Series intro, #WeddingBellesJLG

I am already six pieces into the series so, spoiler alert- it's all about BRIDAL FASHION this month...hence the series title, #WeddingBellesJLG 

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I really feel like I have written some previous posts related to weddings, DIY bridal creations and/or a bit of bridal illustration but at this point my blog archives are like more likely to get me sidetracked going down memory lane- so I decided to whip up a little background from scratch.

When I think about weddings I can't help but think about my own wedding- and lemme tell you, we were DIY'n it waaaay before Pinterest!  Mostly because we paid for our own wedding...so we had to get creative.  I hand painted invitations, programs, hand wired crystals in bouquets and we even did our own wedding favors.  I couldn't afford to have one of those traditional large bridal portraits...so I painted my own- then took a pic with that!

My handsome husband, Johnny Nice and all kinds of DIY wedding projects- it was a REALLY busy year!

​This past summer it was our twelve year wedding anniversary, and in celebration of that I painted my wedding dress, threw it on, jumped in the ocean and took some new bridal pictures with the help of my Hermitage friends, Katie and Brian.  (I wrote about this, click here to read that post from last summer)

A gal, a 12 year old wedding gown some paint and ...gulp...the ocean. (I forgot to mention I can't swim and I am scared of sea critters)

​Over the years I have kept on with the DIY wedding projects.  A few of my 'clients' have included my own sister and sister in law, friends, and even some of my former cheerleaders! From bouquets, the bridal part jewelry, hand painted guestbook paintings...heck, even some custom beadwork on a veil- I have done a little bit of everything. It is fun to have a hand in making someone's special day even more special.  Again, I didn't sit down and try to find EVERYTHING, but here are some of the wedding related projects I have had a hand in;
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Morgan's bouquet...hand painted guestbook for Giselle and Bill's wedding...another bouquet for my SIL, Maria...a hand embellished veil for Sof

​As for ART- I feel like I have created a few pieces with some type of bridal/wedding inspiration over the years, but then I had trouble recalling them...so I just chose a few to show how I have approached this in the past;

(Left) My first Miss Matchy Matchy series in 2015- I went bridal with MMM as the Bride and her best girlfriend Jewel as her Maid of Honor of course! (Middle) The debut of my Art Hive Magazine wedding gown at the Fashion ARTillery show in 2014 (Right) My bridal gal from my #ButterflyBellasJLG series- I made this one on my 10th wedding anniversary, July 15, 2015

​And now to the fashion illustrations.  I am realizing that I really need to create a separate section on my website for my fashion illustrations because I have created hundreds since 2012, but they are kinda spread out throughout my website and it is hard to see them all at a glance.  (Sounds like a summer project to me!)  I decided to post a link to a recent fashion-inspired series from 2017, it has some background and links within the post, CLICK HERE to view that post.

...it's getting late, wanna hang out with the husband for a bit before I go to sleep and start another week...so gonna speed this up;

I am sketching wedding gowns this month, and I am loving it!  Here are the first six pieces;

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