DIY Escort Cards: A lighthearted Tutorial, Part Two

Alright! The rest of this is pretty intuitively obvious, but something about making a tutorial that only takes you half way seemed a little silly to me. In case you're just now entering this, the first part of this tutorial can be found here:

http://littlepathfinder.blogspot.com/2010/09/diy-escort-cards-lighthearted-tutorial.html

Just as a reminder, for this part you will need (and I'm quoting here):

1) Pencil with eraser (I happened to have a fancy-shmancy mechanical [which has the added benefit of a nice 'gentle' eraser; VERY important that the eraser be clean, and easy on the paper], but as long as it's got both a point and an eraser, you're good)
2) Micron Pen (I'm using .25mm line width - for what I was drawing, this seemed to work best)
3) Permanent Markers (Again, what you need will really depend on what you are drawing. For my black I used a fine point Bic Mark It, and for the colors I used both Sharpie and Bic Mark Its, depending on what was available)
4) A good pair of Scissors
5) *OPTIONAL, but RECOMMENDED* A good sense of humor. If you're undertaking this particular task, there's probably something a little kooky about you anyway, but hey! You're about to sit down and draw who-knows-how-many little dinky place cards for people, and they probably wont even look twice at them. Remember this on hour three of repetitive lines, come up with some ludicrous remark, and keep on truckin'! :D

Now, ignoring the poor photo quality of the images found here, we're going to assume that you've printed up those glorious escort cards on the Card Stock Paper that you purchased, and it has left you something that looks about like this:



Take those scissors and cut your cards out - you should be left with something like so:



Then, verrrrrrry carefully fold it in half...



Very good! See, if you believe in yourself, amazing things are possible. ;) Now, grab your pencil and start lightly outlining whatever design you're going to put on the card. I went with feathers, since that's the theme for all of the escort cards - the ones for the Bride&Groom (that you're seeing here) are a little more involved than the others, but it's the same basic process. When you're done sketching, put down the pencil and look at the card.



If it looks the way you want it to, pick up the Micron Pen and start the outlining process (any thin black pen will work, but I HIGHLY recommend picking up a Micron; not only does it come in a variety of widths, but it works well on the paper and will save you a ton of time without having to worry about any inking problems that come from using a generic sort of pen). I personally also colored in any of the little detail areas with the micron pen, to avoid any potential fudge-ups or bleeding issues with the wider tip of the permanent marker.



Now, if you are using the same color for inking that you are for outlining, do yourself a favor and use a test sheet to make sure that your inks are compatible before you start coloring everything in - the last thing you want is for the marker to dry and have it be an obviously lighter or darker color than the supposedly 'same' color ink you used for the detail areas. Taking a few moments to do a test run will save you hours later if there's any noticeable difference by allowing you to see BEFORE you color in all of your cards. Assuming that you've done this test and everything looks good, after you're done drawing in the details, take your permanent marker and fill in the 'larger' inking portions.



Add any final details, and voila! You're done! :D

More DIY

The 'finished' (outside is done) product from yesterday, as I decided to do it:Didn't want it to be too flashy or distracting, since the bridesmaids and groomsmen will be holding them while they stand up at the front with us, but also didn't want it to be too 'plain' looking either. W and I also sat down and rolled about 150 place setting yesterday - tying in the four sacred colors a little further, and making the plastic silverware look a little more 'formal'. W was having a little trouble with the DIY part. We have two separate sets of colors for the wedding - turquoise, lavender, and black for the people in the ceremony, and black, yellow, red, and white for the four sacred colors to bless those people. This has produced some interesting complexities in how to work it all in without everything becoming 'too much'. I have no idea whether it's going to work or not, but hey, we'll have given it our best!

39 days 'til go time.

License & DIY Booklets

W and I went down and got our marriage license today; 40 more days until the wedding. I didn't change my name when we did it - I hadn't really given it much thought - I guess I'll go back later and change it, and just sign the way I want to be known until then.

Got a lot of other stuff done today as well, and I got started on some DIY stuff for the wedding as well (go me!). During the ceremony, the bridesmaids and groomsmen will have speaking roles; in order to make this easier for everyone, I decided to make little booklets that they can carry so that they don't have to worry about memorizing their lines. They're super simple, and very basic looking (so that they aren't holding something super flashy and distracting), but you can also easily dress them up any way you like once they're done. Please excuse the lame cell-phone photos.
I started by purchasing card stock in the colors of our groomsmen and bridesmaids' clothing (my bridesmaids will be black&turquoise, the groomsmen black&lavender). I also purchased corresponding ribbon (not pictured here).
My card stock was a little bigger than I wanted it to be (I found the colors I wanted in 12"x12" sheets), so I started by cutting them down to the size and shape that I wanted (8.5"x11").Then I folded them in half...Then, I took the ribbon that I had purchased (1/8" width, 10 yards per roll, for .50 cents a roll at Michaels), chose the alternate colors (purple and black for the blue programs, blue and black for the purple programs), wrapped them around the binding and tied a little bow. The ribbon is fun to move around - you can slide the bow up or down, depending what look you prefer. I liked having it more toward the front, and semi-centered; it's really all about what looks best to your own eye.That's the final product, as far as the basic layout goes. I'm going to also put a little photo of W and I on the cover, with a little 'thank you' note on the back (of the photo) to add a more personal touch to the otherwise blank outside. Easy, inexpensive, and fully functional!