Here is a relatively easy Thank You card with its matching envelope you can make in one afternoon. I am including all the step by step you need to reproduce this card or one of your own design.
I made this Thank You card and its matching envelope to send something special to MGC reader Julia A. who submitted a DIY project this week. The project itself is not challenging, but it does require patience, so if you are new to scrapbooking, cardmaking, and/or stamping, do take your time.
When I make my own cards, I always start with gathering my supplies, at times, I add more supplies than needed so that I have plenty of different choices for my project. In this case, I have gathered the following supplies:
Step One:
Always start with making the envelope. There is a reason for that: you need to match your card to the size of the envelope. I can count and count some more the number of times I made a card and the envelope turned out to be too small for it. Once the card is already designed, you can't trim it back. However, If you know exactly what fits for your envelope, you can pre-cut to the perfect size and then, design!
I found my envelope template at www.make-your-own-invitations.com
Print and cut your template, then place it on top of a sheet of cardstock.
This template is for a 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 size card.
Trace your template directly and mark the corners. Join each corner mark to form the rectangle. This rectangle will be the front of your envelope.
Cut along the lines and begin folding.
The two side flaps go on top of the back flap.
Mark all your creases by pressing with a flat ruler or the side of your thumb.
Using the template again, trace and cut a piece of matching decorated patterned paper to size as it will fit inside the envelope for extra flair.
Now that your envelope is ready, you can go ahead and cut your card.
Step Two:
Cut a piece of cardstock 8 1/2 x 5 1/2.
It is 8 1/2 because of the middle fold (twice 4 1/4). Fold and mark the crease with a flat ruler or the side of your thumb.
This is the stage where you want to try your card with the envelope and trim it to ensure a good fit.
Step Three:
Begin decorating your card by cutting a matt slightly smaller than the front of the card. I used 1/2 in. smaller on length and width so that the matt would rest 1/4 in from the edges.
Using a brown distress pad, I inked the sides of the matt by gently rubbing the ink pad against the paper.
This is a nice technique that brings contrast and also ages the edges (distress) of your card. it does not have to be perfect.
Step four:
Add some embellishments. In this case, I used only one portion of a sheet of patterned paper: the row of tickets.
I cut the tickets, used distress ink around the edges and placed the new embellishment on top of the matt, towards the bottom of the card.
Using the same collection of patterned paper from K&Company, I cut out two letters J and A to personalize my card to MGC reader Julia A.
Once cut, the two pieces were also distressed using ink around the edges...
And placed on top of the card. Notice that these two are not yet glued to the top as I need to move them around and see what would be the best look for this card.
Step five:
Rubber stamping can be tricky and this was actually my very first time. I have this collection of "Thank You" stamps but was not sure which one would match the card best. By placing all four stamps next to the card, I determined that the round flower was probably best.
Ink your design on a matching piece of cardstock.
This is where patience is much needed...Ink takes forever to dry and I would not recommend you try to rush your work as it is a guarantee you will smear your freshly stamped design by accident. I have no shame in admitting that I ended up using the hair dryer over the cardstock out of impatience. Well, even with that technique it was not dry and I had to make another one!
While your stamp dries, prepare your markers to color it.
For my card, I chose a set of matching colors from Momento (Tsukineko). These are double ended high pigment and very high quality markers (as in keep away from the kids). Each comes with a fine and a bold felt like point. They are perfect for card making and scrapbooking as they do not bleed and are true to color. As a fair warning, these can be very pricey, so I always buy them when they are on sale.
Begin coloring your stamp, staying within the lines. Again, wait for the ink to be completely dry (gently press down with a paper towel if needed, understanding this method will take some of the ink pigments out of the design). If you do not wait for the ink to dry, it will bleed and blend with your marker's color.
I made three different stamps and chose the one with the best color match (I can always reuse the other ones for another project).
Step six:
Design placement is important because it needs to be balanced. You will notice that I added a contrasting matt under the letter blocks and the strip of tickets. Otherwise they would blend in too much.
Do not hesitate to overlap your elements...
For extra whimsy, I added a simple (uncolored) stamp on the back of the card.
Step seven:
To make the paper liner (inside the card) , I used Microsoft Word and drew a simple box (5 x 8).
I then inserted circles of various sizes and colors, but used a 32 % transparency to give the paper a faint pattern that would not compete with the card. The circles are a design repeat from those on the front matt.
Cut the paper to size, fold in half and glue only on one side of the card, leaving the other half "loose".
Voila!
Here it is again, with the matching envelope:
Julia A. Your card is in the mail!
S.
I made this Thank You card and its matching envelope to send something special to MGC reader Julia A. who submitted a DIY project this week. The project itself is not challenging, but it does require patience, so if you are new to scrapbooking, cardmaking, and/or stamping, do take your time.
When I make my own cards, I always start with gathering my supplies, at times, I add more supplies than needed so that I have plenty of different choices for my project. In this case, I have gathered the following supplies:
- K & Company patterned paper collections (Urban Rhapsody and Cut &Paste)
- 1 sheet of cardstock (DCWV)
- Distress Ink Pads in various colors
- Ink Pads in various colors (high pigment)
- Craft double ended markers
- Stamps
- Ribbon
- Glue
Step One:
Always start with making the envelope. There is a reason for that: you need to match your card to the size of the envelope. I can count and count some more the number of times I made a card and the envelope turned out to be too small for it. Once the card is already designed, you can't trim it back. However, If you know exactly what fits for your envelope, you can pre-cut to the perfect size and then, design!
I found my envelope template at www.make-your-own-invitations.com
Print and cut your template, then place it on top of a sheet of cardstock.
This template is for a 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 size card.
Trace your template directly and mark the corners. Join each corner mark to form the rectangle. This rectangle will be the front of your envelope.
Cut along the lines and begin folding.
The two side flaps go on top of the back flap.
Mark all your creases by pressing with a flat ruler or the side of your thumb.
Using the template again, trace and cut a piece of matching decorated patterned paper to size as it will fit inside the envelope for extra flair.
Now that your envelope is ready, you can go ahead and cut your card.
Step Two:
Cut a piece of cardstock 8 1/2 x 5 1/2.
It is 8 1/2 because of the middle fold (twice 4 1/4). Fold and mark the crease with a flat ruler or the side of your thumb.
This is the stage where you want to try your card with the envelope and trim it to ensure a good fit.
Step Three:
Begin decorating your card by cutting a matt slightly smaller than the front of the card. I used 1/2 in. smaller on length and width so that the matt would rest 1/4 in from the edges.
Using a brown distress pad, I inked the sides of the matt by gently rubbing the ink pad against the paper.
This is a nice technique that brings contrast and also ages the edges (distress) of your card. it does not have to be perfect.
Step four:
I cut the tickets, used distress ink around the edges and placed the new embellishment on top of the matt, towards the bottom of the card.
Using the same collection of patterned paper from K&Company, I cut out two letters J and A to personalize my card to MGC reader Julia A.
Once cut, the two pieces were also distressed using ink around the edges...
And placed on top of the card. Notice that these two are not yet glued to the top as I need to move them around and see what would be the best look for this card.
Step five:
Rubber stamping can be tricky and this was actually my very first time. I have this collection of "Thank You" stamps but was not sure which one would match the card best. By placing all four stamps next to the card, I determined that the round flower was probably best.
Ink your design on a matching piece of cardstock.
This is where patience is much needed...Ink takes forever to dry and I would not recommend you try to rush your work as it is a guarantee you will smear your freshly stamped design by accident. I have no shame in admitting that I ended up using the hair dryer over the cardstock out of impatience. Well, even with that technique it was not dry and I had to make another one!
While your stamp dries, prepare your markers to color it.
For my card, I chose a set of matching colors from Momento (Tsukineko). These are double ended high pigment and very high quality markers (as in keep away from the kids). Each comes with a fine and a bold felt like point. They are perfect for card making and scrapbooking as they do not bleed and are true to color. As a fair warning, these can be very pricey, so I always buy them when they are on sale.
Begin coloring your stamp, staying within the lines. Again, wait for the ink to be completely dry (gently press down with a paper towel if needed, understanding this method will take some of the ink pigments out of the design). If you do not wait for the ink to dry, it will bleed and blend with your marker's color.
 |
| Here I am demonstrating but you can clearly see the ink is NOT dry! |
I made three different stamps and chose the one with the best color match (I can always reuse the other ones for another project).
Step six:
Design placement is important because it needs to be balanced. You will notice that I added a contrasting matt under the letter blocks and the strip of tickets. Otherwise they would blend in too much.
Do not hesitate to overlap your elements...
For extra whimsy, I added a simple (uncolored) stamp on the back of the card.
Step seven:
To make the paper liner (inside the card) , I used Microsoft Word and drew a simple box (5 x 8).
I then inserted circles of various sizes and colors, but used a 32 % transparency to give the paper a faint pattern that would not compete with the card. The circles are a design repeat from those on the front matt.
Cut the paper to size, fold in half and glue only on one side of the card, leaving the other half "loose".
Voila!
Here it is again, with the matching envelope:
Julia A. Your card is in the mail!
S.
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