posts in category invitations

5.23.2019

It's that time again! Graduation! What I'm loving right now...Basic Invite

It's that time of year again...graduation!

I just can't believe how quickly time goes. I mean, I've heard people say that forEVER, but I think that until you get a bit older, and/or until you have kids, you don't really understand just how fast it goes.

Case in point...in just over a week, my almost 14 year old son will be graduating from 8th grade.

8th GRADE!

It seems like just yesterday he was helping my husband tune up our bicycles...

And now he's this man-sized, always-eating, hysterically funny, baseball-loving almost grown-up.

It's scary.

And awesome.

He doesn't want a huge party to celebrate his graduation...in fact, he just wants to have a few of his closest friends over...and that's OK by me.

But we still need to celebrate in style, right?

So when Basic Invite asked me if I would take a look at some of their design graduation party invitations, I jumped at the chance!

Basic Invite prides itself on being one of the few invitation websites that offers almost unlimited color options with instant previews online. And, once you select your design you can change the color of each element on the card using 180 different color options! So you can make sure the card is exactly how you want it down to the smallest detail.

I mean, really...180 different color options??? With instant previews???

PLUS, at Basic Invite you can order a printed sample of your actual invitation before you place your final order. I LOVE that option...I mean, seeing your choices online is one thing, but actually being able to hold your finished design in your hand before you order is really something that makes Basic Invite stand out.

Here are a couple of my favorite printed graduation invitation designs...

I LOVE this simplicity of this card...it's so timeless and lovely.

And the full-photo background is another one of my favorites...especially for boys.

My daughter will be graduating from high school in a couple of years...and I'll definitely be checking out some of these cute graduation party invitations for her.

I love the idea of putting your grad's future school on the card, too!

Basic Invite also has custom thank you cards available...

...and don't even get me started on the available foil options!

Foil cards are available in gold, silver, and rose gold...and you can choose flat or raised foil on all of Basic Invite’s foil designs.

So elegant...

And just because I love them so much, I have to show you these gorgeous CLEAR business cards available at Basic Invite!

CLEAR BUSINESS CARDS!

I'm dead.

And right now, until the end of the month, Basic Invite is offering 15% off of any order with the code:

15FF51

Don't have a grad this year? Or looking for something different?

Basic Invite has you covered!

In addition to graduation invitations, announcements & thank you cards, they also offer every single piece of wedding/shower correspondence you could ever need...baby/birthday/Mitzvah invitations, PLUS stationery & business cards!

Basic Invite also hosts free wedding & birthday websites!

So cool!

Check out everything they have to offer HERE...and don't forget to add the code 15FF51 when you check out to get 15% off your order!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Now get on over to Basic Invite!

*Disclaimer: In exchange for this post, I have been compensated by basic invite. All opinions, however, are entirely my own and were not influenced by the fact that I have received payment.*

4.10.2012

kate's birthday invitations...

My oldest monkey-child will be turning 9 in just a few short weeks...man, oh man...9. Just one year before the double-digits, 7 years before the driver's license, 9 years before the start of college. Incredible...

This year, Kate decided to have a small little party, with just a few of her friends (thank goodness...). We will be taking the birthday girl, and 4 of her bffs, to Justice for a shopping spree and then to Cici's Pizza for dinner...sounds fun, doesn't it?

We made her invitations using my new favorite toy...my Lifestyle Crafts Letterpress system...oh my heck. A few years ago I became aware of this whole letterpress thing and I've always wanted to try my hand at it. Well, now that I have, I'm not sure I could ever go back to store-bought cards and invitations.

These are the printing plates I used...the "Splendor" plates...perfect, huh?

GUESS WHAT? FROM NOW THROUGH APRIL 15, THE "SPLENDOR" LETTERPRESS PLATES ARE 25% OFF! WOO HOO! AND IF YOU USE THE CODE "MIDWESTERN" AT CHECKOUT YOU GET AN ADDITIONAL 20% OFF! NOW WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN THAT???

And this is how I made the invitations...

First I squeezed out some hot pink ink onto the ink base...I wasn't sure how much to use, so I kind of winged it. What you see up there was more than enough...

Then I inked up the brayer...this was fun...the ink is kind of sticky and thick (which surprised me a little), so it's fun to play in with...

...this is actually a photo of the plate post-printing...but I wanted you to see how it looked with ink on it...

Then I rolled the ink onto the printing plate I chose for the invites, closed the lid on top of the

paper I was using, ran the whole thing through the Epic 6 Tool (which is also a die-cutter AND an embosser...awesome)...

and bingo-bango...the start of my awesome, CUSTOM invitations...

...those foam things are guides so that each paper is lined up the same way as the one before it...perfect impressions every single time...

Here are the 5 that I made (I made one extra just in case I messed something up...which I didn't...a miracle if there ever was one...)...

After these dried (which took a rather long time...like 2 days until they were COMPLETELY dry...I'm wondering if I over-inked), I headed back to the machine and printed "you're invited" in the middle of each white circle. Then, after that dried, I took some rub-ons I had around and added them to the invites.

Oh my gosh...I love these things!!!

Kate wrote out the details on the backs of the cards and we included this little tag in the envelopes...

Yay! Yay! Yay! I also made some little favor bags with the Letterpress system...I'll be posting about those tomorrow...AND I'll be including a little tutorial on something fun I did to dress the bags up a little...here's a little teaser...

Ooooh, have I piqued your interest? I hope so...

DISCLOSURE: Lifestyle Crafts sent me a Letterpress Combo Kit and the printing plates and ink used for these invitations. All opinions stated are my own...100%. I think this system is wicked-awesome and I love how the letterpress printing turned out. It's really classy looking...totally different from printing from your home computer and it's super-easy to do.