DIY: Homemade Cards
"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together." - Vincent Van Gogh
Making your own greeting cards may seem intimidating or time consuming, however, with the right set up and supplies you can produce some pretty amazing little keepsakes. Adding a handmade card to any gift will add a special and personal touch no matter what the gift may be.
Supplies:
- Pencil
- Eraser
- Watercolor paper cut in half
- Watercolors (or markers)
- Water Resistant Pens
For this project, I would really recommend to stick with watercolor paper because of its thickness and ability to absorb water without changing shape. If you want to use markers instead of the watercolors, then cardstock paper would be a better option!
In order to make these cards, you can either start of sketching the design or if you want to be bold then you can start working with the pen first. I recommend sketching the text first because the text is always trickiest. I suggest to use a piece of scrap paper to practice some different fonts and even designs while you're at it.
Once you've sketched out some designs, go over the designs with a thicker water resistant black pen. Once the pen marks have dried, go ahead and erase the pencil if there are any marks that did not get covered.
Now you're able to add color with either watercolors or markers. You absolutely do not have to add too much color to add life to your cards because in this case, a little can go a long way!
This entire process can be done to produce just 1 card, but it can easier to get 5 cards done at once in one sitting versus on 5 separate occasions. Trust me, you'll turn into a card producing machine once you get into the swing of it. I was able to whip out 10 cards in just about 35 minutes. Instead of completing one card then going to the next and completing that one, work on all of your cards' text first, then work on adding colors to all of them as you can spread them out on a flat service. Once you have the color blue on your brush, you can add a little bit of blue to each card. Then you can pick up red and spread that around on each card and so on and so forth.
Moral of the story: A little extra effort goes a long way, so do yourself the favor and test your Hallmark abilities because making homemade cards is a win-win for everyone.
xoxo,
lauren amigo
