Vellum paper is one of my favourite types of craft paper to use for my card making ideas. There is so much you can do with it to create stunning effects and designs.

Vellum was a translucent type of paper made from calfskin that had been soaked and then dried at a normal temperature under tension.

Vellum is a parchment paper that gets its name from the French word ‘velin’ which stands for calfskin. It has a smooth and durable texture and can be used in so many ways for your card making and scrapbooking.

Vellum paper can come in a variety of colours and prints and can vary in weight and thickness.

Using vellum for your card making ideas is a fun way to embellish and add definition to your greeting cards. It does not always have to be a sheet of plain colour as vellum can come in many diverse prints including flowers, swirls and even pictures.

You can use vellum to mat and layer and even to cover the whole front of a card, however because it is slightly see through you will need to be careful when attaching it to your handmade cards as many adhesives will show through.

There are some specialist vellum adhesives available, although these can sometimes be expensive and I find that even though they are supposed to be invisible you can still see the tape.

Therefore, and If possible try to attach vellum paper to your greeting cards by other methods, I use brads wherever possible so the vellum is secured and no glue is needed.

You can also print on vellum paper which is a really effective way of having a message or a poem on your handmade cards.

As vellum is so smooth you will need to be very careful when printing as it can easily smudge. I would wait at least a few hours before attaching the printed vellum paper to one of you cards.

If you are pushed for time you can also try to carefully dry the ink with a heat gun but use the lowest setting and be very cautious as this can burn the vellum.

Vellum can also be used to punch out ghost like shapes. I find punching out flower shapes and building them up as an embellishment on the front of a greeting card gives it a stunning look.

If using vellum quotes you can simply cut the wording out.  I find if you rip around the vellum words it looks a lot nicer.

Whether you are using quotes, patterned, or plain vellum paper you will find that there is so much you can do and create with this paper.