Card Making Supplies
Handmade cards tug at the heartstrings because the recipient knows how much time and effort went into that craft project. If you're interested in celebrating the special occasions in your friends and family members' lives with a personal touch, craft supplies for card making are easy to come by. There are also kits for making cards by hand.
What is card making?
Greeting cards are pieces of paper embellished with words and illustrations that are meant to convey sentiments of friendship and affection to their recipients. The earliest cards were handmade, but by the mid-19th century, advances in printing technologies and reductions in postal rates made mass-produced cards extremely affordable, which all but wiped out the custom of creating cards by hand. Crafting as a hobby, however, has reignited an interest in making cards by hand.
What tools and supplies are needed for card making?
If you want to craft your own handmade cards, decide whether you're making a one-of-a-kind masterpiece or whether your card-making project will include a number of cards with the same design. This will help you understand the card-making tools and craft supplies you will need.
- Paper: You'll need some good paper stock to craft your card and its envelope. Many card makers prefer white paper stock because white lends itself to more versatile projects.
- Adhesives: If you want to embellish your card with glitter, ribbons, or die-cut pieces of paper, you'll need to have a way of getting those decorations to stick. Glue dots are ideal for small items like charms and photos; if you are sticking a smaller piece of paper to a larger paper surface, you may want to invest in adhesive roller with a refillable cartridge.
- Rulers and Other Measuring Instruments: If you want the design elements on your card to be laid out symmetrically, you'll need a ruler or some other type of straightedge to ensure a proper distance between design elements.
- Utility Knife: Utility knives, like X-Acto knives, work better than scissors for card making because these knives will allow you to cut paper with sharper, crisper edges.
- Stencils: Stencils are sheets into which designs have been cut. You can use these sheets to trace designs on your cards even if you're not a confident artist. Sheets are typically made out of cardboard, plastic, or some type of thin metal like tin.
- Other Decorative Elements: Decorative supplies like rubber stamps, stickers, and high-end markers and pens will allow you to decorate the card in a variety of novel ways.
What is a card kit?
If you're just starting out with card making, a number of kits are available that will help you learn the craft through a process that's more reliable than trial and error. Working with a card kit may also help ensure that your beginner's handiwork looks nice enough to give away. Card making kits typically include card stock and design elements like glitter, ribbons, and stickers, but you'll have to buy supplies like utility knives and rulers separately.