4 Bar Cards & Gift Box

I recently did a project I’ve been thinking about for awhile: creating a set of cards to give as a gift. After I finished everything I kept thinking, “This IS a nice homemade gift!” Buying an average card costs at least a few dollars so giving someone 4 homemade cards with envelopes that they have ready to send saves them a little. Plus the cards are more special since they’re homemade!

It took me awhile to decide what kinds of cards would be best to give, and I ended up with 1 birthday card and 3 anytime cards. I didn’t think people would send one single thank you card very often and would more likely buy a set of them so I didn’t include that kind. And I didn’t want them to all be birthday cards because then they might have to wait a long time to use them. I like the idea of giving them cards they can send anytime because I think those are often the best ones to receive, when you’re not expecting it and you get something just because.

This was my first time ever making 4 bar cards. These are a mini size card that are about 3.5 inches x 5 inches, like an index card. It’s a really cute little size and I like that the cards can be more simple, with just one focal point, and it doesn’t look empty. I also felt like this size was perfect for cards that were a gift that someone else would be sending out. Maybe it’s weird but I kind of liked the idea that people getting a homemade card directly from me would be the only ones getting the regular size, and people getting cards made by me but not FROM me would get the mini version. Then they would get the essence of the homemade card but not the original right from me. And they all still have my custom “handmade by Rachelle” stamp on the back, so they’re still special!

It was a small investment to make a new size card because I bought rectangle dies to cut the card fronts and mats with, pre-cut and scored card bases in the right size, and envelopes for that size card. But I’m happy to have everything now because I plan on making more sets as gifts and that will make everything a lot easier.

One last nice thing about this project: it’s great for times when you might not have a lot of other events to make cards for. I had a surplus of cards ready and waiting to be sent out and it made me stop making cards for a bit because I was running out of space for them. But with this I had a good reason to make 4 new cards that I knew would be sent out right away.