Hello and welcome to my site, where I will provide you with all the card making ideas you will ever need to make some really beautiful handmade cards for your family and friends.

My name is Vicki and I have been making handmade cards, scrapbooking and crafting for years so I have many card making ideas to share with you. During this time I have gained a great deal of knowledge about crafting and card making from attending various classes and courses, friends suggestions and my own experiences.

I now want to share my card making ideas and tips with other card making enthusiasts to help you with your own projects and designs for making handmade greeting cards. Please feel free to take a look around my site, and don’t be afraid to leave a comment or ask a question in my forum.

When I first began making handmade cards and designing scrapbook pages I often became frustrated when I ran out of ideas, or had a mental block regarding what to make next.  Some days I found myself just staring at my card making supplies feeling depressed and uninspired.

Hopefully when you are lost for good card making ideas you will find inspiration to make your own birthday cards, Christmas cards, or cards for any occasion after browsing the informative articles and detailed pictures on my site.

For a beginner knowing the correct way to use rubber stamps, peel offs, embossing powders and other techniques for card making can seem daunting at first. Keep trying and you will soon get the hang of it and before long you will master this lovely pastime.

I have provided simple, detailed and easy to follow step by step guides for both beginners and professionals to help you make your own greeting cards. Follow these walkthroughs and enjoy sharing your card designs and knowledge with others, as well as putting a smile on your friends and families faces when you give them a beautiful handmade card.

There is nothing I dislike more than trying to follow instructions that are unclear or full of jargon that I do not understand, so if any of my step by step guides are unclear, or you just don’t understand some of the terms I use, then just email me or post your question on the forum.

I will cover the basics right through to advanced card making and let you know the right products to use such as acetate which is a plastic film that has numerous applications. You can stamp onto it using rubber stamps for making shaker cards or use it to make an image or embellishment appear to hang on its own. Acetate is quite versatile so can be used with glitter glues, and glass paints.

Try to choose acid free products for your card making and scrapbooking to stop your cards and pages from deteriorating over the years. Acid free is simply a product that is made free of any acid.  Adhesives come in a range of options depending on what you want to stick together. Common card making adhesives include glue sticks, glue dots, double sided tape and photo stickers. You can use tools such as a brayer. A brayer is soft and made of rubber and can be used to roll over two pieces of paper to help them stick together.

There are certain materials you will find yourself using time and time again when making your own greeting cards such as gel pens, which you can buy in many different colors and can be used to color in small and intricate areas on your cards. Glitter glue is also a commonly used material. It is glue that has already been mixed with fine glitter which is usually white and dries clear. After using a rubber stamp you can use embossing powder which is a fine powder available in many colors and is sprinkled over the rubber stamped image, then heated with a heat gun to produce a raised image.

As well as having the necessary products to make your handmade cards you will also need some basic tools such as a bone folder, craft knife and cutting mat. A bone folder is used for scoring and folding paper card. It is a flat piece of plastic or bone which is pointed at one end and round at the other end. A cutting mat is essential for making your greeting cards and will protect your table. You will need a sharp craft knife that has a retractable blade to get accurate cuts on your card. There are many tools to use when you are making cards that I will explain in detail in my step by step guides.

Some techniques will be strange to novice card makers such as rubber stamping, decoupage and distressing. Using a rubber stamp to create an image on your greeting cards can be done quite easily, if it is done right. A rubber stamp is usually used with an acrylic block. Clear stamps can be positioned in any layout and can be mixed and matched with other stamps that you add to the acrylic block. Decoupage is a technique used to decorate greeting cards. It is a process where you build up a 3D picture using several picture as layers. Distressing is a technique used to give your handmade cards an aged and worn in look. Distressing can be achieved in many ways including, stamping, crumpling, inking and tearing.

One thing card makers also struggle with is what to write in a birthday card, what thank you card wording to use, original anniversary verses, or what sympathy message would be appropriate. This is something I will also help you with and have provided template wordings for all occasions.

Together with making cards I have also spent a lot of time making scrapbooks and want to share with you the knowledge and expertise I have acquired in this area over the years. I hope my card making ideas and crafting tips will be of use not only to novices, but also to skilled crafters as well.

I welcome your own crafting ideas and suggestions and if there is anything I can help you with please feel free to post your questions on the forum. This will help build a community that everyone can benefit from. I will answer your questions without delay, as I check the forum on a daily basis.

I aim to update the site on a regular basis so why not add Vicki's Card Making Ideas to your favorites or even subscribe to my regular free news letter detailing the latest craft and card making ideas, tricks of the trade, and special offers.

You can even email me your name and photos of your own handmade cards, and I will put them on the site in the members’ gallery for your family and friends to see.

Rest assured your email address will not be distributed or shared with any third parties and will be used only to keep you informed about new updates to my site. Please see the privacy policy for further details.

Whether it is learning how to use a sizzix machine or simple card folding techniques you will find information and helpful hints for all your crafting needs at Vicki’s Card Making Ideas.
I hope you enjoy your visit.