Decorative Rubber Stamps

Impart the spirit of thanksgiving to friends and family with homemade Thanksgiving greeting cards. Express your heartfelt thanks to your loved ones by sending cards that you put some time and effort to create. Although people don’t normally send out cards on Thanksgiving, there is no reason why you could not. Designing and making your own cards is a fun and rewarding activity that you can even do with your kids.

Start working on those Thanksgiving greeting cards early so you can send them right away when the time comes. Here are some steps and ideas on how to get started:

Prepare your materials. Aside from basic art supplies, you can make use of several other materials and supplies such as rubber stamps, stencils, stickers, ribbons, and embellishments that can be purchased in your local scrapbooking or crafts store. You might be surprised at the wonderful things you can find in bookstores and even Wal-Mart.

Buy paper or cardstock. It is up to you on whether you are going to use card stock or paper materials for your Thanksgiving greeting cards. Card stocks are preferable if you plan to mount embellishments and would much prefer something longer lasting. Paper and card stocks come in a variety of colors. For Thanksgiving themes, the usual colors of choice are the warm colors of autumn including shades of orange, green, yellow, and brown.

Get rubber stamps. If you are not too confident about your drawing skills, using decorative rubber stamps is a quick and more manageable way to put image impressions on your card. Shop for stamps in various designs, including turkeys, fall leaves, pumpkins, and trees. There are even stamps that say “Happy Thanksgiving!” Get ink pads in black or other colors and you are ready to stamp away. Clear stamps are also a good option. They are cheaper and easier to apply.

Prepare the cardstock. Choose two colors for each greeting card you are making. Choose one dark and one light color. Pick which color will be the main card and fold it in two. The other piece of cardstock or paper should be cut across the edges so that you achieve a border effect when you glue it on top of the main card. The smaller piece of paper or card stock will be the inside of the card. Use decorative scissors for a more artistic effect.

Start decorating your Thanksgiving card. The best ideas can only come from you. Think of all the things you could use and designs you can apply to your Thanksgiving greeting cards. You can come up with two or three designs to add some variety. If you can afford it, you can make each card unique. Use markers, stamps, stencils, beads, photos, or paintings – anything at all you feel like using – to decorate the front of the card and print your greetings on the inside.

If you are finding card making an immensely enjoyable activity and is even considering starting a business selling handmade cards, it is a good idea to subscribe to known card making magazines. Whether you are a beginner or have successfully designed a few cards of your own, you can pick up interesting ideas contributed by other crafters like yourself.

Subscribing to a card making magazine has many benefits for card making hobbyists. They are packed with updated and relevant information in the card making industry and you can learn the latest techniques in designing your own greeting cards. They are delivered right to your mailbox so you get easy access to the latest information. Furthermore, they are tangible as compared to when you browse websites and can serve as quick references while you work on projects.

1. CardMaker – CardMaker is published bi-monthly and often, special issues are released. Annual subscription, which includes one free issue, is $19.97 with additional $1.98 postage fee. CardMaker features large and high-resolution photos with step-by-step instructions on how to do simple to big projects. The magazine also provides detailed supply lists.

2. Cards Magazine – Cards Magazine comes out once a month and the annual subscription fee is $84.95. You also have the option to pay for six-month subscriptions at a time. The high price tag is well compensated for by great photography, heavy-weight pages, comprehensive card making guides, and fresh ideas. More than a magazine, Cards makes an interesting coffee table book.

3. Just Cards – Just Cards comes out in January, April, July, and October. A one-year subscription will cost you a fair amount of $39.98. The magazine features 300 cards with every issue rendered in colorful photographs and detailed instructions. Each issue is packed with articles and updates on the latest trends in card making.

4. Paper Crafts – Paper Crafts is one of the cheaper card making magazines. For a yearly subscription fee of $15.97, Paper Crafts comes out eight times annually. The Paper Crafts community is one of the biggest online. It features cards for all occasions on top of gift and home décor ideas. Each issue is divided into sections including Tips and Tools, Ask the Pros, Joy of Card Making, and Paper Crafts 101. Supply lists and instructions are also provided.

5. Crafts n’ Things – Also published six times a year, Crafts n’ Things has an annual subscription of $21.97. A seventh issue comes for free. Card makers can gain a lot from its features but the publication also covers various areas of crafting. Paper Made Easy, an off-shoot of the magazine, brings 200 new projects that include over 50 cards in colorful photos and step-by-step instructions.

6. Scrapbook and Cards Today – Published four times a year, Scrapbook and Cards today encourages thrifty card making by featuring projects that make use of leftover scrapbooking materials and embellishments. A fairly new publication, you can download issues online or subscribe to the published versions for an annual fee of $19.97.

Brilliant Ideas for Making Your Own Christmas Greeting Card

Greeting cards will never go out of style and handmade cards will always be deeply appreciated by anyone who receives them. Next Christmas, you might want to try giving a Christmas greeting card you made on your own to each of your friends or loved ones. All you need are some basic art materials and a little creativity. Here are some ideas to inspire you:

Photo Christmas Cards

Including family photos is one of the traditional ways in making a Christmas greeting card. In light of the available technology in photography today, editing pictures and printing them into greeting cards will take only a few minutes. But why not try a hand-made instead of a printed card? You may create a window card with the photograph and add embellishments such as stickers or stamped images of a snowman and other Christmas motifs.

Stencils

If you are not too confident about your drawing skills, grab Christmas-themed stencils in your local craft store and you are good to go. There are plenty of ways you can decorate a Christmas greeting card using stencil designs. Stencils will also make it easier to make multiple cards if you are planning to send them to several people. You can use them to paint, wax-resist, or emboss consistent impressions for a more attractive card.

Rubber Stamps

If you are into scrapbooking, you have probably heard of rubber stamps. Rubber stamps are easy to buy from craft and scrapbook supply stores. They come in a large variety of designs for you to choose from. You may use different colored ink pads to make your greeting card designs look more colorful. Clear acrylic stamps are also a good choice. They allow you to make colorful, precise, and detailed impressions. Stamps also come in handy when putting text on the card.

Glitters

Using glitters for designing Christmas cards is so simple that you can even ask your kids to help you out. All you need to do is create a design on the card, trace it with glue and sprinkle glitter to cover the entire design. Wait a few minutes and shake the card gently. The design will come out in glittery colors. You may also use purely silver glitter for a Winter Wonderland feel.

Project Kids

Craft and scrapbooking suppliers often have Christmas greeting card kits available. These kits come with all the materials you need. You may choose from the end-product designs available and start working on your cards right away. Popular themes include angels, Christmas trees, snowmen, carols, manger scene, and so much more.

Making-Handmade-Cards.com is a good place to start looking for the best Christmas greeting card e-kits. You will surely enjoy browsing available selections on their catalogue and choose designs that you like best. The website has vintage, colorful, nature-inspired, beaded, and sparkling designs, which are readily printable. For do-it-yourself cards, you may check out GreetingCardGuide.com, MadAboutCards.com, and CardMakingCrafts.co.uk.

Greeting card templates are available for printing in several websites online to make it easier in creating homemade greeting cards. Using these templates require minimum payment and fairly easy if you have the right software and some technical know-how. You can also create your own templates using the basic tool, Microsoft Word, and some other professional programs. Review the following steps in making your own greeting card templates:

Use the right software. If you have some experience in graphics, professional desktop publishing software programs such as PageMaker and InDesign are some of the best tools you can use for creating or customizing card templates. For beginners, you might want to try out consumer software such as Hallmark Card Studio and Art Explosion Greeting Card Factory.

Decide on how you want your card to look like. Before you begin choosing templates, you must have a clear vision of your end product. Consider the occasion for which the card is being made. You may also have the cards in various sizes and apply different types of folds. Knowing exactly what you want helps make the work process faster.

Open a greeting card document. Software programs like InDesign, PageMaker, and Microsoft Word (online) have greeting card layout features. With MS Word, all it takes is going online and choosing the Greeting Cards link on their website. From there, you can select from the list of categories available. With professional software, you have the option to create your own greeting card templates from scratch. Make sure to mark the front, the inside, the message area, and the back of the greeting card template properly.

Include graphics and images. The proper selection and placement of images is the key to a tastefully designed greeting card. Images are available in the galleries of software programs or if you know how, you may go online and look for photos and other related images. Do not underestimate the power of simplicity and elegance. Choose images fit for the occasion. As for graphics, you may add boxes, borders, shapes, and colors as you wish.

Design and place the text. In choosing fonts for your personalized greeting card templates, use not more than two typefaces. It looks more professional and less distracting that way. Use color as preferred and make sure it matches your overall theme. Position your titles and main message to complement your images and graphics. Be consistent with your theme in all parts of the card.

Proofread. Give your final product a once-over before printing to avoid costly mistakes. If you wish, you may add an inconspicuous credit line at the back of the card with your name, email, and phone number. Credit lines are a good idea if you wish to promote your business.

For ready-made greeting card templates, you may purchase from websites like HP.com, HooverWebDesign.com, both of which feature a wide selection of templates for all occasions. HolidayClassics.com allows you to customize your cards online and will do the printing for you. Make sure to place your orders ahead of time to give the company enough time to send you your greeting cards.

Halloween is one of the most anticipated holidays every year not only by children but also by adults. It is a festive occasion where children take to the streets in their best Halloween costumes to go trick or treating, attend parties, play games, swap horror stories, and watch scary movies. Homes and even offices are decked with pumpkins, bats, skulls, and other Halloween décor.

Halloween greeting cards are a creative and thoughtful way to get people into the Halloween spirit and spread good cheer. You need not spend on commercial cards, as you can easily make your own using basic art materials. If you are hosting a party, your Halloween greeting cards may also serve as invitations to be given away to friends or neighbors.

Common designs applied in Halloween cards include pumpkins, witches, cats, cemeteries, vampires, coffins, and so on. As per tradition, the color scheme is often black and orange. To create something a little different, why not make your cards into interesting shapes? You can create a card in the shape of a coffin or a craved pumpkin. Try making pop up cards or window cards to make things a lot more interesting.

Sometimes, a short poem or a brief quotation by an iconic horror movie character is enough to spread the Halloween sentiment. There are plenty of sources online for timeless Halloween quotes and poems in websites such as ThinkExist.com, QuoteGarden.com, ThingsThatGoBoo.com, HollowHill.com, and TheHolidaySpot.com. Choose proper themed fonts in printing your cards with quotations. You may also use stencils for printing.

Everybody loves to hear a good joke. Include a good joke or two in your Halloween greeting cards to lighten the mood. Kids and adults will surely appreciate it when you use funny Halloween characters in your cards along with jokes. TheHolidaySpot.com, AmericanFolklore.Net, and GhostWatchers.com, are good sources of jokes suitable for kids.

Keep Halloween a fun occasion even for older children by putting puzzles in your Halloween greeting cards. Adding Halloween puzzles guarantee that your greeting card will not merely be forgotten after being read. Printable Halloween-themed puzzles are available in sites like PrintActivities.com, Printables.Kaboose.com, and ActivityVillage.co.uk. Word searches, mazes, cryptograms, and puzzles will surely be enjoyed by kids of all ages. Add stickers or rubber stamped images around the puzzles and your cards are ready to be given away.

Why not include a few lines from Halloween songs in front of the card? Use rubber stamps or Tattered Angels orange and black Glimmer Mist to create a background. Acrylic rubber stamps and or stencils can help you print the text in any type of lettering that is suitable for the occasion. Search for the Top 40 list of Halloween songs on Top40.About.com or listen to them at AOLRadioBlog.com and EZ-Tracks.com.

Making your own greeting cards is an enjoyable and rewarding experience. Homemade cards can easily make birthdays, anniversaries, and other special days even more special. Cards make great keepsakes and your recipient will surely cherish something that you made yourself especially for him. Regardless of the occasion, you can make homemade cards without facing limitations on creativity and the materials you can use. You may even enjoy the activity with your kids.

You don’t need to spend a lot of money on art materials to make homemade cards. You can gather anything you can use at home – basic art supplies, different types of paper, buttons, strings yarns, and so on – and start from there. If you would like to add embellishments and need to buy some more supplies, local crafts stores and online sellers offer products that will surely interest you. Supplies and kits are available in great prices, too.

The size of the cards you are going to make is an important decision to be made. You can come up with interesting designs working around a specific card size. Card stocks are standard-sized. They are easily workable. Large cards and mini-cards each have their own charm. Needless to say, the designs you create largely depends on the size of your card. You also need envelopes or if you like, boxes, in which to place your cards when they are ready for posting.

Make homemade cards ahead of time. For instance, if you are planning to send homemade Christmas cards to relatives and friends, start planning as early as November – or earlier if you can only work on the cards on weekends. Organize your activities because some steps along the way might take longer than others e.g. taking and printing pictures. The challenge is greater if you are making several cards. In case you forgot an occasion like someone’s birthday, do not hesitate to send a card. Belated greetings never go unappreciated.

Working on your homemade cards will be a breeze if you designate a specific work area for your card-making activities. It is important that the materials you need are easily within your reach and knowing where to pick up every time you get back to work. A cluttered workspace can make you lose interest or track of time. Same goes if you have to keep your materials in a box or closet and take them out again each time you continue working.

Make homemade cards even more personal by drafting a short prose or a poem (if you can) along with your greeting. You do not need to be overly dramatic. Be sincere and be yourself. That is sure to bring a smile to the face of the receiver.

How to Make Your Own Birthday Card

Some people may have the notion that greeting cards have gone out of style. Others think that it is not too personal and the messages, too commercial. On the contrary, cards are even more appealing in today’s tech-savvy world, where greeting someone on his birthday can simply be done via email or social networks. Hand-made birthday cards are as personal as you can get.

Use a theme based on a person’s interest. Show your loved ones how much you know them as you make your own birthday card. Use a theme based on their hobbies or interests. Is the person into football? Put a photo of his favorite player with a speech balloon greeting him a happy birthday. You may also fashion a card according to the person’s profession. Is he a writer? Is she obsessed about dolphins? Does she like the color purple? You will never run out of ideas.

Experiment with shapes. Commonly, cards are made using cardstock folded in two. Be more creative by trying out other card shapes. Triangular cards have a certain appeal. You can make your own birthday card in the shape of a cake, a party hat, or a gift box. The recipient will see the effort you put in and will surely treasure the card you made forever.

Say it with flowers. You can never go wrong putting flower embellishments or stamping flower designs on a birthday greeting card. Place small, different colored flowers on the border, in front, or inside the card. You may also stencil or paint flowers on your project. Flower stickers of different colors may also be used.

Consider the person’s age. In making a birthday card by yourself, you might want to put a stylized print of the person’s age in front of the card. You can have the number embossed, glittered, or dressed up with other embellishments. You can do a collage or incorporate the phrase ‘Happy birthday!’ within the number. This ides can work for 16th, 18th, 50th, or 60th birthdays. Women approaching their thirties might not be too enthusiastic about it though.

Make photo cards. Make a person feel even more special on his birthday by giving him a birthday card that bears his photograph. Make sure to choose a flattering picture! Scrapbook materials that allow you to draw or write over photo paper are now available. Deck the photo with stickers, cut-outs, stenciled letters, and so on.

Print them out. Printable birthday cards are readily available for purchase in several places online such as 123PrintCards.com. They come in hundreds of interesting designs that are downloadable upon payment of a small fee. All you need is lightweight cardstock, desktop publishing software, and a printer. Make your own birthday card even more unique by customizing it with embellishments, stenciled patterns, or prose you wrote.

Make your own greeting cards for a more personalized touch when sending your best wishes. Greeting cards will never go out of style. No birthday or romantic card will ever go unappreciated, more so if the sender made the card himself. Not only will a homemade greeting card warm the heart of the recipient; creating a card with your own hands can also be a rewarding and enjoyable experience.

Whether or not you have artistic inclinations, it is not difficult thinking up of ideas. Your feelings for your loved ones will surely tap your creativity and bring forth the needed inspiration. Bridge gaps and close in on physical distances with handmade greeting cards.

Ways to Make Your Own Greeting Cards

Photo Greeting Cards

Photo greeting cards are easy to make and enjoy. The option is best if you are planning to send several cards at once such as during Christmas holidays. Pick a photo that you would like to put on the card and use the necessary software to enhance and print. You may apply borders and other digital images before printing on photo paper. Make sure to include a message alongside the pictures as well.

Printable Cards

Websites like HP.com make available printable greeting cards that can be printed and reproduced at your convenience. Printable cards are available in various themes fit for any occasion. Printable cards cost minimal fees. Once you avail of them, you can use desktop software to make additions or adjustment of your own. Use strong card paper to make sure that your card comes out as intended and lasts a long time.

You may also apply the embossing technique when making printable cards. You need ink that is slow-drying such as with Inkjet printers. Apply embossing powder (available in craft stores) to cover an entire image e.g. Snowman and dry with a heat gun. The result is a raised and dimensional image which you may cut out and place anywhere within the card. Letterings and rubber stamped impressions may also be embossed.

Hand Crafted Cards

Scrapbook-style greeting cards are sure to be instant keepsakes. It takes a lot more time and effort to create them, and the receiver will know for sure that it was designed and lovingly crafted for him alone. If you have confidence in your artistic skills, start making your cards ahead of time because hand-crafted cards take quite a while to finish especially if you are using embellishments and other card-making techniques.

Store properly when done and put finished products in a special container where the cards will not be damaged. Do not forget to add your personal message and buy the right-sized envelopes before you make your own greeting cards.

People have different tastes, personalities, and skills. Your uniqueness will surely reflect with every card you make and allow the receiver to think of you fondly. You may also consider the interests and personality of the person you are sending a card to in coming up with themes. For instance, if the person is fond of dogs, you may consider creating dog-themed cards, and so on.