Attacking tasks: finished and unfinished

One of the challenges of doing your own wedding is staying organized. When it's just me organizing me, that's one thing, but as soon as you bring in willing hands, you (I) want to make sure I have things for them to actually do. I hate showing up at something ready to help and then have there be nothing to do.

It's such a delicate game though b/c on the one hand, I want to do as much as *I* can do before people start arriving Thursday. But on the other hand there are several different types of things I'm currently doing and some can't be done once it gets down to the wire. Here are the various tasks:

1. Designing. At some point, I'm still figuring shit out. Does this fabric work like it works in my brain? Will glue hold this together? What changes do I need to make? How would I prep this for mass production? What kind of instructions should go along with it.

Final Week: starts tomorrow!!

So back out at August 24th I more or less made a list of the things I wanted to do or have come next week. I thought I'd check back in to see where I was on that list. What stayed. What went.

Flags- not as many as I had planned originally but good enough
Programs- in the final copy edits as I type
Bouquets/boutonnieres- the latter finished, the former, not yet sure. Women may not have much of anything in their hands. Hell, right now *I* don't really have a bouquet!
Tables- flowers, decorations, etc- If the wedding was tomorrow, we'd have these finished.

Triple. Hurray

Tonight feels oddly victorious.
Z finished a solid first draft of our ceremony.
I started the work on our altar decorations.
I have a concept that I think will work for our guest book. (Fifteenth time's the charm!)
I have paper for our favor tags.
The fabric came for the test decorations for our pre and post ceremony festivities.
Tomorrow starts with a trip to the gym and a day of figuring out our programs. We're a hop, skip and a jump from major progress on that front as well. And then there's a long night ahead of me at my parents' gluing felt leaves to a tree with Mom and tracking down more pink fabric for our tables and maybe finishing a first attempt at our altar.
Yay yay yay!

Down to Business

We are down to basically 2.5 weeks. That is a strange strange thing to write. It'll be even stranger when it is the week before. The day before. The morning of. And married. Wow. I have never been so excited for a vacation in my life. I owe my work my soul when I get back. 'Cause you know, focus just miraculously appears AFTER you're married.

Ha!

This week is designated for getting all the necessaries finished. Boutonnieres. Schedules. Altar. Maybe a bridal bouquet. Next week is for playing. The week after is for who knows what.

Finishing

I am terrible at finishing things. Zach and I joke about the 80% rule. My family is awesome at starting. Pretty good with middles, but that last 20%. Ha!

With the table decorations it's not just the 80% rule but also the problem of knowing when any project is really complete. One of the things I've done a poor job during this wedding prep is finishing a project completely so that I can move on both physically but much more importantly mentally. Yes there is a need artistically to sort of ruminate on things but rumination needs to be followed by decisive action. Decisive action with a finish. Not a decisive action with a partial finish but I just have this one more tiny thing I need to figure out. That causes momentary feelings of accomplishment followed by anxiety until the task is actually finished.

Progress!

Good weekend. I may have destroyed my shoulders with the power of the sun (it's sort of amazing how a sun hat protects your face. I am now living proof to that) but I got major sh*t done. Also my pinkie is still numb from excessive spray paint use.

Here we go. Seven weekends between us and the wedding. Amazing. Amazing excited and amazing holy-wow-there's-some-work-to-do.

For the next two weeks I'm focusing as much as I possible can on floral centerpieces. If you stop by our apartment, I apologize in advance for the absolute chaos this is causing.

So here are my floral goals for this week: (Finish hearts, half poms, Paper cone flowers, vases, centerpiece designs)

Monday:
   Complete 30 hearts (TOTALLY Got this finished!)

Tuesday:
   Finish 15 half poms (This took forever. I love them)
   Paint 100 half circles (Instead I painted 80 and then assembled the 5 cone flowers it made. Hmmm...)  

Glitter Ks and Zs

I may have blisters on my fingers after this weekend's use of scissors. There is a slight buzzing in my extremities that comes when I know I've used my hands too hard. Cutting card stock kills my right hand. Cutting flowers kills my left.

I had a total freak out (total) today around 2PM. Luckily I pulled myself out of one of the rooms I was holding up in and talked it out with Z. The problem I was (am?) having is that nothing ever feels 100% finished. Only when something is 100% finished can I take it 100% off my list. Only then can I stop thinking about it. So then even small progress feels like absolutely zero progress.

Or Lack Thereof

I need to create a plan for the final months as if I was planning someone else's wedding. Take the emotion out of it. Be both client and planner. We're clicking over to the 3 month mark (I'm assuming the two weeks prior to the wedding I won't have time for anything but last minute stuff) and shit needs to get done. I feel as if nothing is moving forward. Life is rushing by at speeds I've never seen before but not a whole lot else feels like it's getting checked off the list.

*splat*

(Also I just realized that the decorations I had planned for post reception won't really show up b/c it'll be dark. Huh. Oops.)

Invitation Anatomy

It's not as easy as one might think (in this case me) to find a simple list of what you need to include in the invitation. Most websites address the wording. In that we aren't doing this at all traditionally, wording doesn't really matter. Or maybe it should but that boat has sailed.

So here's what I'm thinking is important:

Sections

I'm totally back into wedding planning and it feels good. This is the kind of project I like. Me and the internet and lists. :)

I told my Mom yesterday that I was really excited for someone else to get married so I could plan a kick ass bridal shower. Matching colors. Pretty flowers.

"Something contained," she said nodding. She got the idea. Pour all your design energy into one manageable event. So after a beat Mom looked at me thoughtfully and said, "So we need to do just that. Divide the yard into sections by event and focus on one section at a time. Prioritize them and when we've got one section finished completely we move on to the next." Brilliant. It's the perfect way to look at it.

The List- March

There are two dates that cause me to pause: The first of the month and the 14th. The first because it reminds me that another month has started and we are that much closer to the wedding. The 14th b/c we are getting married on a 14th and it means I have exactly X months until Aug 14th.

I got motivated again today. For the first time in several weeks I've had enough space in my brain for wedding things. No more projects until after we move. I'm probably just saying no to everything in April. Carte Blanche.

But here's what we have:

Bam bam!

Three hundred tiny felt flowers cut. Check. Let's get down to some invitation business!

Invitations: Ready, Set, Go

I think I have an invitation design. It's both exciting and a bit scary. There's excitement when there are possibilities and now that I've made a decision (with Z's approval :) the possibilities close and the reality of what we have is now the reality of what we have.

But you know, I prepared myself for this, and writing this post has helped remind me of the strategy I put in place going in. I can still ogle pretty invitations. I love invitations. I love paper and ink. That doesn't change b/c we have ours now slowly curing.

Ours will be simple and lovely and us. It will consist of stamping and ironing and fabric and paper. These are all good things, and I will only feel happy.

Weekend Getaway

We're off this weekend. We're sort of camping...if camping means staying in a cabin with electricity but nothing else. On a river. It's January and I'm not hard core so this all sounds perfectly luxurious.

I'm bringing a stack of to-do's. I think I've spent the entire morning printing notes out and hopefully we'll walk back into next week with a really solid plan of the wedding variety. With deadlines attached to the ends of sentences. I think this will make everyone much happier.

Almost There (Save the Dates)

I am spending my gym break (and lunch break) today photographing Save the Dates. Last night I finished writing in the, "SAVE the DATE." Each and every time, I glanced over at the date terrified that it would be wrong. I still look at the image and get nervous.

**Update**
I was worried about the date, but what I should have been worried about is names. Names. Hmmm. That's funny, there are no names on here. Probably b/c the person designing them KNEW the names. Haha! Looks like I'm carving a stamp tonight! (A tiny square one that will go on the very back...you know, where names go for Save the Dates :)

San Fran!

Zach and I head to San Francisco tomorrow morning for two weeks. We will be house sitting for my cousin while she's on her honeymoon. I'm trying to figure out which project I should bring down to work on. So many of the current projects are in the testing phase, which requires a lot of supplies. That's no good. Also there are cats so unlike my studio at home I can't just leave piles out with the confidence they will be in the same arrangement when I get back. So I think I'll bring flag materials. I can wad the fabric up in a bag and put all the cutting supplies in a box. Yes yes. Flags it is.

Still not finished with the Save the Dates aaaand probably won't be until we get back. I'm not hauling down stacks of cards with loose flags in between the layers. That is anti progress. :)

Craft Explosion

This is last night circa 6pm.

The Key
1. Paper Source rolls. I'll be back for you later!
2. Teal Hoody. I love you and no one else does. Also I should really wash you.
3. The purse where my driver's license and credit card weren't when I realized I needed them pre crafts.
4. Desk
5. B/c why *wouldn't* you have a family-sized pancake griddle still in the box in the middle of your studio?
6. An owl! (This could be like a where's waldo only it's owls...or carpet. Which ever.)
7. Future fabric flowers.
8. You!

The Play by Play (or Longest Poster EVER!)

6pm- It's 6pm on the dot and I just got home. I'm where I wanted to be at 4:30. But no, I didn't have my credit card or my driver's license on me so even though I left work early, I still had to come back to the apartment. That added 30 minutes. Getting suckered into going to Micheal's in addition to our local craft store added another 45. So here it is. Six pm and my craft table looks like it may have been the epicenter of something bad.

But I'm getting these monsters (said lovingly) done. I'm giving myself 30 minutes to clean my space. At thirty I'll check in again. Go!

6:30 Good enough. Time to assess where I'm at:
Finished-10
All but flags-26
All but flags, flags loosely chosen (this will probably totally change)-42
math math math 36+42= 78
Owl and front but no inside Aug 14, 2010-25
8- insides stamped

6:40 Finished my veggie puffs, opened diet rockstar (should have gotten 2)
I'm starting with stamping out the 25 insides.

7:00- talk. Dealing with stupid work stuff. Grrrr...

7:15-OK stamp, why aren't you working?!? You worked fine before!

7:21: Standing in the bathroom with a hair dryer...b/c I'm vain. No, b/c I'm trying to dry out my damn stamp. Isn't there good tv on Wednesdays?

7:23: For the love of god, finally.
I always assumed people said you needed to clean your stamps so that your colors stay true or something to the aesthetic effect. But no. You clean your stamp so some weird chemical reaction doesn't occur between your Platinum Planet and your Pearlescent Chocolate
(later) Woohoo! 12 successfully stamped of brown on polkadot green

7:35- Zach stabbed his foot while making the bed (I hope it wasn't something in my bed pile!) Quick break to find neosporm.

7:44 Immediately don't follow my own advice and change colors b/c I'm too lazy to wash the damn stamp again.
-can't find ink I'm sure I bought.

7:45 oooh think ink isn't going to work. Where is that stuff I bought?

7:54: Found it. Great. *sigh* At least Zach is no longer bleeding.

8:04 - Stamped! Now they need to dry and be traced and cut. Bring back the hair dryer!

8:07 Holy crap! You know what's magical? A HAIRDRYER!
(Note to self-Blog entitled: My parents are idiots.)

8:30- all traced and cut out. Time to clean up and move to gluing them in. I'm in serene "I can get everything done phase." The phase where the caffeine is coursing. I haven't over eaten and I'm making progress. This is inevitably followed by the "Holy crap I'm tired and I'll never get this done" feeling a few hours later. Moving on.

8:34 Break for a snack! Rhubarb upside down cake!
9pm- back from cake break and watching an episode of The IT crowd with Zach. Table is clean. Let's go.

9:20 Best impulse buy ever!!! It's a dot glue applicator. (Also learned a Fordian Way to put on tape. Tape tape rotate 90, tape tape<---This is for my own notes.) 9:30- 21 insides finished and adhered inside. Wait, I'm missing 4. How did I miscount again?!?! Gah! Why can't I do basic math?!?!

9:32- Wooohoo! Found a pile on the floor!! I can do basic math! I just can't locate things in piles.

9:48 Glad I got one of the glue dot re-fillers. 29 Insides taped and secured!!! Time to clean up the space and prep the next step. *Lesson learned: Do everything in stages. Get caught up with a stage and then move on. Between each set take 5 minutes to clean up the previous stage and prep the next. Makes that next step go infinitely quicker. (tiny bit later) Hmmm...just noticed that I kicked over my cards with the tiny flags inside. I guess I knew I was redoing that section anyways. I need to 1. Stop misplacing things and 2. Stop kicking things. 3. Learn to count. 10:09 Damn hippy music on kink. I hate their lights out program. It's the NPR equivalent of the classical music shows. Gugh.

10:30 Sigh. I've glued 6. This is going to be reeeeeeeally slow. Kink Acoustic isn't doing it for me. I need music! I also need a change of tactic. I'm going to time myself.

10:44 Three done. THREE?!?! I'm averaging 3 every 15 minutes or 1 every 5. W.O.W. Must change tactics. I told Z how long it took for each and he said, "So it'll take 500 minutes?" I didn't like his use of math so I went instead in search of snacks.

11:21 I'm cruising! Changed tactics so that I'm just coordinating the flags. I'll glue them in later. I'm realizing however that dark green is a really hard color to match with flags. And I'm beginning to seriously second guess my decisions. Aesthetic not ethics. Aesthetics not ethics. And repeat.

12:31 It's October and I'm faaaar from finished. Zach's going to bed and that always feels strange. I'm working until 2am and then I'm going to sleep. I'm bored numb of matching flags. I'm switching back to glue activities. I need to work a different muscle.

1:00 OK, my wrists are starting to complain. Kind of like me.

1:40am- Time to call it quits. Quits I say. I think I finished an additional grand total of 16, but I'm probably just another night away so that isn't *so* bad, right? Hmmm...craft table again looks like it was the epicenter of some disaster...but it's also kind of pretty. :)

One Last Night

Will I make it? Will the SaveTheDates be finished* in September? Only time (like tonight) will tell.

Last night I got sucked into a bunch of Greek episodes and while I made my hands busy cutting out little flags, it's never efficient to do projects with the TV on. It's good if you have a monotonous task you don't want to do, but otherwise, stick to the auditory only stuff. (And no that doesn't count Hulu hidden behind a pillow.)

Also my studio has hit some serious level of disarray. I thought this wasn't a problem until last night when I was trying to find flag-worthy paper I unearthed about 20 owls I'd already stamped and cut and the paper I wanted to go with them. This explains why I was 20 short. So basically on a project of a 100, I'm at 20% inefficiency right off the bat. Hmmm...Lesson learned? Ha!

Tonight is going to be a long one, but I got to work an hour and a half early so that I can leave accordingly on the other end. Time to go buy more glue b/c well, I'm killing that stuff!

*Finished means insides only.