Finding Wedding cards

Elegant Silver Teal Blue Wedding Invitations
by WeddingCentral

Planning your wedding can be a stressful and frustrating, not lest time consuming. All that time spent finding a venue for the ceremony, meal and the evening event and will they meet the needs of the size of the wedding you are planning. Great you have ticked all the boxes including a location that all your guests can reach but hang on, what style of wedding are you having. Will it be formal, informal, or themed and will the location fit your needs.

Bridal Shower Invitation | Elegant Wedding Gown
by Plush_Paper

This can be a challenge and I have not even mentioned what people will be dressed in or the flowers let alone the other little things like place cards, thank you cards, and invitations.

Finding the perfect Wedding cards can be hard, especially on your feet as you travel from store to store only to find the same type of cards. There is another way and one that your feet will love you for, the internet. Sure, you can go to the online versions of the stores you visited on the high street to see their full range that they did not have in the physical store but there are many stores that only exist on the internet and these are the ones that we will be looking at today.

POD or print on demand sites, these sites have hundreds of thousands of designs on file and only produce a product when someone buys one. This way they can offer you all the designs and not just the popular ones. Because the card designs are created by artists from around the world you get a lot of different styles and themes to chose from. On Greeting Card Universe below says “any greeting card imaginable, if you can’t find what you are looking for just ask”, you can post your request to the site and this will be sent out to every artist to invite them to fill your brief. Another way is to contact an artist whose style you like to see if they would create a wedding card for you or make changes to one of their cards to suite your needs and this can hold true for the other sites to.

Here are some of the POD sites that I like to use but there are many more to be found on the internet.

GreetingCard Universe

Zazzle

Redbubble

Cafepress

Wedding Congratulations Card
by ArtformTheHeart

Another place to look for ideas is Pinterest where you can click through to buy a product. One of the problems of buying from the internet is that the colour you see on your computer may not be the same as the card in your hand. This is because not everyone’s computer monitor is set to the same specifications as the POD sites printers and each POD site can be different. For this reason it is easer to order one of each of the cards that you have narrowed down so that you are sure about the look and feel in your hand. One of the advantages of buying from a POD site is that they are not going to run out of the card you have chosen so you can wait till they have a sale on (they are always having sales) before you place your order.

Great Gatsby 1920s Art Deco Wedding Table Number Card
by Truly_Uniquely

Still not found that unique card for your special day, why not have a look at hand crafted cards. Many skilled artists on sites like Etsy and Folksy. Another option is to make your own, at sites like Crafts U Print you can buy a file that has all the key elements that you can print out over and over again to make as many cards as you need including you practice attempts. Still not found what you want, why not have a go at making your own cards. If you are not sure how to do this then the book below is a great place to start.

The Complete Practical Guide toCard-Making: 200 Step-by-Step Techniques and Projects with 1100 Photographs

Beautiful to receive as well as fun to make; here is a sparkling selection of fabulous card-making projects designed for maximum decorative and creative effect. There are cards for holidays and festivals, birthday celebrations, special anniversaries and red letter days, plus cards to express love, friendship, apology, sympathy and much more. The introduction outlines materials and equipment you will need and demonstrates over 50 papercraft techniques to help you achieve your desired design. Bursting with ideas and illustrated with 1100 practical photographs this book is a treasury of inspiration for every creative crafts enthusiast.

The Complete Practical Guide to Card-Making: 200 Step-by-Step Techniques and Projects with 1100 Photographs - A Comprehensive Course in Making ... Tags and Papers in a Host of Different Styles

I hope that you have found this post useful, if so please leave a comment. If you know of any places to find great Wedding cards post the link in the comments to help other people find them

Paper crafters – Leigh

Last Sunday my aunty Bernadette and I went along to Paper crafters show in Leigh. We had a great day, coming away with our bags full of goodies and are heads filled with new ideas.

Being a local show, Paper crafters in Leigh was not a big as the national shows but this only made the experience better, as the crowds were not as big and you could look at a stall without felling like you were in a ruby scrum, (some of these Ladies go shopping with their elbows! You know who you are).

Paper crafters in Leigh may have been smaller than shows that I have been too in the past but so was the prices, £1.50 advance payment with free tea or coffee or £2.00 on the door and you had to pay for your tea and coffee at £0.50. The great value did not stop there but also on the stalls, every stall priced their items to make you feel like it was too much of a bargain to pass up.

A service that was offered by many of the stalls selling heavy or bulky items was that you could pay for your goods and then pick them up later. The choice normally is to go later in the day before you go home and hope that the stall still has the selection you want or what usually happens to me is that we buy as we see it and I end up carrying around 100lb of Bernadette’s card and paper all day (this is the real reason she invites me). This not only helps my arms but everyone else is also not carrying heavy and bulky items so they are more relaxed and the show is less filled with bags  to get round.

Overall the show was very well organised, very friendly and well worth the visit. I will be going again next year, hope to see you there.

P.S. I still had the carry that 100lb of card and paper from the show to the car!

Scrapbooking: The Ultimate guide to Scrapbooking for Beginners

Scrapbooking:The Ultimate guide to Scrapbooking for Beginners in 30 Minutes or Less!(Scrapbooking - How to Scrapbook - Scrapbooking for Beginners -)

Turn Your Photos and Memories Into a Masterpiece! Learn everything you need to know about scrapbooking This book is for new scrapbookers who want to create their own masterpiece but do not know how to start, for beginners that keep on feeling frustrated on the outcome of their project and for everyone who is fond of cutting, gluing, decorating and journaling their memories. You will learn the basic of scrapbooking from supplies to layout to preserving your photos for years. You will also find out how to layout your photos and embellishments without making the page crowdy. Perhaps, you will also get to know common mistakes that a newbie scrapbooker like you tend to commit. By the time you finish reading this book you are going to be able to realize that making an awesome scrapbook doesn’t have to be time consuming, expensive and frustrating. You can use old buttons, loose ribbons, excess card stocks and patterned papers and other reusable embellishments to make your scrapbook unique and fabulous. Why You Must Have This Book! > In this book you will learn how to preserve newspaper clippings that you can use in your scrapbook that will stay for years. > This book will teach you the steps in creating titles that are catchy and witty that is sure to entice the viewers. > In this book you will learn how to organize your tools, materials and scrapbooking supplies so you will be more productive. > This book will guide you through proper layout of photos by using grids, collage or pockets to accommodate all your photos and mementos in a single page. > This book will teach you how to stay frugal and resist the urge to spend more on scrapbooking tools, supplies and embellishments. > In this book you will learn the dos and dont’s in making the layout page and title page. What You’ll Discover from the Book “Scrapbooking: The Ultimate Guide to Scrapbooking for Beginners in 30 Minutes or Less!” ** Why you have to select the best photos and embellishments for your scrapbook ** How to complement your scrapbook’s theme by using the right layout and decorations ** Step by step instructions on how to work with your scrapbook from choosing which photos to include to journaling your memories **The importance of page protectors, photo corners, background and borders to make your photo standout **What to do to avoid mistake in placing decorative stickers and how how to use photo mat **How to find inspirations for your future scrapbook projects. Let's Learn Together! Hurry! For a limited time you can download “Scrapbooking: The Ultimate Guide to Scrapbooking for Beginners in 30 Minutes or Less!” for a special discounted price of only $2.99 Download Your Copy Right Now Before It's Too Late! Just Scroll to the top of the page and select the Buy Button. ————— TAGS: scrapbooking for beginners, scrapbooking ideas, scrapbooking styles, scrapbooking how to, scrapbooking business, scrap booking for beginners, beginner scrapbooking, beginners scrapbooking book, beginner scrapbooking guide, how to scrapbook, how to make a scrapbook

Paper crafters – Leigh

My favourite aunty, Bernadette asked me if I would like to go to a craft fair next weekend, so. Next weekend, 27^th and 28^th August the craft fair Paper Crafters – Leigh is on and I will be going. This craft fair and many others are on Sincerely Yours, a site that is devoted to giving you information on local craft shows.

Craft fairs are a great place for inspiration, not only do you get to see and buy the latest products that are on offer but you also get to talk with like minded people and people in the business. The craft fairs also have talks showing you tips and tricks and sometimes they have workshops so that you can get hands on practice.

The crowds at a craft show can be a bit overwhelming, no matter how good the venue so taking it easy and having lots of refreshment breaks are a must. Sorry for the short notice but I am letting you know as soon as I found out. If you can not make Paper Crafters – Leigh this year, do not worry as it will be back next year and if you keep an eye on Sincerely yours, you may find another craft fair near you. 

Making your own greeting cards

Sepia Rose Happy 100th Birthday Greeting Card by martinspaperstore
Look at 100th birthday Cards online at Zazzle.com

Sending greeting cards to loved ones and friends on special occasions like Birthdays, holidays and anniversaries can give you great satisfaction and the receiver gets the great feeling that not only did you remember but you also took the time to send them a greeting card.

Birthday Son Blue Dinosaur Cards by martinspaperstore
Create custom photo note cards at zazzle.com.

 

What could be better that that, well how about making that greeting card your self? Now before you start to put up all kinds of reasons why you could not make a greeting card stop. There are many ways to make greeting cards that are unique from you too the receiver, from embellishing bought greeting cards to making them from scratch.

Happy 52nd Birthday Flower Pansy Card by martinspaperstore
See other greeting card templates on zazzle.com

Now you may have to learn new skills or adapt old ones, the thing is to play to your strengths and to slowly move out of your comfort zone and not jump right out of it. You can embellish existing greeting cards by following my earlier post at Hand made Greeting cards The next step up from this is to buy a greeting card kit. You can buy greeting card kits from many good craft stores or on line from the likes of Crafts U Print. The kits that you get from craft stores of shows might have a better finish with thicker card stock, gloss finish and metallic inks but if you make a mistake you might have to buy another kit. On the other hand the kits that you download from sites likeCrafts U Print  you can print out over and over again which makes them cost effective when making greeting cards for holidays like Christmas. You can also experiment printing the greeting card kit onto different paper, card or even photo paper for that gloss effect.

Pink and Green Flower Happy 94th Birthday Greeting Card by martinspaperstore
Check out other note cards online at Zazzle.

Warning; from here on out it can get very addictive! You will soon find that you are mixing and matching from different greeting card kits and from here it is only a small step before you are making your greeting cards from scratch.

The Day is leaving Post Card by martinspaperstore
Design unique photo postcard at zazzle.com

You can take the elements and colour them and combine them on your computer making a greeting card ready to be printed straight onto a card blank or just plain card that you then cut to size. Or you could print out all the elements and colour and construct them by hand on your kitchen table or a combination of both. Each way has its own merits and difficulties, please keep in mind that methods that other people use to get results that they like mean nothing unless you can repeat the method and it gives you the result you want, by all means try new methods and if it works for you then great, if not let it go.

forgotten bench post cards by martinspaperstore
Shop for White Postcards online at Zazzle.com

You can spend a small fortune on card making equipment and supplies if you are not careful which can make you think twice about the claims that many websites say that they can save you money by creating your own greeting cards! In pure money terms you are probably better off buying your greeting cards in a job lot from a discount where house for the next ten years and do not forget to post the cards off early so that you only pay second class postage.

trees and snow postcard by martinspaperstore
Browse Trees Postcards online at Zazzle.com

Making your own greeting cards is so much more that saving a dollar or two, it is about unleashing your creativity and putting love into the greeting cards that you send. Your loved ones and friends will know that you have put in time and effort to make their greeting card or will think that you have spent a lot of money on a unique hand crafted greeting card.

Snowdonia Post Cards by martinspaperstore
Browse other Clouds Postcards

Many of the tools and supplies that you will need you may already have, epically if you have children, which by the way card making is a great activity you can do with them. Even if you do not have children shopping in the children’s section of a supermarket will get you six big tubes of different colour glitter glue for less than the cost of one small tube at a craft store. Sure the quality is less but till you have to have used both you will not know that. When you are just starting out keep the cost low till you know that this is what you like, after all most of the tools only make one particular job easy, it could sit in your tool box for years.

You’re not over the hill at 65 greeting card by martinspaperstore
Design unique personalized note cards from zazzle.com.

Below are links to sites where you can get the tools and elements you need to make greeting cards, they range from free to hundreds of dollars, I do not recommend one over another, after all what works for me might not work for you.

Happy 46th Birthday Flying Seagull bird Cards by martinspaperstore
Create a greeting card online

Computer programs to help you make greeting cars on your computer;

Gimp http://www.gimp.org/downloads

Illustrator http://www.isoftware.co.uk/products/adobe/illustrator--c8.html

Photo elements http://www.amazon.co.uk/Adobe-Photoshop-Elements-12-Mac/dp/B00EWH8ATA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410723024&sr=8-1&keywords=photoshop+element+11

Photoshop http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/photoshop.html?sdid=JRSIX&skwcid=AL!3085!3!43777185650!e!!g!!photoshop&ef_id=m3RQBEQOt34AAFqa:20140914193242:s

Sites where you can get information on making greeting cards and greeting card kits and tools, some of which may ask you for your email so that you can get the free stuff.

http://www.craftsuprint.com/default.cfm?r=891099

http://mygrafico.com/idevaffiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=martinspixs

http://www.digidesignresort.com/affiliates/jrox.php?uid=martinspixs

Here are some sites where you can get free elements to use in making greeting cards for your personal use.

www.pinkgemdesignes.com

www.funkyhand.com

www.ladybugcrafsink.co.uk

www.hotp.com

www.crafsuprint.com

www.sarahparis.co.uk

And here is a site where you can enter a free draw at www.ppjump.co.uk/cc51 to get loads of goodies.

Russian Doll Happy 5th Birthday Greeting Cards by martinspaperstore
Look at Happy Cards online at Zazzle.com

Now you may think that this is all too much trouble and you would rather just pick a greeting card and order it, well that is fine and if you are looking for a greeting card that you may not find on the high street then have a look at;

http://www.cafepress.com/martinscardstore

http://www.zazzle.com/martinspaperstore?rf=238931451543010953

http://www.greetingcarduniverse.com/martinscardstore

http://www.redbubble.com/people/martinspixs

And if they do not have what you want you can always ask the artist at Hreeting Card Universe greeting card universe to make the card you want.

Sometimes making greeting cards for your loved ones and friends is all the gratification you need but sometimes your output is greater than the needs of your close ones. It would be nice if you could reduce the cost of your past time, better still if you could make a profit! Over the next couple of blog posts I will talk you through making money from your greeting card making, both hand made and digital.

Abstract Christmas Tree in blue with seasonal gree Cards by martinspaperstore
Design unique personalized note cards from zazzle.com.

Disclaimer, some of the links but not all in this blog I make money from if you click on them or purchase from the website, after all I need to feed my family.