Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Baby Shower Invitation Re-do

My mother is hosting a baby shower for our DDIL, and I offered to take care of the invitations.  Now it's 'round the corner, and due to unforeseen circumstances the invitations were not ordered.  

Creativity to the rescue!
(I think the guys refer to it as 
time to punt, or something like that.)

{And since we don't know the baby's gender, this post, and the shower, will be all about
PINK and BLUE.}

I went to several stores, looking for something refined and appropriate, though not necessarily baby, and I 
found this pretty starting point:
by Gartner Studios.
But where's the PINK?  I NEED PINK!
Well, I'll just hand-color one of the hydrangea heads!

Using my trusty watercolor pencils, I went to work.
(But first print them out with the invitation wording, so nothing that you do to embellish the invitation prevents it from going through the printer.)

The wonderful thing about these pencils is that you don't have to be real specific--it's not like coloring in our coloring books where we had to stay in the lines.  I'm no painter, so I followed the artist's shadings and loosely filled in the petals.
Then using the teeniest, tiniest bit of water on an old, {clean} lipstick brush, I dabbed the pencil markings, making sure to not over-work it to not lose the detail and highlights.
Next, I used a Martha Stewart punch to make a lacy, filigree design across the top.


And now here they are...the finished product, fit for BABY BOYor  BABY GIRL.
(You might be able to see that as I final touch I added a tiny pearl to each head.)

Oh, and the best part??  When I chose this invitation I had completely forgotten that my mother
is planning on using hydrangeas for the centerpiece.
Pure, happy, coincidence!

Have you bought ready-made invitation "blanks" as a shortcut?  How did you embellish them?  Have you ever used watercolors?  And lastly, what do you think?  Do they fill the bill?


Thanks for stopping by.  Please leave me a comment to let me know you were here—I read every single one of them!  They encourage me and inspire me.  And if you like what you see a lot J, maybe you’d like to +1 this post too!  Thank you!

I will be joining these fun parties; please stop by to see all the great things there!

Sunday Showcase Party at http://www.bystephanielynn.com/
Mop It Up Mondays at http://www.ishouldbemoppingthefloor.com/ (thru Feb.)
Show Off Your Cottage Monday at http://houseinroses.blogspot.com
Newbie Party on Monday at http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/  MARCH 12 IS COPY CAT
Before and After Monday (1st Monday of the mo.) at http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/ 
Winter Blues Party at http://diybydesign.blogspot.com/
Voila! French Inspiration on Thursdays at http://frenchcupboard.blogspot.com/
Open House Party Thursday http://nominimalisthere.blogspot.com
Transformation Thursdays at http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/
Inspiration Friday at http://www.atthepicketfence.com
Thrifty Things Friday at http://thethriftygroove.blogspot.com/
Show and Tell Friday at http://romantichome.blogspot.com/
Home Sweet Home Friday at http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/
Weekend Wrap-up Party at http://tatertotsandjello.com/

Wishing you a happy St. Patrick’s Day,
from my Chickadee Nest to yours~
    Zuni


25 comments:

  1. That is amazing. I love it. I am a tole painter and you have really done a great job here. I have watercolor pencils in my craft supplies but have never used them.
    Great inspiration here!

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  2. I think your invitation is gorgeous. What a clever idea to over color the blue hydrangea. It looks so realistic. Like the lacy border too.
    Can't wait to see photos of the party. ~ sarah

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    1. You will certainly see pictures of the shower, Sarah. It's a week from tomorrow. We have lots of fun plans.

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  3. They look great, Zuni! I love how you made the one hydrangea pink and the punch you used at the top. It's almost two years ago that I did my daughter's shower and we used invitations I found on clearance at Michael's. Wedding ones, just blank, and I made up the invitation myself. It's a great way to customize them in an affordable way.

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  4. Oh how beautiful. You are so talented, the flowers are amazing. Wow, I am impressed. Thanks for joining TTT. Hugs, Marty

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  5. These look amazing, can't believe you did them yourself. I've got to get me some of those watercolor pencils and give it a try. Thanks so much for your sweet visit and linking.
    Big hugs,
    Patti

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  6. Wonderfully clever and creative, Zuni! Beautiful invitation.

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  7. What in the world made you think of this?!??!?! This is perfect!! You GO, girl! You're quite the artist!!! I'm sure these are FAR better than anything you could have ordered!

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    Replies
    1. Oh....you know the answer, Alycia--DESPERATION and running out of time! HAD to think of something! :) Thank you!

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  8. How beautiful! WOW! Hugs and blessings, Cindy

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  9. Zuni, beautiful! I am going to pin this on pinterest. I have been hearing about these watercolor pins and am very interested in getting some for art journaling. Hope the shower goes well.

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  10. Very nice - I am co-hosting a baby shower for my daughter next month - where did you find the blank invitations, if I might ask? I would love to do something similar for "our" shower. Hoppy over from Common Ground Linky Party!
    Thanks!
    Hugs -
    Carol@arewethereyet

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  11. Wow those turned out beautiful. Have a great weekend!

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  12. How lovely! And even more so because you took the time to add your touch to each one. I hope you saved one as a keepsake!!! I absolutely love watercolor pencils. They are fabulous to play with!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you. I did like the idea of "personalizing" them, especially since it's for our grandbaby. :)

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  13. Zuni~ How creative & perfectly beautiful! I would have never thought to hand color the hydrangeas and your MS punch provides such a wonderful finished edge and detail!

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  14. Wow, Zuni, they turned out beautifully! Very creative ideas and the execution was flawless!

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  15. They are lovely! Was it time consuming? I am doing the planning for a baby shower next month, but I wonder how long it would take to do 40 invites?

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  16. Gorgeous! Thank you for joining me at Home Sweet Home!
    Sherry

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  17. How pretty! These are just georgous, you did a spectacular job.

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  18. This was brillant! And it turned out so stunning! You did such an amazing job transforming these beautiful invitations! Way to go! love it!!

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  19. You are such an artist! The invitations are absolutely beautiful!

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  20. You managed to turn a disaster into an opportunity to bring out those creative juices and still create beautiful baby shower invitations.

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