My side of the family’s monthly birthday gathering was this last weekend. Being a frugal woman with little time, I didn’t leave the house to get a card — I made one. Using my paste paper winnings (it’s so gorgeous and luxuriously thick!), I made a quick ‘guy’ card on a blank card from the local crafts store.
Total time spent: 10 minutes (I can’t even park the car in the store parking lot that quick)
Total money spent: under $1 (I already own everything, so taking tiny fractions of the original costs gives me less than $1) Comparable retail handmade cards cost $3 – $4. Really, truly. I checked during my vacations. You could look at etsy, too.
I chose from the following selection:
I ended up using the black paper. After cutting off one end of the paper, I split it up into four strips (eyeballed it all the way), then stuck them on the blank card. I needed a mildly aggressive glue, so I turned to Elmer’s school glue. I pressed everything under a page protector and a phone book overnight.
I added the “happy birthday” tag after all was pressed and dry. The tag is a scrap strip of white cardstock. I wrote “happy birthday” on it with an orange Creative Memories calligraphy marker (I thought I’d write a lot more calligraphy back then), inked the three cut edges with orange, and ripped the extra length off. A mustard eyelet adds a little asymmetrical interest to draw your eye to the “happy birthday” greeting. I adhered the tag with a glue dot (very aggressive) under the eyelet and dotto adhesive under the rest of the tag.
This “strippy style” could easily be done in school or team or house (or etc.) colors. I like the strips to be patterned on a blank card because I like texture that keeps the card flat for an envelope.
When was the last time you made a card?
Funny you should ask — I made cards just last night!!!
http://www.creatingafamilyhome.com/2011/08/from-craft-room-to-studio-new-card.html
(You can ignore all the stuff about my craft room/studio and skip right to the note cards, if you want!)