Tiddly Inks Challenge #20

Happy Birthday!!!  Oh no wait...it's not my birthday...but it is a birthday challenge over at Tiddly Inks this week!!  Our challenge was to create a birthday card OR invitation.  With my daughter's sixth birthday coming up soon I figured this was just the push I needed to get crackin' on her invitations!!

With the exception of one year, I have always had my daughter's parties here at our house.  It's typically still warm enough in NE this time of year and into the fall to have it outside and we've been lucky weather wise.  One year we did a cupcake theme, another year was a bouncy house, etc etc.  This year we've decided to do a Book Party!!

My daughter chose the book "Ladybug Girl" as her main book of choice for me to read at the party.  Little does she know that I will be dressing up as a ladybug mid-party to surprise her and her friends to come out and read to them!  LOL!  I'm also ordering (as we speak) "Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy" and am going to have my husband dress up as Bumblebee Boy!  I'm also going to ask a few very special family members to read some of the children's favorite stories.

We will be making library tote bags and handmade books!!  Some cake and ice cream to whip everyone up into a nice froth and end the day with a cool scavenger hunt where each guest will find a special book to take home!!

So with that ALL said I based my invitation on the theme of ladybugs!  The invitation itself is a jumbo tag.  I'm using PTI red as my tag base measuring roughly 4.25" w x 9.25" h.  I punched an SU! jumbo rivet into the top and threaded red polka dotted grosgrain ribbon through it. 

I've used ever adorable 'Schoolgirl' as my focal image.  She SO reminds me of my daughter!!  I colored her hair with my Copics and Prismacolor markers in the same shades as my daughters.  I ran with the red with black polka dot theme using my new Prismacolor pencils to shade and color her outfit, socks, hair bow, shirt and books.  Her skin is colored with my Copics as well.

Her shoes are shined up with Diamond Glaze for a little sparkly effect. 

I kept the background relatively quiet with white DP from SU! with grey polka dots and black PTI cardstock punched with my jumbo scallop punch.  As a final touch I punched out circles from the PTI black cardstock, coated them in Mod Podge and dipped them into DoodleBug Beetle Black Glitter and let them set overnight. 

Before adding anything on the "decorative" side, I worked on the "informational" side.  I printed up the party information using MS Word.  I created it into a pull tag using my SU! label punch (not sure what it's technically called but it creates that little pull tag at the top of the invitation) using the same red PTI cardstock and dotting it with my black Prismacolor marker.

 I used PTI Lemon Tart cardstock to create the pocket for the information for the party.  And a small strip of lined DP at the top so that the red dotted pull popped a bit more as opposed to it sitting against the same red background.

I stamped two journaling spots on the Lemon Tart cardstock for the children to write down a book wish list, books to read or books that have been read.  I then stitched the pocket down and slid the party info inside. 

I THEN adhered everything down on the "decorative" side so as to hide the stitching from the "informational" side.  I placed the white and grey polka dotted stock down first, followed by the black PTI cardstock, followed by Schoolgirl and then I haphazardly added the sparkly dots!

I LOVEEEEEEE how this turned out!!  Now I just have to figure out how many I have to make for her party!!

Thanks for visiting today!!   Don't forget to come and play over at the TI Challenge Blog!!

XOXO
Meredith