The Benefits Of Handmade Cards
Making handmade cards is an excellent pastime that will save you money as well as utilise your imagination. Also know as card craft or card crafting, the recipient of a handmade cards will feel really really special.
All you need is some blank cards and envelopes, glue, scissors, shapes and lots of ideas. The saint way is to collect everything you need before you start. Really the more the better. Things like coloured pens, coloured paper and card, felt shapes and glitter will make your handmade cards really special.
Making cards is also a great way to save money. Most normal cards begin at at least a couple of pounds with the most creative costing much more. Making a card will probably just cost you less than a pound. The more you make the cheaper they become.
The first thing is to think about who the card is for. A middle aged man probably won’t appreciate a pink fluffy card with sparkles but if they will then go for it. You really want to create a handmade card that the recipient will want to display proudly on their mantelpiece. Sterotypes work well with handmade cards girls like pink and boys like geometric shapes, Think about the message in the card as well something individualized is great and remember to use proper ink rather than ballpen. You could even try gold or silver ink to make your handmade card really special.
It’s normally saint to do the wording first so you don’t run out of space. Use a pencil to draw out the wording before inking it in. Once you have the wording, begin to create. Think about what shapes and which materials work well together. For example felt shapes work well with pom poms. You can even purchase pom pom kits to make things like animals.
Building shapes up to make a 3D effect looks fantastic, but don’t forget to check the card will fit in the envelope you have. If not you’ll need to purchase some larger envelopes. Try using tissue paper to give your cards a 3D effect.
Mosaic designs work well in cards. Simply cut your paper or card into small shapes and stick then into a shape to produce a mosaic effect.
Glitter is a perfect finishing touch but use it sparingly otherwise it will just start off in the envelope or will make a mess when the card is opened.
What to buy
Glue for sticking
Blank cards and envelopes
Bumper packs of coloured paper and coloured card are saint for creating great shapes
Colouring Pens will grant you to draw shapes that you can stick shapes into
Shapes Whether they are prefabricated from felt, paper or card, shapes are very versatile and can be used to create many different things
Stickers Kids especially love stickers. From shapes to smiley faces to numbers there’s something that all kids will like. You can even get holographic stickers for those special cards
Tissue paper You can scrunch up paper to create three dimensional arts. Tissue paper is ideal
Paints and Brushes are a favourite but be careful about the mess!
Glitter Ditto
Save old newspaper As well as using it in creating artworks, you can use it to protect surfaces and floors.
Philip Chadwick (philipc@gwchadwick.co.uk) is a Director of G W Chadwick Ltd based in Lancashire in North West England. He has many years of experience in supplying handmade cards to major UK retailers and the general public. He is responsible for developing new product ranges and is always on the lookout for new ideas.
