Making Cards My Way

One craft I have taken up within the past couple of years is card making. Before the passing of my father I always thought that cards were a waste of money because we could always just tell the person what we want to say... that's how I thought it. Well me, being quite a self centered creature many of times, I tend to not change my mind or learn my lesson until it was on my own doing (usually through experience). So after my father's death I was getting cards even a couple months later. I was flabbergasted. It was so difficult to go through each of my days watching everyone else not be affected by this. They were all still so happy, laughing, and carrying on and of course they did...they didn't know my dad! How dare I expect everyone else in my path to morn with me. But something happened each time I received a card in the mail. My heart would flutter and I would feel so loved and special all because that person was obviously thinking of me. After that I decided I wanted to make others feel the same way. So, not wanting to spend too much money on this and since I already had the materials from my scrapbooking box, I decided to make some thank you cards. And from there I started a newly loved craft.

I have seen books, even own one, on card making. I see many of them on pinterest and ones my own friends have made but my style is not the same. And that is just fine. There is no right style or wrong style to card making. I personally like to try and use as many of my own resources for my crafts as possible. Since Hubby and I live happily on an extremely tight budget I didn't have the extra money every month to run to the local craft store and buy all the 'needed necessities'...that stuff can get extraordinarily expensive.

Here are some examples of some cards I've made...

*notice the 'odd numbers', 'overlapping' and 'clustering'? -Read about those things in MY RULES OF CARD MAKING below...

*this kind of card is what I call an 'encouragement' card. Usually for those I like to use words like 'bloom' that would make the lady know I was telling her everything is okay, to go ahead and let your life or yourself 'bloom'.
*the little pink bow in the top left hand corner was taken off of another card I had (resourcefulness or aka recycling)
*notice the green paper is larger than the lined paper? It's better to have one side bigger than the other if you are going to have separate papers.
*I love to crinkle the white background paper sometimes like this one.

*a 'manly' card. This would be a thank you card for a guy. It's extremely simple with guyish colors and kept in the same color tones.

My rules of card making:
*If any of you know much about landscaping one of the well known rules to landscapers is 'keep it odd numbered'. For some reason human's eyes/minds don't feel 'complete' when seeing something evenly numbered. (I believe I first heard this on a landscaping show a long time ago). For example, put 3 things clustered together towards one corner and in the other corner cluster together 2...thus making 5 total. If you make 3 in one corner and 3 in the other then make something in the middle pulling it all together thus making 7 things to look at. I realize landscaping is not card making but I always felt that that 'rule' can be used in many different places due to it's reasoning behind it.
*Overlap or cluster. I like to think of it as people. People tend to flock together, just like animals and plants, so it makes sense when we see things clustered together. Just look around your house, I bet ya the pictures on the walls are in 'groupings' and not just randomly spread out. It makes sense to us to 'group' or 'cluster' things together and with the others that are like them.
*Use multiple colors but make them flow well together... aka use the same kinds of color schemes. Example: cream, a soft mauve, and sage...those colors look very pretty together.
*Have a theme! Whether the theme is nature, girly, baby, vintage, or a color theme stick to the theme.
*Keep it simple. I don't know about any of you, but many of times I find myself feeling overwhelmed when I look at something and there is too much to look at and my eyes are falling all over the place. So don't give your receiver a headache...
*Keep the 'receiver' in mind. aka don't make a card that they wouldn't like, make something that when you look at the card it reminds you of them. Use colors they like, keep the the theme to something they like, etc.
*Be resourceful.

*an example of resourcefulness: this is left over from a thin piece of card board I had flowers in. I will just cut the white part off and use that to put a caption on or as a background for something...the thing I would toss is the top part.

Male cards can be extremely difficult to figure out how to make. Try using 'manly' colors like rich greens, blues, grays, and blacks. Be careful on the bright colors, red is okay but avoid bright yellow, pinks, bright orange, etc. And definitely avoid pastels. Keep their card extremely simple. Men don't usually notice the fancy little details we put on the card. In fact, keep the props you use on it slim. The 'gaudier' it is the more ridiculous and impractical it seems to them.

However...
Females do like the dramatic and gaudy things...usually. We tend to love those little doilies and flowers and bright flamboyant colors. But be sure not to go over board...if you have to buy an extra stamp because of the weight then you probably put too much on.

Male:
*Use buttons, nature, or color schemes for your themes.
*Don't use flowers, jewels, glitter, or lace.

Sympathy Cards:
*Don't use bright and happy colors. Use softer tones that look calm and soothing.
*Steer more towards using cross, bible verse, or nature themes.
*Make it centered around that person they lost or the relationship they had to the person.

Baby Cards:
*Use soft tones or pastels.
*Center it around the baby (aka use blues for boys and pinks for girls) but keep in mind that the baby isn't the one seeing it, it's the mom....
*It's okay to make the baby boy card a little girly because the mom (whom is a girl) is the one looking at it.

Ways to Save:
*When going to the craft store stick to what you went in there for and do not go 'looking' in the other departments.
*Consider the card you are making and decide the exact things you need for it.
*Find as many things you can use that you already have in your home as much as possible...an example would be the paper I use, I just cut it to the size and shape I want and use double stick tape to stick them together.
*Don't buy the extremely expensive little things. When strolling in the sticker isle ignore the ones that are 4 or 5 dollars and only give you enough for a one time usage, buy the ones that are usually 3 dollars or less with many supplied to you...you will find ones you like.
*Before heading to the register look at the things in your cart and put 1 or 2 items back unless you absolutely need every single thing. Look at each item and decide if you will really use it.

Waste of Money:
*Buying already cut card stock...you can save so much just by cutting your own paper.
*Fancy craft machines. If you have the money for one or want one as a gift then great, but if not then don't go spending the money for one.

Resource Ideas:
Scrapbook paper
Construction paper
Ribbons
Doilies
Stencils
Punch-outs
'3D stickers' butterflies, flowers, letters, etc.
Cutting pieces out of cards and gift bags already sent to me (doves from wedding cards, crosses, grooms and brides, hearts, etc)
Flattened out Dove wrappers (you know the ones with super cute quotes)
Fake flowers (daisies I've found are the best because they're flat and girly)
Use other cards to trace the card size you want to make.

Needed Items Worth Buying:
Double Stick Tape
Sissors
Glue
Envelopes (obviously)

*here I am tracing another card sent to me for the size I want on a card I am making...

Please keep in mind that I am not a professional nor am I telling you that the way you make cards is wrong, this is just my style of card making. If you have never made a card before but have always wanted to then these things I have listed on this post may be of great help to you. If you have any questions feel free to ask in the comment section below...I would be super happy to help.
Have a great day!