Creative Grace: Wedding Invitation Making *Party*

A good friend of mine is about to say *I do* and it's a celebration I can't wait to see as I adore both her and her groom-to-be. This is a second marriage for both of them, so there's not much they need (other than more free time!), so I decided, along with a mutual friend, to give her the gift of wedding invitations!

This has been in the works for a while. Susan, the bride-to-be, was originally inspired by this card I made last April. We had a little get-together a few months ago to make a template and I ordered all of the paper earlier this summer. But... the more I thought about it, the more I eventually got concerned that her postal weight would be over the standard 44 cents/card. I needed to simplify! So I got some inspiration from the fabulous Miss Julie, and worked out a new design. Julie suggested a simple fold that would reduce how much paper is used. It's very clever and is a simple front panel with a pocket on the backside (one paper, one fold, invite on the front, and pocket on the back! Genius!)

back of the invitation on the left, front of the invitation on the right

Now, the only dilemma is I don't have one of those swanky die-cut doohickies to make the beautiful scallop shaped cut on the front white piece (and I couldn't imagine cutting out 70 of those on my slice, I only have so much patience) so I employed the help of the A Muse shop in Seattle, WA to print that piece and cut them for me. Turns out, they do amazing bridal work! Heidi, the heartbeat of A Muse headquarters, was fabulous and made the process simple, even with the 1000+ miles between us. I got the pieces in record time! (LOVE you Heidi!)

I just had to worry about the stamping and coloring!

Oh yeah, and the inserts! :)

Good thing we had a great team to make it happen!

I did the stamping the night before. I knew it would be a long process, so I wanted to get an early start on it.

My partner-in-crime, Sarah, starts the assembly line process with coloring. We knew this was good therapy for her after a busy week, but we learned that it wasn't a good idea to make her laugh while coloring! ;)

Expert measurer, Laura, got a hot date with Carl (that would be Carl, the rotary trimmer). That girl was spitting out more fractions than a 4th grade classroom!

Little Jill (also know as the *dragon whisperer* - my bearded dragon LOVES her) did a fabulous job addressing all of the envelopes, while watching Willie Wonka on my computer, of course.

Susan patiently works the Martha Stewart punch to make the pretty leaf border on the top of the driving directions insert.

For a little assembly therapy we had some yummy food and Mojitos!!!

I had fun the day before making some inspired decorations (like the fan in the previous photo and the hanging paper lanterns in this one).

It's always gratifying to see the finished product.

Thanks to our fabulous team for making it happen!

Project Recipe:

Stamps: blossom branch with bird, cherry blossom (retired) and flower lantern (retired), and cherry blossom flower from the Sushi clear set by A Muse.

Paper: Onyx shimmer couture solid, grass shimmer couture solid, and grass shimmer couture damask by A Muse

Ink: A Muse black dye ink

Copic: roo, g24, Spica Mint

Other: Woodland branch punch by Martha Stewart

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