Last year I came up with the BRILLIANT IDEA to send everyone the same homemade birthday card throughout the year. I cannot express to you how much easier my life became because of this, not to mention how much money I saved. I absolutely delighted in the fact that I could go to my card bin, grab a card, write a personal note on it, and then throw it in an envelope to either be mailed or hand-delivered to the recipient. Earlier this month I even took the leftover card supplies from last year, and made over thirty blank cards as a gift for a friend. It’s not like I could give someone the same card again, and I knew that this particular friend would absolutely love them, because she’s a huge card sender like I am, and has two children that are guaranteed to attend several birthday parties throughout the year in which a card is a requirement.
The idea for this year’s card came from this Washi Tape Birthday Card from Vintage Page Designs. It seemed like a great way for me to use up extra paper scraps, and create different unique cards for everyone, without them all being exactly the same.
I splurged this year and purchased cards and envelopes from Paper Source. In the past, I have always used inexpensive white cards and envelopes from Michael’s, but wanted to change things up this year. These seem so decadent, and have just the faintest gold shimmer to them. Love. Make sure to use a fine-point sharpie pen when writing on them though, because the shimmer tends to make normal ink smear.
Moment of truth time. This year’s cards created an excuse for me to buy more washi tape. I have a slight addiction developing. I love the five rolls pictured above, which all came from my recent trip to Paper Source. Thank you Ella and Peter for that gift certificate you gave to me as a birthday gift. You can see that I put it to good use. I know that Ella would approve of the glitter rolls the most. Just check out the polka dot roll. Gorgeous. Fun. Sparkly.
I started out making a few ribbons by hand, from ribbon that I already had leftover from previous craft projects, but soon discovered that making tiny little bows is not my thing. My fat fingers don’t make it easy. I purchased the ones above from Amazon, and also purchased some additional ones from Michael’s while there recently. I prefer the ones from Amazon; they are much more colorful and whimsical.
I added some birthday card caption stickers that I have had stuffed away in my sticker box for several years to white card stock to create mini birthday banners. I was planning on leaving them off in the beginning, but they really add that extra special touch.
Now I have cards that are better than any store-bought ones available. They are all unique, which means no one will know what to expect. I’m looking forward to another year of going to the card box. Sorry Hallmark. I’ll still watch your movies, but your birthday cards are off limits to me again this year.
