Inside Cloud Nine Studios - Making Greeting Cards

The last two days have been SUPER productive! I spend the majority of the last two days off from my gallery job in my own studio kicking out work that I plan to display at the DIY ART FAIR next month. I thought today I would bring you inside my studio and show you how I made this fun Michigan watercolor greeting cards.

Supplies you'll need:

                   Watercolor paper

   Ruler

Painter's Tape

 Acrylic Paint Markers (Fine Tip suggested)

 Spray Adhesive

 Watercolor Paints

 Blank Greeting Cards 

Let's Get Started:

I started by measuring my blank greeting card 1/2 inch smaller on each side to come up with the dimensions for my watercolor piece. Mine ended up being 3 x 5 (my greeting card was 4 x 6 in).

I then cut out 20 or so watercolor pieces at these dimensions. I now had my template.

Next I used my painter's tape and taped the edges down on a flat surface. This is because watercolor causes the edges to curl up and this ensures that your paper stays as flat as possible. I applied some watercolor to the paper how ever I felt looked nice for each piece. GET CREATIVE!  I decided I liked the look of flicking white over the top of the watercolor for another layer. Feel free to do whatever you like!
Next I traced the Michigan mitten on the lower right hand corner with a fine tip pen. I painted it in with different acrylic paint markers depending on the colors I used for that particular card!

After I had made a good number if card covers I took my watercolor pieces and my blank greeting cards outside. I sprayed the adhesive to the back of the watercolor cover and placed it in the center of the blank cards.

I had such a good time making these cards! You really can do so many things and they are a great little item that should sell fairly easily. I will be so pleased to show off these little items at the DIY Art Fair next month and I just know that having smaller and lower priced items along with the rest of my inventory will really be key in having a successful booth.

One of my biggest tips with this project is really make sure that your watercolor piece is completely dry before tracing your Michigan stencil. If you want to speed up the process, using a hair dryer on a warm low setting helps a ton!

I hope you enjoyed a look inside my studio today and hope I have inspired you to make some of these great watercolor greeting cards! What would you put on your cards?

Let me know what you think be commenting below and have a wonderful day!


Until Tomorrow - Dream Away

Samantha Menzo

Cloud Nine Studios

Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

Watercolor pillow, home decor, watercolor accents, watercolor painting, abstract watercolor, throw pillow cover, modern home decor, colorful by- RoveStudio

Song of the Day:
Agnes Obel - Riverside

Color of the Day:

Henrietta

Is Snail Mail a Dying Art?

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         When is the last time you got a hand written letter? Better yet.....when is the last time YOU wrote an actually letter to someone? Have some of you never ever wrote a letter?! Thinking about that being a possibility makes me so sad for kids today. Writing and receiving handwritten letters is so satisfying!

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I love to get fun mail. When I pull mail out of the mailbox nowadays I am just expecting to fish through coupon ads and bills. Every so often you get a cute wedding invitation or an artistic dentist appointment reminder that makes me smile! But when I get an actual letter from someone it makes my whole day! It's like a little gift and I get giddy like a kid on Christmas.

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So have I got you interested in writing a letter for someone? You don't have to have a reason to write to someone and actually someone getting a random letter might even be more special! If you were to send someone a random letter who would it be too? A friend, a cousin, an old neighbor? 

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Today the internet and other technologies make it so easy to stay connected to most people anywhere in the world and I understand how mail has mostly fluttered out of the picture. It doesn't mean I have to like it though! There is something different about taking the time to actually write out a letter. 

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If you go above and beyond and decide to decorate the letter in some fun way it just adds that much more love. Plus it is a great way to get crafty and use those rusty artistic muscles you have been putting to the side. Get a fun stamp or stickers (Yes this may seem like a childish thing to do, but it won't seem like it when that person sees all the extra time you put into it. They will feel special!)

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       This past winter my boyfriend's kids kept saying they were bored. So we came up with a great idea to send personal letters to kids with life threatening illnesses. They wrote the letters and decorated them and the envelopes. They had so much fun and I could tell that it made them feel good to do something nice for someone else who might need a pick me up! Here are some pictures I found from that day. :]

I enjoy writing letters and receiving them so much that I had a pen pal :] My beautiful cousin out in California has always lived in other states as me but I know we are blood because we have so much in common. I use to get so anxious waiting for her letters in the mail to hear how she was doing and then I got to decorate and write my letter back to her! Below are a few pictures of the envelopes I created for my snail mail back to her! 

So let's bring snail mail back and let some of our creative juices flow in ways we never thought about! Make someone's day by surprising them with a ways to let them know you are thinking about them. I KNOW you will make them feel amazing and in return you will feel just as good!

Let me know your thoughts! Do you already have a pen pal? What is your favorite part about writing letters? I want to hear from you and your experiences with bringing back the dying art of snail mail!

Until Tomorrow - Dream Away

Samantha Menzo

Cloud Nine Studios

Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

Envelope cookie cutter, 3D printed by - Printmeneer

Song of the Day:

Nat King Cole ::: I'm Gonna Sit Right Down & Write Myself A Letter

Color of the Day:

Delicacy Pink