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Hello, everyone! I'm wanting to make shaker cards for family this holiday season. They will be sent thru regular mail (USPS) and I'm worried about the acetate window being scratched or bent during the mailing process - for example, if a postal worker grips the card a little too hard.. I'm afraid the acetate will be bent. Does anyone have any tips on how to mail these successfully? Should I use padded envelopes? Thanks to you all!
I would make up one sample, put it in the envelope I'm thinking of using, and head to the post office to have them check if it is thin enough to be mailed at the regular letter rate or if it's too thick and needs to be sent as a package. If the answer to that is that it's too thick, then yes, I'd default to using bubble envelopes. (If you have a sam's club membership, you can get a box of 25 6x9 mailers for about $5.)
Another thing that might affect the card is that if you make a shaker AND then put a piece of cardboard or cardstock over it, it's probably not going to be flexible enough and might need the nonmachinable surcharge, if not the package rate.
To prevent scratches, I'd just lay a sheet of tissue or maybe vellum over the top before sliding it in.
But I personally wouldn't worry about the bending from the mailman picking it up-- if it's going to be handled roughly enough to damage it, it probably doesn't matter what protective measures you take.
Just a thought, since you are making these for holiday cards and will be mailing a bunch. When you decide which method to use, make one up and mail it back to yourself, so you can see how it does going through the mail. If it comes back to you damaged, then try another packaging method.
__________________ Bugga in OK
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." Dalai Lama
Just a thought, since you are making these for holiday cards and will be mailing a bunch. When you decide which method to use, make one up and mail it back to yourself, so you can see how it does going through the mail. If it comes back to you damaged, then try another packaging method.
Remember when Jennifer McGuire did this? And it resulted in her using thin white fun foam under her raised card areas rather than foam tape? The cards with foam tape were dented and had lumps and bumps and were pretty much ruined! I would've never thought they would've gotten that much damage going through the mail.
Just a thought, since you are making these for holiday cards and will be mailing a bunch. When you decide which method to use, make one up and mail it back to yourself, so you can see how it does going through the mail. If it comes back to you damaged, then try another packaging method.
Thank you so much for the information! I feel much better about mailing my cards now. That is a great idea to mail one of the cards to myself.. will do!
Remember when Jennifer McGuire did this? And it resulted in her using thin white fun foam under her raised card areas rather than foam tape? The cards with foam tape were dented and had lumps and bumps and were pretty much ruined! I would've never thought they would've gotten that much damage going through the mail.
Thank you for mentioning this.. I will go with fun foam.
You have a 1/4 inch slot to fit your card through easily. If it doesn't slide through easily (your card has more dimension than 1/4 inch), it requires extra postage.
I am doing shaker cards for x-mas also. I use the fun foam, but use a whole panel of it and cut the circle out of it, then lay the front of the card on it. My card is sandwiched around a full panel of the foam. Less damage that way.
And since that form is in there, I do not add dimension to anything else on the card - it would not fit through the 1/4 inch slot. It's tight as it is.
If I had to do it all over again, I would have made a shaker card that sandwiches two sheets of acetate/plastic together with bling inside, but no foam. Jennifer McGuire made one of these. It's a see through window into the inside the card with some bling in the window. Having one of those melting/fusing tools would be great for this application.
I have a fuse tool but have not had time to make a shaker card yet. When no foam is used is there still enough room for the bling to move around? I have been thinking about this the last few days and was going to come here and ask what experiences you all have had with this technique.
I lie. Seriously.
I write on it "please dont bend-photographs" with all kinds of cards. Seems to help. But you always can get the rushed/careless PO worker. I apologize to any PO workers out there but I hope you understand.
Use a good quality envelope. Helps a bit.
I save (from packages I get) and cut that very thin packing foam that comes in sheets and put a piece of that over cards with rhinestones, etc. I am still looking to actually buy a roll somewhere. Adds dim but not real weight.
The point about the 1/4 inch rule though is very valid. It will up your postage to go to padded envies. That might be a good test to do. See how much that would cost you and decide if it is feasible. I would definitely check with PO how much that would be.
If you use bubble envelopes, you will have to put package postage on it. If you put cardboard on it to make it unbendable, it will need extra postage for "non-machinable" mail. If it is thicker than 1/4" or heavier than an ounce, more postage will be required. That being said, I would go with the cardboard or heavy cardstock cover, print "hand cancel" on both sides of the envelope and take them to the PO to mail them so you have enough postage on them and watch them cancel it. After all that work, you want to insure they arrive in good shape and have enough postage on them so they are not returned a month later. Good luck!
I have a fuse tool but have not had time to make a shaker card yet. When no foam is used is there still enough room for the bling to move around? I have been thinking about this the last few days and was going to come here and ask what experiences you all have had with this technique.
You will want a pocket that is bigger than a tiny little window - that helps give some room for movement even though there is no layering that adds depth to the shaker assy itself.
I would cut a window on the card front so that the plastic pocket is framed on the front of card. I would also glue some bling in place inside the plastic so that some of the confetti stays up in view or is spread around the window. This also helps the loose stuff to travel all over the shaker better.
Don't over load this pocket. It's not going to work well if the top plastic layer is bubbled up from the bottom plastic because you have a load of sequins in there. Use things that do not require a lot of depth like tiny seed beads, flat sequins, snow mica, flat bling, etc.
And I would put another frame on the back of the pocket so your shaker is sandwiched between 2 frames. I think it gives a more finished look to the inside of the card.
If you use bubble envelopes, you will have to put package postage on it. If you put cardboard on it to make it unbendable, it will need extra postage for "non-machinable" mail. If it is thicker than 1/4" or heavier than an ounce, more postage will be required. That being said, I would go with the cardboard or heavy cardstock cover, print "hand cancel" on both sides of the envelope and take them to the PO to mail them so you have enough postage on them and watch them cancel it. After all that work, you want to insure they arrive in good shape and have enough postage on them so they are not returned a month later. Good luck!
Will the post office hand cancel for free, or do they charge for that?
It feels like my PO charges for everything, and will return ANYTHING that even comes close to being over the weight or dimension limits. I had one postal clerk show me my card was tight in the 1/4 slot - while his fingers were in the slot with my card!!!! I had to laugh. I put another stamp on it - but to be honest, they spent more than that returning the card to me for more postage.
Will the post office hand cancel for free, or do they charge for that?
It feels like my PO charges for everything, and will return ANYTHING that even comes close to being over the weight or dimension limits. I had one postal clerk show me my card was tight in the 1/4 slot - while his fingers were in the slot with my card!!!! I had to laugh. I put another stamp on it - but to be honest, they spent more than that returning the card to me for more postage.
Sometimes they just hand cancel it free, but usually you put the extra 23c on so that it will be hand canceled. I do this as a matter of fact as I now can put outgoing mail into a slot on my street and don't have to go to the post office. Where I used to live, all mail---coming and going---came through our little PO. Therefore it was easy to learn what to do. Now that I have mail delivered to a box on my street, I only have to stand in my new PO loonng lines for packages. I have the exact cardboard template the PO uses to test my cards at home. I don't want to pay too much, but I do want my cards to get where they are going in good shape and on time. After doing all the work a shaker card requires, I would spend they extra money required, as it is a piece of art work, after all.
I actually find that bubble mailers crush dimensional items as they go through the big roller machines and anything high gets squashed. The extra thickness from the bubbles make it worst. What I do is use foam or box board AROUND the dimensional items to even out the layers. I do this with flowers, dimensional embellish etc. So if you have a shaker element, pad the rest of the front of the card until it reaches the level of the top of the shaker. I find I don't even need a bubble mailer at all! Which saves lots of money on postage! I use washi tape to hold on the foam if it doesn't stay snug in the envelope. If the overall envelope if still lumpy you can add box board or tape the outside of the envie over any lumpy areas.
If you are worried about scratching, maybe add parchment paper or that self adhesive food wrap (I forget what it's called) to the acetate area. That should do it.
Excellent � thanks for posting this link! I think I would still sandwich that envelope between two pieces of die-cut paper though. I'm going to try that ASAP!
Excellent � thanks for posting this link! I think I would still sandwich that envelope between two pieces of die-cut paper though. I'm going to try that ASAP!
I thought the same thing when I saw this video. Very easy way to create a pocket though...
I have such a ton of acetate wrapping (garbage) that I have saved in the last year. It's just easier for me to use double sided tape or glue and create my own envelope of this stuff in the sizes that I need. After taping/gluing, I let it dry for 3 days, then drop some cornstartch or baby powder down in the packet and roll it around all the edges. Stops stuff from sticking to the adhesive.
Jennifer McGuire did a video of an envelope shaker card that was framed by 2 die cut pieces of CS.
Questions About Mailing Shaker Cards.
