Handmade Thank You Cards

January is the time of year that I restock my shipping supplies.  This year I am out of business cards, bubble mailers, boxes and thank you cards.  I can order all of these items on the Internet, which I have just done, except for the thank you cards.  Those I like to make myself .  In today's post I will share some ideas for a fun and fairly fast way of making up a batch of unique handmade cards.

I will be using my Gelli Arts Mono printing plate.  This product is easy to use and easy to care for. It is used with acrylic paints and soft tipped tools like Q tips and sponges.  It can be cleaned up with baby wipes or warm water and soap.  The plate comes in a clam shell case which it should be stored in.

There is lots of info on the Gelli Arts Website to help you get started with this wonderful versatile tool.

Supplies

Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate (Amazon.com,  GelliArts.com)

Acrylic paints in tubes and 2 ounce bottles inexpensive ones are the best (Walmart, Michaels, JoAnns) Do not use oil paints

Soft point Q-tips ( cosmetic supply shop)

Baby wipes for cleaning the brayer and the Gelli pad

Stencils (any craft store like Michales, Hobby Lobby, JoAnns)

Paper cutter or trimmer

Thank You rubber stamp  (JoAnns or Hobby Lobby or Michaels)

Textures like lace, netting, sponges etc.

a mixed media paper  (Walmart, Michaels)

Brayer (amazon.com or art supply store)

A selection of the acrylic paints that I use, with some sponges and the Q tips I use that have a good point for drawing into the paint.  I get them from a cosmetic supply store

The Process for making your cards:

 Squirt some paint onto your gelli pad

Use the brayer to spread the paint over the pad 

draw  a design or image into the paint with the Q-tip then cover you image with a piece of paper and rub all over it so the paint will transfer

Your transferred image. It can often be a little bare or disappointing looking.  So now it the time to overlay another color or texture to your mono print.  Best to use a light color at this point. Or you could have started with a dark color and used a light overlay afterwards. You can also wait until your print has dried and do some hand coloring.  

More examples:

Put some color on a stencil resting on top of the gelli pad and roll it in with the brayer.  There is some gold color already on the pad from another print and it will add some nice nuances.  Often a good idea to not clean your pad between prints.

In this example I added the red color to the drawing directly from the paint tube with one of the Q tips.  

I added the extra purple color with a sponge

The picture on the left happened when I cleaned the stencil with a baby wipe and it colored all those empty spaces and made a print.

some examples drying--  they look a bit messy at this point but once the excess paper is cut off they will look fine

Stencil overlayed with other colors to give a more complex and colorful look

To Make the cards

Once you have let your pictures dry, trim off all the extra white paper and then cut each picture into 4 pieces.   That will make them fit nicely into your packaging box

Then stamp the individual pieces with a Thank You stamp and permanent ink

 Thank you card in a Kraft box that will got out to one of my customers.  I have hand written a note of thanks on the back of the card.

 I hope you have been inspired by this tutorial today to try your hand at making your own thank you cards.  It  is a fun, relaxing activity that should let you roam free with the paints and try out your wildest art dreams.  Have a good time!!!  Your customers will enjoy receiving your unique creations.
Thanks so for stopping by .
Mary