My oldest daughter just went to sleep-away camp for the first time. It's a big deal for both of us - she's a bit reserved and home-based, and I like having her around! Of course I wanted to send her off with materials to write our family lots of letters (we're five days in and nothing has arrived yet). She left with a cool set of Sukie stationery with 4 different types of writing paper and patterned envelopes (available in stores only at this point).

More importantly, I wanted to send her special notes each day to let her know how proud we are of her new independence (and how much I miss her, though this cannot be written too much!). I am so proud of the awesome camp stationery that I made using Martha Stewart camp-themed
12x12 scrapbook paper and stickers, tied to some of my favorite colors in
envelopes and cardstock (peacock, persimmon, paper bag, curry, and pool). I lined envelopes using the
envelope liner template kit with bandana, wood grain, ladybug and gnome-in-the-woods paper patterns. I cut the 12x12s into smaller cards or just trimmed them to fold into my
A2 cards. Stickers went on
scalloped cards to created 3D campfire scenes or corresponded to an icon in the liner pattern (e.g. an owl, bunny, trail sign, gnome). Most of these "ingredients" are still available in stores, but not all are online (though various interpretations are possible!).
My hope is that every note she gets makes her feel good because it is a connection from home, but also because each one is so cool that she will feel proud and show them off. When we dropped her at the bus for the ride there, I gave her a note written on a piece of
12x12 paper. I used a
white uniball pen to write on the side that looked like a tree trunk (wood grain pattern), and then gate-folded it so that the opposite side pattern (woodland gnomes and creatures) came together and was sealed with a cool 3D gnome
sticker. One of her friends looked over and said, "That's cool. You're so lucky your mom works at Paper Source". So true!!
Cheers!
-- Sally, Paper Source CEO
PS colors:
papaya & pool
Latest fave: 2011 Paper Source Academic Grid Wall Calendar