Sometimes it pays to think small. There’s a certain charm to miniatures. Plus they use less materials, can be made more quickly and require less work space. I read in the February issue of Creating Keepsakes that the coming trend in scrapbooking is mega-embellishments: one large metal initial in the center of a page, a single pale flower as background, mega stamps and rub-on letters.

I cringed and thought, “Please don’t take my tiny embellishments away.” I love working with miniatures. For me, they bring back the childhood joy of playing with a dollhouse and paper dolls. Tiny things keep me young at heart.

Happy Mother’s Day to you moms and your moms as well. Make some new memories with your family on that special day and be sure to preserve them in photos or scrapbook pages.

Our mom and son are both far away, so we won’t be together. We’ll talk long distance, that means briefly, but I’ll treasure the minutes. That leaves it up to my hubby to make my Mother’s Day special. [Since he sends out this newsletter, I’m hoping he takes this hint!]

Coupon Card

If you're still searching for the perfect gift for Mom, your time and talent would probably please her more than anything you could buy in a store. Use your card-crafting talent to create a lovely coupon card. Enclose a coupon for some time with you to be spent in a special way. How about lunch at her favorite restaurant or a day of outlet mall shopping? See our example of a coupon gift card by clicking here.

Mini Jute Gift Bag Pattern

A friend came back from Mexico with some small bottles of pure vanilla for gifts. They looked rather plain and she wanted to make them special. We decided that tiny gift bags made with natural materials would be just the thing. See what we did with beige jute for the bags, thin leather strips for handles, rough twine to close the bags, real vanilla beans as accents and coordinated gift tags. Click here to see them.

How to Adjust Pattern Size Using Your Word Editing Software

How many times have you bought a magazine with a bunch of nice patterns only to discover that none of them were full size? You were all set to do the project, but then it was off to the copy center for enlargements. Time and gas wasted. Well, here’s a simple way to enlarge the patterns yourself using your word processing software

Matching Mini-Packages for Sets of Note Cards

Mini-package 1: I made a set of blank quarter fold size note cards for a hostess gift and a matching little bag with silk cord handles. Get the pattern here. Normally a hostess gift is the guest’s way of saying “Thanks for inviting me.”

One doesn’t expect a thank you for a thank you. However, the hostess was so delighted with the set, that she did call to thank me. Of course, I thanked her for thanking me for thanking her.

Mini-package 2: I have a bunch of check envelopes left over from a custom order I filled ages ago. I wanted to put them to some use. It’s nice to work with different card sizes because the common quarter fold and half fold size get tedious after a while. Plus, a different size and shape give you a different design space to decorate.

I found the darling Lucy Goosey graphics in American Greetings CreateACard and they’re just the perfect shape for the check size envelopes. The designs are so appealing, I put a small Lucy Goosey on the lower left corner of the envelope front as well with the phrase “Lucy Goosey Greetings!”

A folder for a 10-pack of check size or quarter fold size cards can be made from a single sheet of card stock. Click here for my pattern for both sizes. Stick-on Velcro tabs make an easy durable closure.

Reader’s Letter of the Month

Most of our readers’ letters contain specific project questions. We go to great lengths to research and provide answers.

What a delight it was to receive this reader’s comments. It’s so nice to know our efforts are appreciated. Thank you, Mary!

“I just took a little 'stroll' through your web site. All I can say is WOW! You have a very well put together and creative site. I can see now that I'm going to have to stock up on ink cartridges for printing out some of the crafts.

It's been a while since I've done any real crafting and as soon as I get my garden in the ground...I'm going to get back into it again. I subscribed to the card making magazine. Can't wait to see my first issue.

I believe I have struck the bonanza of craft sites here. In case I am not already subscribed, please subscribe me NOW! I don't want to miss a thing.

Thank you so much.

Mary