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DIY Typewriter Cards

My mom still has her electric typewriter from college. It currently lives in a cabinet and serves to prop up a TV, but she still has it. She likes to remind me that "back in her day" all papers had to be typed. There were no computers to make it easy. As a layout editor for her university newspaper, I'm sure that was painful. But so are computers.

Anyway... I have little to no creative outlet at present b/c my dissertation is sucking the life out of me. So sometimes I get an uncontrollable urge to make something. Anything. I drew inspiration from several websites to create these valentine cards for my family.  I used Mom's old typewriter, some card stock, stickers, double-sided foam squares, and stamps.

When I create, I like to take things that evoke one feeling and combine them with something totally different (like the sports/bridal magazine collages). In this case, typewritten notes seem office-y or harsh to me, so I wanted to capture the nostalgia I feel for typewriters by making something romantic. (Yes, I even over-analyze my DIY projects!)

I started with scrap white card stock and fed it through the typewriter. The size of the type-written portion determined the size of the card. I folded the red card stock in half and glued the white on top of it. The insides are stamped with white ink to stand out on the red. I x-ed over the parts where I mis-typed and I think it's a bit more artistic that way.

 This one was for my parents, in honor of the Beetles. "LOVE" is made by four different stickers, raised with foam squares.

 
This was for Eric. I wrote him some prose as I typed. I intentionally ran the words off the sides. The sticker is flat, but I like the look of the raised ones better.

 
This is my favorite, made for my sister and brother-in-law. I love I Corinthians 13, but it's so cliche for a card like this. So to make it a little different, I typed it in Spanish. I stuck the heart right on top for visual interest (raised with a foam square).

You could do these for any occasion, and they would work for postcards too. Happy DIY!

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