hired!!!

Yay!!! A month and a half spent searching for a job and it finally happened! Last January 05, 2011; I received one of the best news I've ever had through a phone call. The hiring manager called and offered me the job!

(my reaction upon hearing the great news!)

I received the employee welcome packet the day after, and that was when I called the HR department regarding the concern that I have for the wedding. I know that I should be up-front with the company with our wedding taking place on June 2011. The hiring manager actually had a couple of concerns about my pre-scheduled leave and thankfully, they understood and I was allowed a 3-week leave for the wedding.

I started work last Thursday, Jan 13, 2011. The job is comparable with the work that I had with Trend before, so I know that I won't be having a hard time with the job responsibilities. I just have to train myself again with the work schedule. Being out of the workforce for more than 2 years had taken it's toll on my daily routine. It was really tough to get out of bed at 6 in the morning, so I need to work on that. The first two days were basically meetings with the HR and technical trainings. I'm lucky that this company celebrates all the minor holidays, which is why I am able to write this entry now. It's MLK (Martin Luther King) Day today!

My workplace is a bit far, it's a 25mi drive from our place and that means that I had to get my own car. It's way too far for Topher to drop me off and pick me up after work. Two days before starting work, I bought my car (Scarlett)! She's a red 2005 Accord Coupe and I love her! :)

I thank God for this blessing, it's sooo nice to start the year on a positive and productive note!

diy rosary wedding cord

Happy New Year everyone! :)

I'm happy that my first post for this year is a productive one. It's less than 6 months before the big day, I want to make sure that we make use of the time wisely. The last thing that we want to happen is to see the wedding day coming and we're cramming in completing our DIY projects.

The project that I decided to tackle after our invitations is the rosary wedding cord. I'm quite handy with paper crafts but it's my first time in doing beading/jewelry making. I initially thought that I would be having a hard time in doing the wedding cord but is pleasantly surprised that it is actually easy! When I went back home, I had the chance to get all the materials that I needed for the project when we visited Divisoria and Quiapo. I basically patterned our wedding cord from Lights and Binds website, I love their rosary style wedding cords.

I thought I'd share the materials and instructions on creating our DIY rosary wedding cord, so that you can make your own too! Okay, let's start with the materials:

1. Beads that catches your fancy. I think the ones that I used are called class-A swarovski. You can use any beads that you want here.
2. Different kinds of spacers. I'd suggest that you buy two packs of every design. You don't want to run out on the spacers while finishing the cord. Also the circle ones are a must.
3. Pliers and tape measure. You want the to have at least 50 inches for each loop.
4. Rings and end-clamp. Ok, I honestly don't know how you call the "end-clamp", but it's basically a clamp with a small hole in between which you place in the beginning and end of each line. It will hide the knot that you'll create with the nylon cord.
5. Trinkets of your choice. Since this is a rosary wedding cord, I chose a crucifix, a brooch for the middle and letters of our initials.
6. Nylon cord and bead board (optional). Choose a thicker nylon cord.

Now, for the instructions:

1. I initially laid out the sequence of the beads and spacers that I wanted using the bead board, but that's totally optional. First, you want to measure the nylon cord, make sure that you make an allowance on the length before you cut the cord. Make a knot using the pliers and pull until the knot is small enough.

2. Place the end-clamp in a way that if you close the clamp, it will swallow the knot. Then place the sequence of spacers that you want. How many spacers to put before and after the beads and the mysteries, it will be totally up to you. Just make sure that once all have been placed, the length of the loop will make at least 50 inches. Place another end clamp before making a knot to secure the end. Close the clamps before cutting the cord near the knot.

2a. After finishing the 2 loops, and the end tail of the rosary, connect all three using the brooch in the middle.

2b. For our initials, I basically created a small link using the rings and put clasps at the end. By putting the clasps, it's now optional if we wanted to include the initials or take it off.

3. I used white beads for the 10 Hail Marys and purple and gray beads for the mysteries.

4. The ones shown in pic 4 is the tail of the rosary. I basically followed the sequence form the Lights and Binds website.

If my instructions are confusing, let me know through the comments sections and I'll try my best to explain. :) Now I present our DIY rosary wedding cord!

(I used a brooch in the middle)

(crucifix)

(white beads for the 10 Hail Marys and purple and gray beads for the mysteries)

(a clasp at the end to make the initials optional)

(here connected to the brooch)

(our rosary wedding cord with the initials)

Not bad for a first time, right?! :) I'm really happy on how that wedding cord turned out. A bit surprised that it was actually quite heavy! For the cost, not including the strands of beads that I didn't get to use (about 4 strands, I bought extra), it will be about Php600-700. All materials are bought from D.I.Y Store and Wellmanson in Quiapo, Manila.

I can now happily take this one off the wedding list! Wedding Cord = Checked!