Make your own cards

I thought I would be sewing during these weeks of quiet, but during the afternoon lull I have recently enjoyed making my own cards, firstly out of necessity but also the joy of framing beautiful and graphic images from my favourite magazines, like Vogue and Harpers Bazaar.

It’s a simple way to feel mindful and send some love to friends and family. A home made card has a thoughtfulness and care to attention that a bought one lacks, so use this time to focus on the receiver.

You will need:

• Envelopes, I seemed to have quite a few random ones in my stationary draw, but if you don’t, it is fairly simple to unstick any envelope and draw around to make a template to make your own. 
• Light weight card, any colour.
• A cutting knife, scalpel ideally. Scissors work but cutting out the aperture is easier with a knife.
• Magazine images that inspire you.
• Glue stick or spray mount.
• Pencil and pen for marking up.
• Ruler

To Start making your your own cards:

1.

I start with the envelope for size as this gives me the width and length to fit inside. Reduce by about 5mm and then mark the length and times by three for the width.

2.

Mark out your three rectangle panels with a light pencil line.

3.

Using the back of any knife, lightly score down the lines to make a crease so they fold easily.

4.

Fold the left panel under the centre panel and see if you need to trim off a few millimetres so the card folds flat.

5.

Decide how big your frame is going to be in the centre panel. Draw out in pencil. This can be an even or off center shape, anything goes.

6.

Now decide on your image. Place your cut out frame over pictures until you love the position, then mark at the top and bottom of the card.

7.

Cut inside your markings by about 5mm so the image sits inside the fold.

8.

Glue around the inside of the frame and fit the image, checking on the right side and repositioning if needed before the glue sets. 

9.

Glue over the inside of the left panel and press down to enclose the image and use a weight, books or tins to add pressure and dry flat. 

10.

My finished cards ready for sending.

11.

Below are a few ideas of positioning but there are so many options to create the mood you want. I’m working on ‘thoughtful’ and a few ‘party’ ones.

If only cereal boxes available:

1.

Using cereal boxes was a little trickier to cover the print on one side.

2.

This time I cut just one front and one back, and measured out a frame in the left side and decided on an image.

3.

I cut some paper the same size and lined the inside to clean out the printed card. Trim the edges after the glue has set to get a clean line.

I hope this has inspired you a little more to find a craft that is easy to do and useful too. I really enjoy using great images from actual magazines not just looking online for virtual cards.

If you want another craft experiment, try this, no sew T-shirt challenge HERE.

Be safe, Keep well,

Love Kirstie x