Lets Dress up those Envelopes

Hi everyone!  Its Tuesday and its Katie here hoping you are having a great week and a great Tuesday so far.  Today, I wanted to show you how you can dress up some envelopes that are easy to get a hold of, but will fit some different sized cards.  I saw this idea a while ago from a fellow stamper friend (Kim) and she was kind enough to share it with me.

Generally, many of us tend to keep stock of the standard A2 (4 1/4" x 5 1/2') envelope and its pretty easy to find 5"x7" envelopes and its super easy to find small business envelopes, but what if you wanted to make a few 3"x3", 4"x4", or even 5"x5" envelopes?  Today I'll show you how.

Essentially all you need is any envelope you can find, some scrap designer paper which will probably come from leftovers from the card you were making and really that's about it.  You will not only get an envelope that fits your card, but you'll also get one that matches your card perfectly without a lot of fuss or muss!

I also wanted to mention that the first couple of cards and envelopes that I created are from a brand new Scrapbooking Line called Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker.  I mean BRAND NEW as in this is Nikki's very first line of scrapbooking paper.  If you like what you see, you can purchase it right from the store.

I won't go into a lot of detail about my cards, since its really the envelopes that I am focusing on.  Again... super easy.  This first card and envelope were made with the  My Sweet Cherry Pie line and I paired it with one of my favorite stamps (the cherry of course) from the newly released set called Tangy Trio.

I decided to make a 4x4 card and in order to make an envelope to fit it, I took the A2 standard envelope and licked it closed.  Then I took and cut off one edge of it.  Actually measure you envelope so you can make it square for the most part.  This particular envelope that I used measured approximately 4 3/8".

This is what your envelope will look like.

Then you'll want to get a circle punch of your choice.  The only criteria is that it will have to fit into the envelope slot in order to punch.

Now, you'll want to cut a piece of designer paper 4 3/8" x 3"

Score along the 3" side at 1", just one one side.

Now, its just a matter of folding and adhering the 1" side to the front of your cut envelope.  As you can see from my photo, I added another piece of cardstock to the end.  Your options are really limitless as to how you want to customize your own envelopes.

Here is a photo of the new envelope and card that I made.  I made a 4" square card, but you could easily make a 4 1/4" square card instead.

And a view of the back of the envelope and card.

Let's say you wanted to make a 5"x5" card and matching envelope.  Again, exact same steps as previously, except that you start with an envelope that fits a 5" x 7" card.  Remember, your envelope will be slightly bigger so make sure to measure the shorter side to get an accurate cut.

And your designer paper would measure something like 5 1/4" x 3".  Here is my example of card and envelope front.  For this card, I used another Nikki Sivils line called  Henry's Brilliance.  These papers come in 12x12 or the 6" pads.  For today's purposes, I used the 6x6 pads.

I'm so excited, because I have my oldest son's back to school card all ready.  I haven't figured out what I'm going to give along with it, but I love how it turned out.  I paired it with a stamp from this month's (JULY) stamp of the month that would normally get FREE with a $50 purchase, but you can get FREE with only a $35 purchase.  Its called Tag It and I love this little set and you will get lots of use out of it.  This is the only way you can get it and once July is over... say bye, bye.

Here are a couple of close ups for you.  I used the Quickie Glue pen to add a bit of fuzz to the owls' bellies.  Love this pen too!

And a close up of the tag stamp.  This one works perfectly with the cuttlebug die set called Sliders.

And finally, one last envelope to show you.  For this card, I cut a 3"x3" card and created an envelope for it by altering a small standard business envelope.  Lots of room to spare, so you can really layer it or make a slightly larger card for it.  The photo has the altered envelope as well as the original envelope.  I used scraps from my Basic Grey Urban Prairie.

And a sneak peek.  Look at that little crocheted flower.  It will soon be available in the store and is the perfect little layering piece.

These envelopes are super easy to customize and really add to the whole ensemble.  I did examples of square cards, but you really don't have too.  Your card could be any odd dimension as long as it will fit into your "new" envelope.  Imagine creating an envelope that would fit a 4x7 card by altering a legal sized envelope.  Again, limitless options.  

Well, again and as always... I know I sound like a broken record here, but thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your time at Clearly iStamp and enjoy the rest of your day!

This is Katie signing off for Clearly iStamp.

Comments

[true]

Great tutorial Katie! Thank you so much! I will be putting it to use I am sure!
Hugs!
True

[Nancy Grant]

Awesome tutorial and idea. Thanks!
:-)

[Barb]

What a fantastic way to create an envelope. I saw it on your blog early this AM and demonstrated the technique to the teachers in my school. Thanks so much for sharing.

[Becky Sorensen]

Really neat. I think you need to teach me how to do it too!!! LOL And you are way too organized!! Thanks Katie.

[Brenda]

Wow! This looks super easy. I too never was sure how to "send" those odd shape card sizes. Problem solved! I really like how you can "dress" up the envelope to match as well!

[Karen Milone]

Thank you for showing us this. I shy away from making square cards because of the envelope issue. That is not a problem now. Thanks again!!

[Candyf]

I'm always struggling with creating odd sized envelopes -- thanks for sharing your tips. The cards are great too.

[Barb]

Thank you for the great idea. I really love it...it certainly solves some challenges for me. Just double checking (to be sure that I fully understand the instructions)...Is the back side of the envelope completely covered with the patterned paper? Thanks so much.