Rustic Glam Baby Shower Invitations

I have 2 sister-in-laws.  One of them is getting ready to have a baby!  It's quite the stir around here because she is having a girl - and our family doesn't have girls!  We're a pretty small group but my other sister-in-law and I decided that this definitely warranted a baby shower.  We're loosely going for a rustic glam theme.  Obviously we'll be using pink!  Gold and glitter are also on tap.  Though the invites don't have much of a rustic vibe (at all) they are pink, girly, and glam!

Supplies for this project included textured grey cardstock, gold glitter cardstock, brown kraft envelopes, a corner rounder, gold striped washi tape, scissors, rubber cement, and embossing gun, clear embossing powder, an embossing pen, and a paper cutter.    I had all of the basics at my house but had to purchase the grey and gold papers, rubber cement, envelopes, and clear embossing powder.  The total for all supplies was around $17 at Hobby Lobby. 

Gold glitter envelope liners

I love lining envelopes when I make invitations.  In my mind it just takes the entire 'experience' up a notch.  It's very easy to do.  I'm not making a tutorial of how to do that, it's easy enough to find one on Google.  But basically you use use a piece of spare paper and cut to fit inside of your envelope to make a template.  I lined these envelopes with gold glitter card stock, using rubber cement to secure them.  Tip:  when glueing the liner in place only put glue on the top part of the liner (the piece that lays against the flap of the envelope), this allows for the liner to move as the envelope is folded and prevents accidental bubbling/creasing.  I also sealed the package with a strip of gold striped washi tape.  Love washi tape!

Invites made with a design from Craftberry Bush

Confession:  I ran a little short on time in designing the invites, oops.  I had come up with a few designs but never could settle on one I loved.  I found this free watercolor design on Pinterest and knew it would work perfectly for what I was needing.  I used it for the invites, registry cards and envelope labels.  Done, done and done.

DIY embossed invitations

To bump these invites up a notch I used a textured cardstock (which unfortuantly did not photograph well) and then did some selective embossing on the floral design.  I love embossing for these small projects!

I'll be posting our inspiration board for the shower next week so make sure and stop back by to see what we've got in mind.  Are you guys planning anything lately?  Pinterest has completely changed the way most of us approach our event planning, how much do you use it for your parties?

Pretty papers

I had the camera out photographing my upcoming baby shower invitations (did you see them?) and ended up thumbing through the vase we keep with invitations, thank yous, postcards, programs, etc from our friends & family.  Last year we were sent a couple of really fabulously stylish invitations and today I'm going to share them with you!

I should preface this by saying we had a lot of friends get married last year.  Two of the weddings had a bicycle motif.  Here is Pat & Jenny's invite.  It was really cute.  They also had programs and their thank you cards printed to match.  It really was a treat to recieve!

An obvious favorite from Ms. Sarah.  You saw the invite she designed for me - this one she designed as well! This matched the wedding really well.

Here's the save-the-date from our friends Bunch & Kaitlyn.  Their actual invite was just as cute, but I wasn't able to capture it as well on film (and our copy was really beat up). 

This last one isn't an invite we recieved, but was actually apart of an Event Design Sarah and I just presented to one of our clients for a Retro Rock-n-Roll themed wedding.  We can't take credit for the design at all because it is a free template online actually.  But isn't it cute?

Isn't getting good mail so fun?  That's why I find it so hard to throw away some times!  So if you ever send me something cute, you can feel good knowing that I'm probably going to keep it around for a little while :)

LOOK! SO PRETTY!!!!!!

Did you know that I'm having a baby?  No?  Well I am.  And he's gonna be the cutest dang thing you've ever seen.  Just sayin'.

Sarah is throwing us a baby shower in a month or so and look at the invitation!  She's been scheming behind my back working on what I've now learned is a Breakfast at Tiffany's baby shower theme!  I'm SOOOOOOOO excited!  (notice all of the exclamation points?)  I love that movie and can't wait to see how she pulls it all together.  Isn't this invite one of the most darling things you've ever seen?  What a treat to get in my mailbox!

She designed these herself and I L-O-V-E them!  Here's an up close picture that (hopefully) shows the rhinestone and pearl accents.

Give her some comment love and agree with me that these are SIMPLY MARVELOUS DARLING!

Birthday Invitation Design

As I shared earlier this month I am planning my 11 year old sisters 12th birthday party.  She has requested a smiley face theme which I am turning into a black and yellow affair with smiley & damask accents.

I finished the invitations this morning and I think that they turned out super cute!  So without further adu, here they are:

For these invites I used free Target jewelry boxes which I painted white (I'd recommend finding white boxes, but hey, free is free) and the candies are lemonheads.  I found the damask ribbon and the smiley face foam stickers at Hobby Lobby.  The envelope wraps are by The Fussy Designer which can be found here.  Overall I have to say that I think these turned out just perfect for the occasion!

 

Party Planning 101: Lesson II

Okay so you've got a great theme for your party now what?

It's planning time. Presumably if you've already gotten down your theme you already have a guest list in mind. Now it's time to really nail down the per person guest list. This is the time to account for EVERY man, woman, and child (yeah, kids eat too). After you've got your number now you can can start budgeting how much food is needed, seating, but most importantly you can send out your invitations.

Obviously I really believe that a strong stationary choice can really make a statement about your event (for further comments see below). The invitation sets the tone of your event for your guests. For a small dinner party a phone call is appropriate, but I would always follow it up with another confirmation (via phone, email, or mail). Of course there is always the option of an evite {www.evite.com}. Yes, I've used this method before. My only problem with the evite is that it is so informal and it is so easy for guests to ignore. So if you're going to use the evite keep in mind that you will probably need to make a round of confirmation calls closer to your event.

I am not going to address the proper ways to address invitations in this post, but I will at a later date. If you are in dire need of help in addressing your formal invites please feel free to leave a comment and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

TIP: When you're picking up your invites don't forget to pick up matching thank you cards!

Blue Sugar [Press] Love

One of my current fav designs right now is the chandelier motif. So when I saw these by Etsy seller Vanessa Cavaco I was head over heals!

Vanessa's got ton's of great customizable designs that are available through her etsy shop, Blue Sugar Press {http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5235029}. As an added bonus on all purchases before April 1st, 50% of all proceeds will go to benefit the March of Dimes "Walk for Babies". I had a HORRIBLE time deciding which samples of her stuff to add in here - so check her out yourself - there's a WHOLE lot more where this came from!

Letterpress Love

Today's spotlight is on Dauphine Press {www.dauphinepress.com}, home of custom letterpress wedding inviations, social invites, stationary, and more. Looking through their invites made me wish I was throwing a fancy party soon! I am IN LOVE with these ladies for a formal occasion:


and these for something informal:

Hello! Lucky

In a world of email and evites isn't it nice to get a hand written letter in the mail or an invitation to a party with a stamp on it? Maybe it's just me and maybe I'm just being old fashioned, but I adore getting mail (as long as it doesn't have a fake plastic card enclosed!). Whenever you are hosting a party or other get together the first notification to your guests of such event is the invitation. The invitation is a crucial piece because it sets the tone for the entire event. If the invite is an letterpress ecru card then it tells your guests that it will be a more formal event, if the invite is colorful with whimsical pattern then guests will know to expect a more casual affair. Posted invitations also tell your guests that you are planning in advance - and you expect a response. Although my husband often rolls his eyes at me when I tell him I'm sending out invitations instead of the now common e-vite, I stick by my guns - invitations are important! Because of this I have decided over the course of my next several posts to feature different companies of clever persuasion.

I am very lucky in the fact that I came across Hello! Lucky. {www.hellolucky.com} They have custom and preprinted letterpress inviations and other stationary, gifts, and giftwrap for a whimsical take on regular events or formal affairs. Below are some of my personal favorites: