Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/764316
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 18 DECEMBER 2016 VI Christmas BUT where does one start? As it seems you need so many supplies and honestly what's the point of spending a fortune in materi- als if your card making isn't up to scratch I hear you cry. Just put your worries aside for now it's not that expensive to start making your own professional looking greeting cards which will amaze your friends. You need three things to make your own handmade greeting cards: supplies, "me time," and perseverance. Here's a list of a few basic tools below that you can use to get you started. What you need to get started in card making To get started in making handmade greet- ing cards, you just need a few basic paper craft supplies. Although the following list is not exhaustive, it will give you a rough idea of what you need so you don't have to run to your local crafts scrapbook shop. The first things you will need are: A cutting mat, card stock, a pair of scis- sors, glue, colourful Designed Papers, a ruler, Craft knife, materials that are not strictly necessary for a beginner but can add a finishing touch to your cards: ribbons, coloring mediums, rubber stamps, and ink pads. 1. Score card stock to make your base card The piece of card stock paper folded in half which will be your receptacle for your papers layered on top and all the other em- bellishments is called "Base Card." To save time you can buy card stock already folded in various shapes: rectangle, square, and other fancy shapes too. They also usually come paired up with the match- ing envelope. To make the fold yourself, you need to score your card stock first. Scoring a piece of card stock means that you use a blunt piece of metal against your ruler to create an indentation on your card stock. This makes it easier to fold, thus avoiding the ragged edges on the side of the card. In a nutshell, it looks neater and more profes- sional. You can score using an old pen that doesn't work anymore, the back of the scis- sors, or an embossing tool. The score line/ groove you create will weaken the paper fibres to allow you to fold the card stock neatly. Now comes the surprising bit which can be confusing. You fold on the mountain side and not the valley. Mountain side is the bump of your score line and valley side is the score line/groove you left. So once you finished scoring your paper in the middle, turn the paper over and fold it. 2. Making a Greeting Card Now that we have a base card you can start adding embellishments, paper(s), and a sentiment. Here are some ideas for card decoration: Add a background paper leaving a white edge (basically the base card showing around it) as it gives me a subtle frame around the card. You can also cover the whole of the card front with a patterned paper. When adding different layers of papers in various sizes on your card, there's a tech- nique called "matting." What it means is that in order to make your paper element(s) stand out you put a mat (another piece of contrasting paper) behind your element. It's similar to framing by a professional photographer where the picture has either a white or black thin frame showing behind it, hence the word "matting," almost like having a little mat to put your focal point over. There's also a nice new trend to keep card-making as simple as possible. I do like a striking minimalistic look, but make sure that your base card is very sturdy using ex- cellent quality card stock. Since less is more, good, thick, quality card stock becomes paramount to a good-looking card. This new "simple" trend uses the white space concept a lot. Positioning a few elements in a tasteful manner makes the card stand out. For your first cards you can use very inexpensive rub-ons with a nice image and some sentiments. Using a scoring tool, just leave an embossed edge around your base card and then add the focal image point on either corner of the card, positioning the sentiment either across or below it. You could also add some ribbon across the card either vertically or horizontally to finish your card. Important Tip: Try to experiment moving the elements around the card before either glueing them down or, as from the previous example, rubbing the image onto your base card. Personalized greeting card tips YTC SKIING HOLIDY TO LIVIGNO FOR TO VODFONE SMRT PLTINUM 7 PERFUMES, HMPERS, BEUTY TRETMENTS & MORE! EDENCINEMS.COM.MT YTC SKIING HOLIDY TO LIVIGNO FOR TO STRTING 13TH DECEMBER. TS&CS PPLY. If you are a scrap booker or are simply brand new at paper crafting, you'll probably find it daunting to start making your own cards at home. You certainly have friends who have simply sent you beautiful handmade cards Handmade Christmas cards