Showing posts with label ENVELOPES. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ENVELOPES. Show all posts

Sunday, November 06, 2011

Pretty Gift Card Holders

Packaging gifts is something I like to do. I do have some loved ones that are hard to buy for or prefer giftcards or cash. I love to give people what they really want, but I look for ways to make it special. Call me fussy, I just challenged myself for unique ways of giving giftcards and cash.

I simply cut two squares of fabric (good side outward), stitched around three sides leaving an opening, and then used pinking shears to add a pretty edge. I didn't want the giftcard to take center stage, but rather blend in nicely with the paper art. Embellishing each pocket with a scalloped 1-1/2" edge on the end of the opening, and the latest images from Moonlight Journey called "Vintage Angels" work beautiful for Christmas gifts. Just imagine the possibilities, It's a great way to use up some tiny scraps of paper too!

I'll tell you that if you are making one, it's addictive. I started out making nine, and made six more that I want to coffee stain. This is a great project to make in mass so that you have gift holders on hand when you bring that giftcard home from the grocery store.

CREDITS: Lisa Super at anartsygirl.blogspot.com. and MOONLIGHT JOURNEY "Vintage Angels"

Sunday, May 15, 2011

May Recipes

~ Apricot Bread ~

This Apricot Nut Bread recipe was given to me by my Mom, and probably tops the list as "one of my favorites!" For some reason, it seems like I mostly bake it during the winter at Christmas.

Due to the fact that spring is finally just peeking around the corner, this is a great chicken salad recipe that I create on a sunny summer day. It makes me think of vacation, with a little hint of "south of border." I sometimes omit the clove ingredient.

~ Chicken Salad Riviera ~


CREDITS: MOONLIGHT JOURNEY'S "SENDING PANSY DREAMS" ENVELOPE, AND "FAIRY BOOKMARK AND BOOKMARK ENVELOPE"

Friday, July 10, 2009

Art Mail Envelopes



Back in the 90's, I often used to make handmade envelopes. I find creating these envelopes very stimulating! They are unusual, fun, and amusing subjects often appear in your artwork. Even now, I like to use old calendars, larger magazines, thick-paged catalogs, and even use those scrapbook papers that come in those huge paper pads that are just sitting around with not-so-lovely designs.

Envelope milling is a great way to recycle something that otherwise would be tossed aside as trash, but with a keen imagination you can create something "environmentally friendly" and beautiful.

By giving yourself a stash of envelopes that you have carefully made, you will find so many ways and reasons to use them. Can you imagine mailing a letter to a friend in a special envelope that may even bring yourself to correspond the old-fashioned way?

These pink envelopes with note cards were on sale at our local craft store, but these amazing royalty free decorative borders were purchased at Angela Harris' inspirational YourAngil Etsy shop. I love visiting her beautiful blog and her tags are just too cool.

It will be fun to find an old magazine at a garage sale and know that the work of its photographers and illustrators will longer be destined for the trash can. Your envelopes will be enjoyed and admired by you and their lucky recipients.

I have three templates. A note card size, a personal letter size, and then a business letter size. A very useful book called "The Envelope Mill" by Haila Harvey introduced me to this obsession of creating art mail envelopes. I am not sure if it is out of print, but possibly you can find a copy from Amazon or Ebay. Or, just make your own template to plastic.

In her book, she lists more than 50 ways to use your hand-crafted envelopes, including a handmade stationery set, reminder notes, coupon keepers, bank statement holders, recipe mailers, and trading card keepers.

Great magazines to get you started could be Victoria (wish I never threw mine away now), Vanity Fair, Veranda, Vogue, Food & Wine, National Geographic and those gorgeous Neiman Marcus catalogs at Christmas. Once you start making envelopes, the number of subscriptions may suddenly increase! Plus, you may never have to actually buy an real envelope again!

I think it would be fabulous to make a stash of envelopes by making color copies of my favorite magazines. You may need to line the inside to make them sturdier though. I would suggest spray adhesive on two pieces of paper, press the sticky sides together, and then drawing the template design on the two-paper thickness.

With a little pre-planning, I would love to make envelopes from photos of places I have visited, and then mail them from a vacation spot from where I may be sitting! A picture is worth a thousand words, or even a thousand miles.

Have fun!!

Nancy