My Type of Friend Card Kit..more creations + cards as gifts..

TGIF everyone. Looking forward to our first home high school football game tonight. As tradition follows, there will be a big weenie roast before the game. Always a good time with small town football!

Today I'm sharing a few more creations made with the My Type of Friend Card Kit. I always like to show how you can take your kit items and "bling" it up a notch. I took one of the completed cards I made from the kit and added a little more stamping in the blank space on the bottom. Next I took a cream envelope that you can purchase separately from the main card kit and embellished it with a Dainty Doily, a Printed Hang Tag, Washi tape from Freckled Fawn and a Studio Calico wood veneer typewriter.
By decorating an envelop, I think a card makes a perfect gift all by itself. You can add in a gift card....or pair it side by side with a gift that has coordinating wrapping and you've got a nice little ensemble. If you prefer to mail your embellished envelopes, simply place them in a larger, padded envelope for safe shipping. "Approved" stamp is from Studio Calico.
If you purchased a kit, you'll see that the Elle's Studio journaling card has the top portion that will be trimmed off and used for the cards. You'll be left with a bottom portion that can be used on cards, as a tag....or for a notebook like I've created below. I used a piece of the Crate Paper patterned paper from the main kit and layered it onto my covered notebook.
On the top portion of the notebook I layered on one of the typewriter instagrams, a Studio Calico arrow stamp and tied October Afternoon buttons and stamped orange tab. I also adhered some of the tape measure Washi from the main card kit below the photo.
On the bottom of the notebook I used the last little morsel from the Elle's Studio journaling tag as a border. I used up each and every little piece. Base cover of my notebook is My Mind's Eye heavy kraft patterned paper. Notebooks are from Papertrey Ink. You just can't have too many notebooks, in my opinion.
I've noticed that many of you have purchased all three of the card kits I've had available in my shop. In this case, you're going to end up with a nice stash of cards in no time. I'll be offering card kits almost weekly as I have enough kits planned for the rest of this year so far.

So what do you do with all those cards? Do you mail them out as fast as you create them? One option that I love for the stash of cards is to use them for birthday or upcoming holiday gifts. I always do this every year for my mom, mother-in-law, sister and Eric's grandmother. They absolutely LOVE to receive a nice stash of cards and look forward to them each and every year.

Here's what I'm doing with my cards that I make from the kits. Remember, each card kit has 5 cards so the pile will add up quickly if you purchase my kits regularly. First I took some heavy chipboard that I save from packages that arrive. I cut these to about 3.5" x 8". I grabbed a few notebook paper labels (I've been using these and my vintage typewriter to label everything lately), typed on the recipients' names and adhered them to my chipboard dividers.

Next I gathered up the cards I've created so far from the kits. Here's a stash of 15 cards that I have to divide up so far.
I stuck the cards behind the name dividers, taking into consideration who would like what type of cards I made. I used a vintage wire basket I had on hand and will just keep this on a shelf in my craft studio.
By the time the holidays roll around, I'll have a nice stash of cards all ready to be packaged up. Usually I am scrambling around my craft studio about December 24th, gathering up cards that I created here and there. This year I will be nice and organized and will simply be able to gather up the cards behind the name divider, package them up and they'll be ready to go!
I hope you give this idea a try. In addition to my family, I usually give the teachers/secretaries at the school a small stash of cards. They love them too and can always use a thank you card or blank note card. I'll be packaging up some cards early for my mother-in-law's birthday coming up in October. Look for a special post on packaging up your cards for gifts soon here on the blog.

Inquiring minds want to know....

Are you interested in card kits that are specifically holiday themed.....for like Christmas/winter? I'm thinking some kits would be a great way to get some handmade holiday cards made up early this year.

Coming soon...

Autumn Basket goodies. A fun stash of Fall and Halloween supplies for you to use on your crafty projects. Look for a sneak peek this weekend. I'll have the items in the shop next week + a fun blog post is coming soon on how to organize all your themed supplies in one place. Stay tuned.....and have a great weekend everyone!