I was an early adopter of card making, ridiculously early, it was over thirty years ago. I wandered into a local craft shop looking for some fabric for a very simple sewing project and found one rotating display of papercrafting resources. I was intrigued and made a purchase.
How I got started
In the early days it was printed designs that you cut out, or fussy cut to use the correct lingo, long before there was die cutting, never mind digital cutting machines. Then along came stamps. They were all red rubber mounted on wooden blocks at that point. Of course, stamps needed ink pads, and I needed all the colours, of course.
From stamps came the arrival of die cutting. Wow, was it expensive, a set of every letter in the alphabet cost over £100. It was considerable time before I had a set, I started with stencils to trace the letters and cut them out, like many other early adopters I imagine.
Gradually I built my collection of ready made style elements like the Hunkydory papercraft collections, stamps and some simple affordable dies, and of course embellishments, in all sorts of styles and colours.
With time I invested in newer technologies, when the early Cricut machine came out, the ones that used cartridges, you could actually hire a machine and cartridges from the craft shop for a weekend.
Then I discovered Craft Shopping Channels, oh boy, you could buy a whole collection for a discounted price and split it over three monthly payments. I was fully in the trenches at that point. It was, in all fairness like an addiction. I had to collect it all.
Now I am a sober card maker, unlike alcohol I didn't have to go cold turkey, I simply became realistic about how much I can actually use and do I even like all the designs. I became purposeful with my spending and learnt how to shop my stash.
Why I love Cardmaking
There are two key reasons I still love card making (yes the terms Cardmaking and card making are interchangeable and I dance between them), even if I do it less often than I used to, given my enjoyment of other crafting hobbies.
The sheer variety
Cardmaking remains one of the most versatile papercraft hobbies. Scrapbooking, in the traditional sense rather than digital, is very similar. Cards can range from a simple folded A4 card to complex multi-panel designs. The decoration of the card can include paper pieced designs, stamped imagery, ink blending and die cut elements. In other words several sub-hobbies can go into card making.
The personal touch
Although there are services like MoonPig now that let you choose how to design and personalise a card, they remain shop bought printed cards. There is nothing like the feeling of being able to make a card for someone from scratch.
Why it's great for Fibromyalgia
Cardmaking for spoonies is a great idea for a hobby. The most obvious thing is that you can pace yourself, as long as you give yourself enough time before a card is needed you can work as slowly as you like. You can even spread one card over several days if you need to. Because of the variety of cardmaking styles it works very well for Fibro too. Depending on your spoon level you can do something simple or, on a good day, go to town with your design.
As the products available have grown you can get things like electronic die cutting machines. My first two models had crank handles, this could be hard going. Now I just have a tiny crank handled machine for cutting something like a tiny embellishment or a single small word. My main machine is electric and can cut A4 designs. Not that I have any A4 dies, but I can cut several in one pass.
It may sound small, but there is also the satisfaction of the finished products. When you live with a chronic illness and have many days when productivity feels like it belonged in a previous lifetime. Actually producing something you can be proud of is a big win for the self confidence.
How to get started
As you have gathered this hobby can grow as big as you like it. I would suggest starting small. The first thing I would consider is, what is your artistic ability? Cardmaking works across both ends of the scale.
Bare Bone Toolkit
- Glue (either stick or liquid can work)
- A paper trimmer (you can get really cheap ones to start out)
- Card blanks or cardstock
- A colouring medium (pencils or markers)
If you think you are not very artistic you may want to begin by purchasing a ready made kit.
Ready made card kits
These are often sold as Cardmaking Making Kits or Papercrafting Kits. They often come with blank cards and envelopes. You then get a selection of backing papers and ready die cut images and words. All you need to do is design a layout and stick everything down. This can also be done with primary aged children if you are a parent.
More Investment
If you are happy to make some investment you could get a set of stamps which have matching dies. If you are using stamps, I would strongly recommend a stamping platform. If you use one of them then you can re-stamp in exactly the correct place again, if you didn't get a clean print first time around, trust me I spent a while using individual stamping blocks and didn't have an enjoyable experience and that was before I had Fibromyalgia.
Depending on the size of the dies you can either get a small die cutter, or if needed a bigger one. Although more expensive, if you think you are going to enjoy the hobby and you need a larger machine, I would go straight for a digital one. There is no bigger turn-off than being in pain hand cranking a die cutting machine.
Don't feel you need a dedicated craft room or hundreds of pounds worth of supplies. Your first few cards can be made with a paper trimmer, some cardstock, glue and a small kit. If you discover you love the hobby, there will always be time to expand your collection later.
The Artistic
Of course, if you are truly artistic, or just want to play without worrying about the outcome, there are so many options. You can get sets of stamps that allow you to build a scene. From a countryside scene to a super hero on another planet the scale of illustrative stamps out there is vast. Or if you are really comfortable you could just go for it and hand draw or colour your designs.
I want to improve my artistic side so I am actually working on another creative hobby, Adult Colouring to improve my skills, which in turn will improve my card making. I certainly wouldn't go as far as "all the gear but no idea" but I would say I currently have too much gear and less idea than I would like.
Purchasing Advice
As someone who has been doing cardmaking for so long, I would really recommend you cut out the middle options. By all means start with the cheapest products as you don't even know if you are going to enjoy yourself. But if you get the feeling that papercrafting is here to stay, save yourself the money by jumping from the cheapest tools to a well rated quality one. I have had so many paper trimmers and types of glue over the years... Good tools last for years. Poor tools usually just end up being replaced.
Where to get Inspiration
Social Media
Social media is a great starting point, there are many card makers on Instagram & Pinterest and on YouTube doing tutorials. Just take some time to find people's whose styles resonates with yours.
Shopping TV
There are still crafting shopping channels on TV and YouTube, just be aware, they are highly skilled in encouraging you to believe you need what they are selling. I now prefer to just receive the mailing list emails. Then I can look at images of products with none of the distraction. If I decide I love something enough to buy it only then might I watch the program to get inspiration for use.
Magazines
There are a selection of magazines available like Cardmaking & Papercraft and Creative Stamping. They often come with free gifts each month. I used to subscribe to several and soon got overrun with magazines and gifts. Now I read the magazines on Readly and only make a physical purchase if I am desperate for the gift. Remember again, I have thirty years of resources and designs often come back around again. If you are new, magazine gifts may be a great way to build a collection.
Professional Cards
Browsing the card aisle of a shop (or online as a spoonie) you can get inspiration from professional designs. Even easier if you have a selection of cards you have received in the past. Inspiration is the key word here, copying is something you should not do. Imagine sharing a card on social media that you are proud of to have the designer of the card you copied coming after you.
Don't aim for perfection
As someone with Fibromyalgia, the chances are you are considering a hobby like cardmaking for its therapeutic benefits like mindfulness and being creative. If that is the case, the act of making the card is the success point. I am thirty plus years in on my journey so I do battle with perfectionism. As a new card maker simply enjoy the experience, there is plenty of time in the future to "get serious" about it if you choose.
Visit the Gallery
If you look in my gallery and see some of my designs you will notice the quality, and my thoughts about, the completed cards varies. Perhaps they may give you some inspiration.
Let's Continue the Conversation
If you'd like to share your thoughts or chat with other readers, I'd love to hear from you. You can join the conversation about this post on Facebook or X.