Custom wedding invitation

I began preparing for my wedding with the making of the wedding invitations. The wedding is a pretty important occasion in the life of a woman, so I took the matter seriously.

Naturally, I wanted my invitations to be hand-made and original. In this, I succeeded.

Tools and materials

2 sheets of scrapbooking paper, size 30.5*30.5 cm (I used Fleur Design Romantic Vintage and Romantic Patterns) A satin ribbon 1.2 cm wide
A heat gun
Embossing powder
Alphabet stamp (Russian letters “В” and “Д” in my case)
An embossing ink pad
An acrylic stamping block
Talcum powder and sponge (for degreasing)
A cutting mat
Sticky foam pads
Glue
Double-sided adhesive tape (narrow)
Scissors, ruler, pencil, design knife, a pair of tweezers
A creasing tool
A corner hole punch for the insertion of the photograph

First, I created files for cutting in the Canvas Workspace and transferred the designs to the cutting machine via USB flash drive. I used the slightly sticky cutting mat and a standard knife. Before the work started, I adjusted the knife (the paper density is very important here) and did several test cuts. Only after that, I proceeded to the scanning and positioning.

I cut the following details: an envelope, an insert piece, and some decorative elements for the front part of my invitation (a carrier with two openings, a carved edge decoration, and an oval thing).

If the cutting machine has left something uncut, don't panic. You can easily remedy it with a design knife.

To get the neat-looking, I smoothed them out on all sides with a creasing tool and also made some folding creases on the envelope (center part and sides — let’s call them “wings”).

I stuck small strips of adhesive tape on both “wings” and glued the parts of the envelope together.

This resulted in a lot of workpieces.

Using my hole punch, I made several openings the insert piece so that I could put in the text sheet later (you may glue it or use Canvas Workspace instead).

I also decided to emboss the bride and bridegroom’s initials (you may just stamp them with ink or glue the word “Invitation” or something).

For embossing, you’ll need:

A heat gun
Embossing powder
An embossing ink pad
“В” and “Д” stamps
An acrylic stamping block
Talcum powder and sponge (for degreasing)

First, I prepared the surface, using talcum powder and sponge (so that the small particles of the embossing powder only stuck to the parts I had applied my stamp to).

Then I used the pad to create the inscription, sprinkled the embossing powder, shook off the excess and heated the inscription. As the heat gun gets really hot, I recommend holding your paper with tweezers.

All is ready for the assembling of the invitation:

An envelope blank
An insert piece
Three decorative elements: The carrier with two openings, the decoration with carved edges and the oval thing with embossing
A satin ribbon 1.2 mm wide
Sticky foam pads
Glue
A ruler and scissors

I held the ribbon to the envelope, measured the required length (it should be sufficient to go around the envelope), and cut. I could have singed the edge with a lighter, so as to prevent it from unraveling, but decided not to, for the ends were to be glued.

Then I passed the ribbon through the carrier and glued one end of it almost at the center (use any glue you like).

Then I pulled the ribbon tight, overlapped, and glued the second edge. I shifted the carrier toward the center so that it covered that spot.

I used glue to attach the decoration with the carved edges, but you may replace it with double-sided adhesive tape. Then, I stuck the oval thing with embossing (my inscription) to the sticky foam pads.

Our wedding invitation is ready.