Gift for a letter-writer

Remember when you had pen-pals? (DID you have pen-pals? I hope so!!!) I had three or four that I can remember. Sadly, I am not in contact with any of them anymore. But they were great friends for the years that I knew them, and it was so exciting to look forward to their next letter!

My niece (who is 7 or 8) just moved down here from very far away, and I heard that she loved to write her friends and classmates from her old town. So I thought a personalized stationary set would be perfect for her! I found a great tutorial at Addicted to Stamping, and I had lots of pink paper already (I barely ever get to use my girlie scrapbooking supplies!). My niece loves the color pink, and has a black kitty named Belle whom she loves dearly, so that became my theme. On with the pictures!

The closed stationary box:
*I don't remember if the decorative band is on the tutorial or not. It is easy enough to make, and not necessary (box stays closed without it), this is just how I chose to embellish the box.


Take off the lid, and the box opens up! There are envelopes, stationary, address labels, an address book, pen, stickers (forgot to add the stickers before the picture) and a small envelope for stamps.


I made this stationary in The Print Shop 2. This is a set of 16.


I went one step further and had a friend of mine carve some stamps, so that my niece could decorate the envelopes and make more of her own stationary when what I made runs out. I put them in a simple kraft box from Ben Franklin, and added a decorative band that matches the stationary box.


Contents of the box: The three stamps, a black and pink stamp pad, and a pink cloth to wrap the stamps in.


I was so excited to see her open this present! She LOVED it, to say the least! One of my favorite things about Christmas is hand making gifts for people. I love trying to create something unique that they will really enjoy, and it is great to see that happy smile :)