12SquaredCreations Patreon December #1 - Handmade Stationery

This series is my gift to all of you. Inspiration and some instruction for gifts you can make and include in a standard envelope to a friend, penpal or family member. Something that doesn't have to wait for the holidays and doesn't have to be about holiday gifting at all. I love sending surprises in the mail that didn't cost me an arm and a leg or tons of time and effort and that still say, "You are special and you matter to me."

from printed little cards to tuck in with handmade envelopes or

envelopes you've bought online

to stationery you design and print, or honestly, just print and send

or BUY and share... it doesn't HAVE to be handmade to be a handmade gift!

matchbooks with cute stuff glued to the fronts count, here.... 

and you're seeing here a whole pile of things that you can use or make

like the diamond painted sticker stuck to a card 2.5" wide and 5" tall then folded in half and 

tucked into a little envelope - cards from kits and things you buy... it's SO easy

to make something fun and beautiful and easy to share.

For the Patreon group: I've sent you all some samples of these super fun handmade gifts that can be paid forward to your own pals or can be used by you to send happy mail to others. We've also exchanged handmade postcards. This post will just share some tips, tricks and maybe a few ideas you didn't think of right away. :D In October I shared an envelope making guide, so you can refer to that or use a punch board OR you can just decorate envelopes that are pre-bought! Take it easy on yourselves... this is a busy time of year and THIS is a completed GIFT, not just a swap or thing to share... using up your stash of envelopes is a perfect excuse to not handmake them and just pretty them up!

Handmade/Decorated Stationery

Note, I paint. I have paints. I also have extensive stencils, stamps and other art supplies that some people do not have or do not have access to. Some of my examples will include this. I've tried to make sure that I also include samples that could be done with just stickers, stamps, washi tape, printed papers, wrapping paper, upcycled items and things like colored pencils or markers. 

Also of note, KEEP WEIGHT IN MIND... anyone who mails knows that the USPS is quite particular about weight... if you do not have a scale you may want to visit your post office and let them weigh your mail to prevent them being returned for lack of postage.

Quick reference guide to prevent unforeseen difficulties:

• .25" is the maximum thickness for a first class letter, anything else mails as parcel rate
• if your letter is not flexible it is "non machinable" and starts at $0.99 postage for the first ounce
• if your letter is square it is "non machinable" and starts at $0.99 postage for the first ounce
• if your letter exceeds 3 oz. it is no longer a first class letter and requires additional postage calculated zipcode to zipcode - internationally I believe this will make it very extravagant* to mail (*last I checked it's $30 minimum to mail out of the US, always based on distance, weight etc... and a flat envelope mailer sent flat rate was $45, just saying... pay attention)

Important information: for the purposes of this project I'm NOT getting in to the basket of snakes that is the right sorts of paper for use with dip pens, fountain pens etc... if your friend or family member has that specific of tastes I recommend that you buy them the paper you know they like and focus on postcards, notecards or little mini-notes instead. Or be my brand of jerk and send them what you made anyway! LOL I mean, in the end it's actually true that it is the thought that counts. I don't have more than 2 penpals out of like 25 that I regularly correspond with that would be so pedantic that they'd return or throw away something made for them - and one of them sent me back anything with my branding on it so she's never gotten another thing by me again. LMAO

Standard sized papers =

• 1/2 8.5 x 11" paper 8.5 x 5.5 called Statement - mails in an A2 envelope measuring 4 3/8 x 5 3/4"
• standard 8.5 x 11" letter paper - mails folded in thirds in a No. 10 envelope meas. 4.125 x 9.5"
• companies will tell you that loose leaf lined paper is 8.5 x 11" and you can check for yourself that it's often not quite that measurement. It will still mail well in a No. 10 envelope meas. 4.125 x 9.5" and because it's also often lighter than letter paper, you can quarter it and mail in an A2 measuring 4 3/8 x 5 3/4"

Postcard sizes = USPS max and minimum not smaller than 3.5" and not larger than 6" or cost letter rate 

• 1/4 8.5 x 11" paper, 4.25" x 5.5" (my favorite! you get 4 from one piece of cardstock!)
• 4 x 6" (this is the standard and you can get 6 from a single 12 x 12" cardstock)

Standard sized note cards (and their envelopes) =

• 1/4 8.5x11 paper, (my favorite, you can cut the cardstock in half and get 2 cards!) 4.25 x 5.5" A2 goes with A2 envelope measuring 4 3/8 x 5 3/4"
• 4x6 (will have to cut from 12 x 12 cardstock or buy A6 cards 4.625 x 6.25" premade) and can mail in A6 envelopes measuring 4.75 x 6.5"

ALL of my samples will be based on loose leaf notebook paper, standard letter paper (recycled and acid free because I'm weird and pay more for it even for just copy paper) 12 x 12" printed cardstock like for scrapbooking and 8.5 x 11" letter sized cardstock or recycled items from packaging that was cut down to these sizes and will use A2 or No. 10 envelopes. It's what I have the most of and I like to work with what I have.

Handmade Stationery for reals!

NOTE: The USPS has trouble sorting anything that has loose pieces, so washi tape, collage elements and stickers should be glued down even if you think it's over and above. Trust me. Glue it down. 

Samples of notecards

I always try to gift cards with envelopes. I told you the official size above, and honestly... if you have random envelopes (I always have them and I'm not even sure where the heck they come from) and the card would fit in there and not be ridiculously outsized, use it. :D  I also only sent "sets" of 3, 4, 6 cards to family wrapped and packaged - I mail only one to my friends, usually tucked into a larger one that I either also made and decorated or just that was larger.

Samples of full sheet stationery

I do a lot of this when I'm mailing to other artsy friends who can use parts of it in their own journals, or when I have a long letter to write. Note, I used a rotary docker/marker tool that is not actually a paper cutting tool (it was used in the olden days with carbon paper to mark fabric with a dotted line for alterations) for the samples that look perforated. I literally put a piece of cloth under the paper, laid a ruler and marked the paper. It will tear off like perforation because a line of little holes is perforation. You can duplicate this by using a needle or by just folding the paper back and forth along the line a few times to make the paper weak along that edge.

If you do any of these or receive some, please tag me at 12SquaredCreations on Instagram so I can see what you made! I love this stuff so much I want to see and I'm always inspired by what you do!

NOTE: #12SquaredCreationsPatreon during the month of December will 

enter you in a giveaway once a week for the whole month! :D