Greeting Cards!

I've been on a note cards and envelopes set kick for a while now, and I thought I'd throw in a few examples of greeting cards.  A dear aunt of my husband's commissioned me to make adult birthday cards, thinking of you, and sympathy cards, and I was more than happy to accept.  I try to embellish one of a kind greeting cards a bit more than the norm, and use special papers, three-dimensional accouterments, and interesting trims.  When I use patterned or darker colored paper for the envelopes, I also include mailing labels.  And, I use double sided tape with peel off backing for the sender to use to close up the envelopes.  And, I recently learned how to do heat embossing...stamping, plus embossing powder, plus a heat tool...and voila!  You'll see an example of both in the fifth picture down.  Enjoy!  

I love this bee and honeycomb paper!  But I'm almost out!  I added yellow and white baker's twine to close up the folded card.

Here I used foam stickers to make the inscription stand out above the patterned paper behind.

Chartreuse and hot pink, how could that not be awesome!?  I added a khaki colored sticker stamped with "happy birthday" and dabbed on some coordinating enamel dots for effect.

Classy and gender neutral tan and black, with hand-made wrinkled paper for the envelope liner and card embellishment.

Here's where you can see an example of heat embossing...clear stamp glue, sprinkled with white opaque embossing powder and heated up to melt and then dry.  I used a navy blue burlap ribbon behind and denim patterned paper for the envelope.

I thought this one could be for a guy too.  Wood grain paper for the enveloped and card, heat embossed stamp and blue and white baker's twine for the ribbon.

Butterfly three-dimensional ornament for the embellishment, accented with pink satin ribbon and enameled dots.

Navy blue, spicy orange and forest green.  'Ain't Nothin' wrong with that!  

The ABC's...and a Pig

I bought a bunch of this alphabet paper a long time ago, and it has been super handy for making kid's birthday cards and other sets.  I even cut out and sewed on a felt pig once!  I thought the set with the brightly colored liners and matching note cards turned out really neat.  Maybe someone has a teacher friend that would appreciate just such a set.  Oink, oink!  Enjoy!

Blue, Blue, and More Blue

I really like blue.  I might even say it's my favorite color. And despite the fact that I wear a lot of pink (when I'm feeling perky) and a lot of black (when I'm feeling mysterious, professional, or can't decide what else to wear), I really do prefer blue in almost any circumstance.  So, it's actually hard to believe that I don't have more blue note cards up on my blog. Maybe I haven't made that many!  I must rectify that.  And soon.

So, in the meantime, here are a few that I have done recently. One set of eight note cards and envelopes with liners in various shades and patterns of blue.  You'll note that the Little Cat likes them too.  Next comes a birthday card and then a thank you card...embellished with store bought card stock die cuts.  Short and sweet, enjoy!

Black and Gold

Whoa baby!  Two posts in the past three days!  Woot!  Woot!  Well, like I said last time, it's not that I haven't been making anything, it's just that I haven't been posting it!  Plus, the tiny human is asleep and my washing machine is on the fritz, so I sort of HAVE to sit down in the basement and there's nothing to do here except get on the computer.  And, rather than surfing the interwebs and making myself feel poor (creating wish lists on jcrew.com), making myself feel technologically incompetent (I still don't understand hashtags on twitter), or making myself feel completely unproductive (pinning on Pinterest instead of actually making the things I pin on Pinterest), I shall post on my blog and erase at least a few of those misgivings.

Several weeks ago I sent a somewhat desperate sounding email to several women in my family.  Something along the lines of, "Please, pretty please, with sugar on top, order note card sets for your loved ones for Christmas!"  And, I'm not kidding you, less than an hour later, my wonderful mother-in-law wrote back and said, "I need six."  I'll say it again...  Woot!  Woot!  The only instruction was, "One of the ladies is a University of Iowa Hawkeyes fan, so black and gold would be good."  Yes, I can do that.  

Actually, I did that.  The result is below.  Bright yellow-gold note cards with black and ivory stripe and chevron accents.  Half of the envelopes are yellow with black liners and the opposite for the others.  I think it turned out really great.  What say you?  I have three more sets done for her, and the wheels are turning for the remaining two.  And then it's on to the next projects.  You'll just have to stay tuned. 

Where to Re-Begin!?!

Alas, it has been quite some time since I last updated my blog. It's not that I haven't been making cards or note card sets, it's just that sitting down at a computer to write something that sounds at least partially intelligent and witty has somehow eluded me. (And by the way, I really did just double check to make sure I was using "elude" correctly. My momma would have been so embarrassed if I used "allude" instead. The curse and blessing of being the daughter of an elementary school language teacher - among her many, many talents and gifts.) But, back to the task at hand...

I've actually had many opportunities to make single cards and sets for my loved ones. Baby showers, birthdays, thank you notes, special orders, etc. I'll have to play catch up a little bit, and although I'm tempted to start with the most colorful or the most recent or the most heartfelt, I really should go in chronological order, lest I forget where I left off.  That's just how my mind works.

As it happens, however, the project first up is all of those things (except, of course, the most recent)...super colorful, completely heartfelt! I made this set of note cards and envelopes for a dear friend expecting her first baby. They were keeping the gender a surprise for all (including themselves!), and I was challenged with making a set of thank you notes that was both "baby" and gender neutral, and fun and classy, just like the baby's momma. I really love how they turned out!  I got the letterpress note cards from Paper Source, although I did actually attend a letterpress workshop they hosted...giving credit where credit is due. And I used multicolored paper for the envelopes and liners.  All tied up with a coordinating organza bow, and voila!  Shower gift!  (I also bought the momma and daddy a diaper pail and washable liner and a cloth diaper cover and wet bag, but those things are not nearly as exciting...I mean, who really wants to think about pee and poop when you can write thank you notes on these lovely darlings!)

More later...and yes, I will write "update blog" on my to do list.  Don't underestimate the power of the "to do" list!  TTFN!

I'm in love with Sharpie markers!

This will be quick.  I promise.  

I'm sure this is coming as absolutely no surprise to most of you who have known me for a while, but I absolutely adore Sharpie markers.  Any color, any size.  I think I actually jumped up and down in the store when the Sharpie pens came out in stores!  (They write just like Sharpie markers but don't bleed through paper!)  My husband bought me a package of 80's Glam Limited Edition Sharpie markers for Christmas, and I might have been more excited for those than the fancier and pricier items he got me last year.  Shrug. 

So, I'm sure you can see me shaking my head in disbelief, "Why didn't I think to outline paper with metallic Sharpies for note cards and envelopes!?!?"  It seems like a really "duh" moment, but now I'm obsessed.  Fun, but classy.  Can't wait to try out different combinations!  Don't be surprised if you get one of these from me in the near future.  TTFN.

Weaving Paper

My momma sent me a large rolled sheet of some very fine and ridiculously beautiful botanical print paper several months ago.  And before I could bring myself to cut into it, I hung it on the wall to admire in all it's splendor.  Eventually it beckoned, and I made a handful of envelopes paired with black and white, botanical-printed vellum envelope liners and blush pink note cards.  I tried my hand with weaving some of the papers onto one of the note cards.  'Twas a bit tricky (double-sided tape certainly helped), but I think the result is quite pretty.  Enjoy!