Enter my random brain. Once upon a time, HGTV had a show on called Carol DuVall. Anyone else recall this show? It was a general craft show, similar to Martha Stewart, but WAAAAAY less hoity toity. She had a lady on once that showed you how to easily line envelopes. Since the show isn't on anymore, I thought I'd do my version of what I remember. Enjoy!
This is a great project to use up old scraps and matching pieces from your card projects. To start you need a piece of paper that is longer than your envelope from the top of the flap to just below pocket of the envelope.
Use a pencil to trace the edges of the envelope. Feel free to make the lines as dark as needed since the will disappear later. (Sneaky, I know.) I wouldn't use a marker here since it will bleed onto the envelope and add a little accent to it. Then again, if you're going for a random accent, go for it!
Once you have your lines traced, cut INSIDE the lines by a small amount. You're cutting inside the lines to ensure that the paper will fit inside the envelope. If you cut too much, it will look odd. If you don't cut enough, it won't fit. The example shows about how far to cut.
If you have an envelope similar to mine, you're going to end up with a wonky looking rectangle. Don't sweat it.
Place a straight edge across the wonky rectangle at the point where the rectangle angles in. Don't worry, when you try it, it will make much more sense than my poor explanation here. Crease the paper using the straight edge and then put a good crease in it using a bone folder. This will make using the envelope much, much easier.
Place the colored piece inside the envelope, center it, and line up the creases. Put glue on the backside of the flap, but...
make sure that you use your finger or another tool and smear the glue around. This will prevent it from making those ugly lines on the outside of the envelope. Not sure what the technical term is, but don't like 'em.
Fold the envelope flap down onto the glue and seal it. The great part about this is that you aren't lining the entire envelope, just the part that can be seen, because let's face it, when was the last time you peered into the bottom of an envelope??
Make sure that you leave the envelope open while it's drying. Glue has a tendency to seep out and gluing an envelope shut now isn't the best idea... (Yes, I speak from experience here and yes, I see the smile on your face...)
See, all finished! It goes really fast and makes a great addition to the hard work of custom made cards. (You don't even have to tell them how easy it was!) Good Luck!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks so much for leaving me some love! I appreciate it!