HOMEMADE CARDS

I like to make my own greeting cards. I do not usually use things like buttons or embellishments, and the reason why is that I send most of them through the mail, and if you use anything thick or bumpy and it goes through the mail sorter at the Post Office, it can cause the machine to break down and delay everybody's mail. If you do use those kinds of things, take your cards to the PO desk and pay for it to be hand stamped. The last time I did this, it cost me 17 cents for each card, but the postal rates have gone up a little since then.

I use cardstock to make my cards, and use a half a card (typing paper sized) per card, then fold them. I buy the smaller invitation envelopes to send them, but I have also made my own envelopes at times.

The pickle card is an "I'm sorry" card. If I am handing it to someone, I use paste on google eyes. I often glue a strip of paper down the edge inside, and then use the shape scissors and cut the edge a bit. The top right card is a get well card for accident or surgery, and I used a small punch for the holes in the middle.

The bottom right card is actually a dried pansy from my garden. I have a homemade flower press and I often dry my smaller flowers. I used a small square of adhesive laminating paper to cover the flower on the card.

The bottom right card is a birthday card. The candles are scrapbook paper scraps, I drew a black line for the wick, and the flames are foil star stickers. You can't tell here, but these are silver.

The top cards are cards I drew with colored pencils and markers. Again I used scrapbook paper scraps for an edge down the side. Here is another tip of what I occasionally do, depending on the card - I buy metallic gift bags from the dollar store to use for shapes I punch out or edges I glue on. I buy the biggest size I can, and it gives me a lot of shiny paper for little money. I have also bought the glittery gift bags for the same reason.

This bottom card is a birthday card. The candles are actually done with a punch. On the outside it says, "Don't count your birthday candles..." and inside inside another flame, it says, "just think, 'Oh, yeah, I'm HOT!' "  Then I have Happy Birthday stamped. By the way, this picture doesn't really show it, but I have a smaller, different colored flame inside the big one on the front.

I have built up quite a collection of greeting card stamps, and here is the secret: At Michael's and WalMart (and probably other stores, but I don't know of any) there is always a bin of greeting card stamps, and they are only a dollar. So bit by bit I have amassed a good collection of them, but you can always just write what you want, too. I bought a plastic shoebox-type container to file greeting cards in, and when I am in the mood I make 30 or 40 and file them in this box according to categories of birthday, sympathy, congratulations, etc. About half my cards do not have anything written on them so I can either stamp or write it when I use it.I scanned in the full size cards to the size of typing paper, so you can print these off to use as patterns if you wish. Here's the thing, though - it's your card, your personality, so you can change things to show that, and us your own ideas, too.