Creating Appreciation cards...

This week, I took some time to make up some "appreciation" cards. They're cards that I've made up in bulk for special occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries, celebrations, loss and for general use.

I wanted to make these up as I saw that sometimes I'd be racing to the shop to look for such cards for those special occasions and it would take up time and money. Especially as cards can be so expensive these days and they can be inexpensive to make.

So instead of scrapbooking, of which I did for years when my children were younger, I've taken up card making as a creative way to spend some of that creative energy in order to keep that creativity flowing. 

Some of the medium I use includes: cutting up pre-made cards like those from the USA company "Close to my heart" which are already pre-set cards. Other times I just make up the designs myself and use stickers, die-cuts, stamps and scrapbook cards.

It's definitely fun and by the end of the time, I have some beautiful occasional cards that I can use or give away as gifts as I've started doing i.e. I bundle them up in 5's (card and envelope) then I cut a piece of string and tie them together ready for gifting.

So far, I've had an 'autumn' theme, black 'mourning' cards, travel cards, celebration cards with a lot more to come. It's something definitely worth doing if you're looking to try out your hand at designing something that doesn't take up too much time and later can come in handy to show your appreciation to others...