Insert page for written message

[melissa59]

I can't find a post that I saw a couple months ago. It was about attaching a white insert page for a written message on the inside of a dark card. I think there was a link to an instruction page, but I'm not sure.

Can someone either send me to that post or, better yet, tell me in this thread what I need to do?

I want to know what paper you use (light cardstock, quality printer paper, resume paper, other?).

Do you cut it the same size as the card? Leave a border?

How do you adhere it? Glue, tape, etc. Adhere the entire page? Adhere only the top edge?

What else do I need to know? I put a lot of effort into the many cards I'm making for M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and I want to make sure the inside is nice and very user friendly (easily accepts all ink pens) for whoever wants to write a sentiment and send it on to their loved one.

[indyemmert]

I would cut it smaller, leaving a border. I just use regular cardstock and adhere the whole thing.

[Cook22]

Personally I use good quality printer paper. I find it easiest to cut it to the same size as the card, and then trim it off after folding it, about 1/4" off each side (other than the creased edge, obviously). It definitely needs to be smaller, not the same size.
Quite often I will use a fancy border punch for the long edge, if it's opposite the crease.

I use very narrow double-sided tape, placed on the inside of the front of the card - that way, so long as the insert is well burnished along the fold, when the recipient opens the card, it should open to show the insert where the sentiment and writing are, because the left side of the insert tends to open with the front of the card, if you understand what I am saying. A few very small drops of glue will work instead of tape, so long as it's really only tiny drops.

Or as Jana has suggested, you could use a light cardstock panel just on the inside where the sentiment/writing are, instead of making a whole insert. I sometimes do that too, often with the largest Spellbinders Labels 8 or fancy rectangles.

[melissa59]

Sabrina, do you make the insert large enough to attach it to the inside front AND inside back? Then attach the paper on all edges on the front inside of the card, but leave all edges loose on the back inside?

[Cook22]

Quote:

Originally Posted by melissa59

Sabrina, do you make the insert large enough to attach it to the inside front AND inside back? Then attach the paper on all edges on the front inside of the card, but leave all edges loose on the back inside?

I knew as I was writing that it would be easier with photos , I'll try to add a couple when I get upstairs this morning.
For a paper insert, I make it like a folded card, only with about 1/4" trimmed off all round. It's only attached along the folded edge, it's like many commercial cards have.
If it's a card insert, then it's a single layer fully adhered to the inside of the card back.

[Cook22]

OK, two photos. I found a black card base that needed an insert ;-).I cut the insert from good printer paper to the same size as the card, simply for ease of cutting. Folded in half and burnished the fold.
Trimmed 3/8" off one short edge, punched the non-folded edge, which effectively trimmed it too.
You should be able, I hope, to see where I put the red-liner tape. Sorry it doesn't show more, I seem to have finished my narrow Miracle Tape which has a white backing. I use the narrowest I have. A few very small dots of glue or a fine line with a glue pen would do the same job. I position the card insert so it's butted right against the fold and centred between the top and bottom edges, remove the tape liner and press the card closed.


The other one is just from my stash and it's more part of the card than just an insert, but it's how I would do an insert on one side only with light cardstock. If it just has a sentiment, I might stamp an image from the front in a light brown or grey. And I'd either sponge the edges for contrast or draw round them using the inside edge of the die as a guide.

[melissa59]

Ah, now I get it. It's actually very simple.
Sorry for being so dense. Pictures help. :-)

[buggainok]

Sabrina, thanks so much for your pics. I have been using inserts inside my cards for a while now, and love that I have the freedom to customize a card at the last minute with any sentiment I want to print on my computer.

I've never thought of punching one of the sides of the insert. Funny how that is that we don't think of something so simple until someone shows it to us, lol. It is a lovely effect, and thank you for sharing it!

PS I use my ATG for the line of adhesive along the front side. Just a couple of inches in the middle works well.

[wavejumper]

If I am using a white or ivory card base, I dont have to do anything. That's the great thing about good heavy weight CS.

If I am using a colored card base, I usually just take a postcard (A2 sized piece of CS) and trim it 1/8-1/4' around for the right side. Or you can use your basic card layer dies if you want to be very sure of it being straight. I keep some of that pre-cut around in both white and ivory. I attach it with double sided tape around the border and maybe a small pc in the middle. I find you can write on that with ball points or gel pens or fountains.

If you wanted it for both sides, just cut it like you would a card base and take the 1/4" off both sides and attach it in with DS tape on both sides.

If you have a concern about weight...you could definitely use good quality paper like watermark or nice printer paper and do the same thing.

I have been playing with the idea of using vellum on things like wedding cards which seem to only be attached at the hinge in commercial cards. Then a small piece of CS to write on that might be die cut for the right side. I have not fully worked that out.

Decorative die cutting is very nice. Some people will use a strip of the same DP they used on the front on the bottom of the right side, etc. I've seen some insides here as nice as the outsides!

I have seen somewhere in my travels doing it with printer paper in a way that you fold the whole 8 1/2 x 11 so it opens up when you open the card-for people who expect to write a letter but personally, I just write on a pc of stationary, fold and insert it in a card myself.

[Bahb]

I buy 100 sheets of text-weight Sand 8 1/2X11 paper and take it to the printer to have it cut 1/4 inch smaller, all the way around, than my base cards. I fold it in half , stamp and heat emboss the sentiment, run a short strip double-sided tape next to the fold on the piece that will lay against the front of the card, butt the folded piece up against the fold and press the card closed.

The sand color of the paper looks yellow at papersandmore.com, but it is a subtle elegant beige that goes well with any color. The reason i heat emboss the stamped sentiment is because I've found the ink fades and/or bleeds on the other side of the insert eventually.

The paper costs $8 and the print shop charges $5 to laser cut it.

[biblesistersmom]

Great thread and ideas!