Friday, June 17, 2011

birthday invitations...

Today I've been working on a little something for my daughter Kati's 6th birthday next week - some butterfly birthday invitations.

Awhile back when I made these lollipop bouquets, Kati decided she wanted a butterfly party for her 6th birthday, and she wants to make that craft with her friends at the party. We are actually going to have it at the park, but hopefully we can fit in a craft. I think I'm going to have things stamped out ahead of time and the lollipop bouquet bases already made and all they will have to do is assemble the bouquet - stick the lollipops in the middle of the stamped images and insert into the foam! (See link above for directions for that craft). I will probably change the colors of the lollipop bouquet stamping to match our invitations and party decor.

Anyway...let me tell you a little about my invitations! I started with Papertrey Ink's medium Glassine Bags. I used the sentiment from Blooming Button Bits and stamped it in black StazOn ink across the bag. The bags are somewhat slippery, so I thought StazOn would work the best. It did. But for the flower stems, I didn't really want black. I wanted to add some green, so I used Ripe Avocado ink with the stems from "Blooming Button Bits". It didn't come out perfectly, but that's ok. I used my heat gun to dry the green ink quickly, so I could move on to the next step. I stamped all of the sentiments and stems first to all of the invites.
Next, I made the insert for the inside, by printing out the party details onto white paper, then stamping a yellow butterfly over the top from Happy Trails.

The finished inserts were put inside the bags...
I punched a bunch of butterflies from vintage book paper and some October Afternoon - Detours paper from my stash...


...then attached the butterflies to the outside of each bag.
Then I added ALL of the buttons. This part is the most painful and took the longest! I threaded all of the buttons with white embroidery thread and attached them with a glue dot. To finish my invitations, I folded over the edge of the bags and stapled them closed with a staple and some pretty seam binding. To color the seam binding pink, I sprayed it with Vintage Pink Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels. I ran out of Vintage Pink, so I ended up spraying the rest of them with Viva Pink. Let them dry or heat them with a heat gun before attaching to your bag.


My older daughter asked me, "Why are you making them so fancy? You KNOW people will just throw them away!" Yes, I do believe she's right, but I do what I do because I enjoy it....and I hope they will put a smile on someone's face. :)


55 comments:

Marlou McAlees said...

These are so so pretty :) love them :)

Zarah said...

That's not just cute - it's utterly adorable and superduper clever! I love it!!

Sandra said...

How totally beautiful

Anonymous said...

Well, they certainly put a smile on my face! Love them!

Sarah Martina said...

So sweet. I get asked that same question quite often... I say, at least I had fun making them. :) Beautiful invites. :)

Lisa Elton said...

Absolutely darling!!! Just love them to pieces...thanks for sharing!!!

Paige Taylor Evans said...

These are BEAUTIFUL Danielle!

Jenna Ruth said...

Oh, I love these!! Lovely!!

Hilary Kanwischer said...

Those are gorgeous Danielle!!! Quite possibly my favorite...they are really sweet!! ;)

Alessandra Loiacono said...

Beautiful invitations Danielle!! Genious! It totaly put a smile on my face!
LOVE IT!!! :)

Suzanne said...

These are gorgeous! Love your idea for using the envelopes as invitations!
I would not throw them away(;

Unknown said...

I LOVE them, and know that they will be treasured ;) amazing work, as always, my friend!! happy weekend :)

Pat said...

Danielle,
How could anyone throw away anything as pretty as these invites? They are just beautiful! Some people tell me, "Don't you have a life?", but I don't care because, like you, I enjoy bringing a smile to others.

CalleLillyCafe said...

absolutely the prettiest ever! and had I received one of these? It would of never seen the garbage! =)

curlyqmosaics said...

These invitations are absolutely AMAZING! Anyone who would even think to throw them out would be crazy! Truly a piece of art, surely to put a smile on every face,GORGEOUS!

Suz said...

You sure put a smile on my face. Those invitations are beautiful and so cheery! I think they would make great packaging for small gifts, too.
Great job.
Fondly.
Suz

Gina said...

Those are precious AND beautiful!! I love the idea of using the glassine bags as the "envelope". This is something my oldest daughter would *love* to do (she's all about "different" for her birthday invites and thank you notes). I'm tucking this away for next January. Love, love it!

angel said...

Jakie piękne! Cudowne:)
Love it!

June K. said...

Oh I am in love. These invites are SO pretty. The leaves and stem look like watercolor - very nice effect from using the ink pad. Love how the yellow butterfly peeks through the envelope. Thanks for the inspiration.

Meghan Spaulding said...

These are the sweetest invitations Danielle! Love them, and if I were to receive one of the invites, I certainly would not throw it away :D

Debbie Pereira said...

Danielle, they are georgeous and I doubt everyone will throw them away. I hope some mothers will save them in their daughters "stash" and enjoy them for years to come! I know I would.

8thgypsy said...

You never cease to amaze me with your talent. I love everything you do. A little question however. When you spray your seam binding, do you crumple it so that it dries kind of wrinkly? I love that look.

Jennifer said...

Lovely invitations!

Danielle Flanders said...

thanks, everyone!
yes, I do crumple up the seam binding when it's wet, and you can either let it dry itself, or heat it with a heat gun. if it dries by itself, it's definitely crinklier! But i'm usually in a hurry and heat it up. :)

Danielle

Alena-lilavadi Savinova said...

Потрясающе красивые, стильные, воздушные как крылышки бабочки приглашения!

Priscilla said...

Just love the invitations; nice job!

Nancy Wyatt said...

So beautiful! Hugs from Conroe, Texas

vio said...

you are just super-duper creative! these are the prettiest invites I have seen, simple and sweet. Thanks for sharing Danielle! :)

Joy said...

These invitations are simply darling, how pretty and dainty are these gorgeous creations...love them!

DIGITAL GARDEN said...

Adorable!

Elisa said...

so so pretty, I bet those beautiful bags put a smile in everyone faces :)

Nancy4004 said...

Just gorgeous! Would love to use this idea down the road somewhere. Thanks for sharing.

Mandy said...

Such beautiful invites Danielle, really love how you've stamped the glassine bags...fabulous!

Mandy

Lillian Child said...

These are SO delightful!!!

Janetcraft said...

love the clean invitation cards...pastel colors are lovely too!

Ines said...

Just stunning! Wonderful envelopes. Thanks for sharing this heart warming post.

Have a fab day.

ines

Thessa said...

¡Preciosos, tus trabajos!
Saludos.

jan metcalf said...

These invites are so very sweet!! Would you mind if I design a similar look for girls night out?

sandra said...

these are so adorable, and they did put a smile on my face!

luv2scr@p said...

WOW! What did you do for favors and thank you cards? My husband says the same to me, and I do try and take that into account as my daughter's friends are mosstly under 5, but i take pictures and enjoy the oooo's and ahhhh's!

Ann said...

These are so lovely!! I want one! Your daughter is so lucky!

Heather Innusa said...

These are ah-mazing!!! Every element is a work of art in itself! If i got an invite like this, I'd literally (I mean literally) never throw it away! My friend handmade beautiful invites to her daughter's baby shower... still sitting on my desk & it makes me smile everyday! Things like this really make others happy. I bet they made you so happy to make them too! Nice work & thanks for sharing the entire process!!!

Deirdre said...

I know I'd love to receive one... stunning.

Valentina said...

I just love these... would love to get one, too... ;)

bibbi said...

These are the most beautiful birthday invitations I have ever seen!!!

Chrissy said...

I would not throw these away! They are beautiful!

Jordie said...

Wow, those are really cute birthday invitations. The buttons as flowers is a nice touch! Adorable!

Helene said...

Bonjour

Je viens d'acheter le dernier numéro de "Esprit Scrapbooking" et j'ai fait une pause sur votre article... j'adore!!!

C'est pourquoi je suis venu voir votre blog. Ce que vous faites est frais, coloré et très joli. Félicitation... vous êtes dans mes favoris ^^

connieosness said...

I laughed at your daughter's comment about people just throwing the invitation out. I had a friend who told me that she had finally thrown out a Christmas card from me that I had made for her. She kept it for 20 years because she had liked it that much. You never know how important something might be to someone else. Love the invites and will make some of my own.

Nur said...

I would never ever throw away such an invitation! Lovely invitations!

ABullington1 said...

WOW! I love love love these adorable little invites! Going to make invitations for one of my daughters' fifth birthday party, and was planning on doing buttons, after seeing this, I will definitely be using the velum to recreate the envelope that you made using the bags. Thank you for the wonderful ideas.
<3 Ashley Bullington
~mommy of four princesses~

Anonymous said...

Are you interested in making something similar to sell?
Please contact me !
Thanks Tatiana
tatiarteaga@hotmail.com

Rosamerliza said...

Wonderfull ideea!!!
XO ROSA

AMM said...

adorei o seu trabalho, parabéns.

Cuttysark said...

Those are lovely birthday invitations. I love your creativity. I'm also planning on making my own invite, you have just given me another idea. Thank you for sharing!