When you get a handmade card, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to pass it along for someone else to enjoy? I mean, how many of us get a card (and so few of those come in snail mail these days!) and enjoy the sentiment, only to throw it into the paper recycle bin, never to be seen again? I am sure that is where a lot of the cards I send end up. But I got one recently in the mail, and it had a lovely idea I had not thought of in years. The message was written on a sticky note! Inside, a little printed note was glued to the upper part explaining what to do. The pretty card could be re-used just by changing the note inside. And, what a nice thing if you messed up in writing, just start over! So I took that idea and ran with it.
I rewrote the note in my own style, printed it out and glued it to the upper part of the card.
Here’s how I worded the note.
I thought you might like to do this in your card making sometimes, so I did a free printable for you. Click on RecycleNote. I started writing a note, then realized I needed much more space, so I peeled the little star off, and replaced it with a large rectangle sticky note.
The front of the card has a house, lawn and tree element I cut from a commercial card I had received. I added a bumblebee sticker, and the Thank You stamp. I also put a bee on the envelope. So cute.
Of course, I couldn’t stop there. I had two more cards I wanted to send, so why not use the idea for those as well? Using the sentiment “Thinking of You” could work for many occasions. I sent this one as a get-well to a dear friend. She can re-send it to someone else as a Thinking of You, or Get Well, or Happy Birthday, depending on what she writes on her sticky note. The lower paper has a quilting motif, as she and I quilt, I added a textured paper to the left side that resembles a quilt, topped it with one of my few remaining leaves, and put a flat cardboard button on top. I needed to keep it flat for mailing.
Inside, I used two flower shaped sticky notes (Amazon affiliate link) to stamp and write my message.
Of course, on the back of all the cards is my personal stamp.
Then I wanted to send a Just Because card, so I stamped an image with flowers, used some color pencils to brighten it up a bit, and mounted it on a frame. The textured paper is embossed with a flower design. It is mounted on top of a floral vellum.
Inside, I stamped the message, then added the sticky note to the bottom. DH gave me these star shaped sticky notes in my Christmas stocking as well as the flower ones shown above. Amazon also had cute little assortment sticky note packs with several shapes like hearts and apples.
Isn’t this a fun idea? I have no idea who to give the credit to for the original idea, but I know I first saw something similar some time ago on Split Coast Stampers, a gallery of card ideas using Stampin’ Up sets. I forgot about it for a few years, until one arrived in the mail.
So, are you stamping for spring?
Sharing
From My Carolina Home 
Great ideas Carole. Another option for those lovely cards we get and don’t want to just recycle in the bin. Thanks
Lynn
Hi Carole, I always enjoy seeing your lovely handmade cards and I love this clever idea!
Hi Carole,
I LOVE the idea of reusing/recycling cards. I can remember as a child my mom saved every darn card she EVER got. When it was time to clean out her house in my early 30s I remember dumping them all in a big trash bag. It hurt my heart to do it, but I couldn’t save every card or take the time to go through it – and she didn’t ask me to. We did recycle some cards back then – took the front of a card and fashioned it into another card or gift tags. NOW I wish I had saved every darn one of those cards – just for the memories. Aww well – can’t go back and I sure enjoyed this post! ~smile~ Roseanne
Good morning Carole,
Such a cute and adorable idea to have a lot of fun with, you clever gal!
Phyllis
Genius!!!!
Such a fun idea and with the price of cards these days…makes complete sense. Our quilt club has a birthday card that isn’t signed by anyone, that gets passed around between us all from year to year. It’s quite the joke!
I have been recycling cards for years. Using parts of one to make a new one or to use in other crafts. When making cards like this, make sure it is a size that will fit into a readily available envelope.
Hi Carole, hope you are doing well. I love this idea of reusing cards, very smart idea!
Great idea to recycle cards, they are pretty.
How clever!
I think I have every birthday and anniversary card my husband has ever given me! Recycling a card is an excellent idea!
Hello Carole; Your cards are so pretty; they make me smile and feel better right away. So the recipient of these cards will be delighted. This idea of reusing a card is an excellent idea! The time and effort that you put into making your cards so pretty and just “right” for the person it is going to and to think that people just shred them. I guess everyone I know, including myself, have always put them in a special place and kept them to get out occasionally and look through and feel good, especially from someone who has passed away or you are just thinking about. Have fun doing this much more often with all of the cards that you make!
Great idea!!
That is a GREAT idea. Thanks for passing it along, and for making the print out. You are a helpful blogger!
I am always looking for ways to recycle cards. We receive so few and they are a delight to get. Thank you for this great idea!