13 handmade cards, 1 sheet of paper {pretty much}

Jessica and our friend Melynie (with help from a few others) gave me the most delightful pink cupcake baby shower before I left Seattle. So many cute friends came to wish us well, and everything from the food to the decorations to the favors were blissfully perfect.

  

 

It's a good thing I got that pink shower in, because we found out last week that we're having ANOTHER BOY! So between the two birdies, we will have six boys. Don't worry, I have nieces, so the girlie crafts will keep coming. ;)

Anyway, I haven't had a chance to sit down and write thank you gifts to all the wonderful ladies who came to my shower, and of course I can't buy thank-you cards (that goes against my very identity), so I sat down last night to make up a bunch of quick *but cute* handmade cards. Out of one sheet of paper. Well, pretty much. Here's how it went.

I started with a pack of plain white cards and envelopes from Hobby Lobby (that cuts out a ton of time cutting and scoring all my card stock). I ran it through my Sizzix with the Small Dots embossing plate from Stampin' Up, just to give it a little texture (I am not capable of 100% simple, people). See those cute little raised dots?

Next I cut up a sheet of the Accent Cuts paper from Crate Paper's Emma Shoppe. This 12x12 sheet of patterned card stock features 26 different designs! Of course they're double sided, so you really only have 13 to choose from, but still! I stamped "A Note of Thanks" or something similar somewhere on the card with brown ink. I used Stampin' Up!'s Thank You Kindly stamp set and Basic Brown ink pad.

 

I chose a flat-backed badge from Buttons and Badges or a button and a piece of ribbon for each card. I tied the ribbon around the cut-out and attached a button or badge to the center. Then I attached the cut-out to the card using Stampin' Dimensionals from Stampin' Up! (you can also try Pop Dots--same thing) to raise it up a little. Again, can't do anything totally simply. It's a sickness.

I made 9 cards in under 1 hour! I think that's a record for me. And they were c-h-e-a-p. Love that. The only quicker and easier cards I've have made were these quick and easy note cards, but I didn't bring all my punches to Iowa, so I had to use what I had on hand. I still have a few more cards left to make, and then of course writing the thank you and addressing them--yeah, they might not get out until September. But at least I'm moving in the right direction, right?