summer block party
A few weeks ago, I had dinner with some of my girlfriends in the neighborhood and we decided it was time to organize a block party. I didn't have much time to design an invitation, so I used digital scrapbooking elements from the Photobooth Kit by Paislee Press rather than starting from scratch. I used three different "papers" (the wood grain, red stripe and beige chevron) as well a couple of "elements" from the kit (the ribbon on the front of the invite and the 'hello there' tag on the back). I created the invitation in Photoshop by dragging and dropping Liz Tamanaha's gorgeous papers and clever little embellishments onto my 5.5 inch by 5.5 inch canvas. A few drop shadows gave the invite a charming, homemade look. Here's the work-in-progress shot in Photoshop.
I printed the invitations on FSC-certified paper containing post-consumer recycled content and voila: a gorgeous little eco-friendly invite that took about an hour to perfect and send to print. I punched a hole in the invitation and added a loop of kitchen string so we could hang them on everyone's doorknobs. I've blogged about invitations like this before, but I really think it's a fun way to invite friends and neighbors to a casual get-together.
And speaking of casual, if you're interested in organizing your own block party, check out how I worded the details on the back of the card. Everyone provided their own dinner, and people brought drinks and desserts to share. We met at a park in the middle of our neighborhood and just made sure it was cleaned up before the last party-goers left. The "organizers" didn't have any responsibilities apart from the invitation. No one had to RSVP and people could come and go as their schedules allowed. So easy and so much fun.
