Making your own personal cards is so rewarding and now, with all the wonderful choice of stationery and accessories for all crafts we have available, there is no excuse really – so just get creative and have a go!
My intention is that my creative blogs inspire you and show you ways to get hands-on and produce some beautiful cards for friends and family.
I make so many handmade cards for all events and occasions, personalised and some commissioned for extra special celebrations. During these ‘crazy times’ when families have not been able to celebrate together my personalised handmade cards have come into their own; receiving a really beautiful unique card from their nearest and dearest really means something!
All my cards involve hand-painted, photographic images mixed with Illustrator or Photoshop, but I appreciate not everyone has this technology at their fingertips, so all my new guides are very practical, but the ideas can be elaborated using technology too.
The handmade card I am creating today, is a Get Well Soon Card. I think showing someone who might be a little down or unwell, that you are thinking of them, could cheer them up, make them smile and really brighten their day. ‘Just a Card’ says so much and I believe everyone loves not only receiving cards but sending them too.
You can make this lovely Get Well Soon Card with easy-to-follow instructions. With your own choices of material, color and text you can really make it your own personal design.
Equipment:
- Scissors
- Scalpel
- Ruler and Compass
- Pencil /silver pen
- Yellow/grey felt pens
- White paper, tracing paper
- Adhesive foam pads
- Clear drying glue & glue stick
Image 4
Materials:
- Plain white card & envelope 150 x 150 mm (or make your own from a sheet of A4 card)
- White paper
- Tracing paper
- Sheet/pieces of coloured paper- card (your color choice here)
- Tissue / patterned paper
- Glass gems
- A picture of a flower – or image from the Internet / flowers you’ve hand painted yourself.
- Pictures of Butterflies.
I always draw out a little sketch of the idea first, in this case a circle and butterflies. To make it more interesting the circle will be a perfectly round shape – in this case the flower head of daisy. I printed one large flower head, with a diameter of about 7.5 cms which when placed will leave ample room for the butterflies, also a smaller one 5cms wide for inside the card.
At this point, you can decide whether to cut out the actual flower and stick that onto your card or just use it to trace around and draw one directly onto the card as I am doing. Traced on to the card, I go over the outline with a silver ink pen and an outer thin dark gray line to make it more visible. The position of the daisy is important as it needs to be off-centre, one centimeter above that point and the same to the right to allow room for the butterflies on the left. This of course depends on the size of the butterflies you have created or chosen.
Butterflies are a gift to all designers as the shape and pattern of their wings are perfectly mirrored images. Creating a butterfly, you just need to put a fold down your paper draw one side and trace and cut through. I quite like the idea of cutting out a little pattern too. Or you may choose paper with printed patterned paper or just draw and paint your own. The two largest butterflies are 5cms across to give you an idea of scale.
The center of the circular daisy is going to hold the message ‘Get Well Soon’. Text is always difficult to get right by hand, so I printed this message and ‘With love’ a few times and outlined them in in pale gray circles, large 3.5 and smaller one 1.5 centimetres wide. Both will need a slightly larger circle to frame them. I also drew a curved floral edge to the larger yellow circles to replace the central disc of stamen, when the text circle is glued in place, using the glue stick I used the pen to edge it with silver dots.
The smaller daisy inside the card, with the text ‘With Love’ is produced the same way, but the central white circle is held on with foam pads so it stands out in relief and the flower outline is accentuated in a yellow outline, with an amber glass gem to highlight the message.
After all this hard work putting it all together is the exciting bit for me, just try placing them first so you position them correctly, may be take a quick photograph so you remember, or just attach them in order.
Most of the butterflies are adhered with foam pads, as is the central circle – this is why I prefer to have the main flower flat to the card, so the butterflies and message stand out in relief. A couple of the smaller butterflies are glued directly on for contrast. Embellishments are a must on hand-made cards, you can really go to town, draw with the silver pen, add dots or you could even outline the daisy with silver glitter, its your card, your design so it’s up to you!
The idea for this card came from my ‘Blue Roses and Butterflies Get Well Handmade Card’ which I print at home, to sell on-line. The How To Make Card above is basically a very simple version for you to construct yourself. As you can see this idea can be a decorative circle, one framed with flowers and butterflies or one large colourful rose/ flower of your choice. Flat pattern combined with raised detail in relief, makes a card more interesting and dare I say, more expensive and unique. I think if you have time to paint your butterflies, like mine they really come to life. Once you get a basic pattern idea, it can be changed, elaborated or simplified for any occasion, whether just in color or images.
Do have fun creating, not only will you enjoy seeing the fruits of your labours but someone dear will have a lovely surprise to lift their spirits!