Sweet Shoppe Designs – The Sweetest Digital Scrapbooking Site on the Web

Hey There Sweet Shoppe Hybrid fans! Jen Tapler here with another installment of your weekly Hot 4 Hybrid blog post. Today I wanted to share with you a SUPER easy hybrid card idea that will help you dig into that stash of brag books and quick pages I’m sure you’re all hoarding on your hard drives (I’m not the only one who does that, right!?!?).   There are about a gazillion super cute pre-designed brag book albums in the shoppe, and it’s been so fun seeing your mini album creations in the hybrid gallery the last few months for the new hybrid challenges!  But let’s face it, most of us use these quick pages and quick albums once and then rarely, if ever, use them again.   So here’s an idea to help you get some more use out of those brag book album pages…

Sometimes when I need a card FAST and I’m fresh out of hybrid MoJo, I just rummage around in my “pile” of brag books.  These little 4×6 and 5×7 pages make PERFECT card fronts! I simply add my photo and a little journaling, print the finished page on matte photo or presentation paper and cut it out.  I like to use heavy-weight cardstock for my card bases, but this is just my personal preference.  I cut some cardstock to the right size, usually so the front is about 1/8 to 1/4-inch larger all the way around than the bragbook page I printed, then score and fold in half to make my card base.  To give the card a little depth and dimension, I usually use 3-d foam adhesive to attach the printed bragbook / album page to the cardstock base.  And Voila! My card is finished and ready to be mailed.

Here are a few samples…

Using the Away We Go Name Badge Album by Zoe Pearn

Using the Galactic 4×6 Brag Book by Melissa Bennett

Using BabyCakes: Baby’s First Year bragbook by Dani Mogstad

Let me tell ya, the grandparents LOVE getting these photo cards throughout the year!! And they’re soooo quick and easy to make.  I mean, everyone loves receiving a little happy mail in this digital age of e-mail and impersonal text messages and voicemail. But add a photo to that little bit of snail mail and believe me, you really bring a smile to the recipient’s face!!!

So, do you have any bragbooks, name bage albums, or quick pages in your stash that you could use to whip up some photo greeting cards? Don’t forget, you could easily resize 12×12 Quick Pages to make a super cute little square 5×5 card front!  I’d love to hear your ideas – or better yet, see them in the Hybrid Inspiration Gallery!!