Seven Days of Bling: Day 3

Reader Joan asked about mailing cards with bling on them. The lumpiness can be a problem, especially if the bling is on a raised panel on the card. My go-to fix is to put packing tape on the envelope over the bling. It keeps the envelope from tearing and adds very little weight.

Another fix is to put a 5.5" x 4.25" piece of cardstock over the top of the card and then put it in the envelope. This might push the envelope over the weight or thickness limits for standard postage, though, especially if you're using dimensionals or craft foam on the card. It might be kicked back to you for insufficient postage.

A third fix is to turn the card inside-out. That way, the back of the card cushions the bling. This will dent the back of the card, though, and might make it hard to read what you've written.

If anybody has other solutions, please share them in the comments.

A final suggestion for U.S. readers...keep a stash of forever butterfly stamps with your standard postage. Butterfly stamps will cover the added thickness or weight of cards with embellishments. You can drop these in a mailbox (although I wonder if they are machined after that) or go to the window at the post office and ask them to hand-cancel the envelope. That way, it won't get run through machines and smooshed.

I hope that helps, Joan. Perhaps it's more information than you wanted!

Today's card takes advantage of the fact that I have a bazillion purple rhinestones. I decided to make a purple valentine, because not all loving relationships are red-hot romantic, right? Well, that was my justification for being able to use more than half the purple rhinestones in my stash in a single go.

The swirls are from Clearly Besotted's With a Flourish and were stamped with LuLu lavender Memento ink. You're going to see that set again; it proved very useful for grounding these bedazzled shapes.

I'd already used up almost all the dark purple rhinestones (you'll see the others tomorrow). That means there's not enough color variation or shading on this large bedazzled shape to add interest. I did, however, have several large iridescent rhinestones that, if you look closely in the photo below, do add a subtle interest. The rhinestones were placed in a random pattern of small, medium, and large.

I'll tell ya, filling up this giant heart (after already using some purple on another shape) and still having a bunch of purple left showed just how serious my bling-hoarding issue is. But like reader Cindy pointed out, "Professors have large libraries, and no one expects them to use every book on the shelf every day. Same with bling, I'm sure."

Thanks, Cindy. I feel much better now!

Mercy, grace, peace, and love,
Susan

Supplies
stamps: Clearly Besotted With a Flourish
ink: LuLu lavender Memento 
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: rhinestones, large heart punch, glue