Blog — "envelopes"

Where has the day gone?! I can't quite believe that it is 9:15 and I am just writing this at the moment! Today was a very productive day, I must admit. I got back into my yoga routine, reorganized my entire work area, went through the shipment of paper and envelopes that I received today, began copy editing work for a friend that is self-publishing a novel, ran to the post office, and tried to finally buy a bike (more on that later). I made three new designs, made dinner, and watered the plants and flowers outside. Which of course, that meant a thunderstorm with heavy rain just had to roll through. That's how it always works!

So anyway, on to the design aspect of today. I went back to the basics. No printer again since the ink won't arrive until Wednesday. While reorganizing my paper stash, I found some great stuff to accompany my new envelopes. Today was all about cutting paper, which is how this all started anyway, and I love it!







I love the texture of this card. While there are unfinished bits in the design of this card, there are also neat and geometric circles. The two compliment each other well. And as a final addition, I included one of my new periwinkle envelopes-- the quality of this envelope is absolutely phenomenal!

I wanted to make a greeting card for today's design, but wasn't quite sure where that would lead me. As I began brainstorming, I remembered that I had wanted to dabble in making bilingual or multilingual cards. After making this custom order Father's Day card, I realized that there actually is a market for it.


And then the more I thought about it, even my own family is bilingual speaking both French and English-- it just makes sense. Everyone likes to send and receive snail mail so why not do something in several languages?

So the end result is this simple card that says "hi." But the fun part is that it says it in may different ways as well.






Not only are the languages super fun, but so are the colors! And just for fun, I decided to offer either a blue or green envelope to go with-- I liked both so much I couldn't decide so I thought I'd leave that open ended. So all of this talk about languages around the world. I want to know: What languages do you speak?

My crafting tools and a handmade envelope.

Yes, I am in the dark age when it comes to my crafting of cards. I am at the top of my game when it comes to design software, computers, and printers. But way far behind when it comes to the tools I use to create the final product. I design, then print, and then yes, I hand cut all of my cards. You may say that doesn't sound unrealistic because paper trimmers are quick and easy to use. Paper trimmers? What are you talking about? They make stuff for that?!

No paper trimmers here. Just a cutting mat, an X-acto, and a craft ruler (you know, one of those see through rulers with all of those wonderful measurements on it). And luckily, after having worked on this hobby for some time, I haven't chopped off any fingers or had any trips to the emergency room. So here I am, printing off my designs which takes no time at all. Then next I head over to my drafting table and start cutting-- which takes FOREVER. I became even more frustrated as I ruined three consecutive sheets of cardstock while making teal envelopes for my new NYC Map Note Cards.

NYC Map Note Cards

It did not even cross my mind that there just might be some tools out there to make life a little bit simpler until I came across this at Michael's the other day. Of course I knew that paper trimmers existed-- as a teacher, I use one almost every day at school. But for whatever reason, I did not think about purchasing one for my crafting purposes. Anyway, I'm not going to lie, although the paper trimmer that I saw at Michael's was sort of what I want, I would love something larger that could accommodate large photos as well and would gladly take recommendations! And while I was quite happy with the final outcome of my envelopes as cards that I had made, my level of frustration would certainly have been lower had it been for a darn paper trimmer!