My DIY Invitations with pics

[tropiqalkiwi]

So after days of cutting, gluing, and addressing, my invitations are finally complete! I am so relived and proud - I really like how they turned out.

The invite itself I had engraved from Reaves Engraving, but everything else I did on my own. I added the bands around the invite, as well as a name plate which serves the purpose the second envelope usually does (listing the person(s) who are invited). I also lined the envelopes with a slightly darker ivory/cream paper to give them more opacity. Then I addressed them all with a metallic calligraphy pen. My handwriting is my least favorite part of the set, but I think it''s passable.

Anyway, I just wanted to share my project with everyone!

 

[tropiqalkiwi]

This a close up of my attempt at caligraphy.

 

[tropiqalkiwi]

The front of our reply postcard where we created a space for guest to write us a note...sorry about the bad picture I forgot to take a picture of this one during the day.

 

[bee*]

They''re fab! They look really professional.

 

[tropiqalkiwi]

This is the back of the reply card, which I simply had printed at Kinko''s.

 

[tropiqalkiwi]

And finally a close up of the textured paper.

 

[tropiqalkiwi]

Date: 5/3/2009 4:37:31 AM
Author: bee*
They''re fab! They look really professional.

Thanks Bee, I''m so glad to hear that!

 

[honey22]

They are really lovely and look professional too. They must have taken you hours, I am sure you are relieved to have them finished!

 

[Porridge]

Wow I can''t believe you did all that yourself! They look fabulous - totally professional.

 

[kama_s]

They look stunning. And I agree with everyone else, I wouldn''t have been able to tell you did them yourself! Very very professional, love your caligraphy too!

 

[idreamofcushions]

It looks amazing! Where did you purchase the paper stock from?

 

[Tuckins1]

They look great!! I can''t believe you did that yourself! We paid a lot of money to have invites that looked like that!!

 

[Izzy03]

Very pretty, and you are very brave to take on the task!

 

[ice-queen]

I love that you took a plain professionally engraved invitation and "doctored" it up- what a great idea!! It looks great! The papers used for the bands are beautiful, and I love the idea of using a response postcard!

 

[tropiqalkiwi]

Thank you everyone for the feedback! It is so nice to hear that my invites look good to others as well.

As to the professional comments, I did get my degree in design so I have had some practice, but I am absolutely tickled to hear such a discerning group say that!

Date: 5/3/2009 8:41:22 AM
Author: idreamofcushions
It looks amazing! Where did you purchase the paper stock from?

The decorative papers are from paper zone. They come in very large sheets which I then cut down with an xacto knife.

The liner paper is just ivory colored copy paper, and only $8 for 500 sheets

I''ll probably use more of it for the programs or something.

 

[tyty333]

Your invites are fabulous and you did some really smart things to cut back on extra envelopes etc. Great ideas!

 

[AllieLuv83]

Great job on the invites but just a word of warning I had a few friends doing postcard RSVP''s and the post office is notorious for not delivering them because they get caught in their machine (some do) so just something to keep your eyes on.

 

[Dannielle]

Wow- someone is majorly talented! They look fantastic!!!

 

[katamari]

How vintage! Everything looks great!

We are using postcard RSVPs, too, and I have heard that about the problems with the machine. I was told that if you use a very heavy cardstock (similar to a postcard that you would buy or something), it would be okay.

 

[tropiqalkiwi]

Date: 5/3/2009 10:16:50 PM
Author: AllieLuv83
Great job on the invites but just a word of warning I had a few friends doing postcard RSVP''s and the post office is notorious for not delivering them because they get caught in their machine (some do) so just something to keep your eyes on.

Thanks for the heads up about this....I checked with the usps website and I can''t find anything on regulations regarding cardstock weight.

Hopefully you''re right Katamari, that there won''t be any problems since mine are also a heavy cardstock.

Well I''m sending them out in the morning, so I will wish for the best and hope they all make it back to me!

 

[musey]

Everything looks amazing!! I just love a well-done invitation, which this certainly is

And your addressing looks absolutely beautiful. I wish my handwriting had been half that good on our invites!

 

[gwendolyn]

They look fantastic! Do you know approximately how long it took you to do them (or even just one), out of curiosity?

 

[merrymunky]

OH WOW!

Those are just stunning. You are very talanted.

 

[Rhea]

The paper is really cool. I can''t believe how professional the entire set looks.

 

[lliang_chi]

Wow, those look fantastic!!! Really professional!

 

[tropiqalkiwi]

Date: 5/4/2009 5:53:07 AM
Author: gwendolyn
They look fantastic! Do you know approximately how long it took you to do them (or even just one), out of curiosity?

That''s a good question! Certainly best measured in days rather than hours. I wasn''t really keeping track so I''ll try to break it down and see what I come up with

Cutting the paper took about 3 hours, and I had a friend helping me for that. So maybe more like 4/5 if you were on your own? (this includes all the time I took to figure out the optimal way to cut the paper so to get the most strips out of it.)

Then I laid out the names on my computer so that I could print them out onto the name plates (I fit about 10 per page) and cut those out.....4/5 hours including layout time I think.

Then I assembled the invites....each took around 5 minutes. So that would be 500 minutes, so like 8.5 hours.

So now we are onto the liners. I made a template and cut them each out individually (two at a time didn''t work

) then glued them into the envelope....probably 300 minutes total, or 5 hours.

So that is somewhere around 22-24 total hours. If you had help you could probably get it done in a weekend if you really really wanted to. But this number doesn''t include addressing the envelopes, stamping the reply cards and finally stuffing all of them.

 

[tropiqalkiwi]

Date: 5/4/2009 1:07:11 AM
Author: musey
Everything looks amazing!! I just love a well-done invitation, which this certainly is

And your addressing looks absolutely beautiful. I wish my handwriting had been half that good on our invites!

Thank you so much Musey! And I''m happy to hear you like my handwritting

 

[Dreamgirl]

Very gorgeous!

 

[doodle]

oooooooooohhhhh, they''re so pretty! Love the colors! I wish I had your handwriting, too! I write like a serial killer!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

hahaha me too! I wrote all of my shower TY notes today and I''m really embarrassed to send them out!