Do you have any collections?  I do--several in fact! One of my favorite collections is an ever-growing assortment of vintage greeting cards.  I love the colors, textures, fonts...even the smell.  Funny, I know!

I really enjoy pulling out my cards and using them as an inspiration point for layouts. On some of my projects in the past I've even used the actual cards themselves, especially if they were damaged in some way and I was only able to salvage small pieces or just the fronts of the cards.

Here's a tip for you: get high-quality color copies made of your cards.  You can then use the images in several different projects. 

Here are a few things I've created that were inspired by cards from my collection.  I've photographed the inspiration piece as well as my completed project. I hope you enjoy them.

My Blessing Layout

This first layout was inspired by the red, grey, and white color scheme from this vintage holiday card.  I also really liked the grey-swiped center portion, and I replicated that with acrylic paint.

Supplies:

• cardstock - AC Moore
• fabric tape - Making Memories
• blessing quote - 7Gypsies
• alphabet stickers - Doodlebug Designs (large white) and Paper Loft (round red)
• acrylic paint - Plaid, Apple Barrel
• plastic embellishment - Heidi Swapp
• red and white label - Martha Steward
• vintage playing card

Sweet Friends Mini Album

This mini book was inspired by the colors used on this vintage greeting card.  This is one of the projects where I used a high-quality color copy of the actual card to use.  After creating the mini-book base I used my favorite Sizzix die to cut out a coordinating polka-dot patterned paper.  The photocopied image was trimmed down to fit within this scalloped square.  This little album is for my daughter. It will hold notes from all her friends that attend her birthday party.

Supplies:

• cardstock - Bazzill.html">Bazzill
• scallop die - Sizzix
• patterned paper - unknown
• ribbon - Making Memories (yellow sheer) and Michaels Crafts (black and white dot)
• photo corner - Making Memories
• acrylic word stickers - Michaels Crafts

Some Bunny Had a Baby

This last project is a sweet little baby shower invitation.  Once again I used color photo copies of a vintage card, this time an Easter card.  Circle- and scallop-shaped punches make this a quick and easy project.  For extra pattern I used my old Zig Dotta-Riffic pen to make a few random polka dots on the cardstock.

I'll use the same image and patterned paper to create napkin rings and cupcake toppers for the shower so that everything coordinates!

Supplies:

• cardstock -Bazzill.html"> Bazzill
• specialty pen - Zig Dotta-Riffic
• patterned paper - Die Cuts With a View
• corner punch - Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper, We Are Memory Keepers
• circle and scallop circle Punches - Marvy Uchida
• edge punch - Fiskars Threading Water
• ribbon - Michaels Crafts
• stamp - Kolette Hall
• ink - Stampin' Up, Elegant Eggplant

Vintage greeting cards can be purchased at swap meets, antique and thrift stores, garage sales, and estate sales.  But don't feel limited to vintage cards. Take a walk down the greeting card aisle at your local grocery or drug store and you'll see tons of inspirational quotes, color schemes, and fonts that you might want to incorporate into your own work.