Card Making for Beginners - 7 Tips to Get You Started

Among various other interesting hobbies that you can have, making greeting cards for your loved ones can be very enjoyable and can add to your creativity. Not only does making cards give you the freedom to choose the designs and colours yourself and also convey the right messages but when you're making them for friends or family, it also lets the people on the receiving end know just how important they are to you.

However, if you are new to this craft and thinking about making a card from scratch for someone special in your life, you may not know where to begin, but these tips can help to make the experience a little easier. Take a look at our seven tips for card making for beginners and you'll soon be on your way to making your cards stand out and making people smile when they see them.

Use Beautiful Stamps 

You may think that wooden stamps are old-fashioned but the beauty they will add to your card is definitely unmatched and they are so easy to use. You need to take proper care of your stamps so that they can last a long time, so if you are using water-soluble ink, to make your stamping process cleaner, spray some cold water onto its surface. Once done, you need to dab it with a clean cloth or a paper towel but keep in mind that scrubbing or rubbing a stamp can destroy its surface and render it useless. You can check out these lovely vintage wooden rubber stamps on Amazon, which have various letters, symbols and numbers and come in a handy wooden box.

Make Use of Ribbons

Ribbons are not only useful for gift wrapping but you can also be very creative when using them for different designs on your handmade cards and you can make them come to life. It's best to use very sharp scissors when cutting your ribbon and you should know that some of the time, the ends can fray, which could ruin the entire look of your card, so to avoid that, you can use transparent nail polish on the end of it and get rid of any fraying once and for all. These twenty-four premium woven ribbons on Amazon are made from satin and have different printed patterns to give various stunning looks to your cards.

Get Yourself a Hi-Polymer Eraser

If you want to draw directly on your card with pencil, you'll need a high-quality, latex-free eraser in case you need to change it or remove certain parts. Whether you're using your pencil to add placement marks or to add some of your own artwork, it's best to always use a hi-polymer eraser, which leaves no smudges and requires very little pressure, and this pack of ten on Amazon has many great reviews for removing marks efficiently and cleanly.

Add Foam Adhesive Dots

If you want to add something to your card to take it to a whole new level of creativity, then foam adhesive dots are a go-to option that can add extra dimension. They can be used on the front of your card to provide enough space between various different elements that you want to add to help make them stand out. Check out these twelve sheets of tiny round adhesive dots on Amazon, which are made of high-quality 3D foam, and gives you a total of 2400 pieces in one purchase.

Make Your Own Foam Adhesive Shapes

As well as using foam adhesive dots, you can also make your own foam adhesive shapes simply using foam sheets and glue. All you have to do is cut a piece of the foam sheet in the shape you require, glue it to the card and you're good to go! These strong-textured, white foam sheets that come in a pack of thirty on Amazon can be used to make all kinds of designs, so your imagination is the limit.

Make Use of Other Paper Sources, Like Gift Bags

Card making for beginners can turn out to be more creative and fun when you use unconventional sources of paper to give your card a different look and feel. For this purpose, you can use coloured, printed or decorated gift bags because they're just the right weight to use when making cards and all you need to do is cut out your desired shapes and then glue to the cardstock. This pack of eight high-quality Hallmark gift bags comes in several sizes and shapes and they feature various designs that will look great on homemade cards.

Invest in a Card Box

Using a box where you can neatly store the cards you've already made can keep them organized and ensure that they stay in great shape before you send them out. You can organize by month or occasion and then you just need to mail each card when needed. This pretty, durable, metal card box on Amazon comes with twelve tabs and you can use it to store up to seventy cards, and it even comes with ten cards and envelopes to get you started, which you could customize yourself.

The above seven tips are just the tip of the iceberg on your card-making journey and while they may be helpful in the beginning, you'll also find all sorts of weird and wonderful ideas in books, magazines and online, which can help inspire you with your own card designs. You could also try a locally-run course in order to learn more about advanced designs and crafting ideas but also keep reading our blogs for more information in the future.