Tuesday 25 October 2011

Caddy Love

Lily Bee Designs are starting to offer sketches for inspiration - and they're good.

I joined in with the first one by creating the second ever page of my wedding album. This was the sketch:



For over two years we had known which car we wanted for our wedding. And for over a year it had been booked. It was a 1956 Cadillac Sedan de Ville... this 1956 Sedan de Ville:

*sigh*

Why the sigh? Because at midday on the day of our wedding, I received a phone call from the car company, saying that the Sedan de Ville wouldn't start.


look! look how calm I am!

I went into Seriouser than Serious mode. The company offered me, instead, a Rolls Royce in silver or a Jaguar in British racing green. There was no way I was letting this slip away from me - the car was a big part of our vision, and my underlying desire was always only for everything to be coherent - so of course, I simply said that no, neither of those options were any good. That's when the company told me that they might have another Cadillac... it was from 1960, just about on the edge of what would work for me. It was also from the higher price range, but they would provide it at no extra cost. Naturally, I said. Then I heard the word 'tailfins' in my ear, and I was sold. Relieved, too.

Less than an hour later, the Caddy turned up. It was only at this point - while I am having my hair painstakingly put in place - that we discovered it had no roof. Now, I can look back and laugh at how I've always liked the windswept look. But on that day, at that moment, the journey to the Town Hall (we were running late, and there was an annual Beer Festival taking place which meant road blocks and diversions on top of that) was the most stressful of my life* because the wind in your hair is nice and all, but not what you want on your wedding day.

Anyway, back to the layout. I wanted to stitch on my page. I've cleared the way to the sewing machine again so I can stitch on my pages once more. But for me, to stitch the circles would've been too obvious. So I brushed on some acrylic paint, didn't like the look of it, and smudged it with a cotton wool pad. And then I was happy.


see them circles and stars again...
I used some paper and stickers from Lily Bee's Picket Fence collection, and combined them with Echo Park Happy Days bits and pieces, with some sparkly Thickers thrown in and Tim Holtz stamps.

still loving those nautical stars I made for the invitations
I didn't win the sketch competition, but the sketch was a great starting point for a layout that I'm happy with. 

The official photos have arrived now so I'm planning, planning, planning... how many pages can you fit into a post-bound album?

*coming in a close second is the one on which we transported my fish in their bowl from Norwich to Brussels by car. They learned about tidal pull that day; not to mention a little surfing. One of them was so traumatised it jumped right out of the bowl that evening after we'd arrived and went to fishy heaven (which was either somewhere under the sofa or in the doggie's stomach).

 

7 comments:

  1. I never realised that the original car didn't have a roof, I thought it strange at the time that we were getting blown to bits after all that pampering!! STRESS HELL YES!! but it all worked out in the end. Anyway, I love this layout, I love the paint circles, all the colours work so well, it almost looks digital!

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  2. This is a great post- I LOVE stories! Poor fish. :) Dave and I traveled to our wedding in high style- an industrial length mini van. We didn't care how we arrived as long as the entire wedding party was with us so we wouldn't be late- but as Murphy's Law clearly states- the one person who didn't come with us was 45 minutes late- those 45 minutes were the some of the longest in my life ;)
    LOVE the car! LOVE IT! So glad you stuck to your vision- it makes for absolutely fabulous photos. Can't wait for the next few wedding entries and I LOVE your layout so I'm trying that sketch. :)

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  3. Oh wow, this is great! LOVE that big ol' background swirl!! Good thing you didn't pick the Rolls, that's what we picked for our wedding and I swear the breaks gave out and we barely rolled into our uphill parking lot!! ;) Cheers, Miae

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  4. Great story! and a great layout. I love the paint - it's definitely better than the stitched circles!

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  5. LOve your interpreation of the swirl form Lily BEe (they DO have great sketches!) COngrats on your big day and that you stayed true to your vision. (also way cool!)

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  6. This is awesome. I love how you made this sketch in your own way!

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  7. Hey Cheryl, Saw this linked up on Practical Scrappers for their Fabulous Finds Friday :) Congrats!
    Christa

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