A Handmade Thinking of You Card

I love this Thinking of You card - mainly because I made it three years ago for my fiancee when we first started dating. We were in a long distance relationship for the first six months of our relationship and boy was that tough!

I love this Thinking of You card - mainly because I made it three years ago for my fiancee when we first started dating. We were in a long distance relationship for the first six months of our relationship and boy was that tough!

If you've ever been apart from your partner for a long period of time, then you probably understand how hard it is to keep things special, especially if you can't see him or her as much as you'd like.

I found this Thinking of You card when I was organizing some files and it brought back a lot of sweet memories of the different ways that we "stayed connected" when we were living so far apart.

I remember, aside from calling each other, we would mail postcards, gifts, handmade cards (okay, I mailed him the handmade cards), and we would email, fax, and even use a webcam on our laptops to stay connected!

Technology is sweet when you're in a long distance relationship, but it's always cool to rock it old school with some good ol' snail mail and what could be better to send than a handmade Thinking of You card?

As you can probably see from the card, I was living in Long Beach, California and he was living in Las Vegas, Nevada. I had found some patterned paper with traffic signs in my crafting supplies and thought it would be sweet to make a Thinking of You card.

I was already planning to visit, so this was more like a "See you soon" card - regardless it does show that I was thinking of him!

If you don't have patterned paper with traffic signs on it, consider:

• Cutting up an old map or atlas that you aren't using (or just a little part of it) for the background.
• Print out a a colored map of the country and place little hearts on the cities where you and your partner reside.
• Use any type of transportation paper: train schedules, bus schedules, subway maps, etc...

Okay, it's probably obvious how I made this card, but I'll provide materials and instructions anyhow - with some ideas of how to make this card even better!

Material Needed:

• Cardstock - I chose a bright yellow because it complemented the pattern of traffic signs on the background paper
• Map / Patterned Paper (in my case, traffic signs) - this would be for the background of your own handrawn "map"
• Blank white (or another color) cardstock that fits inside your patterned paper, this is for drawing your own map
• Colored Sharpie Pen or marker to make your own "map"
• Glue
• Scissors
• Bone Folder (okay, I didn't have a bone folder back when I made this card, so this item is optional -- I think I used a wooden ruler back then as a card folder)

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Cut and fold your paper to the desired size.
2. Cut your patterned paper or map to fit on the front of the card, leaving about a one inch border around.

   Note: To make this card thicker, consider "framing" your patterned paper with another colored piece of cardstock.

3. Now draw your own little map with connecting dots from your city to your honey's city.
4. Glue your "map" onto the patterned piece of paper and glue that onto the front of your card.

   Easy, huh?

Ways to Make This Card Better!

• Consider getting little craft jewels (like stars, hearts or diamonds) to use on the front of your card to represent the cities.
• Consider typing out the cities on your computer in a fun or romantic font (with some space in between for the connecting dots) and printing it out on sketch paper. Use water color paints over the paper to give it a more surreal vibe.
• Instead of cutting straight lines around the patterned paper and your map, consider using a ruler to carefully tear along the edges -this will give the card a more distinctive look.
• If you choose to tear around the edges, consider using a brown ink pad to "age" the edges of the paper, making it look antique.
• Instead using stars or hearts to represent you on the "map" consider little pictures of you guys instead.
• Instead of drawing random connected dots, consider spelling out something like "Miss You" or "Hello" - or even patterning a heart using the dots.

A Thinking of You card doesn't have to be crazy intricate - my partner loved this card and has kept it over all these years and all I used was paper, glue, and a little creativity to make a personal.

Creative Card Sketches

Thank you for visiting my website, I hope you are able to find some great card making ideas. I also wanted to share with you an awesome resource that I've put together just for card makers: 101 Creative Card Sketches.

If you've been searching for a quick and easy way to find card layouts, then this is the perfect solution for you! This book includes 101 card sketches, over 25 card samples + instructions, tips and techniques for using card sketches, handy sketch summary sheets, and lots more, you'll never run out of card layout ideas again!

Thank you again for visiting my website and I hope you continue to find card making a joyful and inspiring hobby for many years to come!

This is a downloadable ebook that you can order from anywhere and have instant access to.

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