How to print addresses on A-7 envelopes using Microsoft 2007

You'd think printing envelopes in Microsoft Word is intuitive; however, I found that not to be the case here. I don't know if it's an Office 2007 thing, but using the custom option for envelope printing did not work as I'd hope it would. I do hope someone else will find some use out of this post because I sure wish there was some instruction out there when I was making my invitations. I printed at least 20 testers before I had the alignment right. And, by "testers" I mean, I cut out white paper that was the same length and width as my envelopes and used those to test how center my "to" field addresses here. It's not that time consuming if you have a paper cutter and it doesn't waste those nice envelopes either!

Instructions:

1. Go to Mailings, then Envelopes

2. Type in Delivery Address

3. Click picture of envelope

4. Change envelope to size 10 (4 1/8th" x 9.5") in the drop down

5. Change delivery address spacing to: From left 5"; From top 1.8"

6. Press Print, then feed. The manual feed is a little tricky because it is different for each printer. For the HP LaserJet I used, it is the orientation shown in"Envelope options" feed box.

Tips:

• Use white scratch paper in A-7 dimensions for trial testing
• To change the default envelope font and paragraph spacing, follow the directions here
• Manually feed one invitation at a time to avoid jams. It sounds like a lot of work, but it actually wasn't that bad.

DIY paper cut table numbers tutorial

I've been to weddings with no table numbers and ones with. The ones with table numbers weren't very memorable. I thought about crafts I've been doing lately and how I can incorporate them into our wedding. That's how I came up with paper cut table numbers! I wanted to put it in a floating frame on each table (luckily, there will only be 4-5 tables). I did a quick search and found my inspiration with papercutdiecut. I looked at the design and flow, then drew my sketches. What I loved most about it is that it coincides with our nature/tree themed wedding.

Materials: light box, stylus, #11 exacto knife, pencil, self healing mat, paper (I used 65#C in yellow), 5X7 acrylic clear photo frame, binder clips, and a lot of patience!

Draw out the design on regular white paper. I folded the paper in half to have the same canvas space so each number is roughly the same size. Make it as dark as possible as you will be tracing it onto the paper you will be using to make the cut.

Position the drawn side of your white paper onto the paper you will be cutting on and clip the top of the papers together. Use the stylus to go over all lines to copy over the image. When you are finished, you should have the wrong side of the image transfered onto the paper you are going to cut. Now, all you need to do is cut out all the "white space"!

You should be left with this cut out. You'll have light pencil marks from the transfer that you can erase. Be very careful not to rip the paper because of the thin cuts. I just smashed my eraser really hard onto the paper to pick up the markings. It worked for me!

WIP: DIY Luggage tags

Let's talk wedding favors. Be honest. How many people actually have useful wedding favors or ones that don't end up in the trash a few days later? Recently, I heard that my friend's brother had toothbrushes for their wedding favors! Though it sounded odd at first, it's something that I'd actually end up using!

When I saw Design*Sponge post on DIY luggage tags, I immediately put it on my list of wedding favor ideas. Destination wedding... luggage tags, it just made sense. Needless to say, we did it (not without friend from wonderful friends k.duarte and s.sakatani)! Eric and I labored away cutting perfect squares, at least 500 of them, ironing interfacing, and my friends helped me with part of the sewing. Enlisting help is crucial to your sanity when you are making 50 of them.

Last step, sew on the vinyl.

DIY wedding invitations- DONE!!

We made our own wedding invitations with a friend to help design the image we envisioned and letterpress the image/text. Now having this experience under our belt, I do have a few words of wisdom for you folks that are considering making your own invitations.

One- unless you are seriously on a tight budget, do not make your own pocketfolds like we did-buy them! The small amount of money saved was not worth the tremendous time we spent making them ourselves.

Two- buy a really good paper cutter/trimmer if you ignore suggestion one. I don't know the right tool, but I have a fiskars trimmer that just wasn't cutting perfect squares/lines because of inconsistent pressure..by user, but hey-good products should account for that!

Three- order your paper online rather than buying from BM stores (e.g. paper-source). There's a big savings to be had here.

Stay tuned for a "how-to" tutorial. Detailed process will include materials, cost, all paper measurements, type of paper...etc.