Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Lately the project around here has been card making. Last week my Mom came over (along with my nieces and nephews that were staying at her house) and we had fun making some invitations for a baby shower that we are holding this coming Saturday. I printed out the inside but we decided to have fun decorating the outside- each one an original. We used various pictures (from an Ann Geddes Calendar and other places), paper scraps and stamps. Below is the finished project. They were simple but we thought rather fun.

Mara and my niece Margaret made envelopes to go with the cards and then later the kids and I had fun making a bunch of envelopes from old Calendars to hopefully supply us for a while. Do you have old calendars? Check out this post that tells 11 different ways to use them rather than throw them away.

 This week I decided to set aside quite a bit of time to make a bunch of cards in an effort to be ready for this new year. I am actually hoping to get them all addressed soon too (for the whole year!) so that I will just need to add a note when the Birthday/ Anniversary comes and then off they can go very easily.

 I had my friend Emily over on Sunday afternoon to make cards with me and then the kids have had fun joining me these last two days.

   I really have a lot of fun using up things that would otherwise be thrown away or recycled on my cards. All of the cards pictured have a card stock base (generally a half sheet of either white or cream) but everything else on the card (other than tape, glue or glitter) is stuff that has been recycled. Some of the things I save for my card making are:

  • Junk mail- sometimes there are really pretty or colorful ones that add a lot to card making.
  • Colorful envelopes that are sent to me.
  • Old Cards
  • Calendars
  • Kid's paper's that they bring home from church, etc.
  • Church bulletins
 I love the idea of saving money and saving something from being trashed all while I get to have fun creating and hopefully I will cheer somebody up with the card too!

What have you been making?
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3 comments:

  1. NolaJanuary 5, 2011 at 4:03 PM

    These are great! I took your idea from before Christmas and my girls and I made my mom some birthday cards. They turned out great. I am going to be making cards like this from now on. I used old gardening catalogues and card stock. My youngest had a blast picking out watermelon and cucumber pictures for hers. A little off centered and messy but cute. This post gave me more ideas. thanks!

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  2. AnonymousJanuary 6, 2011 at 5:50 PM

    Great ideas! What do you do with Christmas cards? We have so many pretty ones this year and don't just want to throw them out. Any ideas?

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  3. AbbiJanuary 9, 2011 at 9:59 PM

    Nola- that is neat that you all are having fun making cards too!

    Mrs Swaddleduck- I use the Christmas Cards I recieve to help make Christmas cards for next year.I cut them up and use the picture and other parts to decorate the card I make. I again use card stock for the base. (I just try to be sure that I don't send it to the person who sent it to me!)I have heard of other crafts too. I would guess you might find quite a few ideas if you google it.

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Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. I really enjoy it when you join in the conversation.

If you have a question please feel free to ask and I will attempt to answer it (if I can!) as I have time.

Abbi