I started making my own greeting cards when I was very little. In fact I cannot remember a time when I did not make cards! But in recent years I have moved on from amateur card making, and the cards I make now are definitely handmade and not homemade. They have become far more professional looking and more stylish.
The purpose of this article is to tell you how to make the small changes needed to step up from homemade to handmade greeting cards. Making your own professional looking cards is very simple and I truly believe that anyone can do it!
Firstly there is some equipment you need to get started. There are shops full of card making stuff, and you could spend hundreds of pounds. When I started making handmade cards I was bewildered by what I should buy. But, in my opinion, there are some absolute basics. Anything else you have is a bonus. So my absolute essentials list for making cards is:
Pre-scored card blanks (or A4 card you can fold yourself)
Backing papers (you can buy various papers, and you can download a lot for free if you search on the internet)
Embellishments and toppers (again you can buy these, or search on the internet)
A decent printer is always useful to print your own papers out
A good pair of scissors
Double sided tape
Sticky foam pads (they make your cards 3d)
Sentiments such as Happy Birthday, Get Well Soon, Happy Christmas (you can buy these or make your own and print them out)
Basically, all you need to do is stick some backing paper onto your folded card using double sided tape. Then stick your topper on using the 3d foam pads. Finally stick on your sentiment. Simple!
After this you can learn new techniques and make your cards even better. If you want to make your first simple handmade greeting card then have a look at my website and click on the download link. You can download a PDF document which has a backing paper, a topper and a sentiment. Also search the internet and see what other people are offering. It is so easy to get started!
http://www.chrismade.com