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Print Your Way To That Special Someone's Heart

When a special occasion arrives early in a relationship you want to make sure that you make the right impression. Whether it's a birthday or Valentine's day, conveying the right message can be a big deal. So why should you wander store aisles sifting through a bunch of humdrum Hallmark cards when you could take the opportunity to do something unique and stand out? Yes, you can print your own card and make it look good. Here's what you need:

• 3 pieces of heavy card stock paper
• A glue stick
• Scissors
• A laser color printer (or use a nearby print shop - in Miami here that's Ritter's Printing for me)

First, you'll want to pick out some artwork for your card. There are plenty of free clip art websites that will allow you to download and print them. For our purposes, let's say you find a few standard shaped heart images. You'll want one piece of paper to be the outside of the card and one to be the inside. So using a simple program like Microsoft Powerpoint will allow you to easily set up the layout with the right side containing your images and text (keeping in mind that it will be folded in half).

The outer portion of the card will surround the inner portion, which will also have a three dimensional element to make your card literally stand out. You'll want to use your design program to print your message on the inside of the card as well. However, you'll want to leave the center of the card free of print so you can add your three dimensional element. To do this, fold the paper in half and cut two parallel one inch slits in the center of the card along the spine. Once you've made the cut, fold the slit inside the card so that there appears to be a notch out of the card when it's folded. That notch will allow anything glued to it to "jump" off the card when your recipient opens it.

Now you can print up a heart to cut out with your scissors and glue onto the inside of the notch. Once you've got the internal heart adhered you can then glue the outside of your card to the inside of your card, sign it and find an envelope for it. While it may take a little more time and effort to go this route, you'll certainly show that special someone that they're worth a little more time and effort than some impersonal off the shelf greeting card.