When I tell people about the Gocco, they’re taken back by how cool it sounds. It really is cool, and I am so glad I stumbled across it. It is a Japanese desktop screen printing machine that instantly burns an image (printed off a laser printer) on a hi-mesh screen. You can burn and start printing in a minute. It’s so awesome!

We used it for the exterior of our invitations as well as the return address on the back flap of our envelopes.

Initially, we wanted to hand print the entire thing but after realizing how many we had to make and how long it took for each one, we decided to drop it off at Paper Slam in NYC.

You can view the tutorial here. Anthony took pictures of the entire process!

A few months ago, I never would have guessed that I would be faced with a fit of uncertainty about the size of an invitation.

A few months ago, what used to be a small, trivial detail has taken me weeks to come to a conclusion.

But today is a brand new day. I have just ordered the paper and envelopes for our DIY invitations! They were even cut to size, which will save me hours of hard labor in the upcoming weeks. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

I did a lot of research on cardstock weights, sizes, textures, and colors coupled with research on envelope sizes, flaps and linings. I hunted for bargains and compared prices. The best website had to be The Paper Mill Store. Once I get these in, I’ll start cataloging my adventure. For any reason, if anyone wants to learn from my mishaps, there will have photos and captions to avoid any mistakes I will be making. And trust me, there will be mistakes.

This is a repost from an inspiration wedding website I visit religiously on a daily basis, Style Me Pretty. I thought this was really cute and could be turned into something more than Thank You cards, such as invitations or something along those lines…

Materials Needed:
1. Sewing Machine
2. Pinking Shears or Rotary Cutter
3. One piece of Ultrasuede fabric
4. Satin Ribbon
5. Coordinating Threads
6. Metal Ruler
7. X-acto Knife

Instructions:
Step 1: With scissors, trim ultrasued to 5.5″ x 8.75″. Cut a piece of coordinating ribbon to 20″ long. Align Ribbon to the center of the fabric lengthwise and pin about 3.5″ down from the top on the right side of fabric. Secure ribbon with a sewing machine. Fold bottom of the envelope up about 2.5″. Sew both sides shut with a sewing machine.

Step 2: Measure .5″ in from the top center of the envelope. With an x-acto knife, cute a straight line through the fabric just wide enough to accommodate your ribbon. Measure .25″ up and repeat the same cut. Thread ribbon through slots.

Step 3: Place a standard 4-Bar card in the envelope or download this template of cards and print out onto card stock on your home printer. Follow the instructions in the template on how to trim out.

Step 4: Once the card is placed in the envelope fold top over and pull snug. Using pinking shears or ruler and rotary pinking cutter, trim each side to get the decorative scalloped edge. Make sure to do this step last so that the scallop edges line up. Snip ends of ribbon to points and tie in a bow!

Make sure to visit Style Me Pretty for the step-by-step photos.