Cards: A spot of advice please

[Julia]

Our house is on the market and, as things are going in our neck of the woods, unlikely to sell this side of Christmas. I am keeping my spirits up planning a new hobby. We are going to a smaller place, hopefully a bungalow and my husband and I will have more 'together' time. I crochet and knit, but we are looking for a new hobby we can do together and card making seems a good choice. We have no idea how to start. We want to make our own Christmas and greetings cards. They won't be good enough to sell:grin: Can anyone suggest a basic DVD or tutorial which will start us off? We are a bit daunted by all that's out there. Sorry to pick your brains but you are so knowledgeable and we are crass beginners

 

[Bluebell]

Good Luck with the house sale Julia

Check out the craft forum as well

http://www.crafttelly.com/forum/

 

[Julia]

Thanks bluebell. I have just finished a tapestry very similar to your avatar. I will certainly have a look at that forum. Re: house sale... Oh dear! We are looking at another bungalow on Tuesday, but why bother? We are not in a position to make an offer, until we sell this one and houses in our road have been on the market for over a year, with hardly anyone looking around. We've had 6 in 2 weeks which is said to be remarkable, but no one has made an offer yet. Mark my words, I can see husband, Julia and the dog in a yurt before long!

 

[Loveinamist]

As you are a beginner I would steer away from stamping and use card toppers either singly or do non intricate decoupage, the die cut type would be ideal so there is a nice clean edge if your cutting skills need working on. You want instant gratification to build your confidence so that you will want to keep going. There are some lovely sentiment peel-offs so no troublesome gungy glue mishaps. Play around, have fun, do not be overly critical of yourselves and see what you come up with, I bet you will surprise yourself. As you are good at knitting how about making a fine knit flat bauble or tree for Christmas or egg for Easter that you can adhere using sticky buds and make a decorative frame or get some aperture cards and have the frame there for you. They can become the designs you are known for and you can decorate with pearls within the knit or use sparkly wool depending on the occasion. Once you start your creative juices will flow and there will be no stopping you. Good luck.

 

[sharonk]

Hi Julia have you got a Range Store near you? If you have pop in and find out when their next craft demo is on and go and watch it.They often have a do crafts designer in and they do value bags which give you some of the things they demo.
I would say it is an expensive hobby because you want.....or should I need everything and a small box of stuff soon becomes a big box of stuff which becomes a cupboard and then a room. It becomes a monster that takes over your house.

get yourself on the craft telly forum and fill your boots...enjoy

 

[London]

I would start very simply with a few basic items and see if you like it (ha- you'll love it!) first. Heres a list I think you will need:-

Good quality cards and envelopes
Adhesives for papercrafting (I prefer dry glue like double sided tape and glue dots, but each to their own)
Small sharp scissors and some sort of paper trimmer
Selection of coloured card stock (I love using Bazzil 12" x 12" cardstock)

And then I'd say you'll need some sort of comprehensive kit with bits of everything in it to try out like patterened card, embellishments, ribbons and sentiments. I would say this would give you what you need without an enormous financial outlay and would give you a taste of card making.

Can anyone else add anything I've missed off....:happy:

 

[Julia]

Thank you all ever so much. You have saved me pounds in money. For example, I would have gone for stamps, thinking they were easier! No, no Range Store by us Sharon BUT we do have a Hobby Craft opening soon. I never thought about demos, they are sure to have some aren't they. I've made a list of what you suggest London and will cetainly keep it simple to start. When I teach people to crochet I give them a ball of wool and a big hook and tell them to just practice the basic sts I've taught them on that and then we'll move on to something fancy, I'll use that advice learning this new hobby.

 

[pyjama princess]

Julia - Hobbycraft is one of the most expensive places to buy craft and their staff aren't very knowledgeable about the products they sell.

 

[Waterlily]

I agree with PP, please come and join us on www.crafttelly.com Julia.

 

[Julia]

Julia - Hobbycraft is one of the most expensive places to buy craft and their staff aren't very knowledgeable about the products they sell.

Thanks for that I'll certainly steer clear. Its funny, I went to one of their stores in, I think, Cardiff or Swansea. I was looking for foam or polystyrene(sp?) to make a display case for my rings. The staff kept pushing me towards very expensive things I didn't need so I left. In the end, I bought a pack of those bendy rollers, a plastic box and my hubby's glue gun and made a great one.

 

[Diane]

Julia, if you watch the craft shows on shopping tv you'll get many hints and tips (Create and Craft - 24 hour craft channel on 671 sky, also QVC on 640 sky) if you don't have sky or freeview you can always watch them on the internet, or even bits of utube, with craft experts like Stephanie Weightman - QVC or Dawn Bibby - Create and Craft. If you're looking to buy single bits of craft rather than large kits then try Ebay - they offer so many items at good prices.
Dont worry about not producing good cards, as you will find they soon turn out looking fabulous and certainly a wonderful gift for all your friends. However, be warned it's very addictive and costly...enjoy!

 

[xxxtglxxx]

As you are a beginner I would steer away from stamping and use card toppers either singly or do non intricate decoupage, the die cut type would be ideal so there is a nice clean edge if your cutting skills need working on. You want instant gratification to build your confidence so that you will want to keep going. There are some lovely sentiment peel-offs so no troublesome gungy glue mishaps. Play around, have fun, do not be overly critical of yourselves and see what you come up with, I bet you will surprise yourself. As you are good at knitting how about making a fine knit flat bauble or tree for Christmas or egg for Easter that you can adhere using sticky buds and make a decorative frame or get some aperture cards and have the frame there for you. They can become the designs you are known for and you can decorate with pearls within the knit or use sparkly wool depending on the occasion. Once you start your creative juices will flow and there will be no stopping you. Good luck.

I think this is all excellent advice. I started off with a few Topper Kits and some Mirri board and a decent paper cutter. With that you only need a few different types of glue too - Double sided tape, silicone and maybe photo-clue (cos its repositionable). Also with a Kit type of thing you feel you can use all the stuff up and not feel the need to save some stash either. I have happily made many years xmas cards from just a couple of kits

Good luck with the house move and your new hobby! Its addictive

My first post on here btw - woo hoo!!

xxalisonxx

http://xxxtglxxx.blogspot.co.uk/

 

[Julia]

Thank you all again for your advice. I've joined the crafting forum, and also got some good 'how to do it' DVD's from Creat and Craft. Its not so daunting when people steer you in the right direction... Ummm.. Nobody warned me how quickly you get hooked! Its a great hobby

 

[Loveinamist]

:mysmilie_357: :mysmilie_378: :mysmilie_378::mysmilie_378: :mysmilie_480: xxxtglxxx have fun!