Crafting Some Fabulous Invitations!

Lydia finishes up preschool this week. Suddenly I realized that if she wanted to invite any of her school friends to her birthday party, we had to give the invitations to her teacher early this week.

In the past, I have done a lot of photoshopped Images and fonts on invitations. I tend to obsess over that sort of thing and spend WAY to long on small details. ( you can see the Alice in Wonderland Tea for Two invite that took FOREVER here) This year I only had a weekend!

Here is where I started. I found these zebra cards on half price back in September, so I've had a little time to think about it. At the time 50 seemed like a lot. Suddenly, I am struck with the idea that if we invite ANY preschool kids, we need to invite the WHOLE class. So that's 26 or so kids plus the 25 or so invitations we usually send out. Plus I like to keep one for the scrapbook. Plus I always have a few that get ruined in my printer. Thankfully, the zebra card was printed the same on the front and the back. For the preschool invites, I cut the cards in half and made the design on the front and on the back. The cards for family and friends can still be the full card style with the design on the inside and on the outside. Problem solved!

Next, I needed to design the inside.  I did a quick google image search for pink and black invitations and found the basic layout.  I pretty much "borrowed" the idea on the right with a few changes.  I am usually much more responsible about not just copying something, but making it my own creation.  No time for that this year, but I promise to be better about intellectual property and copy write and all that in the future.  I did alter the design some, by getting rid of the zebra print (we already had plenty on the outside of the card) and making it horizontal instead of vertical.  I erased everything inside the pink border and made that my own.  I asked Lydia about the graphic and she chose the Eiffel Tower (or tower of Paris as she calls it).  I was really happy with the fun and funky illustration that we found of the tower.

Then I google image searched fabulous party and glamorous party invitations to study different wording ideas.  I think I also searched "four invitation" and finally found one that listed several things that would be at the party and then rhymed "and more" with "four".  I wanted to give guests an idea of what to expect so I thought that was perfect!  Our card says, "Get ready to be fabulous with glitter, feathers, and more! It's time for a glamorous party, because Lydia is turning four!"

With the inside finished, it was time to decorate the outside. When I first saw the zebra cards back in the fall, I had the idea of doing something with adding pink details to teh front of the card.  Eventually the idea emerged to use a number four and the theme of the party, "four and fabulous". Then I saw some invitations on Pinterest that had feathers in the envelopes. I had some white feathers left over from a long time ago (so long I can't even remember what I used them on) and some thin peacock feathers that I bought at a fishing supply place and had never used. Everything else was made with my printer, some scrapbook paper, and a few Stampin' Up punches.

The biggest issue at that point was that I had to wait until Sunday morning to confirm the date on the church calendar (we benefit from free use of a large parish hall with an industrial sized kitchen). I knew I didn't have time during Sunday's nap to make EVERYTHING, so I did a little assembly line on Friday and Saturday to put together as much as I could before running the cards through the printer.

You can see the process above.  I discovered that it I pulled the peacock feathers through my fingernails, they curled on the ends, so I obsessed over those a little longer than necessary.  The number four was glued on top of the feathers so it stands out and adds a little extra dimension.  I'm glad I printed it all on card stock, so it was sturdy enough to do that.  Here is one of the finished cards.  (The preschool cards have been sent but it will take me a little longer to get all the rest finished, addressed, and mailed) I need to get busy on the rest, but for now I am just basking in how MARVELOUS they look!