbelievably happy and blessed!  

Anyway, between then and now, I've slowly metamorphosized (is that even a word?) into "bride-to-be".  And in the whole happy process, I've managed to accidentally teach the word "Bridezilla" to The Fiance (formerly known as The Boyfriend), something that I've already began to kick myself for.  ;)

Please excuse me if posting is a little light in the coming months.  I will check in regularly, though, so stay tuned! 

Happy Wednesday!