I LOVE HAPPY MAIL! Shhhhh.....don't tell anyone, not that I'm begging but I wish I got more! LOL I love going out to the mail box and finding a mystery envelope from someone unexpected. Sometimes it's a pretty card and boy there are talented people out there and sometimes I feel undeserving of someone's kindness but it's always fun! So it is not surprising that I am always looking for cute little ways to make my Happy mail a little bit unique. Since I love fancy folds my fall back is usually a fancy fold card and then all the makings and instructions for the receiver to make one themselves.
I came across this video on YouTube for pocket tags using envelopes. She filled the pockets with scraps of book pages just torn and folded in half. I think it was just an embellishment to look at not something functional or useable. I decided to make mine a useable/useful, pocket/ephemera, happy mail/embellie. They are fun, can be mass produced and are relatively flat for mailing. That is if you don't go crazy lol. I do have that "Crazy" trait.
So what do you need? Oh??? You want to see what I'm talking about? Geeze, I thought we'd just skip the formalities! hahaha. Ok here you go. This is what we are going for. This is the sneak peak.
This little beauty measures about 3 1/4" x 3 5/8" without the tag part sticking up. It all depends on how you tear and how much of an edge you have exposed on the side and how much sticks out of the pocket. You'll want to remember that it cannot be bigger than the size of the envelope you are going to slide it into to mail. So take that into account when making these. The main Envelope will have 2 pockets. 1 pocket will have another envelope in it. Remember those Teabag envelopes I made in my post Ephemera Embellishment Fun? Well those are what I used in the first pocket and in the second pocket I made vellum sleeves. So now for supplies:
1 sealed standard white envelope 6 5/8" x 3 5/8" I used Dollar Tree envelopes.
Scrap DSP
Rose Printable Journal card (I used a freebie from internet)
Distress ink in brown/grey/blue or rose for distressing envelope (your choice)
Misc die cuts etc (for putting into pockets)
sequins, glitter etc to pretty up your pocket fronts if you want.
First seal top of envelope. After sealing it closed hand rip each end to make jagged edges and then fold in half to allow both jagged edges to show. With Distress ink of choice, ink all the edges of both sides of the envelope. Making sure you get those jagged edges real good.
I then took a printable Rose journal card that I printed onto lightweight printer paper. I tore the edges so that the piece would fit on to the front portion of my pocket piece and then inked the edges and glued it to the front. Before gluing the first pocket flap down I cut a piece of scrap DSP into a tag top shape, inked it and glued it in place and then glued the front pocket flap to the back flap. Added a homemade grommet to the tag part and basically your envelope pockets are done except for any embellishments you would like to add to the front.
Next I just grabbed one of my little teabag envelopes I made previously and put 2 work die cut out and some tiny words in there and then slipped it in the first pocket. My next pocket (and this you will need to measure because each one may be different) I needed a strip of 3.5 x 7" piece of vellum scored in 1/2. I used washi tape on each end to seal 2 of the ends leaving 1 end opened for filling and I used a 5/8" hole punch to put a notch at the open end. I filled that pouch with 2 small tags, 2 matching tickets, and a small journal card. I tried to keep everything pretty flat. Also since I used a printable from the internet, the page I chose had a couple different journal cards on the sheet and different sizes so I printed 2 sheets and used all the extras for making my embellishments. That way all 4 of mine were tied in together by the color and pattern. Obviously if you are only going to make one, by all means use scraps if you have them but if you are going to make multiples or gift some it is always nice to have things blend. My only difference is in the teabag envelopes since these were made at a different time. They seem to work though.
I see me making alot more of these.
Til next time.......................................................