Wedding Series: Save the Dates & Invitations

 

Hi bloggers, today I am starting the Wedding Series on the blog, which will be a series of inspirational posts of different ideas and creations from both the Wedding and the Hen Party. So let's get started today with the Save the Dates and Wedding Invitations as that is a starting point for most couples once they have set a date.

For the Save the Date my sister wanted me to design a ticket postcard including the basic information (most importantly the date!) with a vintage style to the ticket. I designed the ticket on the computer and matched the size of the design to a ticket die cut (Memory Box) that I had in my craft stash which helped give the design its rounded corners with the punched out semi-circles on the side. If you don't have access to a die cut you could also use a circle punch and corner punch to create this effect. This design could also be enhanced with some extra aging effects by adding some distress ink or by roughing up the edges. The design could also be foiled as well if you have access to a foiling machine.

Now for the main invitation.....

The main invitation consisted of two parts:- the main card wrapped with doilies that outlined the essential details of the day including the names, date, time and venue details. This was also wrapped withe the RSVP tag. The second part of the invitation was a Pocket Envelope which included extra instructions, e.g. maps and directions, plus details on wedding gifts.

 

 

Once again I designed most of the invitation on the computer and used a doily die cut (Cheery Lynn) to wrap around the card.

 

I created the template for the pocket envelope on the computer and printed it on textured Kraft cardstock. I also designed the maps on the computer as well, including small icons to denote the wedding venue and parking facilities. Designing your own maps can be fiddly but I recommend using the pen function on your design software and trace over a map to get the basic shape right and then add arrows and instructions to clarify how to get from A to B. I also included a 3x4 card with instructions on Wedding Gifts. Since Joanne and Ben already live together and have most of the household items they need they wanted to request a contribution to their honeymoon - therefore we came up with a little ditty that instructed guests perfectly........

"We know its traditional to write a list,

But in this case there is a slight twist,

Our house is styled nice and pretty,

So we ask you donate to the honeymoon kitty,

But the most important thing to say,

Is that you are there to celebrate our day"

There are lots of websites to help you write such poems as the one above and in this case we used a combination of poems to come up with this one. The two lines in the middle are our own though - which we are quite proud of!

Making your own invitations can be quite time consuming but it is very rewarding and I think it is one of those occasions where we all want to get creative. It can also be an effective way of keeping costs down especially if you are on a budget. 

That being said I have been thinking about venturing into the Wedding Invitation industry so if you have liked what you have seen in this blog post, please feel free to get in touch and I would happily give you a quote for designing some wedding invitations for you, whether that be just Save the Date cards or main invitations or to talk about ideas.

Stay tuned on the blog for more posts in the Wedding Series including Hen Party ideas, venue decorations, bouquet design and more!

Congratulations Mr & Mrs Howick

 

Hi bloggers, this week has been an extra special week and has been the reason why I have seemed to have abandoned the blog quite a lot lately. This week my sister got married to the love of her life whom she had been with for 11 years to that day. It was such a beautiful day and was graciously accepted after several days of wind and rain; the clouds cleared and the sun came out to celebrate such a glorious occasion.

My sister looked absolutely stunning in her wedding gown and I was quite surprised that neither of us got emotional as she walked down the aisle. As you can imagine myself and my mum have been busy for the past 6 months planning and prepping the wedding from Save the Dates to the main invitations, venue decorations and bouquet assembling. Of course we want to share all of our creativeness with you bloggers so this is going to be the start of a Wedding series on the blog, going through each and every detail to perhaps inspire you for a wedding coming your way in the near future.

We couldn't be happier for Joanne and Ben and we both wish them a lifetime of happiness! Stay tuned for our wedding series on the blog and please feel free to leave your comments of what you like or if you want any further information about anything we've used.

Congratulations Mr and Mrs Howick!

Vintage Bazaar at Frome

 

Hi bloggers, we have had such a wonderful spontaneous day today that it reminded me why I started this blog, to share with you our love of Vintage and bargain hunting! Today we decided to take a spontaneous trip to Frome in Somerset to attend their Vintage Bazaar and Giant Jumble sale at the Cheese & Grain. A few weeks back we were debating taking an overnight trip to Somerset to go to the event but we never got round to finalising the plans. So on Friday evening we decided to take the drive (3 hours!) on Saturday morning so we could top up our stash of vintage loveliness and from the picture above you can probably guess that it was well worth it!

 

The Cheese & Grain in Frome, Somerset

The Cheese & Grain is a wonderful venue, with a great big hall with plenty of room to stack those piles high with lace, fabrics, crockery and bric-a- brac.

So let's take a closer look at what we bought......

 

We got a great big bag of broken pearl necklaces for £6, perfect for our crafty projects. Some even still have the old vintage clasps on as well - lots of potential!

 

 

 These beautiful postcards were a must, once again I see lots of uses for these gorgeous girls!

 

Buttons, lace and books....

 

lots more books! 

These books are actually coming in handy for a very special occasion coming up soon... my sister's wedding. These books will be taking centre stage in the middle of the tables, topped with a can of flowers and a Paris postcard. Keep an eye out for my wedding inspiration posts coming up over the next month as I will have lots to share with you!

 

We got this stack of mis-matched vintage crockery for a rock bottom £3 - great value - perfect for summer tea parties!

 

lots of lovely lace....

 

 

With our arms crammed full of bags, we thought it would be wise to head back to the car to unload and then take a stroll around the town centre of Frome. We got a tip off from one of the stallholders that there was a street called 'Catherine Hill' (no lie about the hill - it was steep!) which is full of vintage shops and no kidding, I don't think I've ever seen that many vintage shops lined up one after the other.

 

 Catherine Hill Street

 

I think my favourite out of them all had to be 'Donna May Vintage' which was laid out beautifully with vintage clothing and accessories with a wedding boudoir at the back of the shop. Mum described it as an old fashioned Biba shop, definitely one to check out if you're in the area.

So all in all a fabulous day, even if it was a 6 hour round trip, sometimes you just have to be spontaneous!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vintage Cardmaking Workshop Summary

 

Hi bloggers, its been a while since our last post which was all about our Vintage Cardmaking Workshop and now two workshops later I want to suumarise it all in one blog post. First of all I just want to thank everyone that attended on either class or both! We appreciate your support so much and will continue to teach these classes as long as you all want to continue to attend.

So as usual we prep all the kits to make the class as easy as possible and more importantly as relaxing as possible!

 

Getting stuck in....

 

 

 The haberdashery kits were all quite unique due to the variety of the papers in the Tonic Studios paper pack that I used, compared to the Paris kit where most of the cards used the same papers. I took a few photos of the results of the day so you can see the variety amongst some of the cards (please excuse the photos this time round....not as professional as one would have hoped.... but still you get the idea).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 So as you can see from the results, everyone did amazingly well with some beautiful cards to give to friends and family. Although I know most of those that attended want to keep the cards for themselves and I don't blame them!

If you fancy attending a Vintage Follie workshop, keep an eye on our Workshops page for the next workshop coming your way soon!

Vintage Paris Cards

 

Hi bloggers, I wanted to share with you the Paris cards I have been working on over the past few weeks ready for our next workshop in April, so if you are attending and have chosen the Paris theme, you're in for a little treat. The image above shows what the 3D Pop Up Box will look like, there's an even closer view below....

 

Next up is the Gatefold card we will be making, I initially showed an example in the original post, however I have tweaked the design a bit to include a vintage image of Paris.....

 

Finally I have an accordian card to share with you, the papers are a little different as I needed to use thicker cardstock so the card isn't too flimsy! Take a look....

 

The April Cardmaking class is now sold out but I'm sure I will be hosting another cardmaking class in the future, perhaps some vintage Christmas cards??? I look forward to seeing those of you who are attending in April and I hope to be designing a new workshop project soon for those who haven't been able to make this workshop in April.

 

 

Published as a Designer

Hi bloggers, today I wanted to share with you some exciting news about some recent publications that I have been featured in, in association with Crafts U Love. The first of the two magazines is Creative Stamping...

This is the cover for Issue 23 which is currently in retail stores and is the magazine that my work has been featured in. For this entry I had to use a new range of Joy! Crafts stamps which as you may see from the pictures are quite versatile to use on a range of cards. I'm only going to give you a brief insight in hope that it will spur you on to buy the magazine!

The next magazine I have been featured in this month is Diecutting Essentials....

You will find my work at the back of the magazine (literally the last few pages) which is a 5 page spread on baby cards using Marianne Design dies. Again there are just so many different styles of cards you can make using these dies as you will see from my brief insight below... from Christening to 1st Birthdays....

If you're interested in buying either of these magazines or the stamps and dies that I have used then please visit Crafts U Love.

It's been such a privilege to be featured in these magazines and hopefully there will be more features in the future.

I just wanted to finish this post by saying this is my 200th post, can't believe I've reached that landmark already and to be writing about being featured in a magazine on this special occasion. Here's to another 200 posts!

Vintage Cardmaking Workshop

Cardmaking just got interesting! Hi bloggers, we are excited to announce our next workshop coming up in April which will involve making three styles of cards with a vintage theme, of course!

You will be able to choose from two themes including Vintage Haberdashery or Vintage Paris. All the cards pictured in the advert above are from the Vintage Haberdashery theme which you will be able to see a bit closer below....

 

If you've never made a pop up box card you are going to love this! Lots of layers to build the most amazing card that will fold flat so you can easily pop it in an envelope and gift to your favourite person!

 

This Gatefold card will feature a beautiful vintage lady on the inside and displays beautifully so you can see all the elements both inside and outside the card.

 

This accordian card will also feature some vintage images with a few extra embellishment pieces and again is a wow factor card when on display.

If haberdashery isn't your sort of theme, then the Vintage Paris may be more up your street. Below is an example of the Gatefold card that will be part of this range to give you an idea of the types of papers involved.

 

 PLEASE NOTE: Each kit will vary in papers and therefore may not look exactly like the examples that have been featured in this blog post and the advert. I can assure you though that you will still get a beautiful arrangement of papers, each complimenting each other so do not fear!

To find more details about this workshop, plus booking information please visit the Workshops page.

 Hope to see you there!