Hey Kids, Lets Get Crafty With Cards!September 6th, 2007 @ 5:01 am
You know, because you have so much free time on your hands…
Remember me? I’m Isabel’s bestest friend May. I’m the one that just deserted her for the lush green fields of Reno!
Since we’ve packed up & moved away from everyone we know & love, I have a LOT more time on my hands. I was super excited when Isabel asked if I’d do a guest post, especially since I had so much fun with the last one I did. This is extra exciting because I am now allowed to read her super secret blog (which I am SO PROUD of myself for resisting the temptation to read it for the past 1.5 years, and I was SO HAPPY when as my going away gift she told me I could start to read it…) So class, today we’re going to make some beautiful greeting cards.
To make this as painless as possible & fun for the drawing-challenged, I have hand-drawn some designs for your use. (Go to Isabel’s Flickr page for my designs.) You’ll need to print out the line art for the cards (best if printed on card stock). Then I’ll show you what I’VE done to color them in, and you can go get all crafty yourself…
Random Bullet Pointed Tips:
- Buy envelopes before you make your cards. That way you can make the cards exactly the right size. Or, if you’re like me, you may have a stockpile already to pull from… (Because you never know when you’ll need 500 envelopes, right?)
- I buy reams of card stock to make my own cards (it’s a bit of an addiction. Husband was not happy when he had to move all my paper in move. Sorry, husband…). I use a paper cutter like this to cut it down to the right size. If I’m really ambitious, I’ll use a butter knife to score where the paper will fold before I cut it. Then I get a pristine fold line. It’s very satisfying.
- Coloring Your Card:
- Colored Pencils are the fastest. That’s what I used for this post, but you can also use:
- Cheap Craft Paint to get some nice strong color on your card.
- Watercolors will work (if you’ve laser-printed the designs, but if you printed it on an inkjet printer it will smear.)
- Glitter glue is your friend. Embrace the glitter glue. For best results, color the design in first & then enhance & highlight with the glittery goodness.
- I like to make the envelopes match the cards by adding a little “flair” to them. After all, they are custom, right? Like this:
- You can glue or tape the designs directly on the cards, but the foam-ey tape makes it a little more 3-D & funky. (Confession – I didn’t have any of that tape, so I just rolled up a little paper & taped it behind the designs to make them stand up off the card).
- NOW GO GET CRAFTY!
And now to make this post a little more interactive, and to catch me up on my BF’s secret life, I want YOU to tell me about your favorite Isabel post. The best comment will win this set of cards* (plus some more that I will throw in, because 4 cards isn’t much of a set…)!
Hooray for giveaways!
Tomorrow is the last in the week long series of How-To’s. Make sure to come back and see what Vesper will be teaching us.
*but only if you’re comfortable giving me an address to mail the prizes to.
Guest posts · How-To's
LaLa
said,
September 6, 2007 at 10:14 am
I don’t want you to feel left out wonderful May-that-moved-to-Reno, so I shall be first to comment on this one too.
Bloody fabulous cards
Jessie
said,
September 6, 2007 at 11:29 am
Those are beautiful. Card making is one craft I have not yet taken up, and my husband might freak if I brought more “that craft stuff” in our house, but you make me really want to.
My favorite Isabel post is actually a series of posts, that is, the ones about her brother “Biff”. They were written so well, and you can tell there’s a lot of emotion there.
Operation Pink Herring
said,
September 6, 2007 at 1:16 pm
These guest posts are making me feel so inadequate!! How are all you people so good at everything?
Brittany
said,
September 6, 2007 at 1:23 pm
I can’t possibly pick ONE post as my favorite so I have compiled a list of TEN THINGS I HEART ABOUT ISABEL AND/OR ISABEL’S BLOG.
1. She’ll chase cowboys and naked bikers down the street just to amuse her blog friends. Plus, she’s the only person I know who makes sure she has her camera with her in the church bathroom just in case something exciting happens.
2. She admits to peeing on the bathroom floor. Oopsie!
3. She walks everywhere… in Seattle… where it rains. Give her props!
4. She’s a giver. She came to my house with all sorts of goodies for my baby. So sweet!
5. She let ME do her first guest post evah!
6. She’s totally a stalker. She’ll do anything for Rhett Miller-even promise to name her baby after him.
7. She’s married to a guy who says, “Frodo Bagginses,” has never seen Star Wars, and wipes himself with baby wipes.
8. Her mom works at the hospital I went to when my nose wouldn’t stop bleeding. They stuck a tampon up it. Genius!
9. Her boobies have seen the sun. Mine are jealous.
10. Hello!?! Cutest baby ever (except for mine, of course)!!
I believe I win. Now send me the damn cards!!
Brittany
said,
September 6, 2007 at 1:24 pm
Ooooo! I love that my comment is awaiting moderation! That way no one can try and top it! Take that!
SJ
said,
September 6, 2007 at 1:30 pm
My favorite Isabel post was about her and The King’s 100 pack of condoms…..
Laurel
said,
September 6, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Those cards are awesome! Whenever people blog about their scrapbooking / crafting prowess, I hang my head in shame.
The first favorite Isabel post that comes to mind is her semi-recent post about her parents raising her dad’s younger siblings. It was such an interesting glimpse into someone else’s life and experience!
Liza
said,
September 6, 2007 at 2:36 pm
The cards are amazing! But it’s hard to pick out a favorite post. Here are my 2 (sort of) nominees:
I’m going to go with Jessie, the series of 3 posts about Isabel’s brother alienating and being alienated from her family is some of the best, most emotionally honest writing on the subject of gay family members that I’ve ever read. It belongs in a coming out anthology of some kind, so that GLBT people can see the coming out process from another point of view.
But, since I started reading Isabel back when we were both pregnant, I had to go find an awesome pregnant post too: http://holaisabel.com/blog/2006/04/14/memememememe-which-means-i-dont-have-to-come-up-with-something-clever-to-post-about-today-and-i-dont-have-to-remind-you-that-im-still-pregnant/
Especially for the IM exchange between Isabel & The King at the end of the post.
Liza
said,
September 6, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Right, you might want the links for the awesome gay brother series:
http://holaisabel.com/blog/2007/06/18/741/
http://holaisabel.com/blog/2007/06/19/part-ii-of-i%e2%80%99m-breaking-the-1-blogging-rule-and-totally-writing-about-my-personal-family-issues/
http://holaisabel.com/blog/2007/06/20/part-iii-i%e2%80%99m-breaking-the-1-blogging-rule-and-totally-writing-about-my-personal-family-issues/
Incidentally, I wrote about the series in my blog too — it was that good and meant that much to me: http://lesbianfamily.org/2007/06/20/shoe-meet-the-other-foot/
FunnyGal KAT
said,
September 6, 2007 at 3:11 pm
I’m jealous of your drawing skills… I can’t believe you hand drew those designs! (and how awesome are you that you’re sharing them?!?)
My favorite Isabel post has to be the one about winning the leg hair growing contest in high school (even asking her mom if there was a lotion that would make the hair grow faster!) How do you not love a person who is will to admit to an experience like that?
Monica
said,
September 6, 2007 at 4:37 pm
Oh this is fun! My favorite Isabel post is the one about her trip to the nudist beach. Very revealing ;0)
Audrey
said,
September 6, 2007 at 4:59 pm
My husband has recently decided that he’s against spending money on cards and wants to make all of them from home. Trouble is, he’s not so great at the card-making. So thank you so much for this! This will really help our cards not suck!
I love Isabel’s posts about making baby blankets and onesies. And the post where she announced Babboo’s birth — which happened to occur on my birthday. You know it makes me feel cooler for sharing a birthday with the Internet’s Coolest Baby.
Kath
said,
September 6, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Those are really cute cards ! Such talent …
Sigh.
i don’t have a particular post that i love (i like a whole lot of them), but what i love the most about Isabel is calling her son her Sweet Babboo. My daughter’s favourite stuffed bear is named Sweet Babboo, because hey, who doesn’t love Peanuts ?
So i was stunned & pleased as a punch to have something so sweet in common with Isabel.
Lindsey
said,
September 6, 2007 at 11:20 pm
Call me a suck up, but my favorite post was obviously the one about how much she cherishes her friendship with you…she posted probably the best pictures from the 80s that I’ve ever seen.
Your cards rule. I’m headed to the craft store now!!!!
Ok, that’s a lie. I’m going to the gym, but this weekend I am definitely hitting up the local craft store!
Nap Queen
said,
September 7, 2007 at 1:27 am
Those are so fun and cute! You are talented, lady!!! My favorite post was about her best friend growing up who had all the awesome clothes that she borrowed. It was hilarious and I could totally relate to being a teen without designer clothing