Julia

woohoo, the story of a beautiful invitation starts from here!




letterpressed invites neatly wrapped when delivered to me




5.75" x 23" will turn into an accordion with 4 panels of 5.75" x 5.75". O rite! time to get to work!




first find the center of the paper. dont want to simply rely on the the ruler on the scoring board cuz the grooves would take up some length. if simply score down where 11.5"" mark is, half of the panels would be a little smaller than the other half when folded.




align the center of the paper against a groove and score a line




then fold into half, make sure the fold is centered.




then repeat the same steps to create 4 panels




yippie! accordion :)



marking where to cut in order to insert the map into the invite and make an "almost" seamless look




cutting the slit on my magic self-heal cutting mat :)




you see the pretty looking slit? it will be just right to fit the map and keep it snug




time to put the covers on this baby



here comes the tricky part... steady hands are needed! cuz at this point, the glue on the back of the invite has become very sticky... if you lay down on the less desired spot... SORRY!
with that being said, carefully apply the invitation to its cover, making sure the boarder is even all around.




apply glue evenly, notice where my thumb is at has no glue but only a thin strip of it on the bottom? cuz that shall be glue-free for the map to be inserted and removed freely but still sealed on the bottom so the map doesnt go all the way thru when inserted




to be 100% sure that the front and the back cover would produce a "book" look, instead of taking the other end of the invitation and lay it down with an even all around boarder like previously, i simply stack them together...




like this... it is more important to me to have an even looking cover than a perfect inside but slighty off covers. FIRST IMPRESSION COUNTS! it's hard to be 100% percise when it is handmade, that is the beauty of it!




then i open it to smooth out both covers, to avoid any unwanted air bubbles




thn carefully insert the map into the designated slot




ready to put the final touch on the invite: skinny smooth cream ribbon. when you have a backdrop as intricate as the pattern embossed here and the delicate pearlized yellow, less is more.




tight a snug but flat knot for a simple elegance look




trim the ends for a clean finish!




here we are :)