Home » Categories » Lifestyle » Art » Making your own cards - WARNING can be addictive!

Posted Thursday, April 24, 2008
View All Blog Posts submitted by Creative

Anyone who has dabbled with making their own handmade cards  knows it can be hugely addictive. Usually this is harmless aside from the ever decreasing space you might have due to card making equipment and card making supplies slowly overtaking every inch of spare room in your home!

 

This is exactly how it was for me in 2005. I was newly separated from my then husband and needed something to take my mind of the stress and worries, so I flung myself into making my own greeting cards.

 

I began small with a cardmaking kit purchased on eBay, then I gradually sought out more bits and pieces, a few embellishments here, some ribbon and lace there and before I knew it I had a sizzex machine (paper and card shape cutter) a guillotine, glue gun - you name it I had it, over £1000 worth of card making accessories and no room to house it all!

 

I was making around 30 cards a day, which weren't great in the beginning but I did improve.

I bought a couple of cardmaking books and picked up the odd crafting magazine to help me along the way. I even tried teabag card paper folding, but with less than satisfactory results.

 

So where did all this manic card making get me? Well, it did help alleviate my stress and I had a huge stack of cards to give to friends and family for years to come and I even bravely supplied a shop with a few to sell to impulse shoppers. So despite the lack of space, this hobby served me well.

 

I was definitely addicted to making cards at that time, but now not so much. This hobby is now under control and I just make the odd birthday or wedding card when the need calls and totally for personal use. But I still have a room dedicated to housing all my craft equipment, cards, speciality papers (handmade mulberry paper yum!) and I still get a buzz when I see the little handmade silk flowers and the tiny embellishments for new baby cards. Little miniature works of art.

 

The moral of this story is that if you are starting out  making your own cards, start and stay small lest you need to buy a bigger house and if you'd like some card making inspiration, you can view some of my card pictures here.