Search Results for: invitations

DIY “Little Blue Box” Inspired Rubber Stamp Wedding Invitations

It’s the ladies of Anti­quaria, back with another cre­ative DIY project for you!  Today they’re sharing a wedding invitation tutorial inspired by the signature blue color of Tiffany & Co.

Have you ever felt the rush of excitement when a special friend, spouse, or loved one presents you with a gift packaged in the little blue box?  This wedding invitation suite was designed to elicit that feeling when your guest receives it in the mail.  Imagine their excitement when this feminine and traditional invitation finds its way into their mailbox.  This DIY is fairly simple yet the colors and packaging tie the whole thing together and give it a feeling of luxury.

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Step One: Cut your paper to size A6 (4.5″x6.25″).  Since this is a luxurious suite, we would suggest a thick high quality cotton watercolor paper.  Ink your stamp (we used our Vintage Calligraphy Invitation Stamp) thoroughly and center it over your card.  Press down moderately to make the print.  Too hard, the image may be blurry and too light and it may be splotchy.  Let dry.

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Step Two: In a similar fashion to printing the Invitation piece, you will now print the reply card.  For this piece, you will want to cut a 4bar (3.5″x5″) card out of the same paper used for the invitation.  Again, ink your stamp (we used our Vintage Calligraphy Reply Card stamp) thoroughly and make the print.  Let dry.

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Step Three: Using your return address stamp (we used our Calligraphy Accent Return Address stamp), stamp both the back flap of your A7 envelope and the front of your 4bar envelope.  This is such a great place to pinch pennies in your stationery budget as you are able to use one stamp for both envelopes and you will have it to use after the event is over!

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Step Four: To add a little extra flourish to the suite, we’ve used regular round doilies as an envelope liner.  We love the way that the aqua peeks through the lace and think it would be so fun to be the recipient and have this surprise await us once the seal was broken.  To install the doily liners, you will use spray adhesive.  Make sure to do this outside (or in an extremely well ventilated room).  Spray the back of the doily with a light mist of adhesive.  Slide the doily into the envelope, making sure not to press until the doily is placed in its intended spot (as shown above).  Let them dry & cure overnight.

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Step Five:  Use a thin ribbon to tie the suite together.  This will keep the components together and give your guest the thrill of “unwrapping” your invitation.

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Materials

Stamps:

Vintage Calligraphy Invitation stamp

Vintage Calligraphy Reply Card stamp

Calligraphy Accent Return Address stamp

Stamp Pad (we used black)

Heavy Watercolor Paper (for invitations & reply cards)

A6 Envelopes

4bar Envelopes

Ribbon, 1/8″ thickness

6″ Medallion Lace Paper Doilies

Spray Adhesive

Photo Credits: Antiquaria

Marcus + Jillian’s Whimsical Kraft Paper Letterpress Wedding Invitations

I love the whimsical design elements and natural color palette in these kraft paper wedding invitations, sent over by Matthew from A Fine Press.  Designed by Laura Helm of Ashton Events, the invitation features hand drawn illustrations and hand lettering – all letterpress printed in soft white and gold by Matthew – and accompanied by navy and lavender envelopes for a fun pop of color.

From Matthew: We did a tone-on-tone theme for these invitations, using a transparent white ink for the return address, a shimmery lavender ink for the RSVP envelopes, and white and gold inks for the invitation and RSVP.  The whole invitation was printed on French Paper (Muscletone 140# kraft paper, Construction nightshift blue A7 envelopes, and Pop-Tone grapesicle 4-bar envelopes).

This is a great example of the compatibility between letterpress printing and  hand-drawn illustrations.  Laura created the illustrations in black ink on white paper, at which point they were scanned and sent for platemaking. 

Thanks Matthew!

Design: Ashton Events

Letterpress Printing: A Fine Press

Check out the Designer Rolodex for more tal­ented wed­ding invi­ta­tion design­ers and the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Matthew R Photography

p.s. Don’t forget to enter the save the date giveaway from Delphine!  Check out details right here!

Kate + Rob’s Sea Creature Letterpress Wedding Invitations

Kseniya from Thomas Printers sent over this totally adorable wedding invitation for an upcoming beach wedding in New Zealand.  Designed by Katie from Rocket Ink, the invitation features a four-color illustration of native New Zealand marine life on one side and text on the other, along with a reception card and other enclosures.  So pretty!

From the bride, Kate: We will be married on New Zealand’s northern west coast overlooking a black sand beach – it’s one of my favourite stretches of beach and such a magical place.  We both love the ocean and wanted an ocean theme to our wedding.   Rob and I are both advertising creatives (copywriters) so doing some lovely artwork was really important to us; our invitations include illustrations of native New Zealand marine life.

From the designer, Katie Gastley of Rocket Ink:  Kate and Rob wanted to incorporate indigenous creatures into their wedding invitations.  I did a lot of research on the typical New Zealand wildlife and illustrated them throughout their pieces.  This particular design was definitely a pet project!

From Kseniya of Thomas Printers:  This invitation is almost like a book jacket illustration, with the beautiful underwater scene on one side and all the wedding details on the other.  The four colors of the design are so harmonious together: bright and cheerful without being overpowering.

The jellyfish was my favorite; I loved his delicate tentacles and beautiful brown-black color.  Katie and her client wanted a very substantial paper, so we used 220# cotton Lettra in a warm ecru, which was heavy enough that the letterpress impression could be palpable on both sides. 

Thanks Kseniya!

Design: Rocket Ink

Letterpress Printing: Thomas Printers

Check out the Designer Rolodex for more tal­ented wed­ding invi­ta­tion design­ers and the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Rocket Ink

*Thomas Printers is one of my fab­u­lous spon­sors; for more on my edi­to­r­ial poli­cies please click here.

Printable Papel Picado Wedding Invitations from EM Papers

It’s always so fun to hear the story of how a designer was inspired to create a particular design.  Today, Eleanor from EM Papers is sharing the story behind one of her printable wedding invitation designs – a gorgeous red and white invitation suite inspired by the traditional Mexican folk art known as papel picado.  I love the bold red and white color palette and hand drawn motifs!

From Eleanor: Several years ago, when she turned 30, my sister decided to throw herself a ‘Treintañera’ since she had never had a Quinceañera.  I designed the invitations for her, using traditional design elements found in papel picado and native Mexican folk art motifs, and my dad printed them letterpress. I later turned the invitation into a blank card but always felt that the design was ripe to be extended into a full wedding suite.

One of the challenges when designing my download and print wedding stationery, is that I have to anticipate all of the constraints my customers might have.  For example, not everyone has a home printer than can do borderless printing, so I don’t use full bleeds on items like programs and table numbers.  This design had so many little elements, like the hand drawn lines and sun/starburst figure that it was easy to pick them up throughout the line and keep the whole suite coherent.

Thanks Eleanor!

EM Papers is a member of the Designer Rolodex – you can see more of Eleanor’s beautiful work right here or visit the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: EM Papers

*EM Papers is one of my fab­u­lous spon­sors; for more on my edi­to­r­ial poli­cies please click here.

 

{happy weekend!}

In all the hubbub of Alt last week, I kind of forgot about an important personal milestone – the anniversary of my husband’s deployment to Iraq.  He’s now been home as long as he was deployed, but I still wake up every day feeling grateful that he’s here.  Everything felt so chaotic and overwhelming this time last year; a feeling that continued up until the day he came home.  So if you know of anyone with a spouse or family member deployed overseas, give them a few extra hugs – I’m sure they would appreciate it.  I’m looking forward to enjoying a weekend here in DC before heading up to NYC on Sunday for the New York International Gift Fair and to help judge the 2012 Louie Awards.  But in the meantime…

…a few links for your weekend!

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

A big welcome to the newest Designer Rolodex members!

As usual, we have a fun cocktail coming up for you this afternoon, so check back a bit later for the recipe!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you back here on Monday with some favorite finds from the Gift Fair! xoxo

Photo Credit: Madelene Lindqvist