Hi Everyone!  I’ll be starting my NYIGF recaps later this morning – but first, it’s the ladies of Anti­quaria, back with another fab­u­lous and cre­ative DIY project for you all!  This week they’re here with instruc­tions for a summer-inspired watercolor design for your invi­ta­tions or save the dates!

This week our DIY project is a twist off of our popular post “Hand Watercolored Save the Dates.”  Using watercolor we created an freehand crosshatch effect around the text.  By adding hand painted elements, each card becomes its own unique work of art.  You don’t have to have highly tuned artistic skills to achieve this look, in fact, the more uneven and irregular the lines turn out, the better it looks!  The combination of the watercolor lines and the vintage typewriter text of the stamp reminds us of cheery and picnic-filled days of summer.

Step One: Using a pencil and ruler, grid out 5×5 squares on a pad of watercolor paper.  Ink stamp and press evenly in each square, varying location makes for an even more interesting result.  For this save the date, we used our “Old Typewriter” stamp.

Step Two: With your choice of color, paint vertical lines in uneven and organic stripes, covering each 5×5″ stamped square invitation.  Again, try not to make each too uniform.  Let it dry (watercolors don’t take long).

Step Three: With the same watercolor, go back over each 5×5″ square and the paint horizontal lines.

Step Four: Using your pencil lines as a guide, use a paper cutter or X-acto and self healing mat to trim each save the date into a 5×5″ square.

Step Five: Using double stick tape, mount each 5×5″ square on a 5.5×5.5″ square backer in a coordinating or complementing color.  You’re done!  These are quick and simple, yet make a huge statement!

Materials:

Custom Save the Date Stamp – “Old Typewriter” Save the Date

Watercolor Pad

Pencil & Ruler

Watercolor paint, color(s) of your choice.

Watercolor Brush – Spending a little more on a brush will pay off if you are producing a large quantity of save the dates.  Make sure that the brush you choose won’t lose its bristles.

Paper cutter or x-acto, self healing mat & ruler – Find at your local office supply or hobby store.

5.5×5.5″ square backers – We used moss green

Square Envelope

Photo Cred­its: Antiquaria