Mmmm, lotkas

Eeeeeee, my package from Of the Earth came today!! It only shipped (from Oregon or some crazy place) two days ago, so I was very pleasantly surprised when I opened the door to let Bailey out and the package fell over on her... I also laughed.

I received a sample sheet of chcoloate lotka paper, skeleton leaves ('cause I like them), pressed flower stickers, natural seeded envelopes, and vellum for INVITATION MAKIN'!!!!

I had no more excuses, I had to drag myself to Joann's... (time between getting the package and getting in the car? Let's just say Kyle had to let Bailey back inside). I had to get burlap and twine to finally see if my vision of these invitations was a good one. Creative people who also have ADHD can tend to go overboard.

So, I started out with this:

Paper with words on it. Our RSVP, the Save the Date, and the Invitation (not sure why I capitalized that, but I'm not changing it).

Sorry it's so dark. I think it might be time to get a new camera. This picture is just so you can see my blank slate. Notice my pretty, rough edges!

I then set to stampin'!

Thanks to Mia for the stamp, it ended up being a real asset. I think it's just right!

My next touch was watercolor pencils in the corners, and then a blending pen to blend the browns and purples and reds

I think that this picture probably doesn't do it justice, but I put some close-ups in too so you can see the details in the corners.

SAVE THE DATES!!!!!!

INVITATIONS!!!!!!!

I accidentally stamped the middle of my parents' name.

Sorry guys!

I found some fantastic burgundy-lined envelopes. Fantastic because as much as I'm loving this whole DIY thing, I don't have the patience to line all those envelopes when these lined envelopes cost NO more than regular envelopes!

Here's the Save the Date in it's very own lined envelope!

I put the rest together next.

 Here it is! The trifolds from LCI paper, the trifolds that are too light-colored. And seeing them together reaffirmed that I do not like the invitations up against that color. I need a darker brown.

Mia also told me I don't want to try and fold all my trifolds myself because it doesn't look nice enough, but I think this one looks too nice!

Oh, and how did I get the invitation adhered to that trifold?




TA DA!!! The Scotch Adhesive Dot Roller. Possibly my new favorite toy. It's like those old white out rollers, but with little glue dots. And they're tiny glue dots, so you don't have bulky spots where you put a dab of glue.

OK, and it makes little clicky noises when I roll it :)



Anywho! Next I put the folded invitation in the lined envelope. Again, burgundy, and you can see the slightly larger regular envelope on the outside.

I would like this whole suite more if that trifold was a nice chocolate brown.

 

Lastly, here's the inner and the outer envelope side by side, addressed! Of course, with some sweet little leaves stamped onto the inner envelope!

Now, this is all well and good, but as I said, I don't like the light brown trifold, and I did get my package from Of the Earth AND I got burlap and twine from Joann's!

TA DA again!!! I know it's hard to see because in order to get a good picture with my camera, I had to use the flash. But the lotka paper is much darker, and I think it goes much better with the invite. And of course, on top is my vellum, just a nice touch I think.

I haven't yet figured out where I am going to put the RSVP and other inserts, but I might construct a little pocket on the right side of the trifold.

So I tore the lotka paper and folded it myself, glued the invitation in with my handy dandy glue dot applicator, put a skeleton leaf on the outside, wrapped a strip of burlap around the whole thing, and tied the whole pretty package up with some twine. Aaaaannndd:

TA DA A THIRD TIME!!! I was so excited!! I had an idea and then I made it happen and then it ended up looking really great!

Rustic? oh yes, look at those rough edges! Look at that burlap!! No frilly satin ribbons here (not that I'm knocking anyone else's invitations, to each his own!)

What would make this suite even better?

Seeded envelopes and sweet little pressed flower stickers!

This picture does not do the envelopes justice, they're a gorgeous ivory/ecru, they smell like earth, and they have seeds in them! Our guests can plant their envelopes (!) and grow wildflowers! Even if they can't come to the wedding, they get a gift from us!

Also, I personally love the pressed flower sticker, BUT, while Kyle was there every step of the way and truthfully really liked the rest of the package, he didn't like the pressed flower sticker. What was his alternative?? Sealing wax!! We'll see about that, but apparently, pressed flower stickers are out :-( While I think sealing wax is pretentious, I also think it's cool, so I'm at least going to look into it :-)

Last but not least, I debated the envelopes: while I love the texture and look of the natural, seeded envelope, I like the burgundy lined envelopes. What was I to do?? Oh hey, the seeded envelope fits inside the lined envelope!

Best of both worlds! Everything is falling into place beautifully. So scratch all the top images, the lotka paper will make up the trifolds, the seeded envelopes are now the inner envelopes, and the "inner" lined envelope, is now the outer lined envelope!








So is all this work and time worth it? Well, let's see:

• Invitation paper: $0.30 a sheet
• Lotka paper trifold: $0.44 a trifold
• Vellum: $0.16 a sheet
• Skeleton leaf: $0.26 a leaf
• Burlap: $0.02 a strip
• Twine: $0.01 a length
• Seeded inner envelope: $0.75 an envelope
• Lined outer envelope: $0.26 an envelope
• Response envelope: $0.16 an envelope

Grand total: $2.36 per invitation!! So, our invitations will cost $118.00 as opposed to $500 from a real company, and as I said over and over again in the beginning, these are our invitations, no one else's. We picked the fonts and the colors and the paper and all the accoutrements ourselves.

And at the end of the day, even though my fingers, my back, and my eyes are going to be burning after doing them all, it makes me feel really good on the inside!

I hope everyone likes! Let me know what you think!