Gnome Birthday Party Invitations

Tessa's 7th birthday was on August 16 and she wanted a Gnomeo and Juliet Theme for her party. Since the movie is relatively new, I really needed to utilize generic ideas. I decided punch art would be a great way to create a cute gnome for her card. My first stop toward creating a gnome- Stampin' Connection, the webpage/discussion group exclusively for Stampin' Up!®demonstrators where we share ideas. I did a search on gnomes and Jackie Topa had posted a great male gnome using just the Blossom Petals Builder punch. After reading through her instructions and making a few tweaks, I came up with a great feminine version for Juliet. The face is the key feature to make it look like Juliet from the movie. I downloaded a coloring page and used a graphics software to extract just the face and print onto Blushing Bride card stock. I used Blender Pens and ink pads to carefully color the face so she looked as close to Juliet as possible. Here is the instruction sheet for creating a Juliet Gnome.

Next, I needed to add my sweet little gnome to the card. I wanted to use the Raining Flowers and Easy Events Stamp Sets that I got from convention. Raining Flowers was just perfect for a Garden Gnome Party and Easy Events has a cute birthday cupcake and a little snail carrying a little present. Tessa loved them all. My next stop for inspiration was Stampin' Success and I saw that Chris Galbraith was asked to do some samples and be profiled in an article. She had created a side step card using the Raining Flowers Stamp. Inspired by her design, I went to work making my first side step card. There is a tutorial on SplitCoast Stampers, but I did change the dimensions on the width of width for the division between step and non-step portions.

I added some bling with Basic Rhinestones and Glitter Brads. I also used did some punch art for the little mushroom. The envelopes were also embellished with stamps from Raining Flowers. The main colors are Daffodil Delight and Peach Parfait for the flowers. I also used Pacific Point, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White, Early Espresso, and River Rock.

For the inside, I needed the party information and I turned to My Digital Studio. This is such an easy way to find coordinating artwork and then just print to your printer. I also liked the 3D, pop up effect from the stairs and decided to add a some things there. Using the snail and cupcake from Easy Events I created a little party scene. To the top tier, I added some flowers using the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack. I used my Stampin' Write Markers and Blender Pens to color everything and add stems for my flowers. On the cupcake, I added some Dazzling Diamonds to both the frosting area and the little dangles on the platform stand. Lastly, I used the happy birthday stamp from Perfect Punches to add the birthday sentiment. I inked all but the happy portion of the stamp using Peach Parfait.


Tessa loved the invitations and I had lots of great feedback from her friends. I set aside one to send in to Stampin' Up!® for the monthly contest to win free stamp sets. Wish me luck! Tomorrow, I will share the party favors and cake.

Happy Stampin' and God Bless!
Charity