Maggie Cards & a bit about Vellum Paper

A quick repurposed card can be made from a magazine, catalog, or any free unsolicited materials you might otherwise throw out--I like to call them my maggie cards.  Here's an Anniversary Card I made from an Art catalog I received in the mail.  An important tip to remember: while these cards are great to make and send to family & friends, don't try to sell them; copyright laws are in place to protect the original creators, and fines can be quite hefty.  For my card, I cut out the image and adhered it to the front of an 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of CS (cardstock), folded in half.  Then I embellished it with vellum paper, brads, & ribbon  (if you're not familiar with vellum, check out this website for more information --> HERE). 

Before embellishing - cardstock & "maggie" print

After adding embellishments: vellum, ribbon, & brads

Quick Maggie Card - cardstock, "maggie" print, vellum & brads

Vellum paper is mostly transparent, comes in a variety of colors (though clear is the most common), and is great for embellishing so many projects--I like to create word documents with phrases, sayings, & quotes, then print it out on vellum; you could also print out color photos, drawings, & more.  It feeds in your printer as easily as paper, BUT it takes a longer time to dry.  I like to print mine out in the evenings for a project the following day; then I know it's had plenty of time to dry.  In a previous post, Masks of the Manor, you can see in the top mask's eyes that I used vellum printed with colored images. 

Because vellum is typically fairly transparent, certain adhesives can be seen through it--so I like to use brads or eyelets to fasten it down to paper most of the time.  There is a vellum adhesive you can purchase that shows less of the glue but I think it's pricey, and isn't perfectly transparent.  So here are a couple other ideas to fasten the vellum to your work:  1. use a glue dot in strategic places and then cover that part up with an embellishment; 2. use a glue stick over the entire back of the vellum then burnish it in place (pressing down evenly) with a bone folder, or popcicle stick, removing any excess glue; 3. use staples--small ones criss-crossed, large ones, fancy ones, colored ones...any ones.  =)

To get the "stained glass" effect, or a more vivid look to your vellum, print your vellum with  an image outline (I call this a "hollow" image--something you can color in). When the printer ink is dry, turn the vellum over on its backside and color inside the lines with marker.  Once the marker ink is dry, turn it over and attach to your project.  If you're not inclined to print your own vellum, you can also find booklets of vellum quotes/sayings, vellum stickers, embossed vellum, colored vellum & more in any craft store.

So that's just a "bit" about vellum.  If you know some other tips/tricks about using vellum, please leave a comment so others can have fun using it too. 

Have a LoveLee day!