An Old-Fashioned Kind of Love: hand drawn invitations

by Alexandra Hunt
(Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada)

We went through soooo many designs before finding the right one! This was about the tenth design that I went through, and the illustrations are completely drawn by hand (with India ink and a old-fashioned nib).

These invitations are based on our very vintage 50's, feminine color scheme.

I wanted the birds and banners to evoke a kind of romantic Cinderella feeling (you know, where they're helping make her dress), and I wanted the font to be whimsical and vintage-inspired at the same time. The inserts were hand drawn with India ink and a nib. You probably can't read it, but the little banner says "An Old-Fashioned Kind of Love" - the theme of our vintage wedding!

I hand-calligraphed all of the invitation envelopes, as well as the illustrations and the map within. My script was based on Veer's "feel script," with my own personal touch for letters that I didn't like as much.

I made my own envelope liners out of decorative papers. Each guest's invitation liner was carefully chosen to "coordinate" with the personality of the guest, while sill flowing with the aesthetic of the invitation suite as a whole.

Each insert's corners were carefully rounded by hand, and were layered inside a gold pocket fold. Each invitation suite was tied with a simple and elegant bow, then placed within a larger pink mailing envelope.

Shortcake Wedding

Tips & Hints To Help You Make These Invitations
by Do-it-yourself-invitations.com

These invitations have gotten a really great response, and heaps of DIY brides looking for instructions on how to create these wedding invitations.

First of all, the graphics on the "Old Fashioned Kind Of Love" invitations were hand drawn! I think for most of us this is an impossible feat. But you can get results much like the invitation shown by simply using a rubber stamp!

If you must have the hand drawn, or your the artisitic type, you can actually create hand drawn art right on your computer using a computer stylus and tablet. It's like a pen that you can use to draw right into your computer software. I use the Bamboo Craft stylus and I love it. However, there is a definite learning curve so get ready to do a lot of practicing and following tutorials to get used to using it!


But if you want to take the easy road...

There are a TON of really cool rubber stamps out there, many with vintage and antique images and themes. My absolute fave to use are CLEAR STAMPS. These are completely different than the old blocky stamps mounted on wood. Wood stamps can be difficult to use efficiently as you cannot see where you are stamping.

Clear stamps are thin floppy little pieces of plastic which you mount yourself, onto a clear block. The stamps are able to peel off of the block when you are done, and remount any other stamp. Since they are clear errors are greatly reduced since you can see what you are stamping!

One little trick I like to use to reduce mess ups? I always have a piece of scrap paper handy right next to my project. I always apply the ink liberally to the stamp and then do a light test stamp before stamping the image onto my intended project. It comes out perfect about 95% of the time.

Still messing up? Keep a good thin marker in a coordinating color to your inks handy. Then just touch them up by hand.

You can buy pocket folds from some online stationery stores. LCI Paper Co. has a great selection in several colors, as well as a great selection of card stock and envelopes.

To get those neat rounded corners? Simple! Invest in a round corner paper punch and meticulously punch them out by hand.
I recommend having all of you paper professionally cut ahead of time and then go back over the corners yourself. You can get paper cut on a hydraulic machine at most any copy or print shop for relatively cheap, and super fast to boot. Hydraulic cutting machines cut large stacks of paper all at once, so your entire stack can be cut in minutes.


6 1/4 Sq Pocket Fold Stardream Antique Gold (25 Pack)
From: LCI Paper Co.