Oh, Hello.....You're Invited

 I have been working on invitations for a bridal shower for my niece this week.  It's funny how you start out with a lovely idea, and end up with something entirely different.  I had seen a card made with the Dress Up die cut wrapped with a doily for the skirt.  When it came to the doily wrap, I was not quite satisfied with the doily that I had, so I went in search of new doilies.  After checking 3 stores, and finding nothing to my satisfaction, I decided to emboss the dress, and I used the Fancy Fan EF to give it a frilly effect.  I agonized over how I wanted to make the oval portion.  Use the oval or label Framelit?  Cut out or layer over?  Pumpkin pie or Calypso Coral?  How could I still incorporate the doily into the card?  Paper flowers or ribbon flowers?  I finally bought some little roses to save me time. I sure spent a long time agonizing over this card.  You know, my niece is a special person to me, and I wanted Lizzie's invitations to be very special. 
After wasting much time, I finally came up with my final sample on Thursday evening.  Everything was cut, and ready to assemble, but then I decided I wanted to emboss the rose background paper, so off to the Big Shot for a little more work. I was ready to assemble, but was not satisfied with the crowded look of the layout.  I decided to switch from vertical to a horizontal layout, and it finally all came together.  That was until I added the rosebud!  They were too bulky for mailing, so I came up with an idea.  I would take them to the iron and smash them flatter.  I headed for the ironing board, and laid out 8 rosebuds to smash.  When I hit them with the iron, the stuck to the iron plate!  Oh, no, too hot!  I grabbed a brown bag and cleaned off the iron plate, and turned down the temp.  I thought I needed an ironing cloth, but there was nothing handy in the laundry room, and I was on a mission to get the job done.  I checked the trash and grabbed a used dryer sheet thinking that it would be suitable to use.  Smashed the rosebuds covered with a dryer sheet and immediately knew my mistake as I watched the dryer sheet shrivel and disappear beneath the iron.  Wrong move again!  (Did I mention I worked as a seamstress for a number of years, and know better than to do any of this?)  Wanting to get the burned goop off the iron plate fast, I quickly rubbed it on the edge of the ironing board cover to scrape it off.  Immediately I realized that I had just ruined the board cover, which I had just bought about 6 months ago (first new one in about 10 years).  I grabbed a wet towel and proceeded to try to clean the board cover, and the iron plate as best I could.  The iron had cooled down enough that I could proceed to smash the rest of the rosebuds, and they did flatten out enough that I was able to slip them into the envelopes without much difficulty.  
I decided to add a recipe card to the envelope to cover the roses and rhinestones, along with a note asking the guest to bring a favorite recipe to the shower for the bride.  I think I will make up a game to go along with the recipes, maybe asking guests to guess who brought which recipe.  
They are all stamped and ready to mail today, and I can move on to the next project, my swap cards for Monday's demonstrator meeting.  
Sure hope the swap cards go off without a hitch.  
I think I will share my cards this week on the Pink Elephant Challenge where the theme this week is ANYTHING GOES.  This sure meets their criteria.
Stop back again and see how that goes.  

Mary Alice