Dear Kate (or Catherine, as you wish to be called)...

http://katemiddletonforthewin.tumblr.com

As a small kid I watched Prince Charles and Princess Diana`s wedding on TV. I could also remember the footage of them proudly showing off their firstborn William in the balcony of their palace, beaming towards the cameras.  

Years after, we`d all know their fairytale beginning did not end well. And the sad thing was, the world was there to see it all unfold tragically.

In these times when people become increasingly less infatuated with the concept of royalty, and young women more than ever, have more freedom and greater opportunities to pursue their dreams and lead the lives they want for themselves, I could only wonder how your life as a 21st-century princess would play out.  I know he`s a good catch, but don`t you think it kinda sucks to be known for the rest of your life just as somebody`s wife? How would you make your mark?

Sure, you have instant fame, glamour, beauty, clout...not to mention the bazillions more of pounds you may set to inherit, with a little more luck. But with those comes  the unimaginable stress of keeping yourself prim and proper always, of  conforming to traditions, however irrelevant and silly they may sometimes be. And,  the unenviable fate of being perpetually compared with your departed mother-in-law, who could now do no wrong in the eyes of the public, as dead people go. May you, and the the rest of us, commoners who will only get to watch the pomp and pageantry of tomorrow's ceremony from afar (as in, very very far) learn from what happened to her life.

Plus points, though, for telling people that it`s William who is lucky to have you, and not the other way around (or something like that).

With that I say, You Go, Girl. ;-)

P.S. Mabuti na lang talaga hindi tayo magkasabay ng date, hehe.

Blue Vectors

Since starting this journal I have not only learned a lot about blogging tools and techniques (I practically started from zero), but also come to appreciate web-based graphic arts and the many possibilities and inspiration it brings to creative projects such as, yes, preparing stuff for weddings.

My recent random internet browse for possible design elements for the invitation cards, for instance has led me to vector arts.I've encountered vectors before, in my past life as a student! In GIS (Geographic Information Systems), vectors and rasters are forms by which geographic data are stored and analyzed, and represented visually as maps.Vectors are made up of points, lines, curves and shapes, while rasters are represented as pixels...and that's about everything that I could remember about it, he,he. Least to say, I never found them this exciting to look at before.

What makes vectors ideal for DIY craft-making is that the images do not degrade (i.e., blur or pixelate) when you try to magnify them; just do a search of free downloadable images and  give credit to those talented, selfless designers who willingly shared them.  

I'm envious of the guys who could do wonderful stuff such as these (all in our color theme, siempre):

by maggled on deviantart

 The fabric looks exactly like the one we're using for the ladies` dresses :)

by ArcaneBolt on deviantart

by ~mrower on deviantart

For Keeps

Been mulling over the kind of rings we`re going to have for the wedding. I did not pay much attention to this before, having delegated the task of choosing the design and buying to the G. We just both agreed that the rings would be simple, but aside from that this is one part of the preps that has not been progressing as well as the others. I guess the procrastination basically comes from our being clueless about jewelry, considering that whatever decision we make over the final look and quality of what would be the symbols of our eternal love (ewww! that`s me grimacing after typing those words) has long-term consequences.

The rings should be hardy enough to withstand daily wear-and-tear (from detergents, sea water, acid substances, etc.); light enough so as not to distract us while doing tasks such as typing and writing; simple enough to escape the attention of snatchers and thieves, and conspicuous enough to ward off, I mean, show  people that G and B, for better or for worse, are indeed married. Another thing that I worry about is how I`d be able to keep such a thing for so long, when I have this habit of misplacing little stuff after I use them. Plus, what if we get fat soon..?!

Enough already with the "enough, enough"...see how one couple cleverly solved it:

http://www.topweddingsites.com/wedding-blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/wedding-band-tattoos.jpg

Tattooed wedding bands: permanent, expandable and snatch-proof.

Lest I overdo this blogging gig

A cool memo for myself and all brides near and yonder...