Make Fancy Birthday Cards

Making a personalized greeting card for a friend or loved one adds a special touch to any gift. You can make cards for any occasion using a few basic techniques and tools. After you've mastered the art of making simple cards, mix and match techniques for a look all your own.

Steps

Making Four Patch Greeting Cards

  1. Gather your supplies. You can buy most of the required items to make a card at any craft store. To make a four patch greeting card you'll need the following:[1]
    • Plain white card stock (A4)
    • Decorative paper
    • Glue
    • Scissors
    • Pencil
    • A ruler or paper trimmer
    • Computer paper
    • Colored cardstock
    • Paper punches
    • Rubber stamps
    • Colored pencils
  2. Cut out your card. Take a full sheet of cardstock and cut it in half. This will make two {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} card blanks.[1]
    • Fold your card blanks in half to make two {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} cards.[1]
  3. Cut your decorative paper. Choose one or two decorative papers to use for your card. If you decide to go with two papers, choose one plain and one patterned. Or, choose one light color, and one dark color. Make the contrast look great![1]
    • Cut two {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} rectangles from your decorative paper. If you're using two different colors or patterns, cut one rectangle from each sheet.[1]
  4. Make another cut. Lay your decorative rectangles on top of each other and line up the edges. Make sure everything is even. Cut them both horizontally about 1/3 from the top. You can make a straight line, a V-shape, or a curve. The important thing is to make sure the cut is even.[1]
    • You may need to use a straight edge for the horizontal cut or the V-shape. If you want to do a curve shape, find a bowl or plate you can lightly trace to get the right shape.
  5. Design your card. You should now have four cut pieces of decorative paper. Lay out the pieces on your card blanks. Make sure you keep both the horizontal and vertical spaces even.[1]
    • Put the smaller pieces at the top, and the larger pieces at the bottom. If you used two patterns, swap the tops or bottoms to make a checkered pattern on the card.[1]
    • Once you have the decorative pieces arranged to your liking, glue them down. Take care to make sure the glue dries evenly.
  6. Tie the card together with a decorative stamp. Using another piece of decorative paper, or a plain piece of cardstock, cut a {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} square or circle. Decorate the square or circle with punched paper, rubber stamps, or stickers. You could even draw a design of your own.[1]
    • When you've finished designing your stamp, glue it to the center of the card. Place it so that it overlaps all four pieces of decorative paper.[1]
  7. Use the rest of the decorative paper to design the inside of the card. Try making a solid strip down one side of the inside of the card.[1]
    • You might try making a frame for text on the inside of the card as well. Cut out a square from the decorative paper. Using scissors or a hobby knife, cut out a smaller square from the inside of the square you just cut. You should now have a piece of paper that looks like a window frame.
    • Whatever interior design you decide on, glue it to the inside of the card and let it dry completely. Once the glue is dry, you can write your message.

Making a Paper Appliqué Card

  1. Gather your supplies. Appliqué is a method of design where one pattern is sewn top of another. You can buy applique templates from a craft store if you don't want to design your own. You can also find patterns in quilting books. If you use a quilt pattern, make sure you resize it when copying so that it fits your greeting card. To make a paper appliqué card, you will need the following:[2][3]
    • One {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} card blank
    • Colored cardstock
    • Decorative paper
    • A fine-tip black marker
    • Glue
    • Scissors
    • A ruler
    • A pencil and eraser[3]
  2. Think of a design for your card. What kind of card are you making? If you're making a birthday card, you might consider making a card with a cake, or party hats. Try to customize the card to reflect the interests of who you are giving it to. [4]
    • Make a space scene with astronauts and planets, or make a card with cars and a racetrack. Make a card with snowmen for Christmas, turkeys for Thanksgiving, or clovers for St. Patrick's Day.[4]
    • Your only limit is your imagination.
  3. Choose your patterns. Pick three different patterns for your card. You'll need a pattern for the appliqué pieces, a pattern for the background, and a pattern for the card mat.[3]
    • Select a variety of solid colors and patterns. Depending on the complexity of your design, you may want to choose more than three types of decorative paper.[3]
    • Whatever you decide to go with, make sure all the colors and patterns match. For example, if you're making an underwater scene, pick a variety of blues for your solid colors. Choose patterns that mimic waves or fish scales.
  4. Cut out your shapes. If you're following a template, trace the shapes on the back of the your decorative paper. If you're drawing your own shapes, draw them lightly in pencil on the back of the decorative paper.[3]
    • Once you're happy with the designs, cut out the shapes.
  5. Add the stitch marks. Since you're working with paper, you won't actually be sewing anything. To give it an authentic appliqué look, take your fine-tip marker and add stitch marks around the border of the shapes.[3]
  6. Make the card mat and the background. Choose a solid color for your card mat and cut it a little smaller than your card blank. It should almost cover the entire front of the card, but you should still see a little white border.[3]
    • To make the background, take a patterned piece of decorative paper and cut it to about {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}}.
    • Using your fine-tip marker, add stitch marks to the background pattern.[3]
    • Glue the mat to the card. Remember to leave a small border of white from the card blank. Then, glue the background to the card mat.[3]
  7. Arrange your scene. Once the card mat and the background are glued to the card blank, start arranging your shapes to build a scene. Take some time to make sure you have everything arranged where you want it.[3]
    • If you find that you need to add more shapes to flesh out your scene, grab more decorative paper and start cutting. Don't forget to add the stitch marks!
    • Once everything is to your liking, glue your shapes down.

Making a Scalloped Edge Card

  1. Gather your supplies. You can make a scalloped edge on an existing greeting card, or you can use this technique to make a completely new card from scratch. If you don't have a scalloped ruler, you can download a template for free online. To make a scalloped edge card, you will need the following:
    • One {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} card blank
    • Colored card stock
    • Scissors
    • A ruler
    • A scallop template or a ruler with scallops
    • Glue
    • A pencil and eraser[5]
  2. Measure your scallops. Make a mark on your card blank about {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} from one of the long sides. Place your scalloped ruler on the mark so that the scallops face the edge of the card. Lightly trace the scallops with a pencil.[6]
    • Following the line, cut the edge of the card blank.[6]
  3. Prepare your cardstock. Choose a few colors of cardstock and measure out some scallops using your template or ruler. Using the same method you used for the card blank, cut scallops into your cardstock.[6]
    • Cut the colored cardstock into a piece about {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} wide. Cut another strip about {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}}
  4. Use a paper punch to create shapes. You can find a variety of paper punches from most craft stores. They come in all shapes and sizes. Choose some shapes that fit your card making needs, and cut a few shapes out of the scalloped edge of your card blank.[7][6]
    • Save the shapes that fall from the paper punch to use in other card designs. You can also use them to decorate an envelope, or glue them to the inside of the card.[6]
    • Cut out a few shapes from some of the colored card stock pieces as well. It's good to have a variety of shapes and colors for your card.[6]
  5. Make a backing for your scalloped edge. Take the smaller strip of colored cardstock and glue it to the inside of the card along the {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} edge. This strip will show through the holes you punched along the scalloped edge of the card blank. Be sure to choose a color with good contrast.[6]
  6. Finish the card. Glue the larger piece of colored cardstock to the front of the card blank along the folded edge. Take some of the paper punches and glue them to the front of the card. You could also color the front with markers or colored pencils.[6]

Tips

  • Save any scraps you might have for other projects. Paper punches in particular add a nice touch to designs.
  • Choose colors that compliment each other for your designs.
  • Feel free to mix and match the techniques to make your own designs. Get creative!

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 http://www.auntannie.com/GreetingCards/FourPatch/
  2. ↑ http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/applique
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 http://www.auntannie.com/GreetingCards/AppliqueCards/
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://www.planetapplique.com/
  5. ↑ http://www.auntannie.com/GreetingCards/ScallopedEdge/ScallopedEdgeTemplate.pdf
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 http://www.auntannie.com/GreetingCards/ScallopedEdge/
  7. ↑ http://www.michaels.com/cutting-tools/punches/809188603

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