A quick and easy card design.
My nephew's birthday is in a few days and I wanted to make him a card. I'm still learning techniques for card making and paper crafting, and this technique was one of many I experimented with a few days ago. It's also the only one that looked decent. I'm learning, and hopefully he likes the card.
One thing I can say about this design is that it was easy and took very little time to make. Had I not gone crazy rocking the dots, it would've taken much less time to craft.
Continue reading to see the steps I took to create a handmade thank you card.
Supplies and Stuff
These are the items I used to create my card:
Paper trimmer. I used a paper trimmer to measure, cut, and score the paper. A simple pair of scissors and a ruler will do the same if you want to try this at home. You also don't need a score tool. A simple fold of the cut paper in half will do the job. Then use your finger or some other tool, like the scissors' handle, to flatten the fold if preferred.
Heavy cardstock paper. I used white, heavy cardstock because some cardstock is too flimsy to work as a card base.
Colored, patterned cardstock paper. To add a little more color and pop to a simple card design, I used a blue, watercolor looking patterned paper.
One-inch hole punch. I used a hole punch to create a stencil for the dots. You could use any size hole punch, a die cutting machine, or simply scissors and your hands to create a stencil. It would probably be easier to skip the stencil and add dots directly to the paper, but I personally didn't want oddly shaped dots for this card.
Marker. I used a metallic marker to trace over part of a stamped sentiment to add a little shine to the front of the card.
Double-sided tape. I used permanent double-sided tape to adhere the different pieces of paper that would make up the card together.
Envelope. I used white, A2 sized envelope to mailing the card to my nephew.
Ink and ink blending tool. I used stamp ink to add a dotted design to the outside of the card, inside the card base, and the bottom-left of the envelope.
Sentiment stamp. I used a clear cling stamp that read "HIP-HIP Hooray!" You could easily handwrite a sentiment, except my attempt at doing that didn't work for this card.
Measure, Cut, and Score (The Prep Work)
First, I cut a sheet of heavy cardstock down to 8-1/2" x 5-1/2", then scored it at 4-1/4" to create a clean card fold. This piece will serve as the card base.
Next, I took another piece of the same heavy cardstock and cut it down to 5" x 3-3/4". This piece will serve as the top-most layer of the card where I'll add a sentiment and the dotted designs.
Last, I took a sheet of blue patterned paper and cut it down to 5-1/4" x 4". This piece will be placed between the front of the card base and the smaller piece I'll design.
I used a 1"-hole punch on a piece of scrap paper. This piece will serve as a stencil for me to add dots to the smaller cardstock piece, the inside of the card base, and the bottom-left corner of the envelope.
Decorating the Card Front
I decided to add a sentiment to the smaller cardstock piece. I thought a simple "Happy Birthday" would look nice handwritten. I usually pride myself in having great handwriting, but what I wrote on this piece looked awful to me.
Instead, I flipped the piece over and grabbed a clear cling stamp sentiment that ready "HIP-HIP Hooray!" It looked significantly better than what I started to handwrite on the flip side. I traced over the word "Hooray" with my Spectrum Noir Metallic Marker to add a little shine. It doesn't come across on camera, but there's a little shine to the word when I tilted the piece.
Using the hole punched scrap paper, I added dots to the piece using stamp ink and blending tools. While the technique is simple, I didn't know how to space out the dots, how many dots to add, what colors to use, and if the dots should overlap.
I regret not sticking with just the yellow and blue dots. I really liked this design, but I never thought to stop here. I had multiple colors out and kept adding more and more dots to the piece.
By the time I added the purple dots, it didn't look right to me. I thought maybe adding one more color would make it look better, but I didn't know when or how to stop. Fortunately, the design looked alright when I finally stopped.
Decorating Inside the Card Base and the Envelope
I continued the same design towards the top-right of the inside of the card base and towards the bottom-left of the envelope. Honestly, I liked how I only added the dots to the corners of both pieces. It looks cleaner and less cluttered than the smaller piece that will go on the front of the card.
Adhering the Pieces Together
I used permanent double-sided tape to first adhere the smaller piece to the colored piece, and then to the front of the card base. Normally I use a tape runner because it's quicker to use and I don't have to mess with peeling the tape backing. Unfortunately, I didn't have a refill for my tape runner, so I used the roll you see in the photo above. It works just as well but could be tricky to peel and remove the tape backing. A neat trick is to use a craft knife to peel the backing off the tape.
My Thoughts
This truly was a quick and easy birthday card to make. I wish I didn't put so many dots on the smaller piece that went on the front of the card. I also wish I used fewer colors for a more simple and elegant design. However, I was pleased that even with the mistakes I made, the card looked good. Hopefully my nephew likes the card when he receives it in the mail.
What's Next?
There are birthday, Mother's Day, Father's Day, and graduation cards I'll be making soon. I'll share those as blog posts, and hopefully have videos to go along with those posts.
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Thanks, and have a great day!
Simply Jelly Jam
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