1. Choose a large piece of card, something that has a nice weight and possibly a texture. The one I used had a linen style texture. You could also use smaller pieces of card if that is what you have to hand. Using a rotary cutter and a quilting ruler, cut the card to your desired size. The finished size of my cards is 4" x 5". To achieve this I first cut long strips of 4" card.
2. Then, taking the long strips of 4" wide card, cut these into 5" long pieces.
3. Then, taking the paper you have chosen (I used a scrap booking paper with a cute deer pattern), cut this into widths that are shorter than your 5" long card - I cut 3" strips. It helps if the paper you choose has a nice repeat to it - something with a defined place to cut. Then, do the same as you did with the card and cut the patterned paper into widths the same as your card (4" strip shown here).
4. You will now have your pieces of 5" x 4" card and your pieces of 4" x 3" patterned paper. Using a roll on craft glue (found in scrapbooking supply stores), carefully apply glue to all four corners of the rear side of the patterned paper. Carefully align the edges of the paper with the edges of the card, then stick down. Don't worry if you have over hang on the patterned paper. You can trim this off later.
5. Once you have finished sticking the pattered pieces to the card, go through and carefully trim off any overhanging paper. Have a look at the rear side of each card to check this. Use your rotary cutter, ruler and cutting mat to achieve a clean edge. (Sorry about no pictures for these steps - camera battery died)
6. Take your alphabet stamp set and stamp your message onto the top part of the front of the card. I approached this by stamping one letter at a time until I finished my two words. I lined all of the cards up on the table and applied the stamp to one card at a time. They won't all look exactly the same - but that is what makes them personalized. Ensure that you leave enough space between the pattered paper and the stamped words to apply a piece of 1/2" ribbon width-ways.
7. You should now have a set of cards, stamped with your thank you message. Measure the width of the card and cut a piece of ribbon 1/4" longer than the width on both sides. Take some double sided tape that is slightly thinner than the ribbon and apply your strips of ribbon to the sticky side of the double sided tape. Ensure that the ribbon covers the tape entirely (i.e. there is no over hang on the width of the ribbon). Leave a small space between each piece of ribbon on the double sided tape. Cut the pieces of ribbon again in the spaces that you left on the double sided tape. You should end up with the same number of ribbon pieces stuck to double sided tape as you have cards.
8. Peel the paper off your double-sided tape and stick your ribbon along the top of the piece of patterned paper. Just slightly covering the top edge of the paper. There should be some overhang of ribbon on each side.
9. Taking your rotary cutter again, carefully trip the overhang from each side of the card. Do this from the reverse side of the card. As you are doing this step, do a final quality assurance check on the edges of the card and ensure you are happy. Trim any mismatched edges.
10. There you have it - your own set of personalized Thank You Notecards. You are now totally prepared for when you receive that unexpected dinner party invite or extra thoughtful gift. Simple write a note of the back and pop it in a nice crisp envelope (available at stationary supply stores).
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