Easy Card Making

Don't Believe Everything A Card Craft Seller Tells You.

This post has been set up because I get rather tired of craft sites and TV programs telling me I need this and that to make my cards.

Please don't misunderstand my statement. Craft item sellers need to sell their products, but if you are on a budget or are just trying a new hobby there are things around the house you can use and make do with at first.

If they get away with it they will sell me all kinds of specialist tools I don't need, can't afford and sometime just don't give the result they promise.

I thought I would start this for hints and tips. Also a list of thing that will be handy if you want to start making your own cards.

Reindeer Christmas

This is a small card half the size of my normal ones. It was made very simple in it design and materials because I needed to make quite a number of them.

The backing sheet was sized to print four times on a A4 thin card small enough to have a boarder around the base card. After it was glued to the card base it was trimmed with a boarder gold peel off. The small topper is made from a piece of pearl card stamped with a snowflake Christmas tree embossed in gold. This was mounted with foam pads onto a holographic card which gave it a gold boarder, this was then attached to the corner of the design surface.

The Merry Christmas is gold peel off, the foil reindeer I found in a craft store they were 85p for 10, they finish the card well and are so cute.

There are no hint and tips for this card as it was made using the same method as other on the blog. If you don't use stamps and embossing powder you could use a Christmas motive, picture or seasonal peel off.

Simple Layered card, lovely for a child's card.

This card was made from a A4 card stock folded to make A5 size. Attach a pretty backing paper to the front of the card with double sided sticky tape, trim top and bottom with silver peel off to make a braid.

Make the next layer with a smaller piece of card and use a plain similar shade, (if the picture is going to be darker than the card it may be good to start to tone it darker than the backing but lighter than the image, via versa if the picture is lighter than the backing) Attach with foam pads after trimming it a little with silver peel off or gold if you wish depending on your colour choice and theme.

Finally the topper itself. This will be smaller again, attach again with foam pads, add a little sentiment and you have a pretty card.

You will need an insert these can be bought ready made, unless you wish to try them for your self, they are quite easy just paper with the message you wish, folded in half and trimmed to fit inside the card attach with double sided sticky tape.

These A5 cards fit into an C6 envelope

Christmas Paper

Christmas time brings an unending source of raw materials if you stop looking at what to wrap. If you chose your design carefully it makes cheap an very effective backing paper for your card images. Christmas sticking tape with designs on can be a strip on a plane card try edging it with a little straight line peel off down each side. The green Christmas card displayed on the blog has foil wrapping Christmas paper for backing trimmed with a straight line peel off, stamped toppers to finish it how about using very small Christmas cards you have received last year for this year for toppers? January Sales are great for rolls of wrapping and overstocked small cards if your not recycling.

Glitter

As a card crafter I love glitter most of us do, it lift the image and often enhances a flat image, but beware, little is more.

I once bought a sheet of red and gold swirl scrapbook paper to us as a backing for a large Christmas card but after I attached it to the card it looked a little flat and a bit of a let down. No being the type to give in and definitely not the type to waste money I took my fine glue pen and went over the gold swirls with it and sprinkled gold holographic glitter on it, Wow that lifted it.

I have made glitter ribbon with narrow double sided sticking tape just place it were you want a ribbon and glitter it with your chosen colour, its effective not subtle but effective.

Try the double sided sticking tape tip with flower soft if you have it lovely soft effect. A blob of glue in the centre of a paper punched daisy and some yellow flower soft is lovely.

Easy Card Making

Don't Believe Everything A Card Craft Seller Tells You.

Tool List

Oriental Backing Paper

Wednesday 8 September 2010

Sweet Little Fairy

Craft Christmas

Reindeer Christmas

Wrapping Paper Backing

Pyramid Card

DECOUPAGE

Card 2

Bluebell and Lace Fairy