Tips For Making Greeting Cards By Hand
Making a greeting card by hand is a wonderful way to show the recipient you care. Not only will a personalized card make someone's day, but you will also have a wonderful time making it. A handmade card will be a treasure, whether it is made for the holidays, anniversaries, or birthdays!
Many stationery shops and big-box craft stores sell specialty materials for card making. You will be able to make gorgeous greeting cards for many occasions, including a marriage greeting card, with materials from these stores. Of course, you can also find material around your home to make great custom greeting cards too! Learn about some of the best tips for making cards by hand now. Use these tips to help you search for the materials you need to create the best greeting cards.
Use Paper Scraps
If you have ever scrapbooked or saved wrapping paper, you likely have everything you need to start making a greeting card at home. However, you will still have many places to start, even if neither applies to you. All you need is to use paper scraps for your cards! Many magazines have interesting images you can use to create a collage for the card. Just paste them onto a base layer, such as heavy printer paper, and trim around the edges for a professional look. You can also use your wrapping paper stash to find interesting textures or colors. This is great for holiday cards!
In addition, you can create traditional or modern looks with simple brown kraft paper and white printer paper. Bonus tip: kraft paper makes a great envelope! Look for a template online for how to fold the perfect-size envelope for mailing your handmade card.
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Use Multiple Materials
Think about the most beautiful store-bought cards you have received. They are probably not just a flat piece of heavy paper in an envelope! You are likely to find glued-on items of interest. Examples include beautiful scissored snowflakes for winter cards, a simple pink heart with a small clothespin on the bottom for Valentine's day, and, of course, glitter.
While you probably do not want to add a significant amount of glitter, even small amounts of craft glitter and flat sequins can be a pretty way to jazz up a simple greeting card. Even fabric can be beautiful on paper if you get creative. If you have a decorative element to add, create dimension by gluing a small piece of thin foam or a few layers of cardstock and then affixing the decoration on top.
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Pick A Focal Color
Choosing one or two colors as your focus is the best way to achieve a cohesive, professional look for your handmade card. This is especially the case if you use multiple materials! Think back to elementary school art class and the color wheel. For instance, blues look good paired with their opposites, which are colors in the orange family. Although you can pick colors on the same side of the color wheel, such as red and purple, there is less contrast. Picking a focal color means making sure one stands out! Of course, if you are taking the time to make a card, you likely know the recipient well. Choose their favorite color as a small way to let them know you designed the card with them in mind.
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Choose A Theme
Along with picking a focal color, another way to create a nice handmade card is to choose a theme. Humans are built to read a story in everything, and this includes visual stories. Of course, when you choose a theme for your card, you must be sure to express the narrative clearly and cohesively. Imagine making a card with construction tools and sending it to an expecting mother. It could be received as an awkward or random choice unless it is clear that your theme is 'Baby Boy/Girl Under Construction.' Use clear headlines and written greetings that coordinate with the visual theme you have chosen.
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Try Simple Calligraphy
Do not be afraid to try simple calligraphy on your handmade card! It is easier than you may think, and there are so many free tutorials online for you to watch. Of course, the best advice for calligraphy, even simple projects with it, is to practice. It would be terrible if you spent an hour creating a beautiful card only to have your paint pen splotch and ruin it when you begin to write on it. Get the kinks out on practice paper first!
A good tip is to use a paper that is the same texture as your card because different types of paper take ink differently, and each pen feels different on different paper. You do not want to learn too late that the felt-tipped marker you love to write in your journal with smears everywhere on the opalescent, silky paper you picked for your mother's birthday card. If you are particularly nervous, try printing a template with a computer font that matches what you want to achieve. This template can guide you quite closely!