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I'm having a hard time getting past the idea of my cards being thrown away...
Actually, it's more like I have a hard time using embellishments on my cards because of the possibility they'll get thrown away. I use anything and everything on my scrapbook pages since I know those are kept, treasured, and looked at over and over. Cards, though....I love making them, but the frugal person in my screams at using things other than ink, paper, and stamps. I'd LOVE to go nuts and make really fancy cards, but I have such a mental hang-up over them getting thrown away. It just seems...wasteful, I guess to use embellishments.
Seriously! It is my biggest qualm when stamping. I, too, am a scrapbooker primarily, but I have totally delved into stamping. I have such a hard time making multi-layer cards, using hardware...etc.. because I am never sure how much people appreciate them.
I always worry about this same thing when I send a card to someone. What I find myself doing is choosing my embellishments wisely when I make the card specifically for someone or some purpose. For example, at Christmas I made my cards using silver brads and grograin ribbon. Since I can buy both at bigger quantities, it didn't hurt as much to send the cards. When I make swaps, I tend to use nicer embellishments because I know the cards are going to another person that would appreciate them.
You are not alone on this one. I think many are like us.
__________________ Christine O.
SCS Gallery Moderator My Gallery ~ My Blog
I only give my multi layed cards to people that I know that will appreciate them. Christmas I try to do little to no accessories because it'll cost more to send if I do and I make a lot of cards for the holidays. and weddings are excluded. I will layer away. I would hope people would save their Wedding cards.
I did have an Incident happen this holiday. We were at my Aunts and I gave money to my cousins two boys. Well I saw the money holder card I made in the trash pile. It took all I had not to grab them. They were no layer and super quick cards so I refrained. It was hard though and it did bother me.
Actually, it's more like I have a hard time using embellishments on my cards because of the possibility they'll get thrown away. I use anything and everything on my scrapbook pages since I know those are kept, treasured, and looked at over and over. Cards, though....I love making them, but the frugal person in my screams at using things other than ink, paper, and stamps. I'd LOVE to go nuts and make really fancy cards, but I have such a mental hang-up over them getting thrown away. It just seems...wasteful, I guess to use embellishments.
Any else overcome this LOL?
Nicole
Oh this is soooo me! I am so glad that someone else feels that way. I would love to fancy up my cards but all I envision is that card careening into the waste basket in slow motion LOL. You know like in a movie when someone shoots another person and they show them dropping the gun out of their hands in slow motion. Dorky I know. I am trying to get over it and realize that I did buy them to use them and make wonderful things. Not to just hoard them for special projects. I don't know maybe someday I'll do it ;)
Even worse, I hate to give my cards away, period! Seriously. I make a lot of cards (probably 6-10 each weekend) and can't seem to send them out. I make them at every holiday, when people are sick and they just sit in a picture box...I just hate to part with them.
My husband thinks (and he's right!) that I'm nuts.
My resolution this year is to post more of my creations to SC and to give them away.
I used to be this way...still am to a certain point. What will help is when you have been stamping a while and all of a sudden you realize that you have several hundred card fronts or full cards that aren't really 'in style' anymore.
I have finally moved on to a use it, reduce it or give it away philosophy. The only way I can justify buying fresh new things is to use what I have. Of course, I still have trouble 'sending' cards - but that is a whole other issue.
I find that I get more joy out of giving my cards away than I do in having the ingredients in my stamping space. What they do with the card is up to them. But I absolutley love to hear that someone still has one of my cards tucked away or on their desk months or years later. :-D
Ditto to all of your posts! When I make cards, I try and do it with the mentality that I love what I am doing and not worry about what happens when they leave my hands. THe people that do make a fuss do get extra special things on their cards the next time because I know that they appreciate them!
I honestly never gave the fact that my cards will end up in the trash a second thought. The card is a "gift" and once it is out of your hands you have no claim to it. The recipient can do what ever they please with it. That's why it is a gift.
__________________ McFadden/MacHappy Ho /Kash So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.1 Cor 10:31
Well most of the cards I make, I just horde:mrgreen:. The one's I do give away I make it depending on the person. My mom for example would never throw one of my cards away, so I can go all out on hers. There are several others like that. The people I'm not sure about don't get expensive embellishments or tons of effort.
ladies, you have no idea how you can affect ONE life, if you don't chance it and try. Don't try to judge how someone else will or won't appreciate your work...but use your work to reach out to people and show compassion.
Our cards are INCREDIBLY power, especially with a note from the heart written inside.
I sent one woman a card, telling her how much I had admired her over the years, and how much I was praying for her with her health issues. Several months later she appeared in my church. Years earlier she had been a member. She is now past her critical health issues, singing in the choir, and we have rekindled a friendship. One day she shared with me that the WHOLE reason she came back to church, was when she was sick, several of the congregation sent her a card letting her know how much they cared about her. My card had especially touched her heart. Four years later, I stopped by her home with a loaf of bread one day, and she showed me the card I had made her a long time ago, and again told me how much it had meant to her. When I made/mailed the card to her, I had NO IDEA it would mean even 1% of what it did to her, and never dreamed she would still have it 4 years later! (I have no talent...it was just a card that I had tried my best on).
I've had other surprises too. I sent a card to a woman at the school I know who is very humble, always on the sidelines, but so loving. I had no clue that she was having problems in her marriage....I just sent her a card to let her know how much I appreciated her time and caring with our children.
Our cards possess powers that store bought cards don't. Children aren't the only ones who spell LOVE T-I-M-E.
Please stop worrying about how your recipient will feel or respond. Just follow your heart and give freely. We can not contol others...only ourselves.
guess it's the old saying....nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Thank you Kathy for sharing those thoughts - I make "ugly cards" take on a new meaning and yet I send them - cuz the prayers and good wishes I pack inside are sincere.
ladies, you have no idea how you can affect ONE life, if you don't chance it and try. Don't try to judge how someone else will or won't appreciate your work...but use your work to reach out to people and show compassion.
Our cards are INCREDIBLY power, especially with a note from the heart written inside.
I sent one woman a card, telling her how much I had admired her over the years, and how much I was praying for her with her health issues. Several months later she appeared in my church. Years earlier she had been a member. She is now past her critical health issues, singing in the choir, and we have rekindled a friendship. One day she shared with me that the WHOLE reason she came back to church, was when she was sick, several of the congregation sent her a card letting her know how much they cared about her. My card had especially touched her heart. Four years later, I stopped by her home with a loaf of bread one day, and she showed me the card I had made her a long time ago, and again told me how much it had meant to her. When I made/mailed the card to her, I had NO IDEA it would mean even 1% of what it did to her, and never dreamed she would still have it 4 years later! (I have no talent...it was just a card that I had tried my best on).
I've had other surprises too. I sent a card to a woman at the school I know who is very humble, always on the sidelines, but so loving. I had no clue that she was having problems in her marriage....I just sent her a card to let her know how much I appreciated her time and caring with our children.
Our cards possess powers that store bought cards don't. Children aren't the only ones who spell LOVE T-I-M-E.
Please stop worrying about how your recipient will feel or respond. Just follow your heart and give freely. We can not contol others...only ourselves.
guess it's the old saying....nothing ventured, nothing gained.
kathy
Kathy, that is a beautiful thought & I thank you for sharing it! I do like to send my cards with a prayer that the reciever will be blessed by them. You know, 99% of our cards might get tossed but that 1% might just reach someone who really needed it and so made all of the cards worthwhile.
I also go thru my cards a few times a year & donate the ones that I don't love to the soldiers. They are quite happy to get them!
I agree with Kathy. Cards can be powerful and you just never know how or when they will make a huge difference for someone. Besides, all the embellies and ribbon I collect do no one, not even me, any good in their drawers and jars. Even if a card only gives someone a minute's pleasure, it was worth it.
ladies, you have no idea how you can affect ONE life, if you don't chance it and try. Don't try to judge how someone else will or won't appreciate your work...but use your work to reach out to people and show compassion.
Our cards are INCREDIBLY power, especially with a note from the heart written inside.
kathy
I can see those kinds of cards being kept, but cards that are being sent for birthdays, anniversaries, etc. often do get thrown out.
I was talking with my mother today about how people who are scrapping can justify spending money on the pricey embellishments because they are kept, but it's hard to add such things to a card because it makes the card much more expensive. As it is with all of the tools I use my cards probably cost $5-$10 each. LOL Yup, I started making cards because it would be much less expensive than buying them, but now I do it for the fun of course because I'm not sure I save much considering all of the money invested in supplies.
I used to feel this way too but now I consider my cards not just "a card" but a piece of artwork. I make cards for everyone in my office, everyone looks forward to their b-day because they love the handmade cards made just for them. So, I know they keep all theirs. I also sell cards so I try to make them top notch. It's theraputic, to me, to stamp and be creative. Besides that, when I give a card I always tell the receiver "Now,this was handmade so you can't throw it away..." lol ;)
__________________ ♥Susie ♥ ♥ Be the change you wish to be! ♥
I agree with Kathy, you just never know. I was told just this past week that a friend of mine keeps all the cards I give her. I figure those embellies are more productive on the cards than they are sitting in my stash! They've spent way too much time in that drawer anyway.
Have you priced store-bought cards lately? You can easily spend $5-7 on a nice card at Hallmark. The very simplest ones are still $3. And you know that they'll get thrown away.
Having been married over 20 years, being a packrat myself and married to one too, I have sincerely had to get over saving paper of almost any kind. Many many special cards get tossed in the trash here. It doesn't mean that I don't value the card or the message; just that I don't want to be buried alive under the paper in my house! And I wouldn't wish my clutter on anyone, so if they're more proactive at preventing it than I am, more power to them!
My cards do far more good traveling to someone to brighten their day, even for a few minutes, than they'll ever do sitting in boxes on my shelf.
Ohhh I have the same problem... mostly it's just because I hate to waste.
I put effort into my cards equal to how much I think the person receiving it will treasure it. If I am sending it to someone who I know will open it say "That's nice" and then throw it away, I'm not going to make it super fancy and complicated. But if it is someone who I know will really appreciate the work and keep the card, I'll go all out!
My sister admitted to me that she cuts the front of the cards off and recycles them. She gets plain cardstock and reuses the fronts of my cards. She also gives me credit though..
I must make very plain cards because I know mine aren't costing me $5-$7 a piece. I don't count my tools into the cardmaking (my husband jokes that I collect tools)...since I use them for so much more and it's my addiction. Hey....making cards, buying the tools are a lot better addiction than so many others....
__________________ ***Carrie***
Addicted to Stamping
I look at it this way. There are times I spend more money on wrapping a gift than on the gift itself, when you added up the wrapping paper, matching tissue paper and bow. That doesn't mean that I will wrap the gift in newspaper just because I know that the wrapping paper will end up in the trash. I don't care who the card is for and I don't even think about what they do with it after they receive it. I consider my cards a gift, and it's all about the giving.
Another way that I look at the time spent making a special card for someone is that the time is a gift to myself - a special time of reflection about that person and what they mean to me. So to me, that time isn't wasted at all, regardless of what they do with the card.
Well, apparently I'm not alone LOL! I do freely give my cards away - I even give them as gifts to several people that I know love to send cards to others. So I'm not stingy in that regards.
I loved hearing all your responses, though, and I'm going to make a real effort to treat my cards like I do my scrapbook pages - throw anything and everything I want on them and then let them become a blessing to others. I LOVE to write real long messages inside (for Christmas, I wrote letters for every person I sent a card to, 40 in all) so I know the card will be appreciated.
I'm making some thank you notes tonight to give as part of a baby shower gift tomorrow. I'm not going to hold back with them! Thanks for the encouragement!
I make my cards with just as much thought no matter who it is going to or what the reason for the card. I am a craftsman and feel my cards are a reflection of me and my feelings toward the person receiving them. What you write inside the card is just as important as the cover. It all sends a message to the receiver. Even if the person does toss the card after reading it, I like to think they, in their own way did get pleasure from even just the thought of the card if nothing else.
My cards are personalized to the person receiving them. No two cards that I make ever are the same even my Christmas cards.
I don't give gift wrapped packages as presents. My cards are my presents to the person.
I take pride in what I do and enjoy the time spent creating my cards for the person.
I feel my cards deserve to be done to the very best I can do them with my talent.
I create cards for people, I am not a scrap booker (no offense to those of you who are scrap bookers).
I enjoy the card-making process itself and don't really care what happens to them after they leave my hands. I spend as much time on cards for those who appreciate them as for those who don't. I do it to please myself. Of course it's nice to hear that someone liked the card enough to keep it or even frame it, but the pleasure I get from the creative process is what matters to me.[IMG]//www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/images/icons/icon12.gif[/IMG]
__________________ "Life is much too important to be taken seriously." Oscar Wilde Proud to be a member of Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge DT! My BlogMy Gallery
I've been making cards for a while now and have gotten much better at it. I'm not original in my designs but copy well. The only time I make a card with no one in mind is when I do "Stamp a Stack." Otherwise every card has someone who I'm making it for specially. I send a lot to shut-ins.
I've been shocked at the comments I hear ages later about how much my card meant to that person. Someone will tell me they look forward to a holiday or birthday because they know they'll be getting one of my cards. Someone had told me he was helping to clean out a shut-in's house. He found a whole stack of my cards. She had saved every one.
I couldn't care less if 90% end up in the garbage. It's the 10% that people save that makes it worth all the time and effort. I've done so many now, I'm almost obligated to keep it up! There are lots of people out there that appreciate my work.
Another thing you can do if you are concerned that much is don't write anything on the actual card just cut a insert for the inside and then the receipent can re-gift it.... I was told somewhere out there is a little poem to that effect. After all most of us put our names on the back anyway. Just a thought. If anyone finds that poem I would love it...... hint hint.
Kathy, that is a beautiful thought & I thank you for sharing it! I do like to send my cards with a prayer that the reciever will be blessed by them. You know, 99% of our cards might get tossed but that 1% might just reach someone who really needed it and so made all of the cards worthwhile.
I also go thru my cards a few times a year & donate the ones that I don't love to the soldiers. They are quite happy to get them!
Dotti - that is exactly it...It's the 1% that makes all we do worthwhile.
It reminds me of the story of the boy walking home from school...and the other boy offerring to help carry his books. Many years later, the 2nd boy learns that the 1st boy was on his way home to commit suicide, but because of the caring and offerring of friendship by the 2nd, the first boy decided not to take his life.
You never know how a simple gesture you may do in the course of a "normal" day, what a profound affect it can have on another.
My family knows that after awhile I take their georgous cards and recycle the card fronts for my soldier project. I think it is a great way to recycle them. The piles of cards would get out of hand so quickly if I saved all the cards I received....It gives such a warm feeling to give our beautiful cards to others. My boss always says another Amber original for my stash..she is so sweet.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Happy Heart
I enjoy the card-making process itself and don't really care what happens to them after they leave my hands. I spend as much time on cards for those who appreciate them as for those who don't. I do it to please myself. Of course it's nice to hear that someone liked the card enough to keep it or even frame it, but the pleasure I get from the creative process is what matters to me.[IMG]//www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/images/icons/icon12.gif[/IMG]
I've thought about this off and on. But I enjoy making the cards and I don't use alot of hardware. More buttons and ribbon, etc.
I have every card that someone has sent me that is handmade. My closet has a big box just full of them. A couple times a year I
ll get that box out and look through the cards for ideas or just to look at them, knowing someone took the time to make that card just for me! My husband thinks I've lost all my marbles for keeping all of them but hey, they are MINE.
I have never thought about it.. but today this happened to me...
My ds had a bday party (3yo).. My sil brought in the gift bag and lo and behold, there on the front of the bag was the front of a card I had sent to her son 2 years prior - ha! I was amazed... she told me, I save all of you card fronts and reuse them... they are so beautiful! If folks chose to toss em'... that is their choice.. most of my enjoyment comes from actually creating them and sending...
I Have a hard time actually *mailing* my cards. Maybe because then I get tripped up with writing the note that goes inside and it takes forever and I am never done, so my Christmas cards are never mailed or are valentines
OK valentines enough people are not surprised to get valentines.. So one time I saw dh great aunt. She said "I still remember when you sent me that valentine" It had to have been five years ago , but still made an impression(and put her back on the Christmas list) She manages to write letters in all her cards, remembering all occasions and be fulltime caretaker of his great uncle with altzheimers.
The other story is also courtesy of DH, He comes up last minute and needs card for work for office mate for her birthday or Christmas. So I begrudgingly say here you go < and try to get rid of one of the ugly cards, He says "where are the rest?" and pours through the entire selection. (He can recognize time and effort will have to say)
So this Christmas I volunteered her card. He said "make sure it is your best one, because she keeps them all on her desk!" So *he* won't put any cards or pictures on his desk , but she keeps the room looking nice! ( I sent in chocolate too, cause I know who really eats it!)
I saw a similar one that said: "This better not go in the trash!"
I have that stamp and use it for cards that take a lot of time and effort to make. I LOL when I use that sentiment and hope the recipient does the same.
I have found a way to help me with this issue........when I make cards I make an extra one and put it in a photo album and for some reason that helps me get past the thought of it getting tossed.HTH alittle =)
MaryB
Location: Chesapeake, VA: It's where the Navy sent us :)
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I send out Christmas cards and birthday cards to everyone on my address list. I've had gals say that they keep my cards year after year and put them on their trees ;) I always get a response, a quick hello...something after they've received my cards. That's all the reason for sending them. They smile and my heart warms. What they do with them after...I don't think about it.
Think of it like this....you use your goodies...new stuff comes out...you buy more goodies...you use your goodies...new stuff comes out....lol
Just enjoy what you create and then share it around! Make 2 if you want to save one, it doesn't take anymore time to cut 2 then just 1.
Even worse, I hate to give my cards away, period! Seriously. I make a lot of cards (probably 6-10 each weekend) and can't seem to send them out. I make them at every holiday, when people are sick and they just sit in a picture box...I just hate to part with them.
My husband thinks (and he's right!) that I'm nuts.
My resolution this year is to post more of my creations to SC and to give them away.
I know exactly what you mean!!!!!!! Although I do give some cards out. My friend and I exchange cards and somtimes I will send her a card with a post-it note in it with what i want to say! I do that b/c I don't want to ruin the card by writing in it! I have a few issues!!!!!!
I'm having a hard time getting past the idea of my cards being thrown away...
