Custom Wedding Supply Store
Guest Books - Invitations - Favors - Favor Boxes - Altars & Shrines
This and the following three pictures are a wedding set for a bride who
wanted an "elegant and natural" feeling for her guestbook, invitations and
stationary. I used soft ivories and handmade paper with rose and flower
petals. This measured about 9 x 6 inches.
This included invitation, mailing envelope, smaller inner envelope, reply card
and reply mailing envelope. The address areas on the mailing envelopes
were bordered in gilded Italian paper.
The invitation had three layers of paper - one sheet of the handmade petal
paper sandwiched between two sheets of gold-stamped parchment, bound
with a gold cord. The cover message: "And yes, we said yes, we will, yes" is
a paraphrase of the last line of Ulysses by James Joyce.
This is the printed interior page of parchment for an invitation to the reception
only. Invitations to the wedding ceremony, with a much smaller guest list,
were the same but also had a gold-stamped message with the details of the
ceremony on the left page.
The following pictures are from my most recent commission, for a partially
completed shrine, or altar, to be completed by the couple and their guests
and loved ones, with embellishments I created and/or supplied and sent
along. This altar or shrine kit was a blast to put together. The couple were
delightfully creative and I thought it was a wonderful idea to include the
wedding party and guests in the creation of a meaningful memorial of the
occasion. I also thought it would be fun!
The wedding was held in a beautiful meadow in Oregon, with a long
celebration full of unique touches. The theme was eclectic -- Asian, Pacific
Islands, and Indian (the country, not Native American). The colors were gold
and tones of crimson. This DIY shrine or altar kit reflected all these themes.
When the couple have returned from their honeymoon, they will send me
photos of the completed shrine, and (I hope) pictures of the guests enjoying
the process of completing the shrine. I will try to post them here.
I began the interior collage with a large Indian religious image of the Hindu
god and goddess couple Vishnu and Lakshmi riding on the bird god Garuda.
The background is a custom abstract of acrylics, metallic leafing and glazing
on watercolor paper. The remainder is open for further collage and
embellishment.
I knew this base piece was perfect for the occasion the moment I
saw it, even though the original paint and surface was, well, really
ugly. It's classic lines lend dignity, and the richly carved palms
carry the tropical theme. Also, I liked the duality of the two drawers
and doors, leading to an internal unity, for the symbolism of
marriage. It measures about 16" high, 3 1/2" deep, and 10" wide. I
custom mixed colors to match the rich shades of the invitation --
the photos unfortunately do not do justice to the subtlety of the
shading of the layers and layers of different reds applied in base
coats and glazes. I also used a dry brush technique for the glaze
layers to lend a fabric feel to duplicate the warp and woof. I
finished the molding and edges with gold leaf. I left the drawers
empty of embellishment for their own ideas, and supplied large
blown glass beads to be attached as handles with gold wire, which
I also supplied.
In the center is the gorgeous background of the couple's wedding invitation. I
made my impressionist version on each side of the shrine with acrylics, gold
leaf, rubber stamping, and freehand. My version is slightly darker, because a
literal translation simply looked too pink and pale on the piece.
I reinforced the back with a thin sheet of plywood, to which I applied
an altered image of a Japanese mandala of the Buddah, which was
produced during the Kamakura period (13th Century AD). I applied
copious washes of red and metallic glazes and gold leaf. The
intention was to insert small gold eye hooks (which I supplied) in any
pattern desired over the back, and a variety of ribbons and fibers of
coordinating shades could be threaded and/or tied through the
hooks. Many of the embellishments were rings or had openings, and
they can be tied onto the ribbon, like the prayer flags of Asian religion.
These are just a few of the pictorial elements for completing collages. I mostly
used Asian and Indian images of couples and gods and goddesses. The
images were altered in Photoshop, printed out on a variety of vellum and
paper, and torn apart individually or in groupings. I then ran them through an
adhesive machine so they could be applied easily, just peel and stick. I sent a
total of about 50 such elements in this kit.
On the left is a bundle of about 20-30 ribbons, fibers and laces for the back of
the shrine. I included self-adhesive dried flowers, metal tags with the couple's
initials, and others with appropriate words, such as "love," "celebrate," "joy,"
and "dream". The other words are all about love, commitment and romance. I
also included small gold frames, beads and wire for handles, hand-painted
tiles, brass rings, and a variety of charms and Asian coins and metal symbols.
I even sent a roll of "Glue Dots", an easy, mess-free and permanent adhesive.
loving exercise in creativity! I hope they all had as
much fun as I had putting it together, and the piece
gives the couple happy memories for years to come.
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Participatory Altered Art and Assemblage
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