DIY Business Cards
For those of you who weren’t aware, I’m a paper person. One of those people that shivers at the touch of a nice card stock and gets lost in the texture of a matte finished magazine cover. In college I studied book binding and printmaking as a hobby, so handmade packaging and promotional materials seemed like a natural way to combine my enthusiasm for marketing with my love for paper crafts. For the rest of the crafty entrepreneurs out there, here’s how to create your own vintage inspired, hand stamped, DIY business cards.
Step one: Order custom stamps for your logo and contact information
I was surprised how easy it was to order custom stamps online and even more surprised at how well they turned out. I ordered my stamps through thestampmaker.com for less than $50 and received the stamps in the mail less than 5 days later. When they arrived I could hardly contain my excitement and I sped off to the local art supply store for printmaking paper and ink.
Step two: Choose your paper and rip it wisely
There are so many amazing papers out there. Spend any amount of time in a craft paper store and you’ll learn things about your finger tips you never knew. For my project, I wanted a thick, natural looking brown paper. I chose a natural Stonehenge Printmaking paper made from 100% cotton fibers.
To rip your paper with perfect straight edges, observe the following steps:
TIP: Using a long metal ruler will help you get the best results, don’t try any shortcuts (like using that book that’s laying on your coffee table). Hold the ruler tightly with your right hand to keep it from wiggling while you tare the paper. If you don’t want the fuzzy raw edge, use a razor instead of taring.
Step three: Stamp steady and stack
Once I pressed that first stamp onto a freshly torn card I was immediately injected with enthusiasm. These things looked GREAT! I turned into a nineteenth century automated stamp machine; stamp, stack, stamp, stack. After cranking out 20 or so, I realized I’d made a fatal mistake. I was so wrapped up in the joy of seeing the first stamp that I started working too quickly and some of the text was getting smearing. Legibility is definitely an important part of any promotional material, so I stepped back the tempo and began meticulously inking and pressing each stamp, ultimately producing a way higher quality product.
