H: Blogfest Post #1: The Invitations!

One of the first decisions that we made once we started planning was that we were going to DIY our invitations. Do I regret this decision? I'm happy to say, absolutely not. For us, it is definitely the right way to go.

Sitting at home in the throes of unemployment kick started my creativity. I wanted very much to dress up our beautiful - but plain- invitations that had been purchased at Staples. I had seen a picture in The Knot magazine of envelope inserts made out of fabric. They were bright, colorful, and unique. Perfect! Off to the craft store I went, taking my budding ideas and my hopes with me (you have no idea how bored I was).

I found myself first going down the scrapbooking aisle, and it was there that I found it. It was 48 pages of textured scrapbooking cardstock, two pages of each color and pattern, and it was GORGEOUS. Absolutely perfect. AND it was 40% off. Score!

I briefly wandered around the fabric aisles, but I didn't find anything that I loved, like the cardstock. So a paper cutter and a few gluesticks later, home I went with my prize.
The first thing that I did was draw out a pattern for the template. The template would need to fully insert into the envelope with a lip cut out so the envelope could still be closed and glued shut. Here's what I ended up with:

Neat huh?

To ensure that I had a straight edge after tracing the template onto the scrapbooking paper, I employed the help of a paper cutter:

I do declare, I love this little thing. It was so satisfying to hear and feel the "ssshhhhhh" it made while easily slicing that cardstock in two. *sigh*

Next of course came the cutting out of the inserts, which I did with a pair of trusty scissors and an even more trusty companion:

My Mom.

Not only is she beautiful, she's also good with a pair of scissors (and I'm infinitely grateful for her help!).

Once everything was traced and cut out, it was time to stuff. And stuff. And stuff. And then glue! Here's what the finished product looked like:It was wonderful and turned out beautifully, but I felt like there was something missing. At some point, it was determined that we should have something on the outside of the invitations as well, which is where the stamps come in.

Did you know that they now make acryllic stamps that you fit onto a clear plastic block? I didn't until Mom brought them up and let me tell you, they are as good as it gets! Finally, I can fully see where the stamp will fall!

Anyhoo, behold! The outer envelopes:

So at that point I was done.

...then I felt the itch begin. The one that said that the OUTER envelopes were done...but what about the inner?

See, our invitations came in a kit. This kit has 50 invitations, 50 outer envelopes, and then 50 response cards with their envelopes. So....there was still plenty of leftover cardstock and lots of inner envelopes that were so very, very naked. Yes, yes something must be done here. At least, that was my reckoning. At this point, Josh seriously feared for my sanity but being the wonderful man that he is, he just grinned, kissed me on the noggin, and let me have at it.

I mentioned before about the awesome paper cutter with the awesome "sssshhhhh" sensation. Well, said paper cutter had at this point produced about 96 strips of fairly uniformed cardstocky goodness. I opted to glue these together and recreate the template at a smaller scale. That got me about 48 smaller scale inserts; not enough to complete the project. So, I decided to use the inverse and add a stamp which I think looks fabulous. The completed project:

Next up, to match the outer part of the outer envelopes was the all important stamp, which our invitees will see twice. On the outer envelope in blue:

And on the invitation itself in copper:

All in all, the entire project took about four days to complete from start to finish. Obsessed, I tell you! But I had decided to treat wedding planning like a full time job, and I've got to say, I'm extremely pleased with the result. My one regret is that we cannot yet print them since we still need to determine time of ceremony, etc. But they're almost fully complete! I can't wait until we get to the postage stamp stage.

Next up: my new wedding based obsession!