[kle-Karen]

I am not much of a scissors and glue girl (which is why digi is perfect for me! ). I bought Ariadna's craft box template last month and had such a BLAST making it for Christmas gifts that I thought I might delve into card making this coming year. Here are some of my questions:

1) What are the pros/cons of different paper types? Cardstock? I have a vellum paper which is like 65 pound (cardstock is 100 pound?)? Glossy photopaper? Matte photopaper?

2) This may be a dumb question, but do you print and fold the card (and do you have to turn the paper over at all?) Or do you print, cut out, and paste onto a blank card?

3) Is just straight printing good, or should physical embellishments be used? If so, what suggestions do you have? (Enlighten me! ha!)

Thanks so much! I'm looking forward to this!

Karen

[Shelbi]

Well there are many different ways to make cards.

You should join us for the card chat. It's the second monday of the month.

I know lots of rubberstampers make cards out of paper.
I plan on just making digi ones and either printing them out 4x6 or on regular sized paper.
just make the card on a half sheet of paper. then fold that half in half again.
clear as mud?

[cherise]

Yep - like Shelbi said . . . different people make the cards differently. When I do cards now, I do them 100% digital. I print them either on cardstock or double-sided matte photo paper. I usually like my printing to go all the way to the edges, so I actually turn my card and print with crop marks in the middle of the page. Then I trim it out and fold it in half.

[kerryveale]

kle-Karen, on Dec 31 2008, 05:49 PM, said:

I am not much of a scissors and glue girl (which is why digi is perfect for me! ). I bought Ariadna's craft box template last month and had such a BLAST making it for Christmas gifts that I thought I might delve into card making this coming year. Here are some of my questions:

1) What are the pros/cons of different paper types? Cardstock? I have a vellum paper which is like 65 pound (cardstock is 100 pound?)? Glossy photopaper? Matte photopaper?

2) This may be a dumb question, but do you print and fold the card (and do you have to turn the paper over at all?) Or do you print, cut out, and paste onto a blank card?

3) Is just straight printing good, or should physical embellishments be used? If so, what suggestions do you have? (Enlighten me! ha!)

Thanks so much! I'm looking forward to this!

Karen

Hi Karen,
I used to have a greeting card business that I ran out of my home, so I'll try to answer some of your questions.

1. It all depends on your printer. I ended up going to the paper supply store near my house and buying samples and testing them and then deciding. I had to play around with saturation and color balance in the advanced printer screen also. I would print up the samples using different printer settings to see what worked best. I would print my cards on both sides of heavy card stock, then fold the card stock in half, then trim with a paper cutter.

2. If you wanted to print the exterior of your card onto photo paper, you could do that, then print a separate sheet for the inside of the card on lighter-weight paper and just glue it in.
3. I think a little bling adds a lot! It's easy to punch two holes and add a ribbon tied in a bow, and scatter some glitter, and glue on a few rhinestones.

We have some really nice greeting card products in the SG Boutique--maybe some of our customers who have used them can provide you with some links.

[Smiles]

I buy premade cards with envelopes when they are on sale at craft stores (bag of 50) because it is easier.
I print out the front and inside on the same piece of paper, cut them out, and stick them on with double sided tape.
I started making cards before digi-scrapping, though.
There are lots of ways and lots of tricks - it's just whatever you prefer.
Have fun!

[ArizonaAngel]

Karen,
You've gotten alot of good info already. There is no right or wrong way and there are as many methods and styles as there are crafters. Play with it until you find what you like best. I do lots of papercrafting and cardmaking. I am starting to do more hybrid cards using both digital and traditional supplies. I got several digital cards this year for Christmas and I liked them alot and I plan to incorporate more digital into my cards. Have fun!

[beachin]

Creating cards is however you would like to do it. There is no right way or wrong way. After a few years of experimenting with paper and embelishments, I went completely digi.

For Christmas, I bought a kit here at sg, uploaded it, and went crazy. I made a couple different versions of my Christmas cards. Then I went this site, create my cards and then they mail them out for me.

I love it, because I was always great at making the cards, I just never made it to the mailbox on time to send them out.