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As card makers, we often enjoy spending hours making a one of a kind handmade card for someone special and other times we just need to make a quick card 10 minutes before we leave for an event. Today’s time saving tips for cardmakers will help you when you don’t have a lot of time, but still want to make something handmade. Or for those times when you want to create a bunch of cards quickly. I have shared all the information in video or in the post so you can use what works best for you.
Tip 1: Batch Create Card Bases
Create your card bases in batches so that you don’t have to create one each time you sit down to make a card. Use your paper trimmer, I love the Swingline Guillotine Trimmer, to cut a piece of 8.5×11 cardstock in half. I use Accent Opaque 100lb for card bases. Then score the half sheet in half again. A mini score board is perfect for this but you can also just fold it. Of course, buying premade card bases would be just a bit faster but I think making your own is worth the time.
Tip 2: Use Sketches an/or Templates
Start your card with a sketch or use a template to save time coming up with an original layout each time. There are a lot of great resources for cards sketches like MFT, Sweet Sunday Sketches, Queen and Company, and of course right here at Jess Crafts.
Find Jess Crafts No Scrap Templates for your favorite paper or card size:
- A2 Card Template and Sketches
- 5×7 Card Template and Sketches
- Slimline Card Template and Sketches
- 6×6 Paper Template and Sketches
- 12×12 Paper Templates and Sketches
Tip 3: Use Patterned Paper
Using patterned paper is a significant time saver over creating your own background with stamps, coloring, or inks. While it can be difficult to choose which patterned paper you’d like to use it is nice that all the papers in a collection will go together. Once you choose which pad to use you can easily grab a second or third pattern if need be.
Browse beautiful patterned papers:
Tip 4: Use Printable or Preprinted Images
Instead of stamping and coloring you can use premade images. If you want to keep things simple you can use preprinted diecut elements often called ephemera. This can be especially timesaving if you have the printed diecuts that match a collection. But you can also purchase and use clip art type images from sources like Creative Fabrica and Etsy. These digital images are great because you can print multiple in the same size to use on a batch of cards so you won’t run out of your favorite like you might in preprinted diecuts.
Tip 5: Use Preprinted Sentiments
Using preprinted sentiments can save you time because you can prepare many of them in advance or get a specialized look such as white writing on a black background or a foil finish without owning a foil system. You can also easily create your own sentiment strips by typing your desired saying into a doc, choosing you font and color and then printing them on cardstock. You can download many fun new fonts from Creative Fabrica to use.
Sources for Sentiments:
Time to get crafting with these time saving tips for cardmakers. Pin the image below so you can easily refer back to this list:
