During this week's Tuesday Night Stampin' Club, I made birthday cards and gave some tips on how to get birthday cards out ON TIME to friends and family. It's always my goal at the beginning of each year to stay on top of birthdays and get those cards out so they arrive on time.

I sent A LOT of cards this year since I was a Stampin' Up! Great Lakes Demo Council member and we had some trial initiatives. I also sent more cards during the past 9 months because who didn't need a little surprise of joy, love, and appreciation during this crazy year of 2020!?! I learned much about the positives and negatives of my card-sending logistics. Hopefully, you will be inspired to create hand-crafted cards and send them "snail-mail" this year after reading about how I got it done!

This one below was made off camera after the live video. Sometimes I just keep stamping due to the creative juices starting to flow! And not to mention that I had to use up that embossing powder I spilled;) I embossed the candles (from the upcoming Approaching Perfection SAB set) with white and then colored them with Stampin' Blends. I used the negative image after I cut out letters using the Playful Alphabet Dies and added leftover strips of colored cardstock behind. All of the colored cardstock were scraps laying on my table from earlier in the night after cutting out layers for my initial card that inspired me.

My favorite card of the night was CASED from Melody Hyde from Hammond & Penny. I absolutely loved the card she shared on our Demonstrator Facebook group and knew I had to re-create it! I used my favorite embellishment...Artistry Blooms Sequins. Watch my Facebook Live for tips on how I paper-pieced the focal point greeting. Sometimes you just need to pull out that "Scotch Tape."

The next two photos show how I used the Approaching Perfection stamp set to decorate my envelopes and the inside of my cards.

Approaching Perfection and A Touch of Ink are two stamp sets that are part of the Sale-a-Bration 2021 offering starting January 5, 2021. Approaching Perfection is a great greetings set for the inside of your cards! You can earn it for FREE with a qualifying purchase of $50. You can watch my Facebook Live video to see the stamps included in the Approaching Perfection set and check back here on January 5 to see the beautiful A Touch of Ink. Contact me if you'd like your copy of the Sale-a-Bration brochure.

GET IT DONE!

Here are some tips and photos of how I've been organizing my card-sending endeavors.

1. Collect addresses and birthdays. Create an Address List in a spreadsheet (I use Excel, but I think I'll make a Google Sheet so I can access it from anywhere). If you don't use spreadsheets, you can just print of your sheet of address labels and use that as your guide.

2. Make 12 tabs on your spreadsheet for each month to make a perpetual birthday calendar. You can even copy and paste addresses to that sheet too. That worked very well for me during my time on the Demonstrator Council.

3. Stamp a stack of cards! You can see some quick card ideas in these posts HERE and HERE. It's easier to get the cards out on time if you have some already made instead of waiting until you make "that perfect card".

4. Address envelopes and add birthday date to the upper right-hand corner where the stamp goes. I address envelopes once a month and then stick them in my cute mini dish drainer. Add the stamp when you stuff the envelope with the signed card.

5. Monday is a great day to mail your cards. I typically write them out on Sundays so they're ready to go Monday morning, but if I don't get to it, my Monday Mailing alarm I set on my phone reminds me!