So you’ve mastered calligraphy to write beautifully in your greetings cards, you have perfectly structured addressing on the envelope (if you’re still looking to master this, check out my Awesome Addresses tutorial and free template download right here) but sometimes it just doesn’t feel enough, right?!
A beautiful way to take your envelopes to the next level is to add envelope liners; lots of people are put off because they think they are complicated but nothing could be further from the truth!
You need to be sure that your paper will take the ink you are looking to use so be sure to check this before you start! A good all rounder is a vellum like a plain Rhodia pad although you can use whatever paper you wish. When you’re ready, lay your envelope on the paper with the opening facing you and the flap open. In pencil, lightly draw around the triangle of the flap and down the two vertical sides to 1cm below the lowest point of the opening. Use a ruler to draw the horizontal line across between the two vertical points. It will look like a simple outline of a house.
I would recommend writing what you want on the liner before cutting out as it will be far easier to do it before cutting! Using the diagonal of the flap as the top of your ‘page’, write a word or phrase you wish to use, repeating this until the liner is full, keeping the same diagonal angle. Where you get to the end of your liner, feel free to carry on writing the word outside of the line as this will help to create the illusion of the word being ‘cut off’….because it actually will be!
Once your liner is full, carefully cut it out, you will need to cut slightly inside the line on the two vertical lines so it fits inside the envelope (literally a slither off on each side, 1mm all the way round!) Test your liner in your envelope to check it fits before gluing it in place. You can choose to sit your liner just below the gummed edge so you can still use this to seal the envelope, or you can use the gummed edge to hold your liner and tuck the envelope closed rather than stick it closed; this is obviously a good option if you are hand delivering your card but less helpful if it is being posted to the recipient. I prefer gluing it just below the gummed edge.
Watch the full tutorial on my YouTube channel: