confetti by lexi

zak vs. daniel :: daniel vs. zak

today, i have the ticket invite i've been dying to share!  the request was for a football ticket invitation for a bar mitzvah party.  the tickets were to be included as an insert with the ceremony invites, so they wanted them to be smallish, much like the real thing.  two of the boys' parents went to opposing schools, which i believe inspired the theme, so we incorporated the look of those logos into the design, replacing the team names with the boys' names.  and since they were each sending out their own invites, we reversed the order for equality and effect.  all of the details on this card had me bouncing!  it was so much fun to create, and i heard that the boys really loved them.  which of course makes me even happier!

:) lexi

shop 'til you drop!

the challenge: an invitation for a mall scavenger hunt party for two girls turning 10.  some requests:  pink & black, something involving a camera and money.  the result:  another top personal favorite!

as i do with many invitations, i started with a logo.  actually, two in this case--a primary "shop" logo on the bag and a secondary one on the camera.  the bag was packed and ready with a camera, money, and even a receipt.  the main party information was on the screen on the back of the camera, with additional information and fun touches on the store receipt.  information aside, the personalized money was the highlight of the whole ensemble!

while the shopping pieces and parts really make it wow, the camera could actually be a great invitation on its own.  with the birthday girls' names and age on the front, and the party info on the back, everything is all on one piece.  i'm thinking neighborhood scavenger hunt or some other photography themed party in its next life!

the birthday "store" logo also came in handy when it came time for cake.  they wanted something easy to serve in the mall, in a coordinating pink and black.  chocolate cupcakes with pink buttercream were the perfect choice!  i topped half of them with cookies & cream hard candies, to pull in a little black and white, and the other half with logos that i punched out and attached with toothpicks.  totally yummy & nicely matched!

:) lexi

fleur de green

the fleur de lis is scattered all over my blog.  the symbol of my city, a perfect emblem for a card.  here, i used it for an engagement party, paired with a harlequin patterned background in green & white.  he popped the question, she said yes!  ain't love grand?

:) lexi

ticket to ride

how about a ticket of a different kind?  the request was for an amusement park invitation for four girls turning 6.  an old fashioned idea, fun fonts & colors, and a few simple punches later, and the carnival ticket invite was complete.  it ranks right up there with all my favorites--a growing list!!

:) lexi

revised football ticket

as long as it's football season, i will continue to get requests for football invitations!  this one is a revised version of the ones i posted a few weeks ago, actually from parties several years ago.  i added a few fun little details this year, like the seat numbers and the bar code, and slightly different wording.  i have another one coming up soon, with even more fun touches that i can't wait to share, so i hope you're not tired of seeing it yet!

:) lexi

stock the bar!

from little boys yesterday to big boys today!  this invitation was for a stock the bar shower given by three brothers of the groom.  a martini, paired with a monogrammed cocktail shaker helped deliver just what they needed--a wedding shower invite with a manly edge.

hear! hear!
:) lexi

camo pajamas

today i'm switching from pink to blue with a cute invitation for a couple of boys.  although, i guess i should disclose that even this invite came to life originally in pink!  anyway, the party was a pretend sleepover with a local storyteller, so immediately those old pajamas came to mind and i recreated the design with two major changes, blue instead of pink and two monogrammed pajamas to represent each of the boys.  i love those personal touches!

:) lexi

still thinking pink

i'm working on another princess project this week and this castle invitation was still sitting in the pile to be posted from the last time.  shaped invites are a little more involved since i cut them all by hand, but i always love the result.  especially this one, with the door opening to reveal the party text.  i always have a hard time photographing my pastel colored invites, but it's a soft pretty pink with slightly darker pink and purple accents.  perfect for any princess!

:) lexi

these boots are made for eating...

i created an invitaton for two cute little cowgirls a couple of weeks ago, and this weekend, i got to bake the cakes, too.  cowboy boots are perfectly pretty in pink!  each one is cut out of a 9 x 13 cake using a hand drawn template, flipped so the boots faced different directions.  to please the crowd, one cake is chocolate, the other yellow.  brown iced heels, "stitching" in a slightly darker pink, and their names as a white center seam were the perfect design details.

pink, brown and white had been the color scheme for our invitation, which is why we chose them for the cakes.  the idea for the invites came from playbill type notices, focusing on a cool western font that is as much the illustration as the text.  to add interest, i pulled in two complimentary text fonts and another dingbat font for the fleurishes.  i've said it before many times, but this invite is proof of the fact that i'm a total font junkie!!

:) lexi

flashback friday :: ghost of halloween past

it's friday again and time for another halloween flashback.  for several years when my kids were really little, we hosted a big halloween bash with neighbors.  of course, the invitations were always one of my favorite tasks.  i love playing with words to create fun phrases, pairing them with the perfect images.  especially for halloween!  each year, we challenged ourselves to top the year before.  they might be scary, they might be a fright, they're invitations for halloween night...

boo!
:) lexi

original post:  september 24, 2007

flag football face-off

more football inspiration for the season's favorite boy party theme.  this one is a little less involved than the ticket invite, but just as fun, focusing on the helmets going head to head.  i used the two colors of the birthday boy's school team, but you could also use the colors of a college or pro team, or simply two favorite colors.  and if the party is for two boys, adding names or initial logos to the helmets would add another personal touch.

go team!
:) lexi

surprise anniversary

another fun aspect of yesterday's beer invite was the ruse.  the party was given by the birthday honoree's wife, and she had the great idea to send a fake invite to her own house.  same date, same place, thirty minutes later than the real one--the perfect cover story!  making it a surprise ensured that it wouldn't be talked about much.  genius!  and we even kept with the same overall theme.  yesterday, beer.  today, champagne.  it's all about the libations!  of course, it would work as a real invitation, too...

cheers!
:) lexi

beer cheer

it's pretty evident that i love taking something familiar and turning it into a personalized invitation--sports tickets, candy bars, tv show logos, and now a beer bottle!  this invitation is another from the stacks, one of my favorites from last fall.  the client wanted beer, so beer she got...

she told me two of her husband's faves, which i recreated with a few personalized details.  she chose the heineken, but the coors light was a close second.  to give the bottle a little depth on the invitation, i cut it out and popped it up on foam tape.  another hand made detail that is worth the time it takes!

bottoms up!
:) lexi

burn, baby, burn!

design, print, cut.  burn?  aye, mateys!  it's the pirate invitation again, and i did my best to catch the burning in action.  this little detail is messy and smelly and takes time, but it really makes a world of difference...

the end result is perfectly aged, ready to spark excitement from everyone who receives one.  it's all in the details!  this little package was for an out of town client and includes the pirate map invites, tags, hemp cord, and coordinating thank you notes.  add your own bottle to drop the message in and tie the tag to it with the recipient's name, or simply tie the tag to the rolled up map.  if you can't hand deliver them, the invite also fits in a standard invitation envelope.  i know i say this a lot, but it really is one of my favorites!

arrrrrrr!
:) lexi

are you ready for some football?

with football season here and now, i've gotten a few requests recently for football themed parties and had to dig through the paper files for a few of my favorite examples.  while i've posted at least one basketball version of these tickets, i can't believe the football originals aren't somewhere on here too!  or maybe they are, and just not labeled properly.  anyway, the one on the left is the first one i created (6 years ago, wow!), based on a saints' ticket that year.  i loved that the client let me add the photo to mimic the real one--a photo is a great way to really personalize an invitation and make it all your own.  a few years later, i recreated the ticket for an older boy, adding the goal post in place of the photo.  this month, i've been working on a tall stack of a brand new version to be posted later in the season--and i can't wait!  until then, if you're planning a football party, i've got the ticket...

touchdown!
:) lexi

three sweet friends

here is another invitation that i worked on a few weeks ago for a party that took place this past weekend.  the request was for something with girls, so i delivered just that with hair color to match and a few balloons to really set the party mood!

happy, happy!
:) lexi

calling all princesses!

the princess party i was working on a couple of weeks ago took place this weekend, and i'm so excited to be able share the invitation!  the client decided to go with a princess pony theme after seeing my older princess invites, but she wanted something new.  she liked the idea of embellishing with tulle and adding a small wand, and of course, something with horses.  since she was delivering them via school, i thought of a scroll.  i love when i get to think outside of the envelope!

i created a royal "crest" of sorts with a monogrammed crown and ponies, which i drew on the wacom tablet.  (the pony was so hard, not perfect, but i love it anyway!)  the crest became the focal point for royal stationery, with an additional border detail at the bottom using the same crown and ponies.  parchment paper gives the invite an authentic feel, especially when rolled up and tied with tulle.  the wand is such a sweet bonus, the perfect finishing touch.  i love the princess invites i made for my girls when they were each three, but this one ranks right up at the top of my royal faves with them!

:) lexi

old, new, borrowed, blue

just in case you were thinking that i didn't stamp invitations anymore, i found one from the "forgotten" file that was stamped!  the hosts of this party asked specifically for a little blue and something completely wedding.  a muse has a ton of great stamps that fit that description.  the perfectly simple gown, with the added touch and texture of tulle coming out of the top of the dress form, gave this card the winning edge.  but it was one of those times that the ideas just kept coming...

i had 4 back-ups!  while i like to give choices, i don't usually have five for a given order.  lately, i feel like i'm lucky if i can come up two, but that's probably because i'm working on several different themes at a time right now.  everyone's throwing parties!  i finished one, in particular, today that i can't wait to share once the party takes place!!  until then, i guess i'll have to keep digging through the forgotten files...

:) lexi

going for the gold

as i was looking through pictures for yesterday's post, i came across this invitation that i had not yet posted either.  i think when i make something with a lot of lead time, it gets forgotten since i don't like to post until after the party is over.  anyway, this was another bouncy moment for me.  the challenge was to recreate my original birthday olympics invitation as a sweet sixteen invite.  it needed an older, more elegant feel to fit the style of the party.

the birthday girl's dress was pink, so that was a great starting point.  and of course, the medal was a perfect gold opportunity.  a little sparkly ribbon and clear glitter added texture and, paired with a more sophisticated font, really brought the invitation to life.  pink, gold, shimmer, shine, perfect!  and i'm making progress on posting!

:) lexi

classified!

with two girls at home, i always welcome the opportunity to design for boys.  especially when it's a fun challenge like this one.  the birthday party was a small overnight on a battleship in baton rouge.  the first part of the invitation had to go out via email, earlier than usual, because of reservation deadlines.  and as i've said before, if you're going to send an email, it's a lot more fun to send one that looks good.  so i created a logo banner that could be used first for the email invite, then later for the paper follow up.  in addition to making the email look good, a nicely pulled together logo sets the tone and helps generate excitement.

the numbers were small for this party, and there was a lot of information to include in the paper follow up invitation, along with a special permission slip.  so we came up with the idea of a "classified" folder that could be hand delivered to the guests.  doesn't it look official?!

on the inside we included all the required information--an itenerary, things to bring, etc.  and a special pocket for the permission slip that had to accompany each guest.  i even noted the times in both military and civilian styles.  it's all about the details!  this was one of those invitations that had me giddy with excitement when they were all printed and assembled.  i kinda wish i had my own boy to recreate it for!

:) lexi