How to begin making greeting cards step by step #1

This is the first of a series of blog posts designed to help the beginning card maker. Making cards is a great craft, and you can start with a very small space and inexpensive materials that you may already have!

TO begin with, make yourself a little sign with a piece of scrap paper: It should say " It's only PAPER!" I want you to be free to make many,many mistakes. IT"S ONLY PAPER!

Find a place where you have a flat surface, and a little elbow room. Either hunt up or buy this simple list of supplies:

1) A CLEAR ruler: it will be very helpful to you to have a ruler with both metric and U.S. measurements. Be sure to get a full sized ruler.

2) A Pencil, preferably a mechanical one. I love mechanical pencils because they erase very easily,  are very cheap, and I don't have to stop in the middle of a project to sharpen the end.

3) An art gum eraser. These are fairly expensive for their size, but they erase very well and don't leave any marks.

4) Paper. Here is where it can get complicated. Selecting paper , learning about different types of paper, and finding sources for paper is an almost endless task.
     If you are willing to practice, get some typing paper. You won't end up with a finished card you can give away, but it is very cheap, so you can play around with designing a card and throw it out!
     If you are impatient like me, and want to have a finished card from the very start, you will need card stock. Big box stores with craft departments, and craft stores carry card stock. For now don't worry about knowing weights of card stock. Just get 80 pound card stock in an 8.5 by 11 size. Start with a pack with a variety of colors. I'm cheap, so I buy mine with a coupon, or when it is on sale. You can get a variety pack of 80 pound card stock with 50 sheets in it for $ 5.00 each.

5) Scissors. I prefer a craft knife for cutting, so if you have a steady hand, these are the cheapest option (if you have something to protect your work surface from damage). If you get scissors, get the best pair you can afford, with a small sharp tip, and ONLY USE THEM FOR PAPER. More about cutting in another post.

6) Glue. Get Elmer's Glue all. It works, it's cheap. I buy a whole gallon of the stuff at a time with a half off coupon, of course!

Now, find an hour, get all your materials together, and get ready to make a card!