Invitation Pocket folds Part 4

How was your weekend?

We had a very lazy weekend, which was very much needed!  Yesterday afternoon me and my Mom spent an hour or so trimming the day invitations and sticking them to the inside of the pocket folds.

The next step is to cut out the hotel information, directions and RSVP's that slot in to the pocket fold,  glue tiny flat backed pearls in to the swirl design, and then create the band that goes around the outside.

It's nice to see them all taking shape and looking a little more like the finished article!

If you're interested you can also read about part 1, part 2 and part 3 of operation pocket fold invitation.

An Evening of Invitation Making

The other evening when Suzie and Hayley came round to help make up our wedding invitations we made a little video.

An Evening of Invitation Making from Laura Francis on Vimeo.

I love the cameo from my dad!

Thank you Suzie, Hayley and Mom for all your help.  Big kisses to Has who helped me edit the video (disclaimer: It was my shaky and inexperienced hand holding the camera for the close ups not the boy with the degree in video production!)

Music is the Banana Splits by the Dickies.

Evening Invitations

Even though our day invitations are not yet finished, I've made a start on our evening invites.  I wanted to keep them as simple as possible.

I've carried over the purple swirls and created a document just shy of A5.  I shall print them out on the same ivory pearl paper as the day invitations and back them with a lilac pearl card.

What do you think? Also my next question is... Should I include a map and directions in with the evening invites?

Invitation Pocket folds Part 3

This was the scene from last night

Ribbon, double sided tape, circle punches and purple card can only mean one thing...   Part 3 of operation pocket fold invitation was under way.

After ensuring the troops (Mom, Hayley and Suzie) were fed and supplied with tea we started the task of attaching the purple ribbon to the border of the flap.

Using 3mm double sided tape I had bought from eBay, we lined the edge.

The carefully stuck the ribbon down.  In our testing stages we had done this using two pieces of ribbon.  Suzie suggested we try doing it using one long piece with a tiny fold in the middle.

It looked a lot neater and has reduced the risk of the ribbon fraying in the middle.

We also punched out the circles for the band that goes around the outside.

The circles punched out are smaller than the one we used on our mock up, (as modelled by Hayley!) so we are struggling to find a way to attach the ribbon.

Instead of rushing into anything it was decided we would leave that part until we could find the best way of achieving the look I want.

So, these are invitations at the end of part 3.  Thank you Mom, Suzie and Hayley for all your help x

If you're interested you can also read about part 1 and part 2 of operation pocket fold invitation.

Monday Morning Shopping

Morning!

It's not even 11am and I've been busy!  Me and my friend eBay have been getting on very well this morning... Mr Bank Account shouldn't be too angry with me....

I found a lilac shrug for £10 with free postage.  It's from the same seller who Suzie bought our bridesmaids' shrugs from.  They are really soft and I thought it would be nice to try it on with my dress.  If I don't like it or it doesn't look right I can always buy an extra 2 for the bridesmaids to wear.

I also bought a round circle punch for doing our invitations.  I've seen them in the shops for over £10 the one I bought from eBay cost me £5 and does exactly the same job!

I'm hoping the punch will arrive soon so I can arrange a night with the girlies to get punching, sticking, cutting and threading!

Next on the shopping list is card, purple card. eBay can you help me?!

CAUTION: Idea in progress!

Inspired by Martha, I've had an idea for our Order of Service which may cause my bridesmaids to hate me!  I guess when they signed up to be my maids they didn't read the small print*

*May have to cut out 160 Chrysler Building's.

Sorry girls!

Invitation Pocket folds Part 2

After my design meltdown last week, I think, think! I may have settled on the final design for our invitations...

This is our test pocket fold so it's looking a bit tatty now.  I need to find a way of attaching the pearl heart (I've used a sticky dot to secure it for now)

The ribbon is a lot more purple in real life, you can't really see but there is also a purple trim on the edge of the envelope flap.

So what do you think?  I'd love to hear your opinions and suggestions!

Invitation Pocket folds Part 1

Last night Hayley came round to help us make a start on the invitations.

We're going to take it a stage at a time, so not to rush them.  It doesn't seem like such a big task either when you take slowly.

Last night the objective was to take the pocket folds, emboss them with little hearts and then fold and stick them together so they're ready for the outer decoration.

40 purple pocket fold envelopes.

Craft head quarters... note the tea and biscuits!  

(Can you see my Christmas present from Suzie?  My "I ♥ Spreadsheets" mug!)

Chief embosser Hayley marked out two little hearts on each invitation.

Whilst me (when I wasn't snapping photos) and Mom applied sticky dots to the flaps....

...and pressed down firmly.  The rest of the creases were then folded to make up the invitation.

Between slurping tea, monching biscuits and nattering it took us about an hour to do all 40 invites.  We then spent another hour and a half discussing what to do with the outside of the envelope.

I'm completely stumped.  Nothing I try wow's me.  It's getting to me a bit now, I totally love the inside of our invitations but I can't make the outside look as good.  So today in between work I shall be searching the internet for inspiration...  any suggestions/ideas are welcome!

My Problem Is...

I keep thinking up new DIY projects to take on before the wedding.

I was speaking to Hayley yesterday and she said to lower the risk of the last minute cutting sticking and painting panic we should tackle a DIY project every month.  Last night I made a quick list of projects I had planned and I clocked up 10.

1. Invitations Day
2. Invitations Evening
3. Order of service
4. Favour boxes
5. Table names photos & frames
6. Place names
7. Chalkboard menus
8. Table plan
9. Sweet table signs
10. Children's gift packs

We have 9 months, 2 weeks until the wedding... We best get cracking!  I have a feeling, come the summer this is what we'll be doing most weekends!

Me and Hayley making our save the dates

The question is, have I taken on too much!?

Save the Date

This weekend with Hayley's help I managed to complete the Save the Dates.

We started by cutting out all the invites and the A4 pearlescent purple card into quarters.  Hayley then embossed a heart on the back of the card, whilst I stuck down the invites.
We put the magnets in little envelopes and wrote "Remember, Remember the Fifth of November..." on the front.  It only took us a few hours once we go into the swing of it.

And here they are all ready to be sent out!

On Your Marks, Get Set...

GO!  Make Invites!

On Friday I ordered all the bits I need to make up our invitations.  Here's what 40 A5 unfolded invite wallets, 40 envelopes and 40 hours of work look like...

Anyone free for folding, sticking and embossing?  I'll pay you in tea and Haribo!?

Signature Squares

The other weekend Hayley came round to help out with ideas for the outer wallet of our invites.

We sat at the dining room table eating copious amounts of treats, (could explain why it was a maintain that week!) sticking, cutting and embossing, trying to find something that looked good.

Hayley came up with a fab idea that I loved, and I've now added a little something to it.  I ordered extra ribbon from eBay and did the first set of mock ups last night.

What do you think?

Idea 1

Idea 2

Idea 3

The organza ribbon I bought is a pain to work with, so I may have to find a different type, failing that I could palm that job off to someone else! ;)

I took a picture of all three signature squares

Obviously these are only very rough as I just wanted to see what it would look like.  I shall be backing the signature squares onto darker purple card and will probably print the squares themselves on the same pearlised paper I've used for the inside invitation sheets.

I can't really decide which one looks best though.  I do have a slight favourite but it would be interesting to see which one is your favourite...

So Idea 1, 2 or 3?

I've added a poll, oh it's just like X Factor!!

Map Happy

I wasn't going to include a map with my invitations. Nailcote Hall is in the middle of nowhere so it was going to be hard to scale a map to show the details of the country lanes around the hotel and where it was in comparison to the M42.

I have written down a series of directions for people and I know most guests will be using a Sat Nav, but the more I thought about it the more I really wanted to include a map. I spent most of the afternoon yesterday drawing this up to go on the back of the directions.

I'm quite happy with this!

I ♥ Embossing!

It all started a good few months ago when I saw an invitation in a wedding magazine.  Parts of the swirly design was raised and I thought it looked amazing!  Realising this had been professionally printed and embossed I sighed and sulked, this was a look I could never achieve, right?

Then last week I saw a Real Life Wedding post on one of my favourite blogs and the couple had embossed a lot of their stationery.

from here

I showed Suzie, telling her how much I loved it.  Suzie then quickly set about sending me links to all this different embossing equipment. What? I can actually do this myself?  I read a quick tutorial and realised this wasn't as hard as I had first thought it would be!

So off I went armed with my embossing guru (Suzie) to Hobby Crafts and came away with everything I would need to have a go myself!

Here are my efforts

I love the effect of embossing, it's so cute!

I found these examples too, which I think look fabulous!

from here

Look at the map!

from here

I'm definitely loving having something in a circle shape, maybe I've just found my outer wallet decoration?

Another effect I saw and LOVED!  But seems even more unachievable than the embossing!

from here

Amazing!

Remember, remember the 5th of November...

Because we are getting married!!

So the 1 year countdown is fast approaching and there are a few things that need to be sorted out.  For one we need to send out our Save the Dates.

This was actually one of the first things I did after getting engaged.  I designed our Save the Dates to be printed on to a magnet.  I used Vista Print who were offering a really good deal of 25 free magnets (I actually brought 50... I'm not sure what I was thinking?  So if you get more than 1 magnet, you know why!)

These are the magnets.

I have also designed something to go with them.  It has our website on there so our friends can look up accommodation details and it also allows me to address the Save the Dates so not confuse who is invited.  Because I was so proud of my New York skyline design I decided to use it in this.  What do you think?

When Has comes home from India, we'll start to send these out!

Only 22 days to go! :)

Envelope Envy No More!

After seeing those gorgeous envelope liners yesterday I searched online (with Suzie's help!) for fab and funky papers I could use.
Not really seeing anything I loved I thought I'd put my graphics skills to good use and create my own...

Hope you like it!!

Without invite

With invite

They were really easy to do.  I printed the design so it was slightly smaller than my envelope.    Then put it in the envelope so I knew it fit properly, marked around the top flap and trimmed with scissors. I made sure I cut it so it didn't cover the sticky part too.  

I think I will probably buy nicer looking envelopes as these are quite thin.  Over all I'm really pleased! Yay!

Envelope Envy

from here

I am in love with this idea, I think it might be a fab way to brighten up my envelopes.  I am just unsure as to whether to design my own paper or source it.  I'm having hard time finding any backing paper I like on the internet.

They seem quite easy to make, I found these instructions from the Guardian website.  May as well have a go!

Do me a favour!

Most bridal magazines you read will suggest “DIY-ing” as a way to save money, I on the other hand want to DIY because that’s what I enjoy. I’ve already made a start on the invitations and another thing I wanted to do myself was the favours.

My initial idea was to buy chocolates from New York, but quickly changed my mind. I wasn’t sure they’d survive the plane journey and to be honest most American chocolate is just a bit gross! I still wanted to continue the New York theme over to the favours so I designed my own wrappers! I’ve decided to bulk buy delicious Green & Blacks miniature chocolates and wrap them (with the help of my wonderful bridesmaids and mommy!) in these.

The ladies will have their chocolates presented in these.

And the men will have theirs in these.

They are flat packed boxes which need to be assembled and decorated.

I really lucked out with the children’s favours, I found these adorable jars in Confetti at a bargain price. They were heavily reduced because the jelly beans that were inside were coming to the end of their shelf life. I intend to fill them with either jelly sweets or chocolates like smarties.

I also had a go at making my own wine charms, hopefully I can get the staff at Nailcote to attach them to people’s glasses, else I’m going to have to pop them in the bags. I managed to make around 90 of these charms in a few hours. It was actually quite relaxing!

Let's get quizzical!

I absolutely love this from Pretty Wild, it's a table quiz card.


It would be super easy to make, we could do ours to include questions about New York, films and music... all things Has and I love!

i.e, Name the film Bill Murray shouts "Nobody steps on a church in my town!" at a giant Marshmallow Man?

Answers on a postcard...!

Stationery Stress

From the word go I knew I wanted to make my own wedding invitations. As a hobby I make cards and I work as a graphic designer. I’m very critical of my own work and have high expectations. I feel like people will also be expecting something great considering my background and I want people to be “wowed!”

I started of by searching for styles I like and came across these.



I have experimented with a few designs, I like the swirls and the wallets I can slot extra information into. So far i’m 99% sure I have the wallet and inside swirl design I like, but I’m still looking for inspiration for the outside.

I’ve used a Pearlescent A6 pocketfold wallet in “Morphing Mauve” from PDA Card & Craft and ivory pearlescent card from Staples to print the design on to.

This is the layout of the invitation

The main part of the invitation will sit at the top and the extra information such as directions and RSVP will slot into the bottom.

After 6 different designs, 3 different styles of wallets I think I may have finally found an invite I like!

I intend to place tiny flat backed pearl in between the swirls and perhaps use them on the front design as well.