How-To: Appreciation Cards/ Recycled Business Cards

Today's How To is on making Appreciation Cards/ Recycled Business Cards

I rave a lot about my amazing friends and here is the latest thing I have come up with to give my friends due credit for the awesome things they do for Make Shop Live. I have here details to make fun appreciation cards for all those times you pass out your e-mail. Or a fun way to make recycled business cards and holder for your self.

Here is what the first round looks like-

AND, The perfect pairing in your pocket to hold them-

These cards illustrate a great take on what we all have been up to. The thing that's great about being an artist and an activist is it can be another facet of our personality that our day to day lives may not explore. I love having these fun "creative business cards" because sometimes your business card portrays only your 9pm-5pm Identity and you want to share the other you to someone you meet. Alisa is the main source of East Coast Supplies and Sharon keeps me well stocked here in LA.

Since they have been up to collecting and being conscious of all things we can utilize I want to ask them how we can pass along an important lesson on how many things we could/should recycle that goes unnoticed to others? And, with that, what can we do to make this problem better?


I saw a post on Design Sponge that utilized a Custom Stamp Kit to make Business Cards and I ran out to get a Stamp Kit of my own. I like the versatility to print whatever I want by hand on recycled paper and I have utilized this way more than I had initially expected.

Here is what the Kit consists of:

Once I made my first round of cards I have both cleaned and changed the words around, but the letters are sooooooo small I have left the skeletons behind so that I can save time.

Here are the instructions to make my version of
Recycled Appreciation/ Creative Business Cards:

STEP 1: Write out what you would like the message to say. Mine give the information ultimately to share our names and the website to highlight all of our hard work. Then it has a little description of our roles so people can see into the process.



STEP 2: If you don't have a system already raid the recycling for any cardboard boxes:

STEP 3: Break the boxes down flat so that you can print the inside of the boxes:

Here is how I sort bigger flat items such as cardboard to recycle:

It is hard to see the Yudu as a base fro my recycling...
But screen-printing is so taxing on my shoulder :(

Each container is scrapbooking storage so I don't have to cut down pizza boxes and can utilize bigger sheets of materials without extra effort.

STEP 4: Print the text.

STEP 5: Cut to desired size. I like to have them cut close to the text so it can be eyeballed and shave the time to crate all the boundaries and printing mishaps.

Then you have the cards all done-
Now on to the holder...

STEP 6: EAT GUM... Test out whatever you may like, but I realized when I was done with the Stride gum that my cards wanted to sneak right in :)

Look how nice they fit.

STEP 7: Push a card threw the XYRON Create-a-sticker that we used last project as seen below:

(here is last weeks sticker project details)

STEP 8: Stick reference card to the top corner of the gum packaging.

Now you and your friends have a great card to pass along when asked for their email ;)

Once you get used to the Letter Stamping you can label anything-
Here is the newest packaging of the Upcycled Plantcard Bookmarks: