Painted Thank You Cards

Good morning! It is a beautiful Monday in Seattle and I'm going to write this quick, quick post before taking the kiddo out for some fresh air and sunshine!

Here is a paper craft I did with Ben last week. As you know, he had a birthday nearly a month ago, and we are well overdue for sending out thank you cards. I always love making thank you cards with him, it has become a bit of a tradition after birthdays and Christmas. I like to think that the handmade aspect adds a personal touch to the sentiment of gratitude. In any case, it makes for a fun arts-and-crafts activity with a little one.


I started by having Ben paint with some of his new watercolors on simple white cardstock.




When the painted paper was dry, I cut them down the middle and folded them.



We then stamped "thank you" on some colored cardstock. I did most of the stamping, but kept it intentionally rough around the edges, so as to keep some consistency with the 3-year-old-made look of the cards.




I also cut some color drawing paper to the size of the inside of the card. The paint kind of came through some of the cardstock, so I wanted a clean surface on which to write our notes. Out came the glue gun, and I pasted the "thank you" on the top of the cards and the color paper on the inside.



Ta-da! It's nothing fancy, but they're made by hand and with love. Now, to finish writing and mailing them... But not this morning! We're off! I hope you have a wonderful start to the week.




I am amazed at how well this project turned out! It seems so simple, but the end result is quite beautiful. I have some of Ian's watercolors saved for this very thing!

Father's Day crafts......

Hello!  Is it still World Cup FEVAH at your house?  Have you ever heard this song by Air Miami?  I dated an indie rock nerd in college and remembered this song from some "mix tape" he made me, and I thought of you, my poor World Cup Widow.  This is one time I am glad we don't have cable.

So, what did you come up with for Father's Day?  You mentioned that he was around all weekend and it was hard to make anything, that is a tough one!  I actually got it together so we finished up everything on Friday.  I also went to Trader Joe's and cleaned the house!  Free time is at a premium at our house, so I wanted to give the Dad as much space as I could on Sunday (although, with two kids it's inevitable he had to help out while I cooked breakfast).  I made an omelet using directions from Ashley's book for breakfast (it really IS the best omelet I have ever made or eaten, no kidding!) and we gave him this:

I followed the directions over at Lovely Design for this project. We used different papers for the letters instead of old artwork. Most of the paper we used was from a packet we bought from Sharilyn months ago! I am an ephemera nut and really love paper, so this was a fun project. I love the way it turned out! I've been trying to find projects that are a little more sophisticated as Ian gets older, things that he can help with that also look great hanging on the wall!

We also made granola, I used a recipe from Cooking for the Whole Family by Cynthia Lair. Hey, here it is! Maple Nut Butter Granola.

Hope things warm up for you soon!  We're about ten degrees hotter than average here, which means mid to upper 90s!  I wish the two extremes could meet somewhere in the middle for both of us!

This project turned out so well!! What a lovely Father's Day gift! I like the idea of using pretty paper instead of painted artwork, smart.

Yes, it still is World Cup Fever around this house... It's fun when it means we get together with friends to "watch" the games, but it's not so fun when we're stuck home all morning during a rare appearance of sunshine outside! My hubby likes to protest "but it's only once every 4 years!". Ugh.

At least on Father's Day weekend, I kept my mouth shut and let him enjoy his soccer, he he. I also got him a nice local bottle of wine. Since he was off work and home for 3 full days, Ben and I didn't get around to making any crafts until Monday. We ended up getting the paints out and came up with something similar to what you did, except a lot less polished, with the letters cut and glued on top of a painted piece of cardstock, instead of peekaboo cut-outs.

Crafty Notebooks

I have a not-sewing-related project to share! I love Moleskine journals and have been experimenting with decorating their plain cardboard cover Cahier Notebooks. With mixed results.

Working with these kraft cover journals is a bit of a trend in the online craft community. Maya*Made (our favorite!) regularly stamps them with her latest designs. Angry Chicken and Wisecraft have covered them in fabric. You can find them embroidered on Etsy. Search for "moleskine journal" on Flickr and you will receive tons of inspiration. And check out this little collection compiled by The Long Thread.

I was itchy to try something out and purchased a couple of 3-packs a few months ago. They are quite reasonable, here they are on the Moleskine website but you can also find them in multiple online shops.

Experiment #1: Pasting a paper initial on the cover to personalize the notebook for its owner. I made this one and a couple others for Emily, my secret-santa gift recipient last Christmas and a writer, to go along with her brown pocket pouch.







The color of the scrapbook paper I used was a purplish periwinkle when I picked it out of my stash, but by the time I had pasted it onto the journal cover with mod podge, it looked more blue-ish. I like this concept, and it's pretty quick from start to finish. If I do it again, I will work on making the letter more detailed and embellished, maybe in two layers, and probably a bit smaller.

Experiment #2: Stamping a favorite quote on the cover.




I love this idea and wish my stamping skills did not suck so badly! I think I used such tiny stamps (in order to properly fit the whole quote on the cover) that they were too tricky to maneuver into straight lines. The crookedness gives it a certain charm, but eh, I still wish I could stamp "cleanly".

Experiment #3: Painting flowers on the cover. I was inspired to do this by this photo and post by Beauty That Moves. After finding out that one of Emily's favorite flower is bougainvillea, I got to work researching, sketching and painting.









This was by far my favorite, both in process and in result. It provided less instant gratification than the other experiments, but I loved slowing down to draw and paint. I think the colors really pop on the kraft cover and the time spent on the painting really makes this a thoughtful handmade gift. I'll definitely do this again.

And finally, Experiment #4: Fabric collage on the notebook cover. My college best friend recently got engaged, a couple of weeks before her birthday. I tend to make her handmade gifts for her birthday and wanted to craft something useful as she enters the whirlwind that is wedding planning.

I managed to coax some info out of her, primarily that she wants bright yellow flowers for the ceremony. I decided to make her an "inspiration" journal to jot down wedding to-dos and ideas, with a bright yellow flower collage on the front.








I could have kicked myself for not realizing sooner than the mod podge (or whatever that glue is) was glossy and not matte! Consequently, I had to paint the whole cover with it to match the sheen. I have mixed feelings about the result. I like the idea, but should have pasted the fabric onto white paper before gluing to the cover, to avoid some see-through issues. I will probably try this again but will plan out my design a bit better. Overall, this was a super fast project, maybe 30 minutes from start to finish, and a great way to use tiny fabric scraps!

Have you ever decorated these journals before? Do you have ideas for what you would do to personalize them?

Jenny, I've said this before but it bears repeating: the thought you put into your handmade gifts is really inspiring. That sweet energy permeates anything you make. I was folding laundry today and the lunch bag and snack bags you made Ian for Christmas were slowly uncovered as I picked up items, and the sight of something you made with your own two hands gave me the best feeling.

I haven't decorated these books before, but I am definitely a Moleskine fan. I like the idea of making potato stamps and using white ink for printing. Using favorite fabric scraps is brilliant too. I am going to try this soon!