Doodlebelle: Why I've been MIA

So I should have been letting you all in on the action lately, but I have been in a non-communication funk. I have been so busy.

My dear friend Kelly, who I absolutely adore, sent me a text message a couple of months ago while she was on vacation. The text explained that her and her boyfriend had decided to elope, and she wanted everyone to know that she was coming home a married woman. I was so excited for her. When she got home, her 17 yr-old son, and her husband's 14 yr-old son expressed their disappointment at not being able to be part of the wedding. So, Kelly and John decided to have a wedding ceremony and reception after-all. Since they were already legally married, they decided to go all out with this one.

When she first explained her idea for the wedding to me, I was shocked. She called and said that she would be having the wedding on halloween weekend, and would be having a harley theme. Then she explained that the bridesmaids and groomsmen would be in Wizard of Oz costumes (her favorite movie of all time). Then, she planned on having a halloween party afterward for her reception. Now I have known Kelly for 17 years, and I thought I was done being shocked by her. It didn't even phase me when she told me that she had eloped. But this, this wedding idea shocked me. Even for Kelly it was a long shot.

So after my shock wore off, I got to work. I volunteered, because I consider myself to be crafty, to do her aisle runner for her. She of course wanted a yellow-brick road. I made this for her for her wedding gift. It's 81ft. long, and 4ft. wide, which made for about $100 in materials, and 40 hrs. worth of work. But I adore this girl, and would do it again in a heartbeat.

Me working on the road:

I bought the cheapest material that I could find, that was wide enough. I then cut it to 4ft wide. I painted it with a regular kitchen sponge, which I used as a stamp. I loaded the craft paint on the sponge with a sponge-brush, and was able to do about 4 bricks at a time before I had to reload the paint. I was planning on hemming the sides with iron-hem, but Rick gave me the suggestion to glue yellow ribbon down the sides. This worked great. The sides couldn't unravel, and it looked better with the ribbon down the sides.

My materials:

I decided to incorporate the harley theme into the aisle runner by creating a custom monogram to paint onto the end of the runner where they would stand. I created it using power point, and blew it up at the UPS store. They have a printer that blew it up to 4ft wide, which is just what I needed. I placed it under my material, which was somewhat see-thru, and simply painted over it. I have a pic. of the monogram, but not one of the finished product, unfortunately. It came out beautifully.

When I had the brick road under control, I tackled my costume. I was Glinda the good witch. I bought an Ivory-colored wedding gown at our local thrift store for $15. It was perfect for what I needed. I then bought some rit dye, and dyed it pink. It came out the most hideous pink color I have ever seen, but I am not a big fan of pink anyway. The problem with the dress was that it didn't fit. My favorite part of this is when I was a t the thrift store with Rick, who said "Is that dress going to fit you? It looks so small." My reply?
"Of-course it will fit me. I am skinny. What are you trying to say?"
And then, when I got it home, I couldn't zip it up. Rick decided he wanted to continue living, and didn't even say "I told you so" or anything.

So I took out the zipper, and made a corset back with the same pink tulle I used to puff up the sleeves, and make it all Glindaish.
Here it is drying right after I dyed it: