Personalize Note Cards

Mar '03

Probably the most basic, simple, yet elegant way to make your own note cards would be to take 8.5x11 cardstock, and cut it in half at 5.5 inches. Then crease and fold in half. You can take an embossing template and center your initial in the center of the card, and emboss it with a stylus. Then if you want to go hog wild, you could emboss a decorative border around it, or something as plain and simple as a block shape leaving a border around the entire card--and if you wanted to go completely nuts--use the merest dusting of chalk to highlight the initial.

Nancy

Mar '03

Jill...I have gone WILD with cardmaking! I absolutely love doing it. There are several good card books on the market now. I highly recommend:
1) "Creative Cards" by Becky Higgins. Not sure if this is in the sb.c store, but you may want to check.
2) "Making Greeting Cards With Creative Materials" by MaryJo McGraw.
3) "The big Book of Greeting Cards" by Vivienne Bolton.
4) "Designing With Texture" by Erin Trimble.
I also:
1) get ideas from scrapbook magazines, several of which always have a section on card making. I cut the layouts that I like out of the book and keep them in a special notebook.
2) Use scrapbook layouts, pick out the ones I like and convert them into a suitable card design.
3) Use some of my patterned SB paper by cutting out flowers and other designs to be adapted to my cards.
4) Use lots of my old diecuts (which I had about stopped using). I use mesh, eyelets, brads, lace, fibers, and other embellishments with the diecuts to create absolutely beautiful cards.
5)Use wallpaper. Most wallpaper stores will give or sell you very cheap some of their old wallpaper books that contain discontinued wallpaper samples. Wallpaper is NOT acid-free or lignin-free, but unless you are sure the people will keep the cards, being acid-free really doesn't matter.
6) Look in art shops and art supply stores. They often sell small prints (3x5 or 4x6) of flowers, other botanicals, etc. very reasonably. These can be incorporated with embellishments into simply beautiful cards.
7) When I use flowers, I often use Crystal Lacquer to highlight the flower petals or add "dew drops" on roses. I even use chalk to enhance lighter color flowers like making a white rose have a slight blush of pink.
Once you get going on cards, you will love it. I made about 75 at Christmas which were really nice and people even called me to say how beautiful they were. I made my Valentines this year, and am in the process of making Easter cards. I go to online sites for quotations to use as verses in the cards. I plan to give my Mom, Sisters, Nieces, and some close friends a box of 10 or 12 homemade cards for Christmas gifts and have just started working on them. Have fun doing this!

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Scrapper Sue