valentines

How To Make Fabric Envelopes

finished fabric envelopes sitting on a lace tablecloth with several valentine cards tucked inside

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you’ll know that I love writing letters and using pretty stationery. One way to elevate your stationery is with custom envelopes, whether that’s lining existing envelopes with patterned paper, or making your own! My recent favourite is fabric envelopes. I am definitely not the first person to think up this idea, but I thought I’d share a mini-tutorial with you today because it’s so simple to do, it looks amazing and also because Valentines is coming up soon. This would be a lovely way to dress up a simple DIY or store bought card for your loved one! So without further ado, here is how to make fabric envelopes.

fabric pieces to choose from

First, choose some fabric; I picked several cotton scraps, and some lace cut off of a curtain. Make sure to iron your fabric, to eliminate any wrinkles.

fabric starch and brushes

I first tried using a cornstarch laundry starch, but it wasn’t stiff enough, so I switched to using this fabric stiffener I bought years ago. It’s basically glue, at least that’s what it smells like. You could easily DIY your own stiff corn starch for this project; I just used what I had on hand.

placing the fabric onto tin foil and pouring starch onto the fabric

Lay down a piece of tin foil, or plastic wrap. I’ve used both, but I found the tin foil a little bit easier to smooth out. Place your fabric on top of the foil and pour some starch onto the fabric. I tried to pour mine across the fabric, but it whooshed out quickly into a big puddle, oops!

using a stiff bristle paintbrush saturate the fabric with the starch

I used this old, stiff bristle paintbrush to spread the starch around, thoroughly soaking the fabric since the foam brush didn’t work as well. If that’s all you have, it will work, though. I also used my hands, flipping the fabric to make sure it was evenly coated. If you have a lot of starch, you could also submerge the fabric.

placing foil on top of the fabric to dry so it doesn't pucker and curl

Once your fabric is fully saturated, smooth all the wrinkles out, place another piece of foil on top and then place a book or box on the top to weight it for a couple of hours or so. I did this so the fabric wouldn’t pucker and the edges wouldn’t curl up as it dried. You can see in the white envelope what happens when you take it out too soon!

After the fabric is mostly dried, peel the top layer of foil off, and let the fabric dry further. When it’s almost completely dry, and the danger of bubbles and curling edges is past, you can remove the other piece of foil and hang the fabric to fully dry from both sides.

holding stiffened fabric and preparing the cardstock envelope template

Take an envelope of your desired size, and trace it onto card stock (I used a manila folder). You could use the envelope itself as a template, but I find it much easier to trace with thicker paper.

tracing and cutting out the envelope using the template

Using this template, trace with a pencil onto the back of your fabric. Cut out the envelope along the lines.

folding the envelope into shape using the template

Place the template inside the envelope and then fold along the lines. Use your thumbnail or a bone folder to crease the edges well.

assembling the envelope and taping together

Assemble the envelope with narrow piece of double sided tape or glue. Be careful not to use too much glue, or it will soak through the fabric and glue your envelope shut! For the lace envelope, I actually used a thread to stitch it in place, because the tape and glue would have shown.

finished fabric envelopes stacked on a wooden table

And then you’re done- now you can make a Valentine, or any other card, and then give it to someone special!

holding the envelope with a valentine card

To send your envelope in the mail, write the address on a label and tape it to the front of the envelope. Place the fabric envelope inside a clear cellophane sleeve, and affix your postage stamp to the outside of the plastic, and you should be good to go! Of course, you could always place the envelope inside a regular paper one, if you don’t mind if the envelope is hidden.

addressing and wrapping a fabric envelope to send in the mail

Well, there is a quick and easy way to make fabric envelopes. Now that I know how easy it is to do, I’m going to start making one every time I have a large enough scrap of fabric!

Have you ever tried to make fabric envelopes before? Do you like to send letters and cards?  

fabric envelope with a card inside and pens ready to write a message

How to Make a Folded Heart Valentine Card

how to make a folded heart valentine card, the artyologist

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

Valentines Day is one of my favourite holidays in the year! It’s just so lovely to send people cards and notes to tell them how much you love them, don’t you think?

This year, I decided to try something a little different and make some folded heart cards. Years ago my sister made me a card like this (out of neon yellow paper!). I thought it was so cute, so I thought I’d replicate them this year to give to people…but not in neon yellow! If you need a last minute card, this is a nice and simple one that only takes a few minutes. It is similar to origami, but since you cut the paper, I don’t think it truly counts as origami. Nevertheless, it is a cute design and only requires a rectangle of paper and a ribbon if you’d like to tie it shut…keep reading for how to!

How to Make a Folded Heart Valentine Card

Step 1: All you’ll need for this card is a piece of paper that is twice as wide as it is tall- example 3” x 6”, 4” x 8” etc. You can make it as small or as large as you’d like! If you’re sending it in the mail, make sure you don’t make your card too big to fit in an envelope!

folded heart valentine card step 1

Step 2. Mark the centre of the paper. You don’t have to make a line all the way down like I have in the photo- a small tick at the top will be fine, since this will be the inside of the card!

folded heart valentine card step 3

Step 3. Fold one edge of the paper into the centre and crease

Step 4. Repeat with the other edge of the paper.

folded heart valentine card step 5

Step 5. Fold the bottom edge diagonally into the centre to form the bottom of the heart.

Step 6: Repeat on the other side, to finish forming the bottom of the heart.

folded heart valentine card step 7

Step 7: Take your ruler and mark where the middle of each side is. For example, this card is 3” wide, so I am marking at 3/4” and 2 1/4” .

Step 8: Fold the top edge diagonally where you have marked, to start creating the top of the heart.

folded heart valentine card step 9

Step 9: Repeat with the other side.

Step 10: Now fold down the flaps diagonally. You won’t be able to fold the back of the card yet, but we’ll do that in the next step! We will now cut where the dashed line is in the photo.

folded heart valentine card step 11

Step 11: Now that the back of the card has had a small cut, it will be able to fold diagonally to finish forming the top of the heart.

Step 12: Repeat on the other side.

folded heart valentine card step 13

Step 13: I had a hard time photographing this step, but open the card slightly and “pop” the folded parts inside out, so they are now folded inside the card.

Step 14: Now you are finished folding! Go along all the edges and crease them again, so you’ve got a nice crisp edge.

folded heart valentine card step 15

Step 15: If you’d like. You can tie a ribbon around the card to hold it shut. You could also seal it with a sticker (or a wax seal if you’ve got one!).

There you go: a quick, easy Valentine card to show someone you care!

valentine envelopes

Another special touch, is a matching envelope. I made these envelopes out of coordinating papers- they’ll add such a cheerful pop of colour in my friends’ mailboxes!

Do you like Valentines Day? What are your plans this year? Did you send cards or plan on giving cards to your friends?

Valentine’s Day 2019

valentine-cards, the artyologist

Happy belated Valentine’s Day everyone!

If you’ve been following my blog for any length of time, it will be no surprise to you that I love Valentine’s Day. Every year, on Valentines I send cards, bake a heart shaped cake, wear pink, and spend time with my family eating the aforementioned cake. This year was no different! I was originally planning on posting yesterday, sharing the cards that I made this year, but then I decided to include a picture of the card my sister got me, because it was too cute to not share!

valentine-cards-2

These are the cards I made this year.

And this is the card my sister got me! So adorable- it’s definitely getting framed and hung on my wall! The artist is Jane Carkill of Lamb Little Illustration– she has the sweetest illustrations!

Can’t have a proper Valentine’s Day without chocolate and hearts!

And lastly- I bought myself some flowers on Wednesday, because it’s February and winter seems like it has no end, it was Valentine’s Day, and why not? They do cheer up the place and I smile every time I look at them.

Did you do anything special for Valentine’s Day?

Valentine’s Day Cards and Cake

Valentine's Day Cards and Cake, the artyologist

I can finally share the cards I made this year, now that Valentine’s Day is over! (I didn’t want to share these pictures before, as I didn’t want people to see the cards here before they received them.)

This year I decided to really simplify my cards, as I didn’t have a lot of time to dedicate to making them, so I decided to do some Valentine themed drawings, and then colour them with watercolour. I used heavy cardstock, rather than watercolour paper, so the ink would come out smooth and crisp. After letting the ink dry, I went over with the watercolour, then trimmed them and that was that. I made sure to take some scans of them as I might turn them into some card designs in the future. I think that some of them would work OK for “just because” cards, not just for Valentine’s Day, what do you think?

valentines cards-and-cake, the artyologist

And of course, I had to share this delicious coconut and chocolate tart that I made in honour of the day. I decided to do some food photography, because it turned out so pretty! Of course that cocoa powder made a huge mess all over the place, but it was worth it for some photos 😉

Anyways, I have nothing else to really say, so I wish you all a great weekend! Here in Alberta it is a long weekend, so I am looking forward to that extra day off. See you all next week!

Valentine's Day Cards and Cake, all cards, the artyologist

valentines cards, the artyologist

valentines day cake, the artyologist

scattered valentines cards, the artyologist

valentines cards, the artyologist

valentine's day cards, the artyologist

valentine's day cake, the artyologist

A Peachy Keen Valentine’s Day Outfit

A Peachy Keen Valentine's Day Outift, the artyologist

Yes, I had to give this post a title like that, because there is just so much peach in this Valentine’s Day outfit that I really couldn’t do otherwise, could I?

I used to think that I didn’t like pink, because I don’t own very much of it, (I keep saying that every year when Valentine’s Day rolls around. . ) I have realized over time, though, that it’s not that I don’t like pink, but that I am not drawn to cool toned pinks; I love warm peachy pinks, corals, and tawny dead shades of pink.

My mom and sister found this adorable fabric, of which there was just enough to make a gathered skirt, in the thrift store last summer. I’m not one for novelty prints, so this is about as novelty as I get, but how could I resist when it has little dancing people and bunches of flowers on it- and also what better thing could there be to wear on Valentine’s Day? In keeping with the Valentine’s theme, I also decided to wear this pendant with handwriting on it- something about it feels romantic, and my cameo earrings, which have always been a romantic kind of jewellery as well. My Brave Leather belt finished off the look- and also kept the peasant style top and gathered skit from looking frumpy. I tried the look with a narrow belt, but this one looked better: never underestimate the power of a wide belt! 🙂

A Peachy Keen Valentine's Day Outfit, details, the artyologist

I’m getting a bit tired of the cold and snow, to be honest, and I have been forced to spend most of my days indoors lately. Yesterday it finally warmed up enough to run errands without my face freezing off, which was so nice. The cold weather is getting to be a bit of a drag, but on the other hand, if I’m inside I can wear whatever I feel like, without having to worry about layers and toques and scarves. . .  So, when planning what to wear for Valentine’s day- I decided to ignore the fact that it is still Winter, and as a result this outfit is quite Springlike. I am not going to go out in these sandals though! (I repeat: these sandals will not be worn in the snow!)

Today the forecast is not bad, but even if it is cold, I don’t have to go out in it and will just sit at my work desk dressed up in this un-seasonably appropriate outfit, enjoying the Valentine’s spirit (aka- eating a chocolate tart) and staying toasty warm beside my plug in heater should the temperatures dip again 🙂

I hope you have a lovely Valentine’s Day no matter how you spend it!

Do you like to wear a themed Valentine’s Day outfit? Do you like the colour pink? And if so are you drawn to cool or warm pinks?

Valentine's necklace detail, the artyologist

Peachy Keen Valentine's Day Outfit, the artyologist, fifties style skirt

Valentine's Day, Brave Leather belt, the artyologist

A Peachy Keen Valentine's Day outfit, the artyologist

A Peachy Keen Valentine's vintage autograph book cover, the artyologist

A Peachy Keen Valentine's vintage autograph book, the artyologist