TIP: Personal Cards

Trying to make a creative gift, I decided to make personalized notecards wrapped with a ribbon.  I went to buy different colored papers as accent paper and then different colored notecards.  I love reading, so I thought about the books I was reading to see if there were any suitable quotes for my cards.  In addition to the notecards and the paper, I bought two different stamps to cut the paper evenly (the small stamp is 1" and the larger stamp is about 3.5"):





I used the 1" stamp to cut out different patterns of paper to decorate the notecards:





I printed up the quotes and cut them with the larger stamp on thicker white paper:






On the inside, I usually just had a simple saying to go with the quote to address the particular occasion.  For example, I made the following: 


Any Purpose Cards: 


Front: "Life is the most spectacular show on Earth."  (From Water for Elephants)
Inside: "Enjoy the Show" 


Friendship: 


Front:  "I roll onto my side and stare out of the venetian blind at the blue sky beyond.  After a few minutes, I'm lulled into a sort of peace.  The sky, the sky-same as it always was."  (From Water for Elephants)
Inside:  Some Things, Like Friends, Never Change


Welcome Home: 


Front: "Wasn't that the definition of home?  Not where you are from, but where you are wanted?"  (From Cutting for Stone)
Inside:  Welcome Home 


Sisters: 


Front: "Sisters are for life.  She is the only person in the world who shares my memories of our childhood, our parents, our struggles, our sorrows, and, yes, even our moments of happiness and triumph.  My sister is the one who person who truly knows me, as I know her." (From Shanghai Girls) 
Inside:  Love You, Sister


Thank You:


Front:  "I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of tough, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder."  (From G.K. Chesterton) 
Inside:  Much Gratitude & Many Thanks


Blank Cards:  


Front: "To live every day as if it had been stolen from death, that is how I would like to live.  To feel the joy of life.  To separate oneself from the burden, the angst, the anguish that we all encounter every day.  To say I am alive, I am wonderful, I am.  That is something to aspire to."  (From Art of Racing in the Rain) 
Inside: Blank


If you don't have any books or other quotes you would want to use, there is always http://www.quotegarden.com/ as well, which has great variety.

TIP: Keep Calm and Carry On

I have always liked these posters, and thought it would be a nice little mantra for the office in our house.  I saw the framed version at Z Gallerie the other week while shopping, and it reminded me that I love the saying and the style, but it was a more than I wanted to spend. 

I went on to Etsy and found the poster (there are a lot of different vendors and artists who sell them in many different colors and sizes).  I only had to spend $19 for the poster for the color and size I wanted.  To save more money, I bought the Ribba frame from Ikea:


Ready to be moved into the office!





I was curious about where the "Keep Calm and Carry On" phrase comes from, and apparently England produced different posters during World War II that they strategically released in subway stations and other public areas to help keep the public calm about what was going on politically and with the war.  This is the last poster that was created -- simple, easy to read and with the King's crown.  This was going to be released if Germany invaded England.  When the war ended, this poster was never released and forgotten about until fairly recently the past few years when it was found in the archives.

TIP: Live Well Now

I heard about this article on the radio when I was pulling into work, and I had to find it because I thought it was so well put.  Basically there was a nurse, Bronnie Ware, who nursed dying people for years in palliative care.  She made a few observations of people who were nearing the end of their life.  First of all, every person found their peace.  Second of all, when asked about regrets or things they would do differently, there were five things that she kept hearing (starting with the most common):

1.  I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.  People wish that they had honored the dreams that they had. 

2.  I wish I didn't work so hard.  This came from every single male patient that she nursed.  They felt that they missed out on their children and spouse and a dissatisfaction with the "treadmill of a work existence." 

3.  I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.  Tell people what you are thinking -- too many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others, but then they did not have peace.

4.  I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.  People often regretted becoming too caught up in their own lives and let their friendships slip by over the years.  "It comes down to love and relationships in the end."

5.  I wish that I had let myself be happier.  Most people didn't realize that happiness is a choice, they were afraid of change and too worried about what others think.

Click here to check out the article