Thursday, March 6, 2014

DIY Thank You Cards

Ever since I was a child, my mother has always instilled a DIY attitude in me, especially when it came to card making. I don’t think I’ve bought a card since I was around nine years old.  Although card making does have an initial start up cost (that does cost more than a single card), it won’t take long until you can actually save money by creating your own cards. Also, can you think of someone who doesn't like receiving a handmade card in their mailbox? One of my favorite methods of generating thank you cards is rubber-stamping. After the start up costs of a few rubber stamps, the only thing that needs to be bought on a routine basis is paper and embellishments.

If I’m creating a mass number of thank you cards, I try to keep it fairly simple, so I can both keep my costs down and also cut down on the time devoted to the cards. However, efficient card making doesn’t have to look cheap.

I recruited my mom for this tutorial to help show that your bridal shower or wedding thank you cards can be both beautiful and cost efficient.

Bicycle Card
The first thank you card we created was most likely the simplest thank you card you could get, but isn’t it spunky and cute? This bicycle and “thank you” were stamped, while we used a mini paper punch to create the tiny hearts. Draw little squiggly lines, attaching the bike to the hearts and wah-lah, you have a thank you card!

Flower Card
This card was a little more in depth. We used a total of four stamps; a flower, background lines, splatter paint, and “A million & one thanks.” We also incorporated one of my favorite stamping accessories… dimensionals! For those that are unaware, a dimensional is a little foam shape that is placed under a piece of paper to add… you guessed it… dimension. On this card we used the dimensionals under the flowers and added a little pearl in the center of each flower to enhance the design.  Because these flowers coordinated with a hand-held punch, this card required very little work and was very simple to put together.

Designer Paper Card
If you find some designer series paper you like, whether it be from a box store or a personal crafting consultant, you can easily coordinate this card using your own designer series paper to guide you in your choice of both color and stamps. In this specific card we layered the designer series paper on some solid colored cardstock and finished it off with a “thank you, you’re the best” stamp and a little bit of ribbon.

Lobster Card
If your wedding or shower has a theme, try incorporating that into your thank you cards. This card in particular would work great for a nautical themed event. We used the bold lobster stamp to create an eye-catching focal point. In this card we used four simple rubber stamps with some bakers twine, which is very popular lately.

As you can see from these four cards, rubber-stamping doesn’t have to be difficult or time-consuming. Each one of these cards took less than five minutes to create. So whether you are making one or one hundred it’s worth both your time and effort.

~Taryn



All stamped images are copyright of Stampin’Up! 

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