May 24, 2008

Apple Inchie Stationery

Edit: The size of the finished stationery notecard is 4.25" x 5.5", a regular A2 size card. No folds, the base card is a 1/4 sheet of cardstock. These fit into A2 size envies.

Hey everyone, how about a little Saturday night stationery to liven things up!!?? We had a garage sale this weekend and we are DONE! $800 bucks later, we are rich! There's stormy weather in Kansas and we're just kind of hangin' out tonight. Josey and I sorted all of the 47 state quarters she has, they are NEAT! Just had a Lean Cuisine turkey dinner and some fresh strawberries with Cool Whip and now I'm settling in to do a little blog hopping. Eric's putting tomatoe cages on our new plants so the deer don't eat them all. It will be good sleeping weather tonight..nice and cool!

Ohhh, how I'm loving the no fold stationery! For today's little ensemble, I decided to use Karen Lockhart's Itty Bitty Apple, some Inchie Art Squares, Papertrey Spring Moss cardstock, Papertrey Simple Alphabet, Copic Sketch markers, a 1" square punch, Momento black ink teardrop and K and Company patterned paper.
I wanted to make four notecards so I stamped and punched out four Itty Bitty Apple images with my 1" square punch. You can color right on the Inchie Art Squares too but I prefer to work on cardstock then adhere the colored square to the inchie. I took a photo of four inchies below to show you the progression of my coloring. I first started out by adding the lighter pink highlight first. This is where the highlight will be on the finished apple. Second, I colored the rest of the apple with my red color...I did not go over the pink. Third, I blended the two colors together with the pink color again and added my light yellowish green leaf color. Last, I shaded the apple with the red some more, did a final blending with the pink, added a darker green.....then took my Colorless Blender and removed some of the lightest pink color to make even more of a highlight on the apple. I also used a blue color to outline the apple to make it pop off the page.
Then I adhered my coloring pieces to the Inchie artboard squares, matted them with a Spellbinder's scalloped square piece of red cardstock, added two green sequins...and then as a final touch I added some Ranger Glossy Accents to the apples. If you'll notice the patterned paper strip, you can see that the apples and cherries are glossy embossed, the paper comes that way. By making my apples glossy I was able to tie the stationery card together by matching up elements. It's all about the little details! These apples are so shiny, they remind me of candied cinnamon apples, YUMMO I want one.
To finish off my stationery, I used Papertrey's Simple Alphabet to spell out the sentiment *Apple of my Eye* and then stamped it with red ink onto each card. Are they just not delicious???? I have decided to add a section to my stamp basket stash just for these stationery notecards. My friends just LOVE these!! There are no folds...so you just write a short note on the front of the card. I think these would be perfect to hand out to customers for thank you notes.........or how about teacher gifts, these apples would be perfect!!! These particular cards are going in my own little stash basket so that the girls and I can use them this summer.

As a little girl, I can remember having little stationery sets that opened up with the stationery on one side and the envelopes and maybe a few stickers on the other side...in little plastic flaps. Anyone have that kind? I hoarded it because back then, supplies like we have now did not exist. These whimsical papers from K and Company totally remind me of those stationery designs I remember as a kid. Who knew I'd grow up to be a card maker!!

Here's my tip of the day: Teach your kids to address an envelope properly and put on postage stamps......and encourage them to hand write thank you notes. I think this is a lost art, however my kids ALWAYS send thank you notes that are in their own handwriting, envelope and all. I rarely receive thank you notes anymore but when I do, I sure remember it...and think, wow what a nice thing to do! Take it one step further and let your child stamp their own set of stationery. Perhaps they could make the inchies and you could assemble the cards. This would be a FUN, FUN project to do weekly this summer. I'm adding it to my list right now!! Woohoo, who knew a Saturday night could be so much fun!! Sooomebody stop me! (Am I totally whacko to think that making stationery on a Saturday night is a complete BLAST?!)

32 comments:

Dottie K. said...

These are just so darling. I think I might make a few snowman sets for the winter for Christmas gifts. Thanks for the inspiration. Just love them. Way to go on the garage sale. That's awesome. Have a great weekend. :) Dottie K.

Chrissy said...

Hey Mish - thanks for the cute idea. Considering I just got my first set of nesties I am having a big time card making on a Saturday night! :-)

Stefanie Staniak said...

Oh so Adorable !! What size are these - what size envelopes do they use. I think this is the greatest idea and would make terrific gifts too! I love your Saturday night stamping ! :)

Marie said...

These are SO cute!!! I love that idea - I'll have to put my inchies to some good use, like this. Thanks for the idea!

Michelle Tech said...

Love this stationery set! I'm inspired to try some, and I even have that paper! Thanks for sharing!

Kelly Booth said...

Cute Mish...Love what you did...Very Cheery!

Anonymous said...

Great cards! You are so creative and I find your cards inspiring and motivating. Great job on the garage sale too - what's your secret! Have a good weekend.

Rene Sharp said...

Another fantastic idea Michelle. I wouldn't have even thought of that. I cut out my own cards, and often battle to get them lined up exactley, so this option eliminates that problem. Thanks!!

Anonymous said...

ummm...NO!!! that's my idea of a fabulous saturday night!!! as evidenced by me being in my stamp room on a saturday night!!! these are adorable...and, i think i had the same stationery you did as a little girl!! too cute!! TFS!!
chelle

Diana said...

These are so cute; thank you so much for showing how to make them, step-by-step! I totally remember the sets of stationery I had as a child; I even saved a card and envelope from my favorite sets...
Love the idea of having the kids make their own, too. Is the Papertrey alphabet hard to arrange on the block (like, would a kid get frustrated with it)? I was thinking of getting the set, but was worried about it being too "fiddly".
I love Saturday nite stamping!

Carol (HB) said...

Mish, I not only love your creations, and the easy way you teach us to replicate them, but I especially love the way you tell us how you use them! The *reds* are very lucky to have a mom like you!!!

Lee said...

OH I totally would think making stationery..........especially this UBER cute stationery is fun on a Saturday night!!! LOL I just love the apple and the awesome coloring of it!!

Latisha said...

Cute sets. I too hoarded stationary sets growing up. When we lived in SC part of the state testing my daughter did was they had to write a letter and address an envelope. I thought it was a really neat idea, but was blown away at the same time. A lot of kids do not know how to address an envelope.
I hope you are having a great weekend

Vickilyn said...

I have been loving your blog! I am new to the "inchie" scene, so I am not sure what inchie artboard is, but if you could let me know, I'd be grateful (and enabled!)

Thanks for the inspiration!
Vicki

cyndi said...

these are so cute and i just love the DP! you are so funny! i just love reading your blog...you remind me of myself and my girlfriends! i think notecards is a great way to spend a saturday night!

Anonymous said...

These are too cute! I have often looked at little itty bitty stamps and wondered how could I use something so tiny? Thanks for answering that question for me and now I look at little stamps in a whole new light. Thank you for always inspiring me in so many ways. TFS! Sheila

Jeanne said...

Truly enjoy your blog and wanted to thank you for always sharing so freely. Your creations are inspirational and easy to replicate.

LOVE the idea of this stationery. I keep hearing about inchies, but like another poster...never looked much at small images in stamps because "what would I do with it?" Now I have some great ideas.

Thank you once again! Oh and your Saturday night sounds heavenly!!!

Bella Rose Creations said...

Beautiful! I just love how you pull together a simple design and add the touches that make it WOW! I too think letter writing is a lost art...but one we should try to keep up with our children. My kids are little but I like the idea of having them work on the inchies.

Chelle! said...

Stopped by your blog...NEVER a disappointment. Thanks for the fantastic idea. I am off to make some of those notecards. Oh, I am so excited. THANKS for always sharing!!

Susan said...

I LOVE these notecards! I see the flat notes all over the stores, and yours are sooo cute. What a great way to use up those left over pieces of pattern paper that I just can't seem to toss out. Thanks for the ideas.

Sharon Harnist said...

You always find the cutest papers, Mish -- these notecards are adorable!

CreativeMish said...

WOW! fabulous job on the garage sale!!! I love your no fold stationary! What a great gift idea!! The creative juices are flowing!

huntla1 said...

These sets are really cute! I do remember the kind of stationery you are talking about. I also remember the ones that folded in thirds and closed with a sticker on the back and didn't even use an envelope. This is a great idea!

Vickilyn said...

Michelle -
I love these stationery cards!! I made a set of my own which are here: http://paperhugs.blogspot.com/2008/05/stationery.html

Thanks for the inspiration!
Vicki

Linda Carson said...

Excellent stationery! You're a good Mom to teach your children to write thank you notes.

Anonymous said...

When I was a little girl I loved having my own stationary and my mother made sure I wrote my thank you notes. Our grown children have always sent thank yous. We still get compliments about their notes from friends and family. It is definitely becoming a lost art. Your notes are so cute and I know what my next project is going to be! Thanks!!

Jane R

Beth said...

Listen Dillweed! I think you are wacko anyhoooo, but I love you to pieces! I think it is totally bombalicous that you have your girls hand write their thank you notes (only cause I do the same thing babe).

Love your stationary!

LOVE IT!

DeeDee said...

Heck no you are NOT whacko!!! I got to thinking though....yep you probably smelled the smoke didn't ya...LOL...but anyways....if I WERE to receive these as a gift...I don't think I could bare to write on them and then send them away....they are just so darling Mish!!! Thanks for always giving such wonderful details!!!

Anonymous said...

These are soooo cute!!

Anita said...

I love these cards. I hope you don't mind, but I don't think I'm going to be the only one CASEing your idea! Thanks for sharing!

http://stampinwithanita.com/

liannallama said...

what fantastic cards these are!

Anonymous said...

Cute, cute, cute.... These are simply adorable. thanks for sharing. rita w

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