A wedding doesn't always have to be a big, expensive, extravagant event. One of my brides, Marie, chose to do a small destination wedding and have a local reception a few months later. Her mother (who is a friend of my parents) contacted me last spring about making the invitations for the local reception. Of course I jumped at the chance!
Marie had sunflowers at her wedding, so I wanted to find a way to incorporate those into the design of the invitation without getting too 'theme-y'. Is that a word? It is now!
The mother of the bride and I settled on this design; bold and elegant, but simple and fun. I love it!
(Names and contact info have been changed on the invitation to insure privacy)
Marie had sunflowers at her wedding, so I wanted to find a way to incorporate those into the design of the invitation without getting too 'theme-y'. Is that a word? It is now!
The mother of the bride and I settled on this design; bold and elegant, but simple and fun. I love it!
(Names and contact info have been changed on the invitation to insure privacy)
As you should know by now, I'm slightly obsessed with distress inks. I was so excited to be able to incorporate them into this project to create a soft watercolor look. I heat embossed the sunflower stamp with black embossing powder, then used the distress inks and a paintbrush to paint the sunflower with bright yellows and oranges.
A few things I learned from this project:
1) Watercolor paper is really the best thing to use with any technique that uses water. Unfortunately, I haven't found a watercolor paper that goes through the printer and shows the printing well, so I used a heavy cardstock. It worked well and they looked great, but I'd love to find a 'printable' watercolor paper.
2) Along those lines - don't overwork the colors. I had to be careful with my brush to avoid the paper from pilling with the amount of water I was using, which was good because the more I messed with the colors, the less I liked the outcome. Less is more!
3) If you are using black embossing powder, do yourself a HUGE favor and use an anti-static powder tool. For some reason, black embossing powder sticks to EVERYTHING!!! Another option is to use black ink and clear embossing powder.
4) If everything is not dry before you start to assemble, it will smear and you will have to do it over. Ask me how I know...
1) Watercolor paper is really the best thing to use with any technique that uses water. Unfortunately, I haven't found a watercolor paper that goes through the printer and shows the printing well, so I used a heavy cardstock. It worked well and they looked great, but I'd love to find a 'printable' watercolor paper.
2) Along those lines - don't overwork the colors. I had to be careful with my brush to avoid the paper from pilling with the amount of water I was using, which was good because the more I messed with the colors, the less I liked the outcome. Less is more!
3) If you are using black embossing powder, do yourself a HUGE favor and use an anti-static powder tool. For some reason, black embossing powder sticks to EVERYTHING!!! Another option is to use black ink and clear embossing powder.
4) If everything is not dry before you start to assemble, it will smear and you will have to do it over. Ask me how I know...
Congratulations to Marie and Matt on their wedding, their reception, and beginning their life together!
Happy Crafting!
Happy Crafting!
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