We’ve had plenty of friends popping in and out of our house helping with moving heavy furniture, painting, doing yardwork, and even dropping off some fresh fruit! Moving house was the hard part- making thank you cards for everyone who has blessed us? That’s the fun part! Here’s a simple card I whipped up today to send out to Phil’s grandparents.

S U P P L I E S :

• Kraft cardstock
• Neon cardstock
• Greeting card envelope
• Pencil
• Black gel pen
• Sharp blade
• Sewing machine (or sewing needle)
• Black thread

S T E P   O N E :  Using the size of your envelope as a guide, cut out a piece of kraft cardstock to be slightly smaller than the envelope (when cardstock is folded).

S T E P   T W O :  With a pencil, draw the shape you want to hold the card’s main message. Shapes like circles, hearts, triangles, and flowers work well. Then, use a sharp blade to cut around the pencil lines to remove the shape.

S T E P   T H R E E :  Cut your neon cardstock tp be slightly smaller than the kraft portion of the card. Fold it in the inside of the kraft cardstock, then stitch along the fold to keep the two pieces together.

S T E P   F O U R :  With a pencil, mark the beginning and end of where you want your message to go. Short sentiments like “thank you,” “get well,” “thinking of you,” and “congratulations,” easily fit into the shape, without getting crowded. Flip up the cover of the card, and write you message, beginning outside of your shape, and ending outside of the shape.

S T E P   F I V E :  Stitch the front piece of kraft cardstock to the front piece of neon carstock. I kept mine simple with just one line of stitching. Pull the threads through to the inside, knot them, and trim. At this point, your binding threads should also be knotted and trimmed.

Now all you have to do is write your message on the inside of the card, and send with love! Off to the mailbox I go.

They’re an often overlooked aspect of card making… why oh why? I’m not much of a card maker, to be sure. But the cards I gravitate towards are simple in design. So when I’m finished with a card, I usually feel like… now what? That’s it?! Until my little cousin, Rachel, told me about how she makes her own envelopes. Genius! This is something I’m sure is not new to you wise readers, but oh wow, it’s like a whole new world I’ve discovered! :)

For any of you who have never used any Hambly products, you just don’t know how exquisite the paper is until you hold it in your hand. So silky and scrumptious! Perfect for upping the ante in card giving.

And speaking of giving… my lovely friend Kara sent me a gift in the mail this week. Totally brightened up this dismal time of due dates and final exams. Not just lovely art and goodies, but a gift card to my fave! Urban Outfitters. She’s the sweetest. And whenever she sends me something in the mail, she addresses the package to “Mandi Pants.” So now and forever, Phil calls me Mandi pants.

…and let’s not forget Kraft and Mr. Woodgrain Dymo.
Hambly does not ask me to tout their products…. but people, I just can’t help it. I seriously hardly use any other product these days. And I think it’s so easy to come up with designs using their screen printed papers, overlays, stickers, and rubons.

Making cards is pretty much the easiest.

And while I had my scissors and glue (who am I kidding? We all know it’s Xacto knife and rubber cement! Sorry, scissors and glue…), I decided to make two! (Two quickly led to three… but more on that another day.)

I don’t need a photo or a reason to make a card. But I like to have a stock pile of them, because we all know that when we’re running late to a party, the last thing you have time to do is make a card.

So this card making thing is sort of turning into a new hobby….

Life’s unexpected pleasures. :)