Help Needed !!! I want to start card making !!!

[Sticky Nicky]

Hi there,

I currently make and sell jewellery on ebay which is doing quite well but i've decided to try my hand at making cards to stick in my shop and to sell to friends ect.

Hoiwever, ive never tried it before so before i shell out loads of money, i have bought some starter packs on ebay for £3 which will let me mess around and see what i can make.

My question is, what tools will i need to get myself started ? I know that sounds silly but i havent got a clue and looking on ebay there are all sorts of scissors and heat guns and stuff !!!!!

Any help will be appreciated !!!

[Seahorse]

I recomend rubber stamps and embossing.You can get a couple of ink pads/heat powder and a gun from Argos for about £20.

[Sticky Nicky]

thanks, i think i better buy a book as i hav no idea where to even begin, i just bought a few craft packs to mess around with and then progress onto better things.

it should be a good little earner for christmas:)

[Seahorse]

it should be a good little earner for christmas:)

yes indeedy.Do you sell them incividually or in packs?

[Sticky Nicky]

I'm just going to do them individually, but in packs is an option too i suppose. Hey, i may even me rubbish at it and not do it at all. My stuff will be in this weekend hopefully and i can myabe get started.

I want to do all kinds of cards but at christmas people like to get special cards for mums, dads, family members and friends so i should hopefully make a litle bit that way and i'll stick some in my ebay shop , people may buy one or two when they are buying jewellery.

[Nattelie]

Just mess around, that's how I started, just messing around, see what looks good, BTW, yr jewlery is lovey.

I like using peel off stickers, don't very often now, but good thing to start with.

Also, those DIY packs, where u get everything are good for futre insiration, or Dawn Bibby's craft hr on QVC....

[swirlyarts]

Another good tip is to look at things that aren't normally crafty things that you might have lying around the house - e.g wrapping paper, bits off old cards etc. If you have a hobbycraft near you then they have lots of leaflets that you can take away on card making. A thing I use lots of are sticky pads - poundland do them and you get lots for your pound.
Hope this helps
Lynsey

[Sticky Nicky]

Thanks alot peeps !!!

I'm just waiting on my starter packs coming through so i am going to get stuck in this weekend, husband is away fishing and camping with his mates so i have the house to myself which will be perfect :D

[Lesley Sinclair]

Hi there

I am quite new to card making and last Christmas had a number of orders (around 25) for small cross-stitched christmas scene. I bought a few of the small cross-stitch patterns, used existing threads and bought card and sticky ribbons. They looked great and managed to make me around £120 which was great.

I started off with the packs which help you with inspiration - always find that the hard bit. Get a few rubber stamps, a heat gun and you will be away!

Happy crafting

Lesley

[scooter1]

hi, i too use rubber stamps, as there are so many things you can do with them, you can make your own toppers, decoupage, mat and mount or simply stamp straight onto your card and colour in using various mediums, i use watercolour pencils which give a great effect. If you decide that you enjoy making cards i suggest you get yourself a card creaser and a good scoring tool or bone folder, that way you can crease your own cardstock which works out much much cheaper, i buy card for 10p a sheet and i can get loads of cards from say 10- 20 sheets, dont just think of the usual c6 size either, try DL, small square ,large square etc the list is endless.

good luck hope you enjoy !!

sam

[Sticky Nicky]

Thanks people, i didnt realise that there was so much to it !!!

First of all, i still havent received my starter packs from ebay !!! So i've bought loads of stuff of ebay, got a little bit carried away !!! So as soon as it all comes through, i'm giving it a go.

I will buy some stamps, i didnt buy any of them as i wasnt sure if they would look good.

I'll post a picture as soon as i make a decent one !!! :D

[jumblebugs]

you could take photos of your jewelery and edit it a little in photoshop and then get some photos printed up and stick them on blank greeting cards?

[Sticky Nicky]

you could take photos of your jewelery and edit it a little in photoshop and then get some photos printed up and stick them on blank greeting cards?

good idea thanks !!!

[Bex1403]

Hi
When I first got into crafting I bagan with card toppers, peel-offs, punches, stamps and dacel edge scissors. With those tools you can make virtually anything. Oh and Glue of course!

I found embossing rather difficult and messy to begin with but I finally got the hang of it.

Pre-designed card toppers help as they provide you with a basis to work from, a guide if you like! They are pretty cheap to buy and you get plenty for your money. I bought a pack of 30 taglets from Katy Sue Designs for only £2.50, which make cards and taglets...

Good luck with your new direction.

Bex

[Sticky Nicky]

Well i made my first batch of cards and i thought they were quite good. A few weeks later i looked at them again and decided that they werent that good.

So for the past week i have been on holiday in a log cabin in the north of scotland with my husband and dogs to chill out basically. Anyway, i made a batch up there and i have decided that they are definitely good ( well for me anyway ) I'll post some pictures later on in the week to see what you all think.

[silvercrafts]

Just remember you get what you pay for and sometimes its better to buy a set than go back for it later.

When i started I went to Dianes Crafty Supplies - online store - she was a great help gave me some grat advice on what to buy and even did me a starter set and saved me loads of money.

i started with some card, a set of Acrylic Blocks, some rubber stamps and few felt pens, backing papers for a bit of bling and away I went.

now I have a designated craft cupboard and its exploding with stuff - remember its addictive - you'll never have enough papers, stamps etc and the papers are just oo nice to use - you get them out and feel them and look at them and can't bear to use them - lol
Well I do anyway! lol

i'm must be a sad person.
A

[elle]

hi, i am new to this forum ans this is my first card craft post!

when i started out I got a heat gun, powders, stamps and some card. I have to admit that I have since sold all my embossing and stamping sets because I just could not get a finish that I was happy with, but I am a complete control freak and spent too much time cealning away excess powder!

The one thing that I did buy that I would say is a must is a craft trimmer. Scissors never get a square cut. I upgraded to a staples guillotine for my first big order and am now using a rotary trimmer.

I think the main thing ot do is experiment and have fun. If you dint like how a design is coming leave it a week and go back to it and you'l be surprised how many new ideas you will have.

[writer29]

Hi there

I started cardmaking a couple of years ago and quickly became an ebay shopaholic! (It's not always best to buy on eBay - I'm a powerseller but can't offer my customers the deals I can on my main website as the fees are so high...)

But anyway, The main things you will need are:


cutting mat (at least A4)
Steel ruler - I started with a 30cm one but quickly needed a longer one
paper trimmer to at least A4 (don't shell out on a fancy one straight away - see how you go)
set of craft knives - replace frequently
glue sticks, foam pads, double sided tape
Fancy scissors - these are great for cutting out backing materials especially for your card greetingBefore you shell out on books there are some great forums around where people share their cards so look into that, but also, there are often card making workshops all over the country that one can go to.

If you want to experiement with joining paper together with say eyelets, then a hole punch, setter, hammer and some eyelets will be needed

Since you already make jewelery you could actually make some to put on cards, these are quite popular.

Hope that's been helpful

Nicolette


Hi there,

I currently make and sell jewellery on ebay which is doing quite well but i've decided to try my hand at making cards to stick in my shop and to sell to friends ect.

Hoiwever, ive never tried it before so before i shell out loads of money, i have bought some starter packs on ebay for £3 which will let me mess around and see what i can make.

My question is, what tools will i need to get myself started ? I know that sounds silly but i havent got a clue and looking on ebay there are all sorts of scissors and heat guns and stuff !!!!!

Any help will be appreciated !!!

[craftfairy]

Just a word of warning with Ebay.

Check that you are covering your costs because Ebay take a submission fee, a final fee, a shop fee and then you have to pay pay pal commission for getting your money. Then add your postage on to that and if the cost of your cards is low you might even find your self out of pocket or working for £1.00 an hour.

I know that this sounds dire but it happened to me.

Yvonne

www.craftfairy.co.uk
www.blog.craftfairy.co.uk
http://nonnasrecipes.blogspot.com/

[writer29]

From the post, I got the impression she wasn't planning to sell on eBay anyway. Handmade cards don't go down well there at all the best thing to do is research and also to create a quick site with something like zoomshare or freewebs (my preference is actually a proper domain and website - but that's because I'm an IT professional by trade and steer away from the free sites! Get some free business cards done at Vistaprint for example so that you can promote your work, give them out wherever you go. Card parties are also good, but make sure you have an order form for people to place orders there and then (get them to leave a deposit).

Ensure you have your contact details on the back of every card you make as they are your best advertisement.

Then, once you've got yourself established it's easier to get more orders. Personally I've had to stop making cards because I am making more money on Ebay and just don't have time to do it anymore.

If you do plan to sell on eBay you don't have to accept PayPal - there are certain listings I have that don't accept paypal and it is made clear to the buyer beforehand including the reason (fees!). Where I do accept paypal, the fees are already built into the price. I don't sell much in auctions as this is generally a waste of money but it's a good idea to have some of this type to drive the other buyers to your listings and then you send the business cards to your proper site with all orders.

If it's planned properly it can be successful so don't give up.

N

[Artyz]

Hi,

I love card making! i have subscribed to a magazine as i was just like you, really no idea what to do. it is great to get the magazine. i really look forward to get it as i get free goodies each week and there is a hands on guide on how to use the items in making cards.

I did the whole embossing thing but find that at the moment it is not really very popular. The card making that is popular is actually very similar to scrapbooking. pop out flowers, cut out pictures and just general fun. i have found this kind of card making much easier. i always get comments when people see my cards. a good place to get some items is also at a material shop, they often have little bits and bobs of material shapes and things that you can use on your cards.

Once you get into it you will love it! :mf:

[chaz]

iv been making cards for a year now i first started with peel offs to make my cards rubber stamps are a lot better if u shop around you can pick them up dead cheap for as little as a pound to save you cash you could also try cutting round shapes you have around the home ect a cup somthing round or square use card to draw round bingo u have templates crafting knife is a great thing to have when cutting difficult areas out and a crafting mat im sure you will do well good luck chaz

[Ballerinacaz]

I'm new to card-making aswell. I recently bought the FingerGuard paper trimmer, I think it is one of the best things I ever bought. It means you gt a nice neat, straight edge when you are cutting paper and card (like if you are layering up or some thing) you can also gt different blades for it so you will never need scissors again!
HTH