How to make a beautiful envelope.
Before I start this post, I want to say that it's perfectly fine to send encouraging words to your More Love Letters recipient in a plain envelope. The encouragement is what matters, and the presentation is secondary! However, if you've got the inclination, a beautiful envelope can surprise and delight any recipient. In this blog post, I'll give you eight suggestions for making memorable envelopes that are fun to put together and even more fun to receive!
1. Use High-Quality Envelopes
Beautiful mail almost always starts with a high-quality envelope! My current envelope crushes are Indian Cotton Paper Co. and Cards & Pockets.
These cotton envelopes are from Indian Cotton Paper Co.
2. Try Making Your Own Beautiful Envelope
If you don't have access to high-quality envelopes (and even if you do), you can make a unique and beautiful envelope out of any paper!
A few strategic cuts, folds, and a pinch of glue will get you there. See this tutorial to find out how!
3. Add a Postage Stamp Collage
Stunning postage stamp collages take plain envelopes to a whole other level! I purchase vintage stamps from eBay (search for "unused vintage postage stamps"), then I make a layout with them that totals or exceeds the going postage rate.
For more tips about making postage collages, I invite you to read this article.
4. Use Brush Pens
For a fun, colorful envelope, you can get out your brush pens and use them to write a combination of cursive and block lettering. Trace around the letters in black ink, then add shadows with a pencil. Finally, use a white gel pen to add highlights to each letter.
If you want to learn how to create lettering like the example above, you can visit this tutorial.
5. Keep It Classy with Calligraphy
I think calligraphy always makes for a beautiful envelope. (Though I'm definitely biased because I love to create calligraphy!) Calligraphy isn't as hard to learn as you might think, and I walk you through exactly how to go about it in The Beginner's Guide to Modern Calligraphy.
The secret to any great lettering -- calligraphy or not -- is to start with pencil guidelines. If you use guidelines, you'll be rewarded with a neat, legible envelope!
6. Add Hexagons
You can add simple, colorful personality to envelopes with watercolor hexagons. There's a printable template on my website that will help you create clean hexagons like the ones below.
For detailed instructions over how to make this envelope, you can read this tutorial.
7. Add Some Embellishment
If you've got the time, try featuring an illustration on your envelope! I love to draw lace, little doodles, or a sketch of a landmark from the recipient's city.
This envelope features lace. If you're up for a challenge, I'll teach you how to draw it step by step in this tutorial!
8. Add a Beautiful Envelope Liner
I love envelope liners because they fulfill two functions. First, they add a pop of surprising personality. Second, they help your envelope to feel a bit more substantial. You can cut almost any piece of paper to use as an envelope liner! I often keep papers that I like, and I give them a new life as envelope liners later.
Envelope liners are surprisingly easy to make, and I'll show you how in this tutorial.
I hope that this article encourages you to pretty up your More Love Letters envelopes! I always enjoy coming up with new beautiful envelope designs for recipients, and I know that they really appreciate it. For more envelope and lettering inspiration, I invite you to visit my blog! Thanks very much for reading, and thanks to More Love Letters for letting me make a guest appearance.
Warmly,
Lindsey
LINDSEY BUGBEE Lindsey Bugbee is a 31 year-old calligrapher, artist, blogger, and mom who lives in Boulder, Colorado. She has been sending letters to More Love Letters recipients since 2015. She is happiest when she's creating -- and showing others how to harness their creativity through tutorials, worksheets, and workshops. You can find her at thepostmansknock.com.
