Easy DIY Envelopes

(My sweetie and me at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.  Note that she is writing in her journal !  )

I am now officially pen pals with my Montana granddaughter,  so I've been looking around for some ideas to up my letter- writing game.

I like the idea of handmade envelopes, but not the fussing with a template, measuring, folding, and then still coming up with a wonky-looking envelope.  The problem might be that I'm not good with precise measuring, exact cutting - the whole accuracy thing.

Then  I came across this blog post by Catherine McEver with what looked like a method that even I could master - no measuring, no marking cuts - just fold, crease and eyeball the cutting- a system made for me.

I gathered up some papers - magazine and book pages,  scrapbook papers, and some Gelli prints and got started.

Here, straight from  Catherine, are the directions.  (Since starting this blog, I've learned that it isn't easy to write clear instructions, so I'm shamelessly using hers and giving her the credit!).  The how-to pics are hers, too.

"Start by leafing through your book(s) and ripping out pages you think would create interesting envelopes. Create an envelope template out of a sheet of cardboard, cutting it to the size you would like your envelopes to be. ( I used an old mailer for my template - cereal box cardboard would work well, too).  Place the template on the page, and try to position it over the most interesting portion of the page. This is going to be the front, featured section of your envelope. Make sure to leave at least one inch space on left and right sides of the page (these will be your side flaps), about 1.5 or 2 inches on top (this will be your top flap, sealed after you insert a letter), and enough space on the bottom so that when you fold the page, the edge of the page reaches the top of your template. If you're working with a large page and you end up with the bottom edge of the page overshooting the template, just trim it. You may also trim sides or top as desired. There is no need to measure anything! This is all freehand and eyeball work.

Proceed to fold the page over the template as shown below, as if you were wrapping a package. Again, no need for perfection. The colors and printing on the envelope mean that it's very forgiving visually.

Now unfold, remove template, and then refold the page the opposite way so that the graphic side is showing. Press seams firmly - you want to be able to see these folds for the next step.

Unfold again and open up sheet with the wrong side facing you. The lines on the page below are drawn only for instructional purposes  to show you where and how to cut out the envelope. Again, you don't have to do any measuring or drawing. All of this is done freehand.

Your fold lines become your eyeball cutting guide (though you probably want to take care not to cut your eyeballs). I find it's quickest and easiest to do each of these four (A through D) as one cut. For example, I start cutting up along the A foldline, and when I reach the horizontal fold line, I just pivot the scissors slightly on the diagonal and complete the cut. I want to stress again that there is no need for perfection, no need for the diagonal cut angles to perfectly match, no need for any measuring or drawing. Just cut

Now you're ready to glue your envelope together, which involves simply gluing the two side flaps. Make sure you cover the outer edge of the flap with glue, and glue to within a quarter inch or so of the fold.

Flip your envelope over, fold each of the side flaps inward, and bring the bottom section up and on top of the side flaps. Press and smooth with your hand."

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I  got carried away and made 43 envelopes!   This is addictive and a great activity to do while watching TV if you need to justify all that couch -sitting.  Another benefit - using up some of that scrap book paper that no longer speaks to you - and some pages from all those books you accumulate for art projects.

Some of the envelopes above are made with pages from Somerset art magazines.   These are for personal use only; I'm not trying to pass off someone else's art work as my own.

I made a template for a legal size envelope and made some of those, too.

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I played with how to make a space for the address.   I stamped a handmade tag stamp on some.  I used a combination of white ink and Distress Paint Picket Fence and it took several times to get enough coverage.  Maybe a more opaque white would work better.  

Sometimes you get lucky with the paper and there's already a spot for the address - like the birdie in the bathtub one above.  Can't wait to write the address on the tub!  

Then I raided my stash of labels - lots easier!  I just ordered some full-sheet labels from Amazon so I can make some free-form, torn edge labels.

My plan is to just glue the flap to close the envelope, but might play with using washi tape or envelope glue.

Now no piece of paper or magazine or book is safe from the "that would make a great envelope" assessment.  

The Brookline Keeping Society

{NYT 4.5.15}

There was a great article in Sunday's  New York Times by Heidi Julavits titled , Turning Clutter into Joy"  about the value of hanging on to bits and scraps of the papers of everyday life.  This is the sort of activity that is the opposite of Ms Kondo's The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up  that we discussed here earlier.    Ms Julavits applies the "Does it spark joy?" litmus test prescribed by Ms Kondo and found that while her junk didn't spark joy, "Other people's joy sparks lots of joy in me."   She indulges this joy by volunteering at the  The Brookline Keeping Society in her small Maine hometown.

I was intrigued at the idea of a small town safe-guarding mementos that people bring to them .  If the Keeping Society had more money and space, it would be a museum.  Doesn't "Keeping Society" have a more accurate ring to it?    This is a small-town operation run by a staff of volunteers who open the door  to visitors one day a week.  The information on their website is old -time Maine at its best - they explain that an eNewsletter is an "electronic newsletter" just in case that wasn't clear.   But they are not Luddites - they have a Facebook page full of great old pictures with detailed information about the photos.   It's fun to read the comments from people who knew the people in the photos or who think they might be able to identify them.

Here are some images from their Facebook page:

(swoon!)

Full-coverage bathing attire can't hide the mischief going on here.

What is she reading?    Why is she wearing both a hat AND an apron?

Confession - I love finding old papers, books, lists and photos. I've bought several photos of "instant relatives" at estate sales to add to my collection.  If there is a faded envelope with a post-marked stamp to be had,  I'm in heaven.   

I inherited an old sewing machine from my friend Barbara .   When I went through  the drawers, I was happy  to find a WW1 gas ration card and stamps, almost as happy as I was with the machine.

Then there's this treasure - The Captain's step-grandfather's WW1 diary, started in 1917.   He wrote in it nearly every day of his deployment, mostly from France.   He kept in contact with a man he met in France and saved those letters, too.    

And my grandmother's papers from Hungary:

There's something about old pictures, notes, and lists that makes them intriguing.   You can't help but wonder about the story they are telling - what was the occasion,  why are they looking so sad, why did they save the notes, who was the letter for?    Anyone doing ancestry research online (The Captain is obsessed!) can find all kinds of old handwritten documents - voter registry,  census forms and more.   But there is something about holding the original document in your hand that makes these bits of history become real.    

Thankfully folks saved these pieces of their lives and I wouldn't think of discarding them.    I'm happily purging other things, but not these priceless bits of ephemera.  I, too, find joy in other people's junk.

Envelope Bookmarks

  I don't have many real bookmarks,  except this priceless one DC son made for me years ago:

I have no problem tearing pages out of old books to use in art projects.  I think of it as giving new life to the pages, making something beautiful,  and it beats ending up in the dumpster.   But folding down the page as a bookmark ?  For all that is right and holy - NO!  This just makes me crazy - books  with creased corners are just not right.

When I start a new book the first thing I do is make sure I have something to use as a bookmark - the one above,  or something in one of my art magazines that catches my fancy, or a piece of ribbon .  It would N.E.V.E.R. occur to me to do this:

  

Bookmarks made from envelopes are all over Pinterest .   They are so easy to make.  You  just cut off the corners of the envelope ( the corners opposite the flap) and end up with  little diagonal pockets that fit over the corner of the book page to mark  your spot.  Pretty clever.  Of course, you could cut out a template and make these from scrapbook paper, but that's lots more work.  I'm all about the easy way.

Then the fun begins.  There are all kinds of ways to decorate these.    You could glue on some scrapbook paper,  color the corner,  add stickers - you get the idea, or go to Pinterest for a bazillion more.    I stamped and embossed these:

I love the look of white stamping on craft paper.   I stamped these with Versamark and then embossed with white embossing powder.  Isn't this Spice Market stamp from Hero Arts is just gorgeous?  Thank you for showcasing this stamp, Diana Trout.

I covered these with Washi tape.  I found that using a wider piece of tape in the very corner ensures that the back of the bookmark will also get full coverage.  The two ends of the tape fill it in nicely.

Montana Granddaughter is 7 and reading chapter books, so these are heading out to her.

So cute!

Now I have a stash of bookmarks near my books .  Warning : making these is addictive.  Envelopes are no longer safe!