I love looking through our new idea book called Show & Tell. I am always amazed at the work our designers come up with. I take advantage of the fact that I think they are geniuses and forget that there is a real process behind the way these projects actually come to pass. It’s amazing to me to learn how an idea that comes into their head and eventually becomes a beautiful project. I asked Leah to share this process with us for one of her projects featured in this book. This is what she said.
“When I was a kid, I always looked forward to school starting because I loved getting my new school supplies. I find it funny to think that I haven't changed in all these years – I love school (and office) supplies just as much as I did back then. So when I needed to create an invitation for a teacher's reception, I wanted to create something that was as fun for me to make as it was for the teachers to receive. I also wanted to somehow include a few school supplies, like a pencil and notebook paper.
Since standard notebook paper was too thin for what I wanted, I decided to create my own notebook lines using Microsoft Word and print it on white card stock. By doing this, I was able to add the journaling exactly where I wanted it before printing, and I could punch the holes closer than where they are normally found in notebook paper.
I tried adding just a pencil at the top, which looked okay but it was a little plain. I knew that I wanted to use ribbon on this invitation too, so I experimented with different ideas like tied knots and wrapping ribbon around the pencil. Eventually, I tried sewing little loops which I really liked – mostly because I got to use my sewing machine (I love sewing!). After I sewed the loops, slid them onto the pencil and trimmed off some of the excess ribbon, I instantly saw the opportunity to embellish the ribbon ends. So that's when I played around with different embellishments like stickers, buttons, brads and flowers. I especially liked the look of little yellow flowers with velvet brads plus it gave me a place to attach a tag with the teacher's name – I always like to personalize cards or invitations whenever I can.
To finish the invitation, I added the green ric-rack and the pink gingham ribbon at the bottom of the card to fill empty space, add visual interest, and to repeat the colors of the ribbon on the pencil. Stapling the green trim was the perfect little touch on this school-themed invitation. And truth be told, I like my stapler almost as much as I like my sewing machine :)”
