Cutting Paper

The first step is cutting the paper. Yep, cutting the exact sizes of the save the dates, RSVP's and invitations out of large parent sheet. I got this idea from other bloggers as this is the most cost effective way to get the most out of the paper. It seems like a formidable task but once I got started, it was actually really fast and easy. Of course you can always get pre-cut paper but that I didn't see the benefit to be exponentially higher for the cost.

Essential to this part is having a guillotine style paper cutter. I was able to borrow my mom's, which was helpful since I probably would not endeavor to buy a paper cutter that I was not very likely to use again (I would just be very steady-handed when it comes to cutting paper for greeting cards!). I ordered 100 20x26 parent sheets in Ecru from Crane & Co, with a free shipping promo and 6% back from ebates. I waited for months to get the paper and I was so glad I did since the free shipping promo rarely comes around. Sign up for their mailing list and be patient!

I took some sample cards that I got from some printing companies that was the same size as my invitations to measure where to cut. I used scissor to cut approximate areas before I used the guillotine. I always made sure I began each cut on the guillotine measured against a pre-cut edge so as to have as much accuracy and as least slant as possible.

These are some of the finished products.

Overall, this task took probably five hours or so. I worked on it for thirty-forty five minutes each night for a week. But I'm sure if consolidated, it would probably take just two hours to do everything.