Greetings! That's what we will be discussing, so welcome to our class. I am Nancy, your instructor, and I'm so glad you are here! First of all, take a seat. Every seat has a stack of supplies to make one greeting card so once we are all seated we will begin. Welcome to "Making Greeting Cards."
The first thing to do is make certain your hands are clean and that your work table or spot is clean. If your table is a family heirloom you may want to lie down some butcher paper or put a vinyl tablecloth on the table. Do not use newspaper as it will leave marks on your paper and on your hands.
In your supplies you will find a piece of cardstock. This cardstock has already been scored for folding. Go ahead and fold along the line now. I use an ivory bone smoother to crease my cards. You can use another smooth object or the handle of your scissors, if you are sure that the handle is clean. Now you should decide if you want your greeting card to be wide or tall.
The next step is to decide what type of card you are making. Is it a birthday card or a get well card? Is it for a woman, a man, or a child. For today's lesson we will make it for a woman and we will make it a blank card, that is, no sentiment.
Find a piece of background paper, that is a patterned paper. You will use this to begin structuring your card. The paper has been cut to size already for you. At home you may have larger pieces of paper that you will cut down to the proper size for card making. Our patterned paper today is cut in a rectangular form but you are welcome to use any of the tools on your tables to round the edges, cut the edges with decorative scissors or punch the edges or corners. Your card is to be a masterpiece designed and created by you so let your imagination be your guide. I'll give you a few minutes to do this. When you have finished cutting or punching the background paper, glue it on the front of your card.
Okay, wallking around I can see that you all have the right idea. When you glue the paper onto your card there are several things to remember. If you are using a glue stick, make sure there are no lumps of glue on the back of the paper and that you have glued all of the edges and the 4 corners as well as the center of the paper. Then place it carefully on the cardstock. You will not be able to move it or you will leave glue residue on the cardstock where it can be seen. Another method of securing the background paper to the cardstock is to use a tape runner as is used in scrapbooking. The glue stick method is a less expensive way but it is messier. Another adhesive that works well is double-sided tape. Whatever you use just be sure that you use enough to secure the paper to the cardstock and that the edges are not loose. Since you are making a greeting card it is not crucial to use an acid-free, lignin free adhesive but most of us that scrapbook have that type of adhesive around and use it for other things as well.
Your card has the background ready and now it needs the focal point. This can be any number of things. You can use a sticker, something you have drawn and cut out, a die-cut, or any thing that you have around the house that will be pretty on a card. For example, I sometimes use a pretty flower that was printed on a piece of junk mail. But for today we will use a medium to large sticker. You will find some in the supplies on the table. Choose what you would like to put on your card and go ahead and adhere it to the background paper. Remember, you cannot move the sticker so put it where you want it the first time! Sometimes I will offset the sticker because I want to embellish the front of the card with a ribbon and a button or other embellishment.
Very good! Your cards all look wonderful and are now ready to embellish. I often put a little satin bow in the corner and attach a button on top of that. You can use ribbon, twine, raffia, or even bits of lace. Attach that to the card with a dab of glue such as "Tacky Glue" or another quick-drying glue. Then attach the button to that in the same manner. If the button has a shank you will need to clip that shank off with a pair of needle-nosed pliers. Be sure to get as close to the button as possible that way your button doesn't stick up so much. You can also use charms to attach to the ribbon, tiny ribbon roses, etc.
The glue will need to dry so at home you might want to make sure that your card is completely finished before you put the embellishments on. For example, of you were to put a sticker with a sentiment on it inside the card, you would do that first, and if you want to sign your card (yes, you should; it is a little work of art!) you will do that. Do that neatly and discreetly on the back of your card.
The finishing touch for the card is the envelope. I often put a piece of paper the same as the background on the flap, just cut out a little square or a circle, and sometimes I punch out a flower in the same pattern and glue it on the flap. You will want to make sure it is secure so the postage machines don't rip the envelope. And, if you embellish the card with a button or other item that sticks up, you should have the postal clerk "hand cancel" the envelope so that it doesn't get caught in the machines.
I have used many, many items to make my greeting cards. Sometimes I tear the gold foil off the envelopes of Christmas cards that come my way and use them to embellish my cards. Little bits of ribbons can be saved and used. Clever sayings that you see in magazines or on cards that people send to you can be replicated in your handwriting or you can use your computer to make labels for the sentiments on the insides of the cards.
If you have trouble figuring out what looks good with what, you can purchase a color wheel for yourself or do some Internet browsing to find one to look at.
Having made well over 500 cards in the past 10-15 years, I can tell you that if you make what you like someone out there will also like it. And handmade items are a true gift, from the heart! If you decide to sell your cards, just remember that you want to price them to sell, not for sale. If the cost is too much, no one will buy it no matter how beautiful it is. They can go to the grocery store and spend a lot on a commercial card.
My best advice to you is: be neat and be tidy. No one wants to see a crinkled edge or a glue smear on an item they just bought. If you mess up, don't send it and don't sell it. Use the parts to make another card someday. And further advice: have fun!!