Card Template # 1

For our stamp club meeting this month I had them make card templates.

The idea is to give them something to help them make cards more quickly - they have the template already in front of them, and all they have to do is choose the stamps and card stocks to make the cards.

I've done this a number of times over the years, and the club members tell me they use them all the time.

I try to keep them very simple - when you need a card quickly, you DON'T want complicated!

I have them make them out of white card stock so they've got a clean slate each time they want to duplicate the template - no bias from colors or stamp sets.

Here's the first template.

I give them a sheet of paper with dimensions written down and a visual image of the card.

BUT, I also tell them there's nothing sacred about those dimensions.

What's important is the ratio of all the pieces.

So, even though the top piece on the small layer says 2-1/4 x 3, you could use something that was 2 x 3 or 2-1/2 by 3-1/2 and it would work.

I start a LOT of cards with a scrap of white paper that I've stamped something on - most of the time, I'm using a new set and just want to see the image stamped. From there I build a card.

Something that IS somewhat sacred, though, is the dimensions of the layers. About a year ago I spent one whole post discussing this.

A good rule of thumb is to make each layer smaller in both directions than the one underneath it by 1/4 inch.

So, if the card base is 5-1/2 x 4-1/4, your next layer should be 5-1/4 x 4. And the next layer on top of that would be 5 x 3-3/4.

I also tell them that many times they can change the orientation of the card and the template will still work.

Here are the two samples I worked up using this template.

I used the Filigree background stamp with White Staz-on, and added a piece of Tempting Turquoise that I'd run through an embossing folder.

This could just as easily been a piece of ribbon, if I'd wanted.




And here's the same template oriented the other way:

For this one, I only used one background layer instead of two, and the greeting is larger than the 2-1/4 x 3 that I used on the template.

But it's basically still the same card.










Come back tomorrow for the second template!