Our Wedding in Paradise - Part One

There are some moments in our lives we will never forget and it had to be our wedding day. On June 21, 2013, Mr. D and I took the blessed leap into wedding bliss on the island of Grenada, our home. Since the age of 9, I always said that I wanted to get married on the beach, so when my mother found this venue, The Aquarium Restaurant in Grenada, it was destined that we would exchange our vows here on the sand. One of best parts of planning our wedding were the DIY projects and customized accesories that truly made our wedding special.  Please enjoy a few of our photos from that day thanks to our amazing photographer, Kelon Pascal Photopgraphy. 

Hair accessory by Aye' Shanti Designs. My locs were styled by the amazing Shireen Burris

Myself with my maid of honor, Marie. I'm placing a yellow orchid hair accessory by Aye' Shanti Designs in her hair.

One of the DIY projects, our glittered initials and a handwritten guestbook signage all could be found at the Paper Source.

DIY programs and menu cards using Paper Source products and stamp.  The paper bag color reminds me so much of sand.

A sneak peek of the golden wedding dress that I loved so so much... More pics to come. Designed by Marcelle St. Bernard Designs.

The bouquets and boutonnieres were filled with tropical loveliness from spider orchids, ferns and anthurium lilies. I sneaked in a gold camera charm as a pre-wedding surprise for my hubby to be. Florists information tba.

My matron of honor, Nadia posing so lovely by the water.

Pre-wedding giggles with my girls overlooking the beach.

I saw these Fringe Flag DIY creations on AnnMarieLovesPaper and I had to recreate them for our guests to wave as we walked down the aisle. It's a beach wedding so I didn't want rice or bubbles but something that would blow lovely in the wind. Galvanize bucket from Paper Source.

The Aquarium Restaurant was a spectacular venue right on the beach. Paired with Aye' Shanti designed programs, menus and decorations and their lovely table settings including my favorite batik, it was paradise.

Our gift bags were hand-stamped with our initials and filled with customized items for our guests courtesy of www.AyeShanti.com and www.Spiceklyn.com. 

Our gift bags were hand-stamped with our initials and filled with customized items for our guests.

    Hair accessory by Aye' Shanti Designs and bow tie by Whitney House

More pictures to come very soon on www.AyeShanti.com Blessings, Shanti

Quilting Queens Earrings Spring/Summer 2013

I'm so excited to share one of the first earring designs, "Quilting Queens" from the Aye' Shanti Spring/Summer 2013 Collection.

Quilting Queens are inspired by the quilting traditions of America with the use of various fabrics from the Caribbean, Africa and India. Each earring design tells a story of the past with a modern feel. This was inspired by my college thesis, "Women of the Sun: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives of Caribbean Women's Work" - where I discussed her daily life including the life of my grandmother, Hilda Juanita Keens Douglas and the beauty and mysticism I saw in her Singer sewing machine. Please check out the designs in the SHOP.

Love & Crafting

In the midst of our big transition, I'm not finding time to craft as much these days. Well let me take that back, I still find time to do my mini 3x4 cards for Project Life 2013 daily. However, with Valentine's Day being one of my favorite holidays after my birthday and Christmas, I just had to do something for my honey. 2013 is already starting off with a bang and with our upcoming wedding celebration in a few months, I wanted to put together a quick handmade gift for him. So, I found some "me" time while he slept to craft together a quick mini "Love" journal filled with pictures from the beginning of our journey and bits and pieces of things I've saved from our dates and fun times together. I used an awesome mini "Love Albums" from JamaicaMakes. (Btw, the packaging was so sweet, I can't wait to use the paper in my Project Life album) I then decided to use white embossing powder and spray/brushed on diluted inks from Ranger and Dylusions across some hole punched coasters. I wrote on my photos with a white uniball pen for a love letter feel and attached photos with washi tape and heart paper clips. I woke up and presented him this lovely gift before we resumed our moving and it was worth the 3 hours of sleep. Happy Valentines Day to you and yours and if you not into big crafting, a simple sticky note saying, "I love you", "You're Amazing" or "You're Cool" - will surely make them smile.

Love & Light,
Shanti

Monday Inspiration: Be Present

What does it mean to "Be Present" to you? I was in bookstore over the weekend and while looking through a book on self enlightenment, I read the quote telling the reader to "be present". How powerful those words were to me because I thought to myself how I sometimes multitask in my life and I'm hardly enjoying that present moment. For example, while I'm drinking a glass of water, I find myself thinking about other things and I don't get to enjoy that amazing glass of water. So, I practiced it early Sunday morning when we were leaving home and the fresh blanket of snow was on the ground. I looked up, I looked down and enjoy that present moment!




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"33 & Fierce" scrapbook birthday page!

Today is my blessed 33rd birthday and it feels AWESOME! Made a large cup of green juice, hubby to be bought me some beautiful roses, reading all the amazing messages and created this 12x2 scrapbook page dedicated to being 33 & FIERCE! (finger snaps included lol)

I used a pic from my instagram that I shot of an ad in a NYC subway station and my new logo designed by the fabulous artist, Kendall Simpson. The sista in the ad looked so beautiful and the boldness of her low hair cut and her facial expression is on POINT. I also created a 33 things I'm thankful for list. I have a group I'm a part of every Tuesday and we list all the things we're thankful for during the week. I haven't been on my game for some months and I decided to include my list of 33 things to this page. I'll list out everything I used to create this over the weekend, but for the time being enjoy!

Have a blessed day,

Shanti

Inauguration Day Sale

In celebration of the 2013 Inauguration, we're offering Free Shipping to orders $30.00 and over through Tuesday, January 21, 2013 12:00 a.m . This is valid for customers in the U.S. only. Enter the code: INAUG2013 at checkout.

Ohhhhh and check out the NEW Journals in the SHOP! Great for writing, jotting down quick notes, thoughts and meditations. They're the perfect size for your bag, pockets or even our wallet. I believe everyone should have a writing utensil and mini book with them at all times because your thoughts are precious and you'll appreciate seeing your journey on paper years from now. I am major paper and fabric collector and these are just a few from my collection. There are various designs available, please see below.