Wednesday, August 19, 2009

DIY thank you cards

About a month ago I made thank you cards. Lots and lots of them. With lined envelopes, of course. I love sending paper cards. Writing them feels a little decadent, and opening the mailbox to a pretty envelope makes my day. Some of my friends send wonderful mail, so I have a set standard already.
I again used the pewter design from our invitations, and a calligraphed "Thank You" drawn by my talented friend Amy. Then it occurred to me to snag our return address from our keepsake invitation envelope.

There's an easy trick to that kind of piracy: take a high-quality digital photo, as straight-on as you can. Then use any photo editing software to up the contrast and brightness until you have a clean image of the text. Amy didn't mind because it saved her a bit of (unpaid) work; don't assume your calligrapher will feel the same way! I definitely suggest asking permission first. A few Gocco screens and much embossing powder later, I was very excited about writing notes. Which made it easier to knock the shower ones out right away. There's a small trick to the embossing, too. Right after a Gocco press, shake embossing powder over the wet ink. Flick off the extra, and set it aside. When you run out of table space, fire up the embossing gun for the whole batch.

What did you do for thank you notes? Do you think it's impolite to print Thank You on the front? Some people do. You can say so, I don't mind - I'm still blissed over the calligraphy.

5 comments:

Harriet M. Welsch said...

Your thank you note (not to mention your message inside) is lovely. I have absolutely no idea what I did for thank you notes. All I can remember is that, given that I went straight from wedding to baby, I wrote thank you notes nearly every night for what seemed like a year. I got so used to it, in fact, that when I was done, I immediately volunteered for a job with my alma mater's alumnae association writing thank you notes for them. I feel like a pro. Two things I'm sure of, though. They weren't anywhere as nice as these. And I most definitely did not make them myself.

JennyLee said...

These are gorgeous Miss Crafty! I've been catching up on your posts and I have to say those hostess bags are soo pretty!

Anonymous said...

I bought heavy kraft paper cards and matching envelopes at H@bby L@bby and stamped each with a little bird, which was also stamped on the invitation envelopes. Not half as industrious (or pretty) as your efforts, but nice, I think.

honey my heart said...

they turned out so cute! love the flower design!!

Unknown said...

You did an amazing job and I am impressed with the beautiful cards you were able to make from my not as good as I would have liked calligraphy. If all calligraphers were sure that their stuff would be made to look so good, I'm sure they'd give permission too! Hugs