Mad Hatter Tea Party Invites

So in the spirit of Alice in Wonderland, there has been a lot of buzz about the internet with products dealing with the movie. My sister was a huge fan of the disney movie as well as the books when she was a kid, so it was convenient that all this should come back while I was planning her bridal shower. I am still in the planning stages of a lot of it, but have finished the invitations. The great thing about the invitations was that they were offered by an online vendor at $1.99 a pop, including envelopes. However, I was able to hit a couple sales this weekend and got all of the supplies that I needed to make 40+ cards for about $30. The great thing about the supplies that I got is that I can use the cardstock I bought to make more than just the cards I made, and the stamp that I bought is versatile enough to make more items as well.

Supplies: (see picture below for help with descriptions)
-Package of invitation sized coverstock
-Clear stamping block
-Clear stamp block stamps
-cardstock cutouts of hearts and Q's (diamonds, clubs, spades, J's and K's can be used as well mine are Cricut cutouts)
-Raised Stamp pad in desired color
- Round Corner punch



Instructions:

Step 1: Print desired invitation via use of computer program onto coverstock. I used Publisher, and made my margins 3/4" wide in order to keep space around the borders for other accents.



Step 2: Cut all four corners of coverstock to to make corners round, like a playing card.

Card should look a lot like this at this point. (see following picture)

Step 3: Assemble the clear stamps and clear stamp block in a way that you feel would make a good back of the card. as you can see below, I arranged mine in a three piece pattern. Make sure that the pattern will fit, by placing the card underneath and eyeballing it.



Step 4: Stamping is difficult, but let me make it easy. With a large block it is all about ink and pressure. Ink the block by dabbing the ink onto the block, NOT by pressing the block into the ink. Dabbing the ink makes the process easy and fast.

When inking you paper make sure that you press down hard, and evenly so that you get a good picture. If you don't get a great picture, you can try to fix it by carefully looking through the block and lining up the stamp with the print already made, and pressing firmly again.
As you ca see in the picture it does sort of look like a back of a playing card at this point.

Step 5: Now is the time to flip the card back over, and stamp the corners. You will have to remove all items on the stamp block that you don't want to use, and reposition one that you do. When you are done repositioning, carefully stamp the top right and bottom left corners of the front of the cards.


Don't worry if the stamp runs off the page like mine did, just make sure you don't stamp on any of your wording, and try to get a stamp that fits well.

Step 6: the last part, and most tedious is applying the Q's and hearts. To make them look like a playing card you have to position them just right in the top left and bottom right corners. Make sure that you flip the Q and heart upside down for the bottom corner though to make it more realistic. I use a easy glide glue stick that dries clear, and sets fast to make the process fast.

Once you are done, you can place the card in an envelope, and if you are feeling extra crafty, you can even adorn the corner of the envelope with a matching stamp.

I also sealed the envelopes with a special little sticker I made that said "Open Me" but the choices are all yours!