Technique Tuesday with Rachel Hall

Creating Card Keepers
Every Christmas I am unable to even think about getting rid of all the beautiful cards that we receive. To solve this storage dilemma and simply answer the question of what to do with them all, I began creating card keepers in 2007.


Supplies:
Your Christmas Cards
Cardboard, chipboard, old book covers, etc for your front and back covers
Ribbons, binder rings or a binding mechanism to bind project
Patterned paper and embellishments to decorate your cover

To Create a Card Keeper:
1.) Gather your cards in a pile and set aside
2.) Decide on what material you will use for your covers. I have used both heavy chipboard and vintage book covers. Other thing you could use would be cardboard or premade book covers like these 7 Gypsies ones included in the December Monthly kit.
3.) Using your papers, embellishments etc decorate the front cover. If you are using plain chipboard you will want to cover the back and inside covers a well for a more finished look.
4.) Decide how you will chose to bind your book. If you are using ribbons or binder rings, mark where you want them and punch holes in the front and back covers. If you are using a bind-it-all, punch the covers using your machine.
5.) Arrange your cards in the order that you would like them in and mark and start punching your holes or run them through the bind-it-all.
6.) Assemble your card keeper by tying your ribbons or attaching everything with your binder rings or bind it all binding.

You can create these keepers for any event in which you receive a large number of cards or use binder rings to create ones that you can keep on adding to every year. Some ideas for events in which a Card Keeper could be used:
Engagement
Wedding
New Baby
New Home
Birthdays (you can create ones for each or make one you can add to each year)
Sympathy
Valentines (again, you can create them yearly or add to one each year)