Filed under: Cardmaking
Gain Friends Through Cardmaking
Being friends to those who have the same interests and hobby as yours is so easy to attain if you have a special connection. When you are young, you love making cards for your parents together with your classmates and friends and that is one way to connect with others without saying a word. Cardmaking is a hobby that helps you express your love and affection to the most significant people in your life.
The good thing about cardmaking and sending it out is that you are able to enhance your craft while conveying your message to others. One good thing about making cards is that you can do it with others. In fact, making cards are more enjoyable and interesting if you will do it together with other people such as friends, child, parents and someone special. This exercise can foster the spirit of teamwork, goodwill and stronger ties between you and others. It can also widen your social network and improve your self-confidence.
It is also nice to join groups or clubs to have more friends which share the same kind of interest as yours. You can also form a group together with your friends and persuade others to join your group. You will be amazed at the number of people fascinated especially if you will publicly announce and advertise it in social networking websites. Your group can create cards as a pastime and develop a business as well. All you have to do is to create cards intended for all types of occasions. You can meet your group twice or thrice a week to be able to share ideas.
Crafts and arts is something that everyone can do, even if you think that you do not have the talent or the skill. This can be your stepping stone to be able to intensify your talent and skill for craft and art. Cardmaking is a superior way to experiment into something more artistic. There is a wider opportunity that awaits you as you enhance your craft in making cards. It is also one of the best ways to meet other people. Whatever ideas you produce as long as it is personal to the recipient and is based on things they enjoy your cards will be warmly acknowledged and very much cherished.
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December 29, 2010
Cardmaking Ideas for Personal Use and Small Business
No matter what the occasion, there is every reason to make a celebration, to send greetings, or to just say hello. For this reason, knowing a couple of cardmaking ideas is definitely handy, especially if you are one who cherishes giving out personalized greeting cards. In addition, handcrafted cards are but dandy to create, and if your passion is both in business and the arts, then you can always set up your own small business of handcrafted greeting cards. So let’s begin.
Use printed photographs. Nostalgic as they are, photos tell great stories in themselves. Cut out photos of family members and friends and paste them neatly inside colorful hand-drawn bubble or balloon figures. This is one of the finest ways to make your greeting cards highly personalized!
Create embroidered card covers. If you are particularly artsy with great skills in needlework, then why not combine embroidery with cardmaking? You can make badges of embroidered names, words and phrases, and then stick them onto the cover of your greeting card.
Make a collage. A simple card can be extra attractive if you put on different items like buttons, gemstones, glitters, colored sand or sawdust, paint streaks and drops, colored cutouts, beads, etc. Just make sure you have a concept so that the card won’t appear like a dirty mess, though.
Use paper cords. If you are particularly eco-friendly, you can utilize old magazine or newspaper pages, cut them into strips and twist them until they become paper cords or threads. Dab the paper cords with paint, glitters or whatever, and then assemble them unto the card cover as outlines, names, figures, etc. Secure them with heavy duty glue.
Create baby prints. For baby showers or kid’s birthdays, then this could perhaps be the most euphoric and simplistic cardmaking idea for you. All you need are water-based paint or watercolor and your child’s hands and feet. Soak your child’s fingers, toes, palms or soles into the color and stamp them onto the card covers. Just be sure your baby isn’t allergic to the paint or color.
Replicate kindergarten art. Toddlers can be very creative with their hands. Choose one or more of your child’s drawings and then make colored copies of them. You can use specialized paper or colored cardboard for printing. These cards will make good invitations to your child’s birthday or graduation party.
Make sponge art. For this cardmaking concept, take out a sponge, cut it into your desired shape and size. Mix a solution of color and then soak the sponge into the color. Afterwards dab the sponge onto the card. You can use a tree-shaped sponge for Christmas, heart for Valentines and so on. You may use different colors and shapes here. To reuse sponge, wash it clean first and squeeze excess liquid off.
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December 10, 2010
Cardmaking Techniques of Cutting and Folding
Do you believe in the saying, “practice makes perfect”? We do, too. Indeed, many activities are worth your first, second, third, and nth try until you can get the gist of them and perform them like a pro. However, do not be surprised if you can do some cardmaking technique successfully even at first try. Making cards and stationeries is quite simple, but then again, if you want more precision, more designs, and more flexibility, then practice often and practice hard.
Folding – This cardmaking activity is basic and elementary, but if not done properly you will get a poor product with ugly creases. Score the card or paper stock with a stylus, awl or bone folder. Remember to score the outside of the fold and fold away from the scored side. Place light, erasable marks – this will be the fold line. Draw the stylus along the fold line as guided by a straight edge like a ruler or rail. Use moderate pressure to avoid tearing the stock. Fold away from the score and pinch the crease with your thumb and index finger, or press it with a bone folder. Lay a thin sheet over the stock before pressing to prevent a shine. It is preferable not to fold against the grain.
Cutting – Cutting stock is always easier and more neatly done with a paper trimmer with a sharp blade. But if you don’t have a paper trimmer, an equally sharp craft knife and a cutting mat will do the trick. A good choice of cutting mat is one that has self-healing surface, minimizes slippage, has a measuring grid, and has a heavy duty blade. Always make proper measurements before cutting to avoid waste and to repeat work.
Making card windows – Windows add beauty and uniqueness to your card. This cardmaking technique takes plenty of practice before you can possibly make very good windows. Again determine the size of the window and then place temporary marks or lines where you need to cut out the window. Open the card flat on a cutting mat, and with a sharp craft knife and metal ruler, cut the window out as guided by the marks or lines. For round, oval or irregular-shaped windows, a craft knife can still be used although a pair of scissors is more preferable. You can use a compass, various objects and even art templates to draw the window before cutting.
There are other cardmaking techniques that you should know and practice, such as dry and heat embossing, as well as rubber stamping. However, learning about the basic folding and cutting techniques of making greeting cards is already a great milestone.
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December 8, 2010
How to start a Cardmaking Business?
Some are hesitant to try a cardmaking business because they thought that it would not sell knowing the seemingly nearing demise of the print industry? With the fast prolification of the advancements in the digital industry and the sudden rise of social networking sites and telecommunications technology through cellular phones, who would need a card to get his or her message across or feelings known?
Well, I do, said Ted, a 35 year old bank manager. He has always been a fan of greeting cards ever since he was in elementary. He is very fond of giving his friends and family greeting cards. “When I was little, I used to make tons of greeting cards for my family and friends on any given occasion,” relates Ted. “But now that I am already 35 and I am now very busy with my career, I would still give away greeting cards on special occasion only I would just buy them on a nearby book store.” But, Ted assures us that he make sure that she writes every card with a very personalized message. “My message need not to be long as long as it comes from the heart,” he adds.
But sadly, some of his cards remained to be unsent mainly because he is often busy and he don’t have the time to drop by the post office and have these cards sent. “I just wish a card company could do that for us,” Ted notes. “In that way no card would be left unsent.”
This very problem is the main paradigm behind home-based card making companies. They are bringing convenience to their large network of clients. Without even the need to go to the book store, they could personalize their card and include their heartfelt message and they could also request the same company who would be processing their card to have it sent at the post office. With these home-based cardmaking companies, sending cards is now very easy.
So, how do you start home-based cardmaking companies? First you will be needing the following: a reliable computer, printer and internet connection. You should have a software that can make cards, this software should be uploaded to your website so that your patrons could make their cards from there. You will also be needing a quality A4 card. A4 because it is the standard of all paper sizes and it is known to be durable also. And of course, you will be needing a box-filled with art and crafts supplies!
In your home-made cardmaking company, you should be as close as possible to your consumers. You should find time to talk to your clients about the kind of card that they wanted and you should have lots of suggestions for them. You should be friendly and very accomodating so that your clients would be interested to go back to your website and avail of your services.
November 18, 2010
Rubber Stamps in Cardmaking
It is easy enough to figure out that cards can do a lot to lift people’s spirits up. They can be used to cheer them up, let them know that you care, and can even mend broken relationships if the situation permits. That is why if you really are into cardmaking, then you can turn a simple hobby into something big. You can become the go-to person when others need something to either supplement their gift ideas or just giving one to who they have in mind for whatever reason.
There are a lot of tools that you can make use of in cardmaking. Aside from your usual materials like paper, pens, printers, and so on, there may be some small ones you may miss that can definitely improve your cardmaking designs. It may seem unlikely to some, but rubber stamps can do a lot of wonders for your finished product. Once you learn how to proportion your stamping and how to use colors, then you can add it to your cardmaking repertoire.
Consider your ink pads as the basis of your rubber stamps. You should have a good selection of colors without being too extreme about it. All you need perhaps is a blue and red one to get things rolling. With a solid understanding of how different colors work, you can then worry more about the stamp designs. You can either buy them or have them custom made.
Most of the time, rubber stamps are used to indicate certain things on documents, such as date, time, and other types of status. However, it has transcended its industrial and commercial purposes in that they’ve been used for artistic purposes once people figured out how to make them on their own. If you can actually do this, then the limit is merely within your imagination. Of course, please remember that the design has to be made in inverse so that the stamped design would look right on the paper.
If you can’t make them on your own, then you need a trusted stamp maker. There should be one around the neighborhood or around town. They usually take orders from offices and other commercial establishments who request stamps for their own use. They shouldn’t really have a problem with making designs out of your own fancy. As long as you can find one that will do it for a reasonable price, then you’re covered.
Once you’re ready to stamp, it is good to know that the ink can vary in darkness, which is helpful since you can just have it in a lighter or darker shade of the same color as the card used in order to have some color enhancing effect. You can also experiment with other colors, if you wish. The artistic boundaries of this is nearly limitless.
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November 13, 2010
