Our Labor of Love

Now that our invitations are in the hands of our guests, it’s safe to post pictures without ruining the surprise!

Let me start from the beginning.

This contraption arrived on my doorstep a few months ago:

It’s called a Gocco, and it’s a compact screen printer made in Japan. It’s all the rage among DIY brides, and consequently it’s extremely difficult to find. Fortunately, I befriended Amy I. via EAD, and she was happy to sell hers to me!

I was pretty intimidated at first, and so it sat — still perfectly packed — on my living room floor for weeks. Instead I spent my time crafting our invitation wording and searching for appropriate illustrations on iStock.

And then I moved onto paper and envelopes. I love the presentation of pocket folds, so we ordered several samples and priced out options from Paper Source, Envelopments, and Cards & Pockets. Cards & Pockets offered the best products and prices for what we wanted. And we took advantage of a coupon code (Nick loves coupon codes!) and saved 20%.

Shortly after we placed our order, 8 lbs. of paper arrived at my apartment! The envelopes followed shortly after — another 8 lb. package. The texture and colors are just beautiful. I’ve never spent so much time admiring paper!

And then … we tackled the Gocco. Here I am burning the first screen:

We spent an entire weekend burning, inking, embossing, and adhering. It was a wonderful family bonding activity! (at least I thought so, and Nick looks like he’s enjoying himself, too)

The embossing step was probably not necessary, but it made the colors and texture that much more impressive.

In total we Gocco’d 100 of each of the following: invitations, RSVP postcards, accommodations and directions cards, and envelopes, Whew! I’m not going to say it was an easy task; there were times when I wanted to throw the Gocco out the window! But we stuck with it and learned a lot of lessons along the way. Read my tips here.

Next I gathered the rest of the supplies: orange ribbon, orange card stock, monogram stamps, red ink, a calligraphy pen, and postage.

And we spent yet another weekend stamping, assembling, licking, and addressing.

And here it is … the final suite, a.k.a. our pride and joy!

Sure, I had to re-adhere the monogram stamps to the ribbon to the card stock three times before I got them to stick. And, yes, each green is a slightly different shade. But they’re homemade! And we put so much love into them. It’s something we (and hopefully our guests) will treasure forever.

And now it’s on to the next DIY project! Stay tuned.