DIY: Shower Invites

So my mom, sister, and one of my bridesmaids are throwing me a bridal shower, and my one request was that I be allowed to make the invitations (and also that we serve booze.)

So here they are, and I am pretty happy with them.

The invites are printed on the same cotton paper used for the wedding invitations, and the design is based on an early idea I had for the wedding.  I eventually rejected it because the cherry blossoms seemed awfully spring for a fall wedding, and I didn't like how the birds made the invitations so graphic.  But I still get to use all my hard work in the end, so it worked out I think.

The backs of the invitations are printed directly onto the paper using a variety of Japanese yuzen paper patterns.  I love the way printing the design directly onto the paper makes them so clean, but yet is so vibrant that so far no one believed me when I tried to convince them I hadn't glued the real thing onto the back.  I wanted to use a variety of patterns to really showcase the designs, and because I definitely couldn't pick just one.  I know no one will really see more than one invitation each (and some people may not look at the back at all), but I will know.  And sometimes thats whats important.

And also, I love the navy envelopes which I picked up from PaperSource - they really make the labels pop, and gave me a chance for another design facet.

So excited for the point after the wedding where I open up an Etsy shop or something, to hopefully do this more often!