Stars for a star-swept couple

My niece was married in May, and I was delighted that she asked for my help with the favors for her wedding. Their theme was Starry Starry Night, and they carried it out beautifully. She had wine charms for her favors, and late one night we texted back and forth a dozen times until we came up with a plan:

I’ve done enough mass production to know that you have to break it up into smaller tasks. I want to enjoy the process, and production isn’t my favorite thing to do. It’s a gift that I can give, and I want to give it joyfully!

The first thing that I did was borrow another set of Star Framelits so that I would have two. By carefully planning and cutting the card stock into strips, I could cut eight stars at a time…two pieces of card stock at time. It’s not the recommended procedure, but if your shape is simple enough it works! Having 2 sets meant I could put 4 framelits through at a time.

I’ve also learned to work in stacks. It helps me to keep track of my progress, and also helps avoid the inevitable shortage of one piece or another.

Tools help too! The piercing mat was a lifesaver 🙂 The stars are Night of Navy and Soft Suede, and I stamped one side with a star pattern from a retired Project Life set called Point and Click. The other side had their names and wedding date printed – I confess that was mostly by trial and error using MS Word. Print first, cut with framelits second!

It was a great feeling to get them all finished and ready to send off. I confess that putting them in a Priority Mail package and sending them off across the ocean made me feel a little nervous, and I was quite happy to get that arrival email! The Post Office has been good to me, and I am a big fan.

We used to carry a fabulous product called Champagne Mist Shimmer paint, and I have a stash of it that I keep for very special projects. Every star was sprayed front and back with Shimmer Spray, and it was a perfect finishing touch.

Finally, my card for the happy couple carried out the theme too: