The Myth of the Hand Made Card

Do you remember the first time you were introduced to card making? I bet you do! And do you remember when the thought first came into your head "This could save me a lot of money!"

Bwa ha ha ha ha!

Of course, the demonstrator at that home party would be the last person to tell you any differently! After all, she, too, was once the person with that same thought. That was before she'd invested hundreds and thousands of dollars in this money saving enterprise!

I am attending a bible study called "Freed Up Financial Living" this month. This week, we'd learned a very important philosophy. Saving is not money you've lost or given up the use of- it's future spending. In other words, saving is money you keep!

Let's take, for example, this lovely store bought card. It has a cute image and a sweet sentiment... two stamps. Many different colors...ink pads. Differently colored images...markers, pencils, brushes, or other coloring mediums. Different patterns...patterned papers. It is, in fact, dry embossed...an embossing machine and embossing dies or plates. It has a glittered image...glitter glue or embossing powder.

Just like that, this card that cost me less than fifty cents to purchase has now cost me well over one hundred dollars to recreate. To recoup my loss, I'd have to make hundreds of variations of this same card over time.



"But it's therapy!" I hear this time and time again. It makes me wonder how many of the mentally ill are truly using paper crafting as a therapy medium in their asylums. :)



I recently went to Hobby Lobby and spent an hour in the Dayspring card aisle. I found so many beautiful cards! And can we just be honest here...the sentiments in rubber stamp form rarely match the quality produced by good writers at the card companies.

I purchased some lovely cards, I did not have to break the bank to do it, and I managed to fill up a lot of slots in my card organizer.

Why is this so important to me?

When I was a card maker, I would make a card for a challenge, just to have something to put in my gallery or post on my blog. Two or three challenges a week, and that adds up to over one hundred cards a week. The cards were rarely for an occasion that I truly needed, and so they would sit in a big pile in my craft room, just adding to the piles of paper clutter.

I can't begin to tell you how freeing it was to know that I could buy a card, stick a stamp on the envelope (no cards too bulky for postage from the card aisle!), and mail it. Actually, I've already mailed out three, and it feels good!

I am not ready to give away all of my paper crafting supplies just yet. I may use them for some totally different crafty purpose in the future. But for now, I feel freed from the need to constantly spend and craft in this one narrow medium.

Have you spent any time in the card aisle lately? You will be inspired!

Blessings on your crafty Saturday, friends!