Card Making is a hobby that is growing in popularity all the time, and it’s easy to understand why. It’s simple, inexpensive, requires very few materials, and is great fun. Making your own cards can even be good for your bank balance – since you’ll never need to buy pricy shop-bought cards again.

If you’d like to give card making a go, but aren’t sure what you’ll need to get started, read on – this article is for you.

The basic materials you’ll need

When you’re starting out in Card Making, the best approach is to keep it nice and simple.

The first thing you’ll need is some blank cards to act as a base for your designs. These are usually referred to as ‘card blanks’, and you’ll be able to find them in any good craft shop. White A6 card blanks are a nice standard size and colour, and suitable for any occasion, so you’ll probably want to start with a good quality pack of these.

Next you’ll need something to create the main design on the front of your card. This can be either an image, some wording, or both, and there are several ways you can add this to your card.

Rubber stamps are one of the quickest and simplest ways. A stamp and ink pad will help you create a beautiful design that you can then colour in however you choose.

There are a few different types of rubber stamp, but ‘wood mounted’ stamps are the simplest to use. They feature designs mounted onto a block of wood, and are ready to use straight away – you just ink them up and stamp them straight onto your card. You might like to choose a picture design for the front of the card, and a wording stamp to add a greeting inside.

And don’t forget your ink pad for stamping. These come in a bewildering array of colours, but a small black one is all you’ll need to start with.

Next you’ll need some pens, pencils, chalks or paints for colouring your stamped image. ProMarker pens are extremely popular for colouring stamped pictures, and very easy to use. Their ink is semi-transparent, so you can apply them in layers until you get the shade you’re looking for, and you can also blend colours together – which means one pack will give you hundreds of potential colours. However, pencils, chalks and paints can work out a little cheaper, so go with whatever suits your budget.

And finally, if you want to add a message or a bit more detail to the front of your card, sheets of stickers are a great way to do it. You can get sheets of stickers with assorted messages, as well as sheets full of pretty decorative items like flourishes, borders, etc. All you do is peel them off the backing sheet and stick them where you want them.

And that is really all you’ll need to make your first card. As you decide to get more involved in your card making, there are plenty more things you can experiment with – embellishments, patterned papers, glitter glues, etc – and that voyage of discovery is all part of the fun.

But for now, some card blanks, a rubber stamp or two, an ink pad, some pens and stickers is more than enough to create a beautiful card that you can be proud of.

Visit Handy Hippo’s website for more information about Craft Supplies and card making techniques.