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Discussion Forums » Art
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Card Makers
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8 Jan 2012, 00:53
.Amber.
Post Count: 260
I'm looking to get started. It's something I've wanted to do for YEARS. I'm a very novice scrap-booker ... so I do at least have SOME knowledge. I like embossing. Stamping.

But I'm totally a beginner with THIS. Some of the cards I've seen are GORGEOUS...

Can anyone give me some tips? What are your favorite things to use?
Now talk to me about "background papers" .. are these just scrapbook papers used in the background?

What are your "must haves" and your "I hates"?

Spill the beans!
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8 Jan 2012, 01:20
Winged Centaur
Post Count: 301
I am assuming you are inquiring about handmade cards. If not, you can ignore everything I am about to say.

I don't have time to make handmade cards anymore, but I use to hand make all the cards I sent out. Christmas cards, birthday cards, etc. My favorite were always Mother Day cards, because the people I was giving them to (my mothers) were always the most appreciative. My favorite things included incorporating handmade paper, print making, and embroidery. All those things are about texture. Hand made paper feels wonderful to me and intrinsically conveys a certain sentimentality which is perfect for a card. I would tear up old mono print, the torn paper giving texture, as well as the texture of the rolled ink. And of course, embroidery has very tangible texture. Also, sewing a card together can give it structure and integrity that you can't get from simply gluing the pieces together.

Which brings me to strength and integrity. You are making a card, something that is suppose to be disposable. That is why we send cards each year because it is assumed you threw away the card I sent you last year. BUT because a hand made card is filled with sentiment and love, there is a tendency for the receivers to hold onto the cards, keeping them to treasure or whatever. So you have to make decisions on the construction of that card. Either you make the card to be disposable or not. If you glue something together, it is going to last about a month before it shows signs of falling apart. If you want it to last longer, I recommend using book binding techniques, such as sewing pieces together, to give it the needed strength and durability. (I normally opted for disposable.)

I don't like to buy paper for this purpose. It seemed counter-intuitive to do so, since part of the reason I was hand making cards was because I lacked funds to buy cards. I would use the paper I had. I'd use old construction paper to make colored handmade paper. Newspapers make fascinating handmade paper. Or I'd paint watercolor textures onto old sheet music. Even fabric can be incorporated, especially if you are using embroidery or sewing. For me it was about using up what I had.

I have some time on my hands now, and I want to try to use paper weaving to maker hand made cards. The front of the card would have a paper woven design, and the strips of paper would be woven right into the body of the card by cutting the front while leaving a solid border around. I'm not sure if I'm explaining that well. The base would remain whole, with lines cut into it to be woven into. The back would be a reverse image of the front design. It would be stable, needing minimal amounts of adhesive to keep the ends of paper strips from going anywhere. A variety of designs could be woven. It requires minimal materials, but would be quite fascinating to receive. I should definitely get on this.
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8 Jan 2012, 01:27
Winged Centaur
Post Count: 301
I should also mention that as an art student, I often had a lot of excess art materials that others are not likely to have. I still advocate for using what you have on hand, buying only a minimal amount of materials. Creativity is about problem solving. If you want to reproduce an effect or look of something, try to see if you can reproduce that with what materials you have on hand first. This is how you push creativity! If you don't have blue paper, maker blue paper. Have you ever dyed paper? It's fun. You can do it with Kool-Aid. Have you ever made a mono print? You don't need to buy ink for that.

That is my little push for real creativity and visual problem solving.
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8 Jan 2012, 02:05
.Amber.
Post Count: 260
I'm thinking more like these type:
http://images04.olx.com/ui/1/77/94/13257394_1.jpg
http://www.making-handmade-cards.com/image-files/sample-spv-tina-g-02.jpg
http://www.vickiscardmakingideas.com/uploads/male%20fishing%20birthday%20card.jpg

Which are pretty much ... scrapbooking on a smaller scale, to me lol.

Though I was reading about distressing paper ... and doing that type of stuff earlier, and it seemed really cool.

Unfortunately - I don't even know what a mono print is! lol
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8 Jan 2012, 02:30
Winged Centaur
Post Count: 301
This was one of your examples: http://www.making-handmade-cards.com/image-files/sample-spv-tina-g-02.jpg

An "I Love Your" card. This is how I would make that card using only materials I have.

I'd use a heavy white card stock base. Cut and fold to my dimensions. I'd tear purple paper, either some I already had or perhaps some paper I had painted purple with watercolor. Tearing along a table edge would give me that almost straight but organic edge seen in the example. If you don't like the white edges of torn paper, you can paint those. The hearts could be done in a variety of ways. I could cut out more paper, draw or paint them on. It is not difficult to freehand a heart motif, or I could create a stencil out of a heavy paper if I wanted all the hearts to be the same. The heart that says "i love you!" appears to come from the same purple paper, perhaps mounted on another color paper. It's hard to tell from the example. I would freehand the text, drawing it out in pencil before filling it in with paint or ink.

The rest is ribbon and bent wire (or a paper clip). I could reproduce a very similar card without buying anything. And the design could be easily adapted to what you have on hand.

You're right. It's very similar to scrap booking, because you are arranging visual elements into an effective design. You have to consider color, composition, etc. I get that. Unless you are mass producing these cards, it seems ridiculous and wasteful to buy overpriced paper to accomplish what could otherwise be done without spending anything. But more importantly, it completely cuts out creative problem solving.

Creating your own visual vocabulary is going to save you money, add love and sentiment to the cards you are making, and improve your visual problem solving skills. I find it to be more rewarding on so many levels. Don't you think you would be quite proud to make a card that you had played a part in at every level of the creation? Don't you consider this an opportunity to learn what a mono print is? To learn to make your own watercolor textured paper?

It just doesn't seem like much fun if someone has done all the work for you.
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8 Jan 2012, 04:14
.Amber.
Post Count: 260
I hardly think it's someone doing all the work for me. It's just doing slightly less work. Not any less creative, in my eyes.

But you're answering the question, as I asked. So that's fine. I actually fell into (or maybe they fell into me?) some pro-grade watercolor paints recently ... so I'd definitely be into learning how to do that. Because you do understand, up until I received them this week ... watercolor, to me, meant Crayola trays of colors you shove a wet brush into. *hehe* So it'll definitely be a learning process, haha. As of right now, until I have time to look up how they are to be properly used, they're just sitting there staring at me.

However, I still want the opinion of people who DON'T make their own stuff lol. Variety is awesome. ((And I was also totally just introduced to Flocking Powder tonight. OMG. Must have!))
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8 Jan 2012, 06:26
Winged Centaur
Post Count: 301
If you are just doing solid blocks of color (i.e. not really water color painting), then the quality of paint doesn't matter, except that the better grade paints will have more pigment, allowing you to use less to cover the same amount of area. One of my favorite watercolor texture techniques is putting salt into wet paint. (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/wingedcentaur/IMG_1049.jpg) That was done using the salt, plus layers of watercolor to make the effect less obvious. I just googled watercolor textures to find all sorts of ideas when I started.
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8 Jan 2012, 14:28
.Amber.
Post Count: 260
Ooh, that's really cool looking! I'll have to give that a try!
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11 Jan 2012, 12:23
Finally Mrs. Bailey
Post Count: 181
These are neat ideas! I've never made cards before...uh, except the ones I made out of notebook paper for my mom for her birthday/Mother's day, etc when I was a kid. I wonder if this is something I could do again, at a more advanced, "adult" level of crafting, I guess.
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14 Jan 2012, 23:03
queenbutterfly
Post Count: 425
These ideas are GREAT. I used to love making my ex-husband cards. But then stopped because he'd throw them away or not read them. :( But I WOULD love to get back into the art.
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