Scrapbooking 101-Card Making

I started making my own greeting cards about fifteen years ago.  That was when I received my first handmade card from a friend.  I began by making my own Christmas cards.  That has expanded into making all the birthday, anniversary and special occasion cards that I send out to family and friends.  I see my card making as an extension of my scrapbook page design.  I enjoy designing a special card for each recipient.  Often, the design is based on who is receiving the card.  I also like making my own cards as it is a great way to use up the little pieces of paper that are not big enough for a scrapbook page, but too big to throw away.

Now that I have been doing this for a while, I have a small design book that I record the design in as well as the supplies and instructions for that design.  Most of the designs in the book are actual scale.  However, some of them require special sizing so do not fit into the book on actual scale.  I usually make all my cards the same size: 8 ½”  by 5 ½”, folded in half to make a 4 ¼” by 5 ½” card.

I try to make a year’s worth of cards all at once.  This usually takes me about three or four weeks.  The inside of the cards, are made as I need them.  Unless I happen to have envelopes on hand, I also make the envelopes.  Some of the cards that I am currently making are a little larger as I wanted to use up twenty-five very nice envelopes I still had from the note cards I used when I was an administrator.

My yearly calendar for the cards is actually November 1^st of the current year-October 31^st of the following year.  I have special boxes that I use for the cards.  For birthday, anniversary and special days, I have a box that also has the calendar for dates of the event and a mailing date on top.  For all other greeting cards, I have a box that at one time contained other greeting cards; this includes get well, thank you, sympathy, note cards and generic birthday cards.

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The first card I have made for this “year” is a birthday card for our daughter-in-law.  It is designed after the first card I received.  I demonstrated how to make the pocket in the post titled, Scrapbooking 101-Embellishments. I also made a matching envelope.

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The next card is a design I found on Pinterest.  It is a simple design.  The pattern pieces I keep in a clear plastic pocket in my design book.

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Sometimes, a card practically designs itself.  Such is the case of this next design.  When I was going through my scraps of paper looking for something, I happened upon this folded red cardstock left over from last Christmas.  I paired it with black paper and left-over ribbon and now it is ready for a message.

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This next design I love using for the males on my card list.  It is an easy way to individualize a card.  I find a picture on Pinterest that portrays a particular interest of the recipient.  I print it off to the size I need, add a greeting and put it all together.  It is easily adaptable for a female card, such as this Mother’s Day card.

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In Scrapbooking 101-Embellishments, I demonstrated how to make a jeans-like rear pocket.  I use this pocket in a variety of ways in card design.  For the first card below, I simply tucked in a scrap of fabric and the card was made.  For the second card, I added a collar and buttons.  Now it is ready for our grandson.  All it needs is a little money in the pocket.

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It is easy to make the next card when you have a pre-made pattern.  This card is another easy way to use up paper scraps. 

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I receive many birthday, anniversary and Mother’s Day cards each year.  Believe it or not, I still have all the cards my husband, children and grandchildren have given me.  However, when you get to be my age, you simply cannot keep every card you have received from other family and friends.  Many of them are way too pretty to throw away, so I recycle them.  The cards below were made with parts of other greeting cards. 

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One of my favorites is the birthday card I made for my friend who lives in Florida.  We have been friends since 1952.  For as long as I can remember, one of my very talented cousins has been designing and making her own Christmas cards.  She actually does all the drawings on the cards.  Several years ago, the drawing below was on the card she sent out that year.  It is too beautiful to throw away.  Instead, I have made it into a birthday card for my very special friend.

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Each year, I try to incorporate a new design into my design book.  This year, I tried out the triangular fold card.  It worked out great for cards for our granddaughters.  I even made matching envelopes.

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I love making anniversary cards for our daughter and her husband and for our son and his wife.  I try to make a card that fits the traditional anniversary gift for that number anniversary.  I used two different designs from Pinterest to design this card. I also made a matching envelope.

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Special holidays also give me a reason to design cards.  I like to send these cards to my best friend and to my husband.  The Halloween card was easy.  I used a tag design demonstrated in Scrapbooking 101-Embellishments and added my own cutouts.  The Thanksgiving card was designed and made by making my own embellishments and cutting pieces from paper scraps I had.

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Our best friends live in Florida and, sadly, we only get to see them once a year. However, we do keep in touch via texts and cards. This is one I made and sent to my friend last week. I felt that everyone needs a little cheering up with what is currently happening in the world. This was an easy card to make. It is on 8 1/2″ by 5 1/2″ white card stock, folded in half to 4 1/4″ by 5 1/2″. The orange backing is light weight card stock, also cut to 4 1/4″ by 5 1/2″. The tulip backdrop actually came from an old calendar. I cut it 3 3/4″ by 5″. The message piece is one I had in my supplies. To really make it bright and cheery, I made a matching envelope out of orange paper.

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This final card is what I call my junk card.  It is so fun to make.  I look through all of my paper scraps and find patterns and textures that I think will look good together.  Then I cut them into all types of pieces and shapes.  I arrange them on the paper until I get the look I want and then glue them on.  The flower was cut out from a scrap piece of paper with a flower pattern.  It is raised using foam adhesive squares. I often use embroidery floss to make a bow, like I did here.

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What do you think the final cards will look like with the pieces in each photo below?

In October, I will show you how I design and make my own Holiday Greeting Cards each year.  I will feature some past designs. You will be the first to see this year’s design.

Until then, “Be Safe and Stay Healthy.”