Making your own invitations can serve many functions. Making handmade invitations allows you to:
- Save money - making invitations at home is often cheaper than buying invitations
- Custom and personal - handmade invitations can be completely customized and personalized
- Keepsakes - making invitations can be a great way to produce beautiful keepsakes that will be treasured
While the idea of making invitations may sound like fun, the reality of producing tens or even hundreds of invitations could be a completely different matter! Follow these top tips to make your invitation making experience stress free!
Invitation Design
Kate PullenAt the heart of every invitation project is the design. Whether the invitations are for a wedding, shower, family celebration or any other occasion, getting the design right will help to make the rest of the process straight forward. Key things to consider are:
- Complexity of the design - a very complex design that is made up from lots of individual elements will be time consuming to make and could also prove comparatively costly
- Sketching out designs and making some mock-ups can be time well spent
- Posting invitations - if the invitations are to be posted then remember that they will need to fit in envelopes and not have elements that could be squashed or damaged (although alternatives such as postal tubes or boxes could be considered)
Providing Information
When you are planning to make invitations, remember that the key purpose of an invitation is to provide key information, such as the date of the celebration, where it is to be held, the time of the celebration and any other important information. Make sure that there is plenty of room in the invitation to show this information clearly. If necessary, some or all the important information could be written on an insert or added to an information pack. If an RSVP is required then you could consider putting a pre-printed card in with the invitation.
Futher Reading
Card Stock
Kate PullenInvitations are likely to be made from card stock. Sheets of card stock are available in many colors and sizes. Card blanks are an alternative to buying sheets of card stock. These are pieces of card stock that have been trimmed and folded ready for decorating. Working out the number of invitations required - and adding a few extra to allow for any that get spoiled in the making process - and using this figure in conjunction with the invitation measurements will help you work out the most cost effective way to buy card stock. Remember, if the invitations are to be folded in half then the amount of card stock required is double the finished invitation size!
More Reading: Rubber Stamps
Kate PullenRubber stamps are perfect for making invitations. There are a wide variety of different types of rubber stamp available which means that there is likely to be a rubber stamp suitable for almost all occasions. In addition to ready made rubber stamps, it is also possible to personalize and customize rubber stamp designs. Another option is to design your own stamp. This is ideal for occasions where you are looking for something completely different. Rubber stamps can be used to stamp images over and over again, and therefore can be used to stamp other items such as favors or thank you cards.
Further Reading Professional Finish
Kate PullenHandmade invitations needn't look like they've been cobbled together in a rush. A few simple techniques can help to give a professional finish to your invitations without losing that all important handmade touch. One of the most important steps that you can take - and one that is often over looked - is to ensure that you have a clean and crisp fold along the edge of your invitation. Other techniques that can give a great finish to invitations includes heat embossing.
Further Reading Go Digital
Kate PullenDigital crafting is becoming increasingly popular and digital stamps are widely available. Unlike traditional stamps that need to be physically stamped onto a page using ink, digital stamps are downloaded and printed using a computer and printer. There are a wide variety of digital stamps available and many independent stamp designers are offering their stamps this way and this means that there are many unusual and different designs available. Digital stamps can be a good way to save time when you are making a large number of invitations. The images can be colored and decorated in the same way as traditional stamped images.
Further Reading Look for Time Saving Options
Kate PullenWhen you are making a number of invitations don't forget that there are many ways to save time without compromising on the quality of your cards. Adding text by hand, for instance, can be time consuming and adding lots of detail to a card can be a bit time investment. Time can be saved by making smart use of some of the many options available to you, such as printing text, using printable invitation templates or using ready made embellishments to add detail to the invitations.
Further Reading Share Your Invitation Making Tips!
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