As a designer, I won't allow myself to purchase to any kind of invitations from a super store. Usually I design them and upload them to overnightprints.com. They deliver a great product with excellent color matching and super-thick paper weights, which I love. Lately I have been in a handmade mood. For everything I see and touch, I brainstorm ways to make it myself. Sure, these little guys would have been just as cute if they had been printed, but I strove for a stronger personal experience. Don't you have a greater appreciation for things made with deeper thought processes? Personally I love touching things and exploring how they feel. The variety of texture and separate elements in this invitation evokes a sense of joy and eclecticism.
It took me almost three months to make these babies (no pun intended). But I didn't mind one bit because it gave me something to do besides wait impatiently for my little one to arrive. Working on this project reminded me of a quote my high school art teacher had posted in her classroom: "There are no mistakes in Art, only a change of plans." Several of my intentions did not work out, and I had to find alternatives. But that's no big deal either because it was a learning process. I understand the materials so much better now, and the things I've learned can translate into other projects.
the idea
First I drew several sketches. I knew I wanted a cool tree, owls, and custom typography. I just wasn't sure how I wanted all the pieces to fit together. I looked up hundreds of illustrative owls, swirly trees, and examples of hand-drawn type. I scanned my final sketch into Illustrator and drew everything with the pen tool, using my sketch as a guide. That was the easy part.
the text
My initial plan was to have the text letterpressed. I've seen what it takes to set up a design for letterpress - it's a TON of work - but I still couldn't bring myself to pay $300 for 35 invitations. If you have the budget, I would highly recommend it. But I didn't, so on to Plan B. I decided to buy one of those hand presses. I can't remember their technical name, but you can make your own embossment plate, place it on top of your medium, and run it through a mini-sized press using a crank handle. That was $150, but I could use that for future projects so it didn't seem like such a grand investment. I even found a site who could take my design and make an embossed plate for me. Unfortunately, the stroke on my type was too thin and I didn't want to jeopardize the design by making it bolder. Thus, Plan C was just to use my good ole printer. I cut large pieces of bristol board (I told you I love heavy paper) into 5x7-sized pieces. Then I ran each piece one-by-one through the printer because the paper was so thick the printer couldn't spool it.
the tree
The tree is fabric. I printed my Illustrator drawing and cut the tree out to use as a template (I had three "templates"). I then traced the tree on the back side of the fabric using an ink pen. You want to use the back side so you don't have to worry about any visible pen marks. After all, no one will see the back! Also, if you try a similar method, be sure to remember to flip over your template when you trace. Since you are using the back side of the fabric, you also want to trace using the back side of the template. That way the correct side of the fabric appears as it should. I then cut out all of my trees, with the help of a very gracious friend (who I treated to pizza and the wine I could no longer drink).
I originally attempted to sew the fabric tree onto the bristol board. I plotted out the needle insertion and exit points based on how I wanted the thread to cross the tree. Then I used a tool called an ank to poke all my holes because the thick needle (strong enough to work with the bristol board) had a blunt tip. The thread was dark brown to offer a contrast to the bright green fabric. A friend had recommended the wax-dipped thread because that's what she had used in a book-making class. I finished sewing five trees before I finally decided that I did not like the end result. The thread was so thick that it was causing the thin fabric to pucker horribly. It looked like a grade school project. Not gonna work for me.
I tried spray adhesive using a scrap piece of fabric and bristol. The adhesive seeped through the fabric, which looked awful, and after it dried I was able to pull the fabric off the bristol with no problem. I went to a craft store and - wait for it - bought a glue stick with a promised super bond. It did the trick! It was a struggle, however, because the fabric was so thin. The dainty branches kept wanting to break off. At this point, the text has been printed and the trees have been glued. But remember the holes I punched with the ank? I had to hide that somehow. I decided the best option was to use spray adhesive and glue card stock to the back of the bristol board. Light tan was my first choice, but the store didn't have any and I didn't have time to wait at this point. I could have used white, but why waste an opportunity to add a little pop of fun? A book of pastel-colored cardstock only ran me $5, and when you think about it baby colors are usually pastel-ish. There were four sheets of ten different colors in the book, so each invitation is a little different. A nice touch. I sprayed the back of each invitation with the spray adhesive and mounted it onto the cardstock. Then I had to go back and cut each invitation off the cardstock with an Xacto knife.
the owls
I wanted to hand-paint the owls on each invitation. However, at this point I was growing tired and running out of time (I wanted everyone to have plenty of time to arrange to attend). I took my owls from the Illustrator drawing, pasted them into Photoshop, and copied them 39 times (for a grand total of 40 pairs of owls). I saved it as a PDF and took the file to Office Depot to print on their thickest white cardstock. Each owl was cut out by hand with good old-fashioned scissors, swiped with the glue stick, and perched on top of the long tree branch.
This was definitely a learn-as-you-go kind of project. I enjoyed the process, though I didn't expect it to take quite as long as it did. However, it was a great learning experience for future endeavors. And I have super-cute invitations unlike what anyone else usually chooses. Hopefully the receivers find the intended delight in them and choose to hold onto them for awhile.
