The Garden Party Invitation…
The Garden Party Invitation…
Whenever I plan a gathering, large or small, I adore making invitations for the special occasion. It would be so much easier to send an email, a text or simply make a phone call to invite my friends over for a luncheon but I am old fashioned and I truly enjoy creating an event by beginning with a handmade invitation. Designing stationary is a fun hobby of mine that years ago was my business so I happen to have plenty of the tools of the trade in my art room…ready and waiting to be used!
For the outer envelope I have used darling Courtly Check MacKenzie-Childs wrapping paper to cover a heavy weight paper design in the shape of the flower petal…to give the affect of a flower opening up to reveal the invitation inside…
Here is the petal paper that I covered. I purchased these from Envelopes.com. When folded they are 6 1/4″ X 6 1/4 ” . I simply placed the petal envelope onto the blank side of the wrapping paper and traced around the edges. Once cut out I give the back side of petal paper a very light spray of adhesive, Elmer’s Craft Bond. Then I lined up the cut out petal shaped wrapping paper onto the white petal paper and smoothed it down gently with a soft clean cloth. It sticks immediately… Simple and easy!
The petal design then folds up into a square and can be placed into an envelope or tied with ribbon if hand delivered…my personal choice!
The invitation inside needed to be really special, after all…celebrating friendships deserves a little extra special touch. I started out by watercoloring a painting of fresh blooms in my favorite MacKenzie-Childs vase! Once the painting was finished I took a photo of it and printed out copies onto heavy weight paper, 80 pound. I then cut them into 4″ squares, layered them with another square of pink card stock then placed them onto a white fold over heavy weight notecard. These can easily be found at craft stores. I used my hot letterpress machine to imprint “In The Garden” on the front of the invites. Inside the card I typed up the party details, date, time, etc…and printed it onto the matching pink paper and layered it inside.
I have been collecting old brooches for years, they are easy to find at flea markets, tag sales and even The Salvation Army…I adore adding them to invitations to add a little vintage glam…
Just one final touch before these invites are delivered, a tiny posey bouquet will accompany each invitation…after all, it is a Garden Party!
I wrapped the tiny bundles of blooms with MacKenzie-Childs tissue paper and clear cellophane then tied each bouquet with a big black and white striped ribbon. Black and white is my “neutral” for fresh flowers, I adore the crisp contrast!
My old French fruit basket is just perfect for delivering these tiny posies…
I’m looking forward to planning the garden menu and table setting now that the invites have been delivered! However, I have plenty of gardening and cleaning to do before the big day, I must admit… I’m a “messy projects all over the place” kind of gal. Planning a gathering at our home is the perfect motivation to get me to pick things up and get organized!
I can’t wait to show you the Garden Party, it’s going to be magical! Colorful, yummy and fun…
I am thrilled to be collaborating with MacKenzie-Childs on this fun adventure. As you probably know by now, I adore their gorgeous, whimsical designs!
You can find the darling Courtly Check wrapping paper, tissue paper and plenty more beautiful MacKenzie Childs inspiration HERE…
I hope you are having a wonderful day, many thanks for stopping by!
Please feel free to ask questions or leave comments, I love hearing from you…
XOXO