I have been stuck in the house with nothing to do while my body recuperates from being in the hospital. Friends had suggested I take up a hobby or a craft to pass the time and to feel a sense of accomplishment. I was not really in the mood to do anything “cheery,” so when I first thought of scrapbooking or card making, I didn’t think it “fit”. Why would I want to document my life right now if I just left the hospital and still felt sick?

Well boy was I wrong! First of all it is a great project to work on when I have energy and I can keep adding to it as days go by. There is no deadline. I can work when I feel like it, and stop when I don’t. I can work on one page or jump around. It might sound silly, but I also found that for some reason memories or occasions look so much better when decorated on brightly colored paper. It kind of forces you to look at the good in your life and celebrate it on paper. Even my “get well” cards looked better collaged in a scrapbook.
I found the website paperwishes.com and learned about a new craft idea that goes with the whole scrapbooking craze, that has my friends addicted. It is card making. After receiving so much love and support from friends and family members during this hard time in my life, I wanted to send those people a special thank you note to let them know how grateful I was. A handmade card is so much more personal then the average store bought card. You can cater it to whoever is receiving the card and you can save money because cards and stationary have become so expensive these days. On this website I found many things from books, to articles, to basic supplies to use with this craft. Many of the supplies they have are coordinated to make it even easier to jump right in and get started.
The “card maker’s idea book” features 101 card ideas from simple to more complex from top designers. It is an easy to follow book and gives great ideas to work from, especially for the card making novice. The pictures are
easy to follow or to use for inspiration. I was actually surprised at how easy some basic techniques really were and how great they looked! This book retails for 9.99 and is definitely worth it.
“Citrus Creative Pack” and “Citrus Ribbons” package got me in the mood for Spring. The citrus creative pack includes fabulous papers in pinks, greens and yellows which are perfect for a spring project, any “girlie” pages or baby books. This pack also includes 40 faux-texture tags, 6 heavyweight papers, 4 glassine envelopes, and 6 specialty papers. This pack sells for $9.99. The coordinating citrus ribbons are in matching color schemes including grape, blueberry, lemon, lime and more in grosgrain, sheer and lightweight woven styles. There’s even a pink and white polka-dot grosgrain! The colors were so bright and cheery they immediately put me in a good mood. I liked that everything matched so my first few projects were made easier. This sells for $4.99

There are so many projects, supplies, tools and information on this site I can go on forever. I was excited to see some new and more trendy items like the All-Occasion Clear & Frosted Overlays. They were easy to cut out and for someone like me with bad handwriting, it made using quotes or sayings less intimidating.
If you haven’t tried card making, I would highly recommend it as an easy hobby that will grow with you. You can always buy new things online, but I also think you will never look at scrap ribbons, or papers the same again!
Now I know I am hooked, so expect more articles from me about card making and scrapbooking in the future.
You can buy these and more great products at:
http://www.paperwishes.com/
Article written by: Christine Miserandino, Butyoudontlooksick.com, © 2006