Homemade cards

How of you make your own greeting cards?

Since I have limited time during the day to shop (working and family stuff) I rely mostly on my computer and whatever paper craft items I have to make cards.

I've used MS Publisher and then I have my own little designs...How about you?

I used to use Publisher, but now I work almost exclusively in MSWord (I keep the drawing menu at the bottom of the screen).

People love postcards.
The above sample was to announce a UU Thespians Potluck dinner.

Since we meet in each other's homes, I've noticed that everyone has kept that postcard: one had it framed, and several people still have it on their refrigerators.

What kind of cards do you make?

Do you have pics?

That card you made was awesome! I can see why people saved it! (I also saved a copy!)

I make Valentine cards for my kid's class, and sometime all occasion cards. And I make magnets sometime.
I just got a working scanner, so I will post some of them...I have yet to post a jpeg on any DU forum!!!

I made cards by cutting a stencil out of overhead projector plastic, and spray painting the design onto cards I cut. It doesn't turn out perfect, but it's a cool grungy look.

I've tried, but I'm just bad at it.
Notice that I didn't say I wasn't cut out for it.

:) I use rubber stamps, inks, decorative papers, ribbon, lace, brads, die cuts ~ whatever I can find. Birthday, Christmas, Valentines Day, ThankYou, Fall,,,,, I rarely buy cards to send to folks also I give them as gifts and sometimes sell them on eBay,,,,, It's a very addictive hobby plus once you start sending handmade cards, folks start expecting them :)

I've found that folks seem to be intimidated by crafters.

Anyone else noticed this?

actually what happens to me, is that I get card order requests from folks ~ sometimes way too many or orders too large to accept. In my middle years I am finding myself with a short attention span and hate to have to 'turn the creativity on' ~ I think that's why I like eBay so much (what you see, is what you get).

and I do get some handcrafted cards in return,,,, My creative artistic Daughter has made Christmas cards for many years & under her guidance my little GrandDaughters using their art on 'Hi Granny" cards,,,,

I think some expect they have to be perfect in crafts, and the thought of anyone else doing it (and doing it well) sounds intimdating. Which is far from reality...

My mom's best friend is doing this with all her old family photos. She takes a photo of, say, her son when he was 13 (he's 50 now), makes a card out of it, and sends it to him.

She's reducing clutter, she says!

Today I looked at various software at Staples and came away confused. I had tried (CHEAP) greeting card software and was really disappointed by how user-unfriendly it was and how poor the quality was. Yes, I know, I know; you get what you pay for.

So is MS Publisher the way to go, or are there other alternatives? I need something I can be walked through, step by step, and also something that will get good results on my printer-scanner-copier. I love greeting cards and would just as soon design my own.

Any suggestions (including PM) would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

yourself. it's very flexible and has a good stock of default cards to get you started

PrintShop is a pretty good application and (usually) under $100...it also lets you create calendars, flyers, brochures, etc. The older versions also allowed you to save in .jpg (don't know about the newer versions) - useful if you ever decide to print something at OfficeDepot. Most printing/copy places do no read Publisher files, but can read .jpg, .tif and .pdf files. If you have to buy something, buy something that can save in multiple file formats -- you never kow when you will need it!

the exhorbitant prices in the stores, and it allows me to feel somewhat creative.
I currently use Greeting Card Factory Deluxe, and have also used different versions
of Printmaster.
I enjoy it, as do the recipients!

I went out and did some pricing today and will take your suggestions to heart.

By the way, I have nothing against store-bought greeting cards, especially if they're unusual, fun, or especially beautiful. But far too many are simply are too run-of-the-mill or, worse yet, really puerile.

I frequently visit www.bartleby.com for a quotation or lines from a poem that are appropriate.

but not much anymore. The one thing I do happen to like doing, though, is poetry sheets. I collect a lot of fonts, and if I find a poem or a quote that interests me, I find a font that really pegs it, and print it onto parchment paper. They used to have this foil stuff that you run through the laser printer after you've printed it, tacking it onto only words or letters, and it leaves a foiled letter, whether it's gold, silver or some other sheen.

Then I frame it. I usually mat it, too, if I buy the larger frames.

Now that I have the color laser printer, I'm going to try using photographic backgrounds and adding the poetry on top of that, and foiling it, and see what the results are like. I'm getting into a bunch of different crafts to see how well they hold up and see if anything is worth selling at craft shows. The poetry also works well as a tee-shirt transfer, which I do sell from my little enterprise, Litera-Tee.