Stamped Thank You Notes

We received our first wedding gift recently. It was a lovely set of (bamboo!) sheets from a friend of Sam’s family, who says she loves us but she doesn’t fly. Anyways, I decided that I should add something to my long list of DIYs- handmade Thank You notes. Luckily, these aren’t too difficult, but the end result is really pretty.

 I started with handmade paper with pink pressed flowers, along with their leaves and stems (from Paperchase, where else?), size A6. I found a “Thank You” stamp and a small pansy stamp at my favorite stamp store, along with dark blue and very pale pink inks.

I stamped on the “flower side” of the paper, working around the flowers so that no two pieces are the same. Each piece got one “Thank You” stamp and one pansy stamp.

The flowered paper is rough and not necessarily the best to write on. I bought a smoother, thick paper twice the size of the flower (size A5) and folded it to make the cards, then glued the stamped papers on the front of the card. This allows a little bit of leeway with the writing of the notes, as well- we can write them first and glue the front on second, so that if there are any mistakes in the writing we haven’t wasted the special paper.

I’m stamping the inside of the cards near our signature with the pansy, too. It’s a light enough ink that it doesn’t interfere with the signature. I think these have turned out really nicely, I hope our guests like them!

Paper Flower Wall Art

We have a really small entry hallway in our flat, and up until recently, it was really really bare. Until, that is, I found this tutorial on Pinterest (the source of many a crafty idea). Ta-da! Easy, pretty wall art. This project only took about 45 minutes, start to hanging-on-the-wall finish. And I love it!

I found a really pretty (large) piece of paper at Paperchase with a pattern that I really love. It’s turquoise and pink and floral, three of my favorite things. I started with a black piece of background paper, which I cut slightly to fit the frame. I cut out the circle at the center of the flower, placed it, and then starting cutting out petals. I free-handed all of them, no template or anything, and I tried to make them smaller as I moved out from the center.

If I were to do this again (and I might, because I’m a perfectionist), I would try to fill out the top a little more before getting into the smaller petals. It looks a little squished, but I’m mostly okay with that.

Still, I love where the final product hangs, next to our front door, above the little table where I throw my keys. Next project? A little bowl to throw those keys into!