Valentine's Day Postcards

I went shopping last week for Valentine cards for my friends and grandkids. I didn't find anything that really rocked my world--and wow!-they were expensive! It used to be (back in the dark ages when I was younger) that you would buy someone a gift and get them a nice card to attach to the present, but now the card costs so much that it could BE the gift! I'm not sure when all of this happened, but I decided that this year I was going to forgo the purchase of Valentine cards and opt to make them myself. 

I have a closet and many drawers full of scrapbooking and card making supplies, but I am never happy with what I make. The original ideas do not just flow from me when I'm using paper. Soooooooooooo..........I decided to make fabric post cards for Valentine's Day. 

If you have never made fabric postcards, they are so easy and really fun. There are NO RULES, so you can do whatever you want to!! I had some pink and red fabrics and also three pieces of non-traditional fabric. I started by cutting out 4X6" pieces of iron-on interfacing. To each piece I sewed fabric and embellishments in a sew-and-flip crazy quilt fashion. 

 

They were so much fun that I just kept making them! It was like eating potato chips-I couldn't make just one! 

With this fabric I did do a little fussy cutting to I could get the words or hearts on the postcard. I loved the ribbons and embellished with a little applique heart too.

I had the red fabric with pink envelopes and added other pink and red fabrics for these postcards. The XO ribbon was from my very abundant ribbon stash and was perfect for Valentines.

I use a little bit of tulle and sewed some red heart confetti under it for this postcard. Rickrack and an applique heart completed another card.

I had a tiny scrap of Valentine Snoopy fabric left over from Madison's quilt and had to use it on a postcard for her. The ribbon on her card reads "hugs and kisses". It's fun to add a very personal touch to a postcard.

After I finished the fronts of my postcards, I trimmed the extra fabric away so that they measured 4X6". Then I cut cardboard the same size, layered the two and zigzagged around the outside edge. On the cardboard, I drew a line down the center and 4 lines on the right side for the address. Make sure you leave room for a stamp at the top. I bought heart stamps at the post office and mailed my 12 fabric postcards yesterday. I know my grandkids and friends are going to enjoy their Valentine surprises. 

Happy Quilting, 

Grammy