Hi! If you have not been here to my blog before, let me introduce myself! Helloooo! I’m Liz… AKA Love Mail Liz. I LOVE to send letters, and creating crafty envelopes- and all the things to go in the envelope. Let me show you some simple ways to really impress the socks off of your mail recipients using some simple methods to make a letter look AH-MAZ-ING!
It doesn’t take much to make an envelope look really beautiful with just a few easy steps. Here, I drew the basic shape of the part where the address will go, and then added some watercolor paint. After it dried, I doodled over the dried paint with a very fine sharpie marker. I hope that you can get some doodle ideas from some of my envelopes! They are so fun to make in my spare time! Sharpies are my go-to pens because they don’t bleed when wet. After I add the doodles, I would begin with the embellishments. See the bottom of this post for an easy tutorial on my roses and mushrooms.
You can even use cut out embellishments to make an envelope look stunning if you struggle with drawing, still giving it the appeal of a handmade envelope without having to have art skills. Check out my collection of fun and unique fussy cuts (cut outs)that you can print and paste to your envelope.
…Well at least on an envelope! I wonder if you actually had a flower delivery service send mushrooms instead of flowers. If each flower has a unique message, what would mushrooms represent? Maybe that they are emerging out of the darkness! I love mushrooms, they are fun and easy to draw and just pretty with all sorts of different colors, and just different than flowers.
There are two things that will make a letter extra meaningful:
1) A thoughtful letter. If you do not know what to say, check out my post for some awesome ideas on what to say- when you don’t know what to say.
2) Flat Gifts! Love Mail is all about filling an envelope with tons of flat gifts that will make any letter memorable! Check out my huge collection of perfectly-sized-for-an-envelope (and inexpensive) zelorales (flat gifts that go in with a letter).
Swirls are just so easy to make and look so elegant. Dots do do. I think that it is the curvy lines that attract the eye, and make your designs look feminine. I read an article years ago that said that it is the empty spots in the design that make it look beautiful. So I have learned to not try to fill in the areas completely but leave room for empty spots. Here, I have circles mostly on one side and swirls on the other.
Outlining the address part with ovals all along looks like lace-especially when adding a circle inside the oval shape. But the ovals with pointy edges looks like feathers-kinda. I use this doodle a lot to outline my designs and add them on top of each other like I have here on one edge, giving it a feather-y look. Painting or coloring in each shape with a different but related or matching color separates the design a bit and draws the eye to the multiple shapes.
You would’nt think it, but just simply doodling some flowers onto the envelope and painting them in gives any envelope a beautiful look. Even if you are nto that good at drawing. The color makes everything just pop! I drew this one one before painting the background, then painted in between the designs carefully. Using a paintbrush with a pointy edge on the end allows you to get into the smallest of places with that tiny tip. It only took me maybe two minutes to fill in the green on this envelope. Then, wait for it to dry and then go back to fill in the flower colors.
You can look up colors pallets online for inspiration. If you use colors that work well with each other you will find that your DIY envelopes will look really nice. I have found that if you use a lot of different and unrelated colors together- throw in some fushia. Fushia brings everything together in a boho kind of feel. So don’t be afraid of color. Love Mails motto is More Is More!
Here, I have blue, pink. and green which I think always look nice together.
You would’nt think it, but just simply doodling some flowers onto the envelope and painting them in gives any envelope a beautiful look. Even if you are nto that good at drawing. The color makes everything just pop! I drew this one one before painting the background, then painted in between the designs carefully. Using a paintbrush with a pointy edge on the end allows you to get into the smallest of places with that tiny tip. It only took me maybe two minutes to fill in the green on this envelope. Then, wait for it to dry and then go back to fill in the flower colors.
