Hey there folks!  Have you made plans for the special day coming up?  Certainly my lovey dovey and I feel that Valentine’s Day has become a very consumer driven holiday, pushing everyone to buy, buy, buy!   I don’t think St. Valentino had that in mind at all (although the history of this day has highs and lows as well as multiple saints).  The original tradition, if you had to boil it down, was to exchange written greetings as a symbol of your love for each other.  Sadly, mass produced greeting cards have definitely taken over the old fashioned habit of sending a genuine love letter from the heart.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day which is really just around the corner,  I hope my Valentine Signs inspire you to write something personal to your loved one, as well as add a little spunky fun to your special day together.  I first designed a “Love Stop” Valentine Sign in Adobe Illustrator as I had the idea to make this sign to put up in the house.  After starting the design, I kept going when I realized there were more road signs I could convert to a more romantic fashion.  It’s the perfect idea to create an obstacle course of love (so to speak) for when a loved one returns home after a long day, perhaps?  Anyway, you can use your own imagination for the uses.  I also want to make some cards out this idea as well, it’s pretty cute to use the road sign analogy – something we probably don’t find amusing normally, but with love all over it’s a nice twist.

Please let me know what you end up using this for and share you ideas and comments.  I hope you enjoy this Valentine’s Day (whether with a significant other or your family and friends) – have fun with it!

Download the Valentine Signs – For the Road of Love PDF (194 kb)

Posted on January 31, 2009 at 6:10 pm | Free-Template-Tutorial-Links | 1 comment

My second time participating in the Caardvarks challenges and this time the theme is all about polka dots.  We are given a lot of room to be creative with that one style element as the only requirement.

I decided to make my handmade card around the theme of yummy chocolates.  Maybe it’s because I want to eat some right now, but there’s absolutely nothing in the house!  I used polka dot decorative papers in multiple sizes to create a background and little pieces of square chocolates.  I actually like the little square pattern in general and might use it again for some other cards as well.

In addition to the exclamation of “Yum! Yum! Yum!” I really like the glittery wrapper I added in (don’t worry, it’s not used!) as I think it’s a cute touch.  I think everything turned out nice and it all goes together well.  Now…who do I get to send this to?

There were a lot of great creations off of this one challenge, so be sure to check out all the different handmade cards that were designed.  Check out my handmade card on Flickr and other creations in the Caardvark Flickr pool.

Posted on January 30, 2009 at 3:13 am | Showcase | No comments

Sometimes it’s difficult to find the right cards to express your feelings at the local supermarket or general store.  Certainly there are many greetings that seem overused and there are times you would like something custom.  Handmade cards would be the next thought, however not everyone has the time to do that.

Enter Cards Shoppe, an online store where you can personalize and customize your own greeting cards for any occasion.  How great is that?  You can personalized imprintable invitations and announcements cards for baby showers, from adult to child birthday celebrations, moving cards, thank you cards, baptism or christening cards, you name it – they’ve got it!   Cards Shoppe offers same day priting and shipping as well as many other offers such as 10 FREE cards to get things started up.  Definitely check out http://www.CardsShoppe.com and see if it’s right for you!

Posted on January 28, 2009 at 7:06 pm | Shops and Blogs | No comments

I happened upon a card verse blog which offers a huge collection of poems offered as free card verses for all of us to use in our correspondences.  It is certainly inspiring to see someone who is putting their emotions onto paper (or on a blog in this case) that incidentally is beneficial to those of us who are poetically challenged!  You should definitely check out that blog and see if you can incorporate the poems into your greeting cards and notes written to family and friends.  Sadly, it seems not to have been updated in a while but does have a nice archive of posts readily available.

Thinking a bit more on the subject of poetry sentiments also made me realize that an easily accessible source of ideas for card verses would be the poetry section of your favorite library or bookstore.  You can peruse the classics or explore modern publications and take snippets to use in your correspondences.  Obviously, published poetry cannot be resold in greeting cards commercially without licensing and a bunch of lawyers – but you can definitely use it in your personal card making projects.  Sometimes I find a poem is written so well, it says exactly what I wanted to say, but in the perfect way rather than my roundabout talk-writing style.  Other times I use snippets of poems to get me started into my own writing.  Think of it as quoting someone and then moving into your explanation and internal thoughts.

In the spirit of poetry and giving out free greeting card verses for all to use, I came up with this cute little limerick rhyme (not comical though).  Please enjoy and don’t forget to get back to paper and handwrite personal notes every so often!

Daydreaming about my love all day

Sometimes I just don’t know what to say

But one thing is for sure

Our feelings are so pure

We can surely let them lead the way…

Posted on January 19, 2009 at 1:34 am | Greeting Card Verses | 1 comment

I always like to upcycle old materials to make something new and great, all the while reducing my trash and helping the environment at the same time.  The comics section of the Sunday paper is a great place to get humorous card verses and sayings through the panels of illustrations.  You can also use various parts of drawings and graphics to compose your own collage pieces as well.  I recently took my Sunday Comics I and II sections and transformed them into a batch of unique handmade greeting cards to send out to my friends and family.  There are a couple types of greeting cards and notes you can make using the comic panels.

Using the punchline within a regular comic strip story

Take the pivotal panels from a regular comic strip and split them into two groups.  The beginning can be put on the cover of the card, which can be just one panel or multiple ones.  Then put the punchline inside the card, so your recipient will see it once they open the card.  This is a great method since it works for pretty much all the comic strips stories.  I chose to cut up a longer comic strip and take only the pivotal setup panel where it describes a “mischievous pigeon” and the inside reveals the pigeon poop falling on the person.  It’s hilarious, one-of-a-kind and also an alternative subject matter that you normally wouldn’t even be able to buy at the store!

Plain graphic panels with or without a caption

Another method is to cut out an interesting portion of an illustration and simply use it on the cover of your homemade greeting card.  Many times you simply want a nice decoration for a blank card where you would write your letter.

These can be costly expenses, but with a scissors and some glue you can create your own.  They will also be unique since you normally wouldn’t have the same illustrations within the comic strips.  I made some with a simple image on the front as well as some where I added my own caption or speech bubble to match the subject I would be corresponding about.  This method let’s you customize your card for any subject matter.  I also created one using extra materials, such as stamping on a title or short phrase/saying to accompany the picture.  This method works on a regular card or also notecards to transform them into illustrated or decorated stationery.

The possibilities are endless for this project idea of making your own greeting cards – it is really up to you what other materials you might have lying around to use.  I framed some comic graphics with other pretty decorated papers, used stamps, stickers, glitter and ribbon to decorate my cards depending on the look I was trying to create.  You can also involve your kids in this project and have them use their markers and crayons to add embellishments.  You can think of the comic strips and graphics as a base material to work off of.  How far you go with it is up to your imagination!  Use other recycled materials, old stationery papers and various other craft tools you might have around.

Regardless of how minimalistically simple or baroque complicated you get with your creations, your family and friends who receive these wonderful handmade items will appreciate them more than any other “fancy” store-bought card.  If you can work it out and use a comic strip they enjoy reading, that would be even more clever and special!  So go ahead and start making your own cards and correspond the old fashioned way – get back to paper…

Posted on January 14, 2009 at 5:27 pm | Showcase | No comments

I found a great article online which offers alternative greeting card verses.  What do I mean by alternative?  Well, the non-traditional events that may not exactly be something to celebrate, but definitely something you would correspondence with friends about at one point or another.  Why not do it in a creative way?  Check out these interesting greeting card sayings in the My Sentiments Exactly article.

The author refers to the greetings as “dumpee cards” because the verses are all about getting dumped by your previous significant other.  They are all pretty humorous ways to help cheer up your girlfriends during this unhappy time.  I think you could alter the verses a bit to make them just as funny and effective for your guy friends as well!  Let me know if you have a great story regarding alternative greeting card verses and how family and friends have responded!

Posted on January 12, 2009 at 9:22 pm | Greeting Card Verses | 1 comment

Every year, billions of greeting cards and sold – bought by writers like you and me.  Many eco-minded folks have switched to e-cards, sending sentiments digitally online to reduce the cutting of trees and use of a lot of paper.  I agree that saving paper and recycling is very important, but I also understand the want (and seemingly need) of sending tangible real touchy-feely greeting cards to express your sentiments and thoughts.  There are some correspondences that just won’t do over an email or e-card on the computer screen.  You can perfume your e-card (yet!).

Enter Cast Paper Art, offering recycled cotton fiber greeting cards which I found out about through an article on Focus Organic. They offer a variety of different card types for various occasions and you should be able to buy them in various packs to satisfy your needs.  I love the minimalist designs and beautiful paper textures the recycled fibers naturally create.  You can feel good about purchasing these cards that are not hurting the environment and still have lovely tangible greeting cards to send out!

Posted on January 10, 2009 at 6:38 pm | Shops and Blogs | 1 comment

There are a multitude of websites and online resources on the Internet to help you get started in writing correspondences.  You can use them as a starting point to inspire your own compositions or use them straight on the front of cards or handwritten notes to augment your personal message.  Here is a list of the top resources I go to when searching for ideas:

Making-Greeting-Cards offers a multitude of card verses, quotations and poems organized by holiday and type for easy access.  You can definitely jump start your writing from this resource.

Verses 4 Card is an entire site dedicated to verses and poems for all occasion.  It is also organized for easy access to whatever type of greeting you are searching for.  At the end of the various quotations at the bottom of the webpage you will usually find an example handmade card for inspiration of designs and colors.  This is a great resource that leads to many other websites.

Poem Source gives you poems, organized by event type.  I find it very nice and neatly organized and displayed which makes it easy to copy the poems for use.

Greeting Island also offers a nice little collection of verses for use, but also includes a section for printable items if you need a quick print out for your next correspondence.

Heavens Inspirations offers a free Christian card verses section and also leads to many other related sites with more resources.  Definitely something to check out.

I hope the above resources give you a good start and push in the “write” direction – get back to paper and say hello to your family and friends with your personal creations!

Posted on January 7, 2009 at 7:26 pm | Greeting Card Verses | No comments

I just came across a great website that offers free downloads to print, which means free stationery you can make at home!  There’s a diverse collection to choose from, so go check out the downloads section of a print a day.

I especially like the Fairy Tale Notepad paper and Terrariums which I size down to print as notecards to send quick correspondences out.  Yasmine runs the website and offers other printed materials as well, gift tags, designs for decorated papers, etc.  It turns out she also has a shop where she sells her designs in already printed papers, even kits so you can make your own designs.  Her illustrations are very cute and remind me of old-fashioned kids storybooks and fantastical lands.  I really enjoy her work and appreciate that she offers downloads for free.  Show some support and get some freebie stationery while you are at it by visiting a print a day!

Posted on January 6, 2009 at 7:58 pm | Free-Template-Tutorial-Links | No comments

I just joined up and participated in the Caardvarks Weekly Challenge - it’s a group that offers up some type of handmade card challenge every week.  You create your own card and post it up on the Flickr gallery for all to see.  It’s a really great way to get inspiration and share ideas, but also motivates you to create a card at least once a week so you can write and send it off to your family and friends.

This week’s challenge was to create a card off of a sketch template shown, created by Becky Fleck of PageMaps.

I quickly jumped on the challenge and created a Thank You card that I wanted to send out to a friend for her wonderful Xmas gift to me.  This is my first card for the challenge and have already received wonderful comments from the group members on Flickr.  I am looking forward to more challenges and have been inspired to duplicate some of the layouts other members have created to send off to loved ones.  This is a great way to keep yourself writing on a regular basis, so get back to paper with me already!  Also, you can check out the Caardvarks group Flickr gallery to see all the wonderful creations.

Posted on January 6, 2009 at 12:42 am | Showcase | No comments