saving the date part 4: the cards.

Now that you've made your embossed envelopes, it's time for the more important part... the cards that will actually tell your guests which date to save.

You will need:

-cardstock or cover weight paper (I used 12x12 linen textured cardstock from JoAnn's in white and a moss green color)
-paper cutter
-corner rounding paper punch
-paper punch (I used a 1/16" punch)
-small metal brads
-large stamp (I used the Large Flourish stamp from Paper-Source)
-stamp ink (I used a Colorbox stamp pad from Paper-Source)
-artwork design

Instructions:

1. Design your artwork. Don't forget your crop marks and the small dot on the front page to tell you where to place your brad. I actually made the brad mark white, not black, and it was much more discreet. So much so that it wouldn't show up in the picture.
I designed our save-the-date artwork in Adobe Illustrator. I sized the cards so they would fit in the A2 envelopes we used, and made sure to maximize the number of invites per page by fitting 6 on each 12x12 sheet. This helped me save on printing costs.
Caution: Before you buy 12x12 cardstock, make sure whoever you are getting your prints from is capable of printing on 12x12 paper. Not all printers can print on paper this large!
2. Get your prints made. We used a small print shop located in the UP (called CJ Graphics if anyone is interested). It was hard to do this from a distance, but they were great to work with and called me several times asking for Pantone numbers in order to make sure the colors were what I wanted. 3. Start cutting! We found you have to make less cuts if you cut around the perimeter first, then cut between the cards. (Do as I say, not as I do! The picture below shows me cutting the perimeter last, which takes more cuts and more time!)
4. Stamp and emboss your pages, just like you did on the envelopes. 5. Assemble your pieces (we had three pages) and make sure they line up properly. Trim edges if needed. 6. Round all corners while your cards are stacked. This ensures that all of your pages will match up nicely. If you have more than three pages, you might have to split them up, as it was difficult for us to even put three in the rounder at once.7. Use your paper punch to punch a hole through all sheets in order to put your brad in.8. Insert brad and separate prongs to fasten.9. Your save-the-date cards are complete!
10. Insert your save-the-date cards into your embossed envelope and seal it shut (use your tape roller again if your envelopes are homemade). 11. Add postage and send your lovely save-the-date cards to your guests.

My last post in this series will be a budget breakdown and lessons learned, so stay tuned!