Is Beautiful Created Equal?

Is beautiful, beautiful??
From the New York Times:
Apparently the July issue of Italian Vogue will use only women of color throughout the magazine to call attention to prejudice. Read the article "Conspicuous By Their Presence" HERE.

See the slideshow: "Beautiful is Beautiful" HERE.

Needless to say, I think this is great. Growing up, I didn't see an abundance of positive and beautiful images of women of color in media, especially African American women. Even in the toy stores, it was hard to find black barbies and dolls with dark skin. I know this may sound trivial, but I think that had to have at least some impact on my perception of beauty growing up. Even today, I can say that as a mommy of a toddler, sometimes I struggle to find dolls for my daughter with brown skin. **Sigh**

In many fashion magazines, you will see the 'token' black woman or black guy--as if they were included just to be politically correct and that is incredibly frustrating. So to have the disparity acknowledged, albeit not, of course, in the American Vogue...is encouraging.

I do not want my daughter to grow up under the impression that she is a second-class citizen; that somehow her beauty, her skin are 'less-than.' It is time to break down the barriers, the lies that have been promulgated throughout American history about what "black" is.

I want my daughter to grow up and be able to see images of African American women in the media that reinforce what I tell her everyday: "You are beautiful! You are perfect! Black is beautiful!"

Rehearsal Mixer Papyrus!

Now that invites are out and RSVPS are rolling in, I am beginning to think about our rehearsal mixer/ meet-and-greet and what the invites for that will look like. I have decided (I think)that would like to make this another DIY project--especially as I have a lot of damask-print scrapbook paper left over from my bellybands.

Like I've talked about before, we're having a rehearsal mixer for our bridal party and out of town guests the evening before the wedding at a dowtown Cleveland wine bar.

Here are some invites that fit the bill and that I am thinking about recreating:
The first two are from Etsy seller DecadentDesigns:

I have that exact paper above

Not sure where I snagged this one from:

OR maybe I'll just flat out buy these from Etsy seller PaperandInk!

RSVP by Royal Mail!

We got an RSVP postcard back from Maidenhead, Berkshire United Kingdom! They put it in an envelope with their own postage. I guess they didn't trust our cute little postcard to make it back to the states in one piece! Note: the postage stamp is...ummm...56 cents!! Yikes!

More Bling Chic! Yumminess!

Some of what I've been up to. I have some REALLY cool orders coming up that I'll show you when they are complete--pretty colors!

The Aisle: My Prototype

This is soooo perfect for what I imagine our aisle looking like:
(I don't know who I snagged this photo from. Probably The Knot, but please let me know who I should credit if you know!)


Except with these colors:

From the Elizabeth Anne Designs Blog

Somethin' Blue

Makeup Update

So my friend who did my first makeup trial is not coming to the wedding.
Basically, as she works at a spa in DC, her weekends are her bread and butter. So she was planning to buy a ticket to Cleveland and fly in for our Cleveland wedding Saturday morning JUST to do my makeup and then leave on a plane back to Washington that same afternoon. She would miss the ceremony and reception in order to make it back to the city for work that Sunday.

So...seeing as that 1)I am a reasonable person 2) I am not (yet) a bridezilla 3) The economy sucks and airfair is expensive and 4) there are other local makeup artists & 5) I did not love my makeup, I explained to my friend that it wasn't that serious for her to fly-in and spend all that $$ on a plane ticket JUST to do my wedding. Besides, she is helping plan my upcoming bachelorette party and I am more than grateful for that alone. And she is going to hook me up with her MAC pro card!

That said, I have booked a makeup artist in Cleveland,Jason Kelly FaceArt who was voted #1 artist in the city a year or so ago by Cleveland alternative weekly SCENE Magazine. He does the Cav's girls faces and has worked with many celebs. His work is awesome. In fact, my friend who was going to do my makeup knows of him and RAVED when she heard I had booked him.

Jason at work on r&b singer lana

Photo belongs to Jason Kelly


"He will make you look like a different person (in a good way)," she said.

So I am excited! I have a trial with Jason in Cleveland at the end of next month--on the same day as my boudoir photos I decided to do at the last minute with 831 Photography. (more on those lata).

So, I have relieved a friend and found an awesome makeup guy all in one swoop. Check and check!

Announcing "Bling Chic"

My spanking new Etsy store!  There has been so much demand for the cute crystal Mrs. tanks and undies that I have set up shop on one of my favorite web places!  Here's a peak.  Happy Sunday!

Bling Chic!

The Invites

I shared the envelopes.
Here are our DIY pockets. Overall I am pleased and we have been receiving compliments from guests, which is nice!
All printing done (super duper cheap) on Vista Print's regular and oversized postcards.
Pockets from Cards and Pockets Store.
Stickers from Etsy.





AND we got our FIRST RSVP postcard back in the mail today!

History.

Sorry. This is a wedding blog, but this is American history. Back to your regularly scheduled programming tomorrow!

Bewbies!!

Here are a few custom 'blingy' Mrs. tanks I've made lately.  The process is meticulous and kind of time consuming but I oddly like making these for the ladies and it makes me feel good when they love the finished product.

In other news...our poor invites/children didn't make it out Saturday as projected.  But it looks like they will get mailed--finally--tomorrow.