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The Basics of Card Makingcard making techniques with desktop publishing
The basic steps involved in card making I will cover here are far from what you might have done as a kid making get well cards and Happy Mother's Day cards. The instructions provided throughout this entire website will guide you through the process of creating invitations from scratch that will look crisp and neat. These invitations will be close to what you might have bought in a store yet even better because you created it! My intention is to provide ideas and instructions, (as well as a few tips and techniques) suited to those who want something quick and simple to create, as well as those who like to get as creative and elaborate with their designs as possible. Therein lies the beauty! When you make your own invitations you get exactly what you want!
STEP 1: Choose your theme! This step begins with whatever the specific event may be. It is also the easiest step. In most cases your party already has a theme. So of course this is the same theme you will go with for your invitation theme. Although this step simply speaks for itself I will explain further, using my wedding as an example... The theme I originally chose for my wedding was a garden theme. I searched near and far for a beautiful garden to set the stage for the ceremony. Of course, I never found one that was convenient to the rest of the wedding day, but I instead chose a beautiful gazebo which was set in the middle of a patch of lawn less than 100 feet from a harbor beach. It was set amongst lots of greenery and cherry blossom trees, so I chose to keep the flower garden theme. I decorated everything in flowers. Since my favorite flower of all is a purple iris, which was also the main flower in my bouquet, this became the color theme. which leads me to... 
Step 2: Choose your paper!There are many things to consider when choosing a paper . Your theme will help you to choose a color or pattern to your paper. You also need to consider the weight or thickness of the paper as well. STEP 3: Writing the wording! This one doesn't always come easy. Especially for a wedding invitation! Luckily for you I am here to help you out with this! Check out my section on invitation wording to help get you started. You can use my wording exactly as it is, or mix and match to create exactly what you are looking for! STEP 4: Getting the words on the paper! (desktop publishing) For me this is a very important step to card making. I much prefer the crisp look of printed words to my own messy handwriting.There are many ways to go about this step of the process. The best way would be to use
desktop publishing software
. If you do not have desktop publishing software, or would rather not download or buy it,
try making your invitation template manually! A card making basic step that will shape the entire process. Do you want this card to be the traditional open and close kind of format? What size will it be? Or do you want them to be postcard invitations?Again there are lots of choices to consider here. Card making can be as creative and elaborate, or simple and easy as you want! Need some hints for your format? * Make invitations using blank cards STEP 6: The Finishing Touches! Finishing Touches could be anywhere from taking a trip to your local copy shop for copying and cutting, adding your final embellishments and creativity, to merely slapping a stamp on it and in the mail it goes!
* Using paper punches
* Using photos in your invitations
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