When it comes to creating your own greeting cards you should begin by having your supplies ready. The most basic supplies that you will need to create your own card include glue, scissors, cardstock, colored pencils or markers and glitter. Of course, you can use pretty much anything you like to create a greeting card. The supplies you will use will depend on what you have lying around the house, how much you want to spend, how creative you are and how much effort you want to put into making the card. Remember, this is your creation so you can keep it as simple or make it as complex as you want.
 

Once you have all of your supplies collected, you need to choose a theme for your card. This theme can be anything and will generally be based around both the occasion and who the card is for. If the receiver of the card has any special interests, you may want to base the theme of the card around this. If not, you may wish to base your theme around age or gender. Children, for example, often like cards that are based around animals, a teddy bear or cartoon themes. Men, on the other hand, may prefer cards that are based around sports, fishing or cars. Once you have a theme, use your craft supplies to design a card based around it.
 

On top of theme based decorations, you may also want to use photographs to make the card more personal. If you have a favorite photo with the receiver like a baby photo of the receiver or a funny photo of them, each of these can add a personal touch to the card. By personalizing the card, you make it more meaningful so that it is a keepsake that will be around forever, rather than a card that will be thrown in the garbage tomorrow.
 

Finish your card by adding text. Whether you want to add a funny quote or a personal handwritten message, adding text is an extremely important part of making a handmade greeting card. Always be sure to know exactly what you are going to write before you begin. If you have already designed the rest of your card, you do not want to have to start all over again due to a simple wording error.
 

Creating your own handmade greeting cards is simple. Begin by collecting all of your supplies, then choose a theme that suits the person that you are giving the card to. Use this theme to decorate your card and, if you wish to make the card more personal, add a favorite photograph. Finish by adding quotes or handwritten messages. Then, admire your work, carefully place it into an envelope and hand it over to the guest of honor.

The Original Post is Located Here: How to Make Simple Handmade Cards

1) Embossing

Embossing is the process of creating an impression on your greeting card. It generally adds a bit of texture and when touched, you can feel that the area has been raised. In the process of embossing, stencils and stamps are used to raise sections of cardstock. 

To emboss your image using a stamp, stamp your image onto a piece of paper using pigment ink or embossing ink. Then cover it with embossing powder immediately. After a few seconds, carefully tip all of the excess powder on to another sheet of paper. There should still be a great deal of powder that is stuck to your wet image. Pour all of your extra powder back into its container and remove any excess grains on your image using a small paintbrush.

Next, you will need to heat the image. It is generally recommended that you do this with the precision heating tool, but if that is not available hold your card over a hot toaster (face up) until the pattern melts and the image rises. Wait for your image to dry and voila! You are finished!

2) Distressing

Distressing is the technique through which you can give images or cards a classic, aged look. It is one of the simplest, most unique looking of all techniques. All you need to distress an image is some distressing ink and a piece of cotton. Place the image you want to distress on top of a blank sheet of paper. Then dab down a piece of cotton in your distressed ink and gently dab around the edges of your image or card. This will make it look aged. To add extra effect, crumple up your paper and add small dabs of ink here and there.

3) Eyelets

If you don’t know what an eyelet is, think of a pair of shoes. An eyelet is the part of the shoe that you thread the shoelace through. Now you may be thinking, how on earth did those get into the world of card making? Eyelets are commonly used to attach tags to cards for the simple reason that ribbons and lace can easily be thread through them. Using eyelets is simple but you will need an eyelet setter.

To add an eyelet to your card, insert a small hole where you would like it to be placed (matching the size of the eyelet). Insert the eyelet and turn the card over. Using your eyelet setter, find a tip that matches the size. Enter this into the hole and apply a firm pressure to set it into place.

So there you have it. These are a few of the most basic and popular card making techniques. Begin with these techniques and then move on to some of the many others out there as you become more advanced.

The Original Post is Located Here: Handmade Card Making Techniques Explained

None of these activities require much thought or effort on our part. That is why it is so special when someone goes to the trouble of hand-making a card for another person!

When you sit down to make a card for a loved one, you are devoting your time and effort to create something special and unique just for them. You think about what they might like – their favourite colours, their favourite themes and their style. As a result, your card design reflects their personality and what is important to them.

It’s a way of recognising and appreciating who they are…and there is no greater gift than to show someone you care about them just the way they are.

It also gives us a great opportunity to place a heart-felt message inside and further express how much that person means to us.

When creating a card like this for someone special, you are making a loving gesture that is sure to be treasured. You are wearing your heart on your sleeve and letting that person know how important they are to you. And the recipient of such a card can’t help but smile and feel special as they open your card.

Making cards for others is a gift that gives back. You will not only make someone else’s day with your efforts, but also your own. It is an amazing feeling when your creative efforts are appreciated!

The Original Post is Located Here: Card Making Comes From The Heart

And it’s a craft that parents, grandparents, big sisters and any other members of the family can enjoy too.

It’s a very inexpensive craft. You don’t need a lot of fancy supplies and tools to make a card with your kids. If your kids are new to making cards or are still quite young, all you really need is some cardstock in different colours, some glue, a pair of child-friendly scissors (or an adult to do all the cutting for them) and perhaps some fun embellishments like stickers to play with.

Kids always love to play with colours and making cards gives them the perfect opportunity to do so. If they are really young, it’s also a great time to teach them the names of the different colours.

Make sure they have lots of different coloured cardstock and embellishments to choose from and watch them mix and match. You never know what they’ll come up with! Give them some shapes they can trace and cut out too. They don’t have to be anything fancy – some circles, hearts and stars will do.

If you want to create some cards as well, or if your kids are a little older and more sophisticated, you may wish to consider purchasing some fancier tools and embellishments like 3D stickers, rub-ons, brads, eyelets, ribbons and fibres. All add a touch of style and class to your cards and are also lots of fun to play with. The kids don’t have to be the only ones who get to play!

Your kids will probably have lots of ideas of what they want to do with their cards, but if you are struggling to find your own card making ideas, consider starting with a card making sketch. It will make creating your own designs so much easier. Your kids might even like to follow along too. After all, kids always love to do what their parents do!

Perhaps you could choose your favourite sketch together and then see how many different ideas you can come up with. It’s a great way to spend some fun, quality time together and I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised with your results!

The Original Post is Located Here: Card Making With Kids

If you aren’t sure what an eyelet is, they are small metal embellishments with a hole through the middle. Traditionally, they are round, but thanks to the explosion of the papercraft industry, they now come in a wide range of colours, sizes and shapes.

You can use them to attach other items to your card, or as an embellishment as themselves.

To attach, you will need an eyelet setter, a relatively inexpensive tool available from most major craft stores.

Exactly what you need to do to attach your eyelet depends on the tool you use. The basic idea though, is that you punch a small hole in the material you are applying the eyelet to. You then put the eyelet in place and turn it upside down (so the top of the eyelet is now in contact with your desk and you are looking at the underside). You then use your eyelet setting tool to lock it in place. It’s very simple.

Once you know how to set eyelets, you won’t be able to resist using them on lots of your card making projects. Here are just a few uses for eyelets you might like to try.

1. Use round eyelets for the center of flowers.

2. Place them in the corners of your card or rectangular embellishment.

3. Place one at each end of your card and thread a ribbon through them.

4. Place them in a line to create a border down one side of your card.

5. Place them in a line to underline your title or sentiment.

6. Create a cake or cupcake embellishment from paper and use eyelets to create the sprinkles.

7. Use them as a substitute for buttons. For example, if you create a snowman embellishment, instead of buttons down his front, you could use eyelets.

8. Create a pizza embellishment from paper and use eyelets to create the toppings.

9. Use them as dots and spots. For example, if you create a ladybug embellishment, use black eyelets to create the spots on its back.

These are just some of literally hundreds of different things you can create for your card making projects using eyelets. Give them a go and see what you can create!

The Original Post is Located Here: Eyelets In Card Making

There are so many choices available when it comes to shopping for card making supplies. Stores are filled with so many pretty and cute items to choose from. So how do we know which ones are essential and which are the optional extras?

Here is a list of the must-haves for making special homemade cards you will just love:

1. Cardstock in a variety of colors. Cardstock is perhaps the most important of your card making supplies as it will form the base for most of your cards as well as be an essential element of your designs. Make sure you keep a wide range of colors in your craft room so you always have what you need on hand.

2. Patterned papers for color, texture and interest.

3. Adhesives and perhaps an adhesive remover like a glue eraser.

4. A pair of good quality scissors, a paper trimmer and perhaps a craft knife.

5. Embellishments

Here is where you can really have some fun. There are so many different embellishments available that you can select whatever appeals to you and suits your personality.

Types of card making embellishments include stickers, rub-ons, cut-outs, buttons, brads, eyelets, ribbons, deco tapes, flowers, fabric, lace, sewing thread, glitter and more. They all come in a wide range of colours, styles and designs so there’s sure to be something to suit everyone.

6. Tools

There are also a wide range of tools on the market that help you create your own card making embellishments. These include punches, stencils, stamps, circle cutters and die-cutting machines like the Cricut.

While tools can be very useful card making supplies and a lot of fun to play with, it is best to wait awhile before investing in a wide range of tools as you can easily end up with a lot of things you won’t use.

Making cards for the special people in your lives is a fun and rewarding hobby. I hope this guide has helped you choose the card making supplies you need to get started.

The Original Post is Located Here: Essential Card Making Supplies