Birthday Invitations

[JanW]

I've been asked to do some 60th birthday invitations. I've never done any invitations before so what do I need to bear in mind when thinking about the design etc? Any advice would be very welcome.

Cheers

Jan

[stillcrafting]

I learnt these tricks doing my sister's wedding stationery:

*Keep it simple because they always take longer to make than you think (eg try not to have to use individual letters unless you're only making a handful as these'll most likely take ages to place straight).
*Cut everything before you start.
*Make sure you have enough sticky stuff.
*Allow extra of everything in case there's any mistakes.
*Have a sort of production line going - do the same thing on each card, then go back to the beginning and do the next thing, it's much quicker that way.
*If you're using double sided tape or foam pads, stick these on everything before you start assembling, leaving the backing on so that you're only handling the tape/sheet of pads once (you can't do that if you're using glue as it'll dry too quickly).
*Above all, allow plenty of time so you're not rushing and stressing near the deadline.
*Finally, give yourself a treat once they're all finished.

HTH and good luck

[Linda B]

having done 3 sets of wedding invitations - keep it simple! by the time I had hot wax embossed 120 cards I never wanted to see the hot gun again! Another was 60 pairs of hearts - cut on my old sizzix.....

If a lot have to be posted bear in mind that it will cost more if the card has raised embellishments etc

Above all, as Sarah says above, don't leave them to the last minute - they do take longer than you think...

[stillcrafting]

After my sister and I had finished 100 folder style invitations, 200 order of services, 20 balloon weights and a guest book, I vowed never to cut another embossed heart or stick another piece of gold paper. To this day (27 months on), I've kept to that

[JanW]

Thanks both for that heartfelt advice. Lots of good points there, especially to allow plenty of time - I'm afraid when making cards I always plan to be really organised and start early, but because I procrastinate so much before I start and spend so much time deciding on colours and design etc. time usually catches up with me and I end up stressing about it.

As I haven't done any invitations before I've got lots of ideas going through my head so I think I'll do some mock-ups to see what they look like and like you say 'keep it simple'.

The point about using glue is good as I've gone from using so much DST over to glue recently but maybe that's not a good idea when doing large numbers.

Thanks for your support and encouragement I'll let you know how I get on.

Cheers

Jan

[stillcrafting]

And take piccies too, cos I'd love to see the finished result. I have photos of the piles of OOS's. COldn't believe how many there looked