Thank You Cards

I've been in a position lately where I've needed to write thank you cards. And a few of them have been to people I write a lot of thank you cards to (Tallman's Parents, Knowledge), so I decided that my regular thank you cards wouldn't do, and I needed to inject some interest into my thank you card repitore.

Crane Thank Yous

Normally I send out thank yous on these plain Thank You notes. I like the pop of color inside the envelope, but otherwise they're simple. Most importantly they are made from a good quality paper that I can send to people I have informational interviews with or anyone who gives me a gift. But they're also kind of boring.

Kate Spade Thank yous

Some thank you cards that are relatively interesting are also outrageously expensive. Like these Kate Spade Thank you notes that are $30 for 9 cards. NO THANK YOU. Trop cher pour mon sang!

Other thank you notes are too girly, or clearly for baby showers or wedding gifts and thus aren't really appropriate for me to use generally or at all.

Bee Thank You!

Still other websites and stores sell thank you cards individually, and are super cute, but just not cost effective. And while I LOVE the bee card pictured at the left. I do not love colored envelopes. They can be inconvenient to address if they're too dark and they can be too in your face, like pinks. Also, the colored envelope can seem a bit little kid-ish if its the wrong color. (Though I do think the buttery yellow of this card is just fine, easy to write on legibly and not too childish.)

So instead of buying thank you cards I bought some blank cards with a green hydrangea on the front and some dark blue ink and a stamp that says "Merci". I figure this is cute, personal and practical. I'll have the stamp and ink for a while so even when I run out of cards they're useful, and the blank cards can be used for more than just thank you notes if need be (like a bridal shower I'm going to in a few weeks). And the cost of these supplies was less than the $30 Kate Spade thank you notes pictured above.

What are your favorite thank you notes? Do you make them yourself? Do you use plain cards in high quality paper or do you buy individual cards?