Lately I've been getting into making my own greeting cards. Guess I'm branching out from crosstitching! I found a whole bunch of card-making supplies on clearance at several craft stores and went nuts. I used to print my own cards on the computer (with the help of a PrintMaster program) but now I'm kind of combining what I can do on the computer with all kinds of 3-D embellishments, pretty paper,rubber-stamping, etc. Wondering if anyone else is into card making and has any hints or websites that they visit in regards to this, or magazines I should check out......anything that might give me ideas.
Also, for all you scrapbookers -- I went to the Scrapbook Expo here in Orlando on Fri. OMG -- I went with 2 friends who are really into the scrapbooking thing and can't believe how much they bought, but then I thought to myself if it was a crosstitching show I'd probably have done the same thing. I bought a few things -- embellishments, stickers and stuff that I can add to greeting cards. If you're into scrapbooking and the expo is coming your way, you should go! They have all kinds of make-it-and-take-it demos at the booths, plus they have many classes (where you also leave with a completed project, a scrapbook page or whatever) that you can sign up for ahead of time. You can check locations and dates for the expo at www.scrapbookexpo.com. But be prepared to spend -- the amount of stuff available and the neat ideas you'll see is unbelievable.
I was really surprised that I didn't see any advertising for the expo in the local paper or around town....if my friends hadn't told me about it, I wouldn't have know it was here in town. And it's a HUGE show. Wonder why they don't advertise it better.
I was thinking, that with all the crafting so many of us here like to do.....it would be neat if we could set up some kind of exchange,so when we go thru our craft stuff and clean out, and get rid of stuff we no longer want or think we're going to use, we could send it to somebody else who could use it. At this point when I go thru my craft stuff and clean out (to make room for more!!) I usually ask friends if they want it and if I can't find any takers I take it to Good Will. Maybe from now on I'll post on here and see if anyone wants what I'm ready to get rid of. Right now I have tons of crosstitch fabric, embroidery floss, hand towels with crosstitch fabric inserts, that I'd be glad to send on to someone. I'm still into crosstitching but I have way more than I'll ever use in this lifetime.
A friend of mine gave up crosstitching because her eyesight was failing and she could no longer read the charts. She sent me a HUGE box of stuff as a total surprise.......it was like Xmas when it arrived. So.....if anyone wants to exchange some craft goodies (and we all buy stuff we end up never using) let me know and maybe we can work out a deal!!

Wow crossS...I can feel the electricity in the air as you describe the show you attended. I would have LOVED to have been there. One of the things that EChick has found for me on EBay is for that type of thing. My Aunt Butterball does that with the album that EChick found for me, but Butterball likes to do her own thing inside the scrapbook, not use what they send you. She just wanted this particular album.

One thing that Butterball does is save all the cards she gets in the mail and uses them for headers, titles, and such. Like one that says, "Happy Birthday!" She might cut out that line and paste it over someone's BIRTH picture in the scrapbook. She has bins just full of cards because she's 80 something and has saved them over the years.

Another thing is that I recently bought a large box full of cards that have been embellished with cute little things on each card. Like one card has sandals with glitter on them and one of those cute little umbrellas on it like you would see at the beach. It says something like enjoy your vacation or something like that. The sandles and the umbrella stick out and are what I call, "touchable."

The thing you have to remember is to take the card to the post office and tell them to HAND CANCEL the card so that it isn't run through their machines. If it is, it tears up the cute things you've glued onto the cards. Just FYI...but you probably already knew that.

It all sounds like fun to me! I have a question for you. When you make your cards with PrintMaster (I love that software) where do you get your envelopes? Are they pricey to buy? And what size do you make your cards?

Hey JJ --
I bought some cards like that recently too. What you call "touchable" I call "3-D" (three-dimensional) -- same thing.

I got my last batch of envelopes at Staples. The envelopes are 5 3/4 X 8 3/4, 5 different colors in the box and 20 envelopes of each color and they're the peel & stick kind. They also had boxes of one color or all white. When I make cards on the computer I use 8 1/2 X 11 card stock that I buy in a big package that contains lots of different colors (not sure where I got that......Walmart maybe, or one of the office supply stores like Staples or Office Depot. Anyway when you fold that in half to make a card it becomes 8 1/2 by 5 1/2 which fits nicely into these envelopes. Can't remember what I paid for the envelopes (or the card stock) but it must have been pretty reasonable or I wouldn't have bought it.....I tend to be a tightwad sometimes!!

Ijust recently started saving greeting cards that were sent to me so I can cut things out of them to re-use on my own cards. And I started digging thru some old craft books and found some other stuff I can play with too. Don't get in my way when I have my scissors in my hands!!

Ok I've gotta ask. Is your aunt's name really Butterball?

Why yes . . . is that unusual? LOL! I'm just yanking your chain. Her name is Dorothy, but her hubby named her Butterball a bazillion years ago and it's just been all we've ever called her. And yes, she is round! LOL! She loves it and wouldn't have it any other way.

The box of cards I got is by Burgoyne (www.burgoyne.com) and they are out of Norcross, Georgia.

3-D...ah, I knew that. I did. I did!