cyan in wonderland birthday party invitations

I finally got the invitations done for Cyan’s birthday party.. I know, I know – her birthday was two weeks ago.. We had planned to delay her party anyway as she was starting school for the first time last week, so that she could invite new and old friends..



We decided months ago that Cyan was going to have an Alice in Wonderland themed party, a no-brainer considering our Alice craze this year.. I also decided months ago that I would use the original book illustrations by John Tenniel when I found out (after seeing them used in some art on Etsy) that due to their age they are in the public domain, and safe to use. I love these illustrations, they are magical and of a different time..

The illustration above is possibly my favourite of all the Tenniel Alice illustrations, with Alice looking over her shoulder at the White Rabbit hurrying off down the corridor, I love the composition and the perspective.. I thought it would be perfect on the front, with the script Follow the White Rabbit...

I thought we could cut some rabbit shapes from white card for the party, and fix them to the walls outside our house, so they actually do follow the White Rabbit to the party.. Cyan likes this idea..



I like party invitations which are folded, that you ‘open’ like a card, and I also like to offer guests the choice of RSVP via phone/email or a reply slip.. I wanted the proportions of these invitations to be more like a book than the other square format invitations I have designed before, and to almost tell a story..

Inside.. You’re invited to A Mad Tea Party! To celebrate Cyan’s 5th birthday
(notice not A Mad Hatter’s Tea Party – true to the book).



Don’t be late! The RSVP flap folds down to reveal the time/date/place, and doubles as a tear-off reply slip.. (address edited for this pic – we don’t actually live on Wonderland Road.. I wonder if there is one?)



The back is finished off with the illustration of Alice and the Cheshire Cat and the legend Cyan in Wonderland (I couldn’t resist!) I also repeated our phone number here for those who may need to call after having returned the reply slip..

I am really pleased with the vintage look and feel of these invites, I used just a little muted colour to pick out the characters in the illustrations..

Onto the rest of the party preparation now.. Among other things I have to make up the other party bag designs, you may remember I prototyped my idea for the Queen of Hearts and Cheshire Cat party bags for Craftshare back in July..

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