I can't be the only person around who is appalled at the cost of greeting cards. What used to cost a dollar or so, now costs at least $4 to wish your friends or loved ones a Happy Birthday, Anniversary, Thank You, or just to send a Thinking Of You card.
Okay, I admit it, I'm cheap. Apparently, a lot o f other people fee that way, too, because I now get (and give) many electronic cards. I've got a subscription to Jacquie Lawson's online greetings. They're wonderful animated cards that feature flowers, animals, and nature. Just wonderful.
But there are still occasions when I want to send a REAL greeting card. The cards I send out the most are Thank You cards. I get the majority of them at yard sales and most of them are blank cards, You name it, I probably have a blank card on it. Flowers, cats, dogs, fairies, I must have 200-300 blank cards. (It's always tough to choose.) But for Birthday Cards, I usually make them myself.
I have to admit, I love to receive "made-it-myself cards." My sister in law makes gorgeous cards. She must have one of those little die cut machines. She makes all her cards and it must take hours. She uses different papers, textures, and rubber stamps with embossing ink. I always anticipate the cards she sends for holidays and birthdays.
My brother has a computer program that lets him make cards. He recently made a thank you card for someone and wondered if he was going to look "cheap" with his DIY effort. But the words he wrote were from the heart and the card was lovely.
I'm not real "crafty," so my cards aren't all that elaborate, and I mostly give them to my immediate family. My husband set up a template in Abobe Illustrator, and I can choose the graphics and wording myself. That means the cards I make I can personalize. I like to use my own photography (like this picture I used for this year's Father's Day Card.) And I get a lot of pleasure putting these cards together. Usually, it takes between 20-40 minutes to pull one off. (Mostly because I don't do it often enough and forget how to use the program.)
I have to admit, I'm a bit of a card freak. I save them. In fact, I have every birthday card I've received since age eight. I keep holiday cards. My favorite Christmas card is from my Grandfather, who's been gone more than 25 years now. Every year, I take out the last card he sent me and put it up with the current year's holiday greetings. I look at his handwriting and I miss him, but because I have that card--he's still with me.
Maybe I'm a nut to hang onto these cards, but they don't take up that much room, and it's nice to revisit those happy occasions when someone thought of me.
