This Hints & Tips article will give you a brief introduction to various techniques and varieties of card making and decoupage.
Card making is an increasingly popular hobby and with only a few supplies and some simple techniques you'll be handcrafting cards and unleashing your creativity!
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You'll be able to create cards for a huge variety of occasions including Birthdays, Weddings, Anniversaries, Christmas, Easter, Valentines Day, New Home, New Baby, Get Well, Good Luck etc. Plus, you'll be able to create these at a fraction of the price it would cost you to buy ready made cards, they'll have your personal touch and you'll have fun making them!
Basic Equipment
Paper - This is available in a range of sizes, colours and weights and there are a number of varieties including handmade, printed, vellums, metallic, mirrored, holographic and more. It is great for building up layers on hand made cards and as inserts (particularly vellums) or for cutting out shapes and using them as embellishments.
Card - As with paper, this is available in a huge range of sizes, colours and finishes./ It is a lot thicker and stiffer than paper and is an ideal base for card making. It can also be folded in a variety of ways to make interesting and unusual card designs. Card is also available as pre-scored card blanks which are basically sheets of card, with a score down the middle for folding into a card. Card blanks are also available with apertures. These are shapes cut out of one face of the card to give a window effect onto the image behind or for Iris Folding.
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Toppers - Toppers are different decorations and images that are mounted onto card blanks and can be given a 3 dimensional effect by using foam pads or glue.
3D Decoupage - 3D Decoupage is one of the most popular card making techniques. It involves building up an image by cutting out multiple copies of the same image and layering them on top of one another using foam pads or glue. The images have to be cut out from the decoupage design sheet or you can get die-cut sheets where the images have perforated edges and can be popped out with no cutting required.
Rubber Stamping - This uses images or text which has been made into a rubber mould to stamp onto cards etc with the use of ink pads, the stamped image or text can then be given a raised effect by adding embossing powders and they can also be coloured in once dry.
Try out our Custom Rubber Stamp Designer
Iris Folding - This is the technique of folding thin strips of paper and layering them, using a template, into a spiral pattern behind an aperture in a card blank.
Embellishments - These are the finishing touches to your cards that make it stand out and can be anything you stick onto your cards as a finishing touch from glitter, ribbons, beads, jewels, wire - just about anything you can think of!
Foam Pads - These are used in 3D Decoupage or other techniques which require a 3D effect. They come in various sizes and thicknesses and are self adhesive on both sides.
Basic Tools - The basic tools needed for card making include:
Scissors
Craft Knife
Metal Craft Ruler
Cutting Mat
Glues/Adhesive Tape/Foam Pads
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Last Updated: February 03, 2010