How to make your own inspirational greeting cards

I have a theory that most women are obsessed with stationary.  Who doesn't like pretty paper, a beautiful greeting card, and -- most important of all -- the possibility of receiving such a thing in the mail unexpectedly?  I know that I love to send notes, letters, and cards to people because I enjoy the surprise of receiving something myself.  Back when I had a bit more time, I used to make it a point of sending out at least one card or letter a week.

Unique cards with pretty paper are a personal favorite of mine.  I especially love beautiful photos with inspirational quotes as greeting cards.  One day I was looking through Etsy and realized that I could probably do this myself.  Could I?  How much would it cost?  What would it look like?

Honey and I love globetrotting and taking pictures of the beautiful scenery around us.  Who wouldn't want to remember a beautiful place?

Sintra, Portugal

I recently discovered Picasa, Google's free photo organizer/editor, and so I decided to try my hand at creating photo cards.

What you need:
1. Picasa (which can be downloaded at picasa.google.com)
2. Cardstock
3. 12"x12" paper
4. scissors, ruler, pencil, rubber cement (or similar glue)

Download Picasa.  It will access all of your photos on your computer.  Once it's done that, choose the photo you want to use for a card.  Picasa allows for easy photo editing, if you want to add/change colors, texture, etc.  You can also add text to your photo, so choose a good quote!  Once that is done, click on the button in the upper left hand corner, next to "Import," to create a new folder for photo cards. Click and drag your modified photo with text to the photo card folder.  When inside that folder, click on the lower right hand side to export the file folder.  This will allow you a separate folder for the photo cards that you can then upload to a printing service.  I use the photo printer at Costco.

Hanoi, Vietnam

When you have your photos printed, glue them to cardstock.  I used a template that I created from cardstock to make sure that all of my cards were the same size.

When folded, the cardstock gives a border of about 1/8" all the way around the photo.

I sprayed the back of the photo with a spray adhesive and pressed it to the cardstock to make my card.  Then, using the card and a ruler I traced a rectangle on the backside of some pretty 12"x12" paper, making the traced rectangle 1/8" bigger than my card (on each side).

On the top and sides of the paper rectangle, I used the ruler to draw triangles.  I then free-handed a smaller, rounded-corner rectangle at the bottom.  This was my envelope template.

I cut around the template, folded each piece, and then glued the bottom of the envelop to the sides using rubber cement.

Be careful not to use too much rubber cement -- you don't want it to ooze out on the rest of your paper or your card. Once it is dry, you can use it with your card.  The top can be sealed with a touch of glue or with double-sided tape.

I made six cards this weekend, but I am thinking of making more.

Total cost:
$0.13 per photo
$0.08 per sheet of cardstock (purchased in a package, 50 sheets for $3.99)
$0.19 per sheet of 12x12 paper (since I only buy it on clearance at Micahel's)

Cost per card: $0.40!!  That's much better than a $3 Hallmark or $5 farmer's market card.

The cards took me about two minutes per card once I had the photos.  The longest time was spent choosing what photos and quotes I would use.  I think that I am going to make about 20-30 different options and then print them and make a bunch of cards.  Who knows, maybe I'll even try selling them in a friend's little boutique.  Are they good enough for that?  We'll see.  But they make me happy and that's what counts.

I'm linking here:
Momnivore's Dilemma