9 Card making Tips for Making Easy, Beautiful Cards
Card making doesn’t have to be complicated to be beautiful. In fact, some of my favorite cards are the simplest ones. With a few basic supplies, a little creativity, and some helpful cardmaking tips, you can create handmade cards that look polished without spending hours at your craft table.
Whether you’re brand new to card making or have been creating for years, here are nine of my favorite tips for making easy cards.
1. Start with a Simple Sketch
Before you start cutting paper, take a minute to think about your card layout. Where will your focal point go? Where will you place your sentiment?
A quick sketch on a scrap of paper can help you see how everything will fit together before you start creating.
2. Let Your Designer Paper Do the Work
Beautiful patterned paper can make cardmaking so much easier. Choose a pretty Designer Series Paper and let it become the star of your card.
Add a coordinating cardstock layer, a simple sentiment, and perhaps one embellishment. Sometimes that’s all you need!
3. Stick to Two or Three Colors
One of my favorite card making tips is to let your patterned paper determine your color palette. Choose two or three colors found in the paper and use them throughout your card.
A limited color palette gives your card a coordinated and polished look without a lot of effort.
4. Add Layers
Layers instantly add interest to a card. Try layering cardstock, patterned paper, stamped images, or die cuts.
Even a simple mat around a sentiment or focal image can make it stand out. For a little extra dimension, use foam adhesive or dimensionals between some of the layers.
5. Use an Embossing Folder
Want to make a simple card look a little more special? Add texture with an embossing folder.
An embossed cardstock panel creates a beautiful background without adding another pattern. It’s one of the easiest ways to add a little “wow” to your card.
6. Keep Your Sentiments Handy
A great sentiment can be the finishing touch on a card. I like having a selection of pre-stamped or die-cut sentiments ready to go.
When I’m stuck on a card design, sometimes choosing the sentiment first helps me decide what the rest of the card needs.
7. Don’t Throw Away Your Scraps
Those little pieces of pretty paper are too good to toss!
Save your scraps for banners, strips, punched shapes, small die cuts, and sentiments. You never know when that tiny leftover piece will be exactly what your next card needs.
8. Repeat a Design You Love
If you create a card you really love, don’t be afraid to make it again!
Change the colors, Designer Series Paper, sentiment, or embellishments and you have a whole new card. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time you sit down to create.
9. Remember Who You’re Making It For
This may be my most important cardmaking tip of all.
Don’t get so caught up in making the “perfect” card that you forget why you’re making it. A handmade card is a little gift of your time, creativity, and thoughtfulness.
Someone doesn’t need a perfect card. They need to know you thought about them.
So gather your favorite supplies, get cozy, and start creating. Card making doesn’t have to be complicated. It just needs to come from the heart.