Neon Crafternoon

One of my favorite scenes from the movie Bridesmaids is when Kristen Wiig opens up a package, which happens to be the invitation to her best friend's bridal shower.  And the butterfly flies out and keeps getting in her face.  Makes me laugh just typing it.

When it came down to picking a color palette for my friend Julie's bridal shower, I wanted something vibrant without using any color palettes she is already using for her wedding events.  Neon seemed to be the answer. I have been totally obsessed with this neon trend that I've seen lately.  It's everywhere.  

I had a hard time figuring out what to do for invitations after I picked the color palette, though.  Aside from having crafter's block and making about 4 different versions of the invite, I got a little cocky while ordering supplies and didn't feel it necessary to order plenty of extra supplies for mistakes.  Not sure why my confidence suddenly took over because I make plenty of mistakes, but it did and I had to go with Plan B.  Then USPS didn't seem to love my ideas either.  They delivered one of my packages of supplies to Pennsylvania.  No where near where I actually live.  So that left me with Plan C, which turned into Plan D once I realized I was really short on time and Plan C wasn't going to happen.  But, sometimes Plan D turns into Plan Delightful and you can't complain.

This was the final product.  I had another design going, but by accident I dragged the shape and ended up getting this long line.  I thought, 'hey, that looks like fringe!' So I went with crazy with it.  And then I remembered these amazing invites and I knew I was on to something.  Even though the neon colors on my computer didn't translate to colors that printed, I think the invite looks vibrant.  I backed the invite with neon pink paper, but forgot to take a pic of that.  

I made separate hotel cards since most of the people invited are from out of town.  Since I couldn't find or order neon yellow baby envelopes, I made them myself out of neon yellow cardstock.  The pink flag is a high visibility label from Office Depot that I cut down to the size and shape I wanted. These may or may not resemble the labels that may or may not be missing from our office supply cabinet at work.   

                 

For the envelopes, I decided to get fancy and do some calligraphy.  Here is where I got cocky.  I didn't think I'd make enough mistakes to warrant purchasing another set of envelopes - they came in sets of 50 - so Plan B came into play when I realized that I am not as perfect as I thought I could be.  A huge blow to the ego, but I'm a survivor.  I'm not going to give up.  I'm not going to stop.  I'm going to craft harder.  Sorry.  Had to do it.  

I used Dr. Ph Martin's Bombay White India Ink as opposed to Dr. Ph Martin's Bleed-Proof White - what my old calligraphy instructor suggested - because that was all I could find at my art supply store and I'll just say - for other calligraphers out there - I didn't love it.  Buy the Bleed-Proof.  

I printed the mailing address with a white pen on more of the high visibility labels.  Obsessed.  I use these for everything at work, so it makes me happy to see them used on something like a bridal shower invitation.  

Here is the entire ensemble together.

I am a big believer that all envelopes should be lined.  So as much as it hurts me to cut pretty paper, I made sure to find some awesome paper to line the envelopes.  

And just because nothing makes me happier than seeing a stack of envelopes, here they are all ready to be mailed.

I was never happier to finish these particular invites since it was Murphy's Law from beginning to end.  But, I would have never finished them without Mandy.  She came to my rescue and helped me assemble everything and didn't say a word when I asked her to help me line 42 envelopes. Thanks, Mandy.  You're wild!!!!!!  Inside joke.  Just ignore me.  And thanks for listening to my crazy brainstorming sessions and not hitting ignore when you saw me calling you, Seester and Sarah. There are very few people in this world that will sit and talk envelope liners for an hour and you ladies are two of them.
 Julie and I are neck deep in stuff we have to finish for the wedding, but I can't say I don't love every minute of it.  I'll have another post for you soon.  Love it. Love it. Love it. 

Oh, and if you haven't already guessed it from the title, I've been singing this song in my head for the last two weeks or so.