Hey Divas! Design Team member EK here to share some little lunch box notes (featuring the stamp set) that I make weekly for my kids lunch boxes. This is a tradition that was started a few years ago with my kids after they chastised me for only using 'post it' love notes. They pointed out after all, I made cards for birthdays and thank yous They couldn't understand why I only gave them a post it note. But full sized A2 cards seemed a little excessive, so I came up with a formula for smaller, more manageable notes for each of the three kids.
To make my lunch box notes, I trim up some quality card stock into six 4.25x5.5" rectangle (which works out great since I always have this size pre-trimmed for traditional card making).
I then fold the card in half at the 2.75" marker on the long side of the card stock, and then trim off 3/4 of an inch from the card. The card becomes a 2.75x3.5" folded card.
To make each card feel a little more special I usually die cut out some kind of background with a die that would cover most of the card. Today I used the small die from CDD's on two different colors of printed paper, and adhered them to the folded note cards with .
I set the note cards aside so that I could color up the critters for today's stack of note cards. I always try to make these cards in bulk, so I have a pile of them ready for each week. The easiest way for me to do this is to stamp out all the images out onto one piece of card stock and color them up in one sitting, usually in front of the television in the evening with my husband. I pulled out all the little cute animals from the stamp set and stamped them all onto some card stock.
Then I started the coloring process, taking the time to color each critter and them moving onto the next one.
Once I had all the images colored, I fussy cut out each image so that they could easily be added to the note card.
I pulled out three different sentiments from the stamp set and added them evenly across the note cards. Then using some , I adhered each of the critters to the cards letting them pop up just a bit.
The cards needed a little something extra, so using some and some , I added five sequins to each card, making certain not to add a flower or pink sequin to the cards that would be for my son. I also added some Distress Oxide to the edges of the cards, adding a splash of color.
The cards are simple but the kids (and their friends) get a real kick out of them. Even my sixth grade son has requested that I not stop the tradition
(despite the fact since he is so old and mature). I for the longest time thought that they little notes ended up in the trash along with their lunch wrappers, but I discovered first in my oldest backpack
one day (and the other two kiddos afterwards), all of the little note cards I had made them in a ziplock back (which I am sure once held a sandwich) all the little cards I had made him over the past months. Even my husband gets a kick out of these notes and saves them. From time to time I'll slip one of these little cards with a hand written note in them into his lunch for work, and he loves them too, bringing the note back home with his own little message left for me on the back.
I also whip up a little envelope for each note (since I customize the size of the card), using old printed paper. I like to stamp a couple images from the main stamp set onto the envelope, and today I used two different leaf stamps on the envelope from the set. I also like to stamp the kids' names on the cards with CDD's letter stamp set on the outside of the envelope. Today, I just did their first initial, but I think you get the drift.
I don't tuck these little notes into the kids' lunches everyday, but I make certain each week that I have 2-3 for each of the three kids. Because I simplify the design it doesn't take much time to whip these up. And I promise you, the little love notes the kids make me in return, are worth the bit of time it takes to make these each week!
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