craft

There was a time when I first started out, when I would give anything (within reason) a go. It takes time to discover what materials you enjoy using, the pieces that you enjoy creating and what your style is. I was asked on a few occasions to create handcrafted invitations for friends and family; I didn’t mind – it gave me an opportunity to experiment and  I did have some success with it but it isn’t really what I’m all about.

                                                     Graduation invitations and name cards 

Producing several hundred of the same design can be exceedingly monotonous and incredibly time consuming. I don’t advertise this service but when you run a design business, it’s a little hard to avoid and occasionally I get approached by my regular clients if they get wind that I CAN do them.

Journalist and fashionista, Priyanka Gill is one such client. I have been asked several times to produce e-invites for events, private functions and dinners. I was also approached about designing something unique for her daughter’s birthday party. The brief was simple – it must be handcrafted, dimensional,  packaged in a box and have a ‘Secret Garden’ theme. I set to work and designed a square layered invite that would feature a dimensional fairy, a fairy garden watermark and garden elements sitting within a layered frame. It would all be tied together with pink satin ribbon embellished with a glittered ‘R’ to represent her daughter’s name.

I created a mock up and sent it to Priyanka. It wasn’t until she approved the design and told me she needed 100 of them that I began to calculate the number of separate elements and processes that would be needed to create it… some 2200 pieces!! Oh my – my Cricut was about to get the workout of its life!

And so it began ….

My process would be simple: die cut or hand cut everything first, decorate the smaller pieces, then assemble, embellish and tie together. Keeping track of all the separate elements was key, luckily I had a stash of old tubs and lids (I knew these would come in handy) which were perfect for the job.

When it came to assembling  it all, I had to ensure that each element was placed in the right order in the layers or elements would be unseen behind panels or other elements. I started with the invite front and the brown scalloped panel behind it, on which the fairy would ‘perch’ and the base flower would sit. I also curved the fairy’s wings and sprinkled angel dust on them.

Adding the elements to the base frame would be easy as long as I remained organised and focussed … easier said than done when there are so many tiny pieces.

The front panels are finally decorated

and assembly can begin …

All in all I was really pleased with how they turned out even if they did take forever to craft! They looked amazing sat in pretty white boxes and more importantly, my client was happy.

Most definitely a labour of love.