Summer Sale

All Summer long I'm featuring different items on sale for 25% off! Visit my Summer Sale section at Designed by RJ.

This week I'm featuring co-ordinating earring & necklace sets:

One Whirlwind Visit = One Groomsmaid Dress

The Mister's "baby" sister was in town visiting this weekend - and as she lives on the other side of the country MIL took advantage of her visit to whip up her groomsmaid dress for our upcoming nuptials!

We went from this:


To this:


All in one short weekend, amidst a flurry of visits with preggo-SIL, trips to quaint downtowns and lots and lots of good eats!

MIL has bravely taken on sewing both SIL's groomsmaid dresses, which has turned out fabulously. Many modifications were made to the above dress, both as the pattern was being cut and the dress being fitted. Not something you can really do with your standard bridal wear.

Added bonus? Buy your material at a 50% off sale and you have a fabulous, custom-made dress for under $50 (not counting labor of course!).

There are still a few finishing touches to do, but I love how the dress turned out. And baby-SIL looks hot in it! I can't wait to get to momma-to-be-SIL and her dress... especially since by that point someone (namely me) will have to cuddle her brand new baby while she's being fitted!

Best Lemonade. Ever.

In search of juice after Bootcamp, my mom offered me lemonade. Homemade lemonade.

It was delicious!

It's a concentrate you make in batches, then dole out as required to make individual servings to taste! Here's how:

Ingredients:
Concentrate:
1 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 washed lemon
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, pits discarded [mom used 6-8 lemons, closer to 1 1/2 cups]

Mixer:
Cold water or club soda (for fizzy lemonade) to taste
Superfine (fruit) sugar to taste (skip this if you like yours tart!)
Ice Cubes

Directions:
Concentrate:
1. Bring water sugar and zest to boil in small pan on high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil 2 minutes.
2. Strain into large measuring cup discarding zest. Stir in lemon juice. (Makes about 2 1/4 cups concentrate.)
3. Transfer to small plastic storage jug with tight lid. Refrigerate until needed.

Drinks: (Individual or by the jug)
Per cup of water or club soda, stir in about 3T concentrate. Test a spoonful for the right acidity, adjust sweetness by stirring in superfine sugar. Fill each glass with ice cubes. Pour lemonade over ice. Garnish with slices of lime or lemon, or sprigs of mint. Makes about 12 servings.

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She found the recipe in the June 6th Toronto Star, and altered it slightly, because she likes it tart! *lol* And FYI: 1 lemon = 3 to 4 Tablespoons of juice and a rounded teaspoon of grated zest.






Photo sources: 1. Lemonade, 2. lemonade, 3. When life gives you lemons..., 4. Homemade Lemonade Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Bride on a Budget: Inspiration

Inspiration comes from all kinds of unexpected places...

At first I had no real intention of having a colour scheme. But as the bits and pieces come together there are definitely prevalent colours being used: olive, teal, electric blue, hot pink and white.

So I decided it was high time to put together a little inspiration board:

I've focused mainly on items we'll be using, or ones very similar to them. The mantle on the right is from a wedding at our venue - I love all the candles! And bottom right - while we won't be using shot glasses and tiny bud vases, this is somewhat the look I'm going for.

The fabric bottom center are actual swatches, which I've shared with you before... And in totally non-inspiration news my sil in flying in this weekend from Vancouver with her pattern, which may result in her groomsmaid dress being sewn!

But back to inspiration... I've found inspiration online (Flickr is one of my all time favorite eye candy sites), and of course in magazines (I have a towering stack of bridals it's about time I revisit).

One of the things I love best about being inspired, is that you can take that vision and make it work for you! Whether it's to fit your colour scheme, your season or your budget.

How are you inspired?

the Twilight Saga: Books 2 thru 4

I recently finished reading the rest of the Twilight series... yes, I'm a sucker for a sappy love story - even when filled with teen angst, immaturity, and not-so fabulous writing.

I'm glad I whipped through them in record time, as I was able to ignore most of the horrible editing (seriously, they could have used at least two more rounds before going to print!).

Over the course of the last three books I found the whole love-triangle between Jake, Bella and Edward a bit drawn-out and the resolution far-fetched (you know, as far-fetched as it's possible to be in the world of vampires & shape-shifters). But I guess there was a reason Meyer was warming us up to the idea of imprinting on a child...

It's been a long time since I've read any teen fiction (aside from the chaste Harry Potter, and era-appropriate Anne of Green Gables), but it was down right hilarious how Meyer "dealt" with the sex scenes between Bell & Edward - in that she didn't deal with it at all.

Was she cognisant of her audience's wide age-range? Was she just plain uncomfortable writing the scene? I'd be interested to know. And if the movie franchise makes it that far along, will they do the same? (or will R-Patz fiends demand more? *lol*).

I don't really have much to say on the books other than the story was fun, I loved the different angle on vampires and the connection with the shape-shifters. I'm sure I'll watch New Moon when it comes out this fall, but really - with Edward MIA for most of the story, what's the point?! ;)

I'd love to read a more grown-up vampire series along the same lines... the last one I really got into were the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, and that was back in high school. Any recommendations?

A Custom Creation

Every once in a while I get to create something completely different from my typical style... and my typical style has a pretty wide range as it is!

I recently had a custom request to make a sparkly set of bracelets with swarovski pearls and crystals:


I had a lot of fun working on them, they turned out really pretty and quite elegant. And it's geared me up to start working on my own wedding jewelry!

Our first Harvest!

Way back in late-March I planted some seeds to get our garden started... sadly the garden didn't get going in enough time to plant the seeds that sprouted (which wasn't many!).

So once we got our act together, and had dumped a few loads of compost onto the garden we planted another round of seeds. Followed by some crummy and unseasonal cold weather not much happened there either... but a few seeds did sprout, and so, our first harvest:

A handful of green beans, some delicious breakfast radishes, and a handful of cherry tomatoes.

Fortunately we got in another planting just in time for some real summer weather, and these seeds have finally taken, with the promise of a decent harvest later in the month!

This is my first gardening experience, in probably a good ten years, so despite the lackluster first harvest, I'm pretty please with the potential!