Handmade cards: a simple gesture with a big impact

Want to create heartfelt handmade cards that make your friends and family smile?

There’s something magical about receiving a handmade card. It’s not just the design—it’s the love and effort that goes into all the bits and pieces of every card. I remember the first time I tried making cards. I was excited to try something new and seeing the smiles they brought made all the effort worth it. Making handmade cards is easier (and more fun) than you think!

Why Sending Handmade Cards Matters:

1. Personal Touch – A text or email is nice, but a handmade card shows thought, effort, and love. It’s something tangible that people can hold onto.

2. Makes People Feel Special – When someone receives a personalized, handcrafted card, they feel valued and appreciated.

3. Creates Lasting Memories – Handmade cards often become cherished keepsakes.

4. Strengthens Connections – Sending a card, especially when it’s unexpected, keeps relationships strong

5. Shows Gratitude in a Meaningful Way – A card adds warmth and sincerity that words alone can’t always express.

6. Encourages Creativity and Mindfulness – Making cards allows you to slow down, get creative, and put your heart into something meaningful.

7. Brightens Someone’s Day – Happy mail can totally change someone’s mood.

8. Perfect for Any Occasion (or No Occasion at All!) – There’s always a reason to send a little love.

9. Promotes Handwritten Communication – In a digital world, a handwritten note feels extra special.

10. Makes a Difference During Tough Times – A thoughtful note can provide comfort, encouragement, and support.

Ready to make your own? Here’s a few things you'll need to get started:

1. Choose the type of card you want to make: Birthdays, holidays, or just because. You can stamp greetings or write them. 

2. Pick Your Supplies: Grab cardstock, patterned paper, stamps, inks, markers, and embellishments. You'll need some basic card making tools as well such as a trimmer, scissors, and adhesive.

3. Add Personal Touches: Stamp images and greetings. Add handwritten messages to your card. You can add wink of stella (glitter pen) or glitter to make it extra special. 

4. Seal with Love: Pop it in the mail and make someone smile.

Not ready to make them on your own? Try a class or all-inclusive kit. You can browse kits in my online store. I have free live videos each week on my Facebook page Stamp and Create with Beth as well as a collection of videos on my YouTube channel Stamp and Create with Beth. 

Want to know more card-making? Drop a question in the comments and I’ll share my favorite supplies.

Thanks for stopping by today. 

~ Beth 

Faux Tile technique with vintage flair

 I love vintage things. They have a feel of beautiful, warm memories filled with love. I can imagine the worn picture that's been held and looked at many times, maybe even carried in a wallet. I can imagine the fond memories of a favorite toy. I can imagine the happy times remembered when you touch a length of lace that was worn on a special day. When I give my cards a vintage flair, I think of all these things and try to convey this in my card. Have you tried a vintage themed card?

Today's cards pair the vintage theme with a fun technique- faux tile. I love this technique because it takes your simple stamped card (stamps, inks, papers) up a notch and doesn't require any extra tools. It's a simple scoring technique that has a WOW result. 

For a vintage look, I like to use Very Vanilla or Basic Beige cardstock for my stamping layer. Stampin' Up!® offers a range of browns or colors with a brown tone to help with the vintage feel. I suggest Basic Beige, Crumb Cake, Pecan Pie, Early Espresso and Gray Granite. You could also throw in Wild Wheat (it's going to retire May 6th since it's an in-color). For a fun pop of color add a muted blue, pink or green color like Petal Pink, Balmy Blue or Soft Sea Foam.

You can use your favorite images and add in ribbons that match a neutral color scheme. For my pear card, I used watercolor pencils in Old Olive, Crushed Curry and Coastal Cabana to add color to my stamped outline images. 

The faux tile technique is scored lines at equal intervals on your cardstock layer. I use a 1" interval for a 5" x 4" piece. You can change this up and experiment based on your card layer size. After you score your layer, you stamp your images over the lines. Make sure your stamping on the side that the scored lines are indented and not raised. This leaves a white or colored line (depending on your cardstock color) and makes the image look divided like it is tiled. This is a simple technique that changes the look and feel of your card without any extra tools. You can do the scoring on your trimmer with a scoring blade or use the Simply Scored Scoring Tool by Stampin' Up!®.  Check out the Simply Scored Scoring tool in my online store. 

After you stamp your layer, you can add a greeting on a separate strip of cardstock or stamp directly into one of your squares. I like to use the same colored cardstock as my layer and then pop it up with dimensionals.  Stamp your inside layer (5 1/4" x 4") with a few images or greeting to finish off your card. 

For the sand dollar card, I stamped the stand dollars in Crumb Cake Classic ink onto a Basic Beige cardstock layer (5 1/4" x 4"). The star fish are stamped in Pecan Pie Classic ink. The sea glass is stamped in Basic Beige Classic ink for a tone-on-tone look. I added some splatters with Early Espresso Classic ink and the greeting is stamped in Early Espresso. "hello" is from the Citrus Blooms stamp set by Stampin' Up!®. The card base is Early Espresso cardstock. 

For the Penciled Pears card, I used a Basic Beige piece of cardstock (5" x 4"). I scored at 1" increments in both directions. So the 5" side was scored at 1, 2, 3 and 4. The 4" side was scored at 1, 2 and 3. Then I stamped the large pear image in Crumb Cake Classic ink. I colored the images (careful not to go down into the indent) with watercolor pencils in Old Olive, Crushed Curry and Coastal Cabana. I stamped the inside layer ( 5 1/4" x 4") with the group of 4 pears in Crumb Cake Classic ink. Then I colored those with the same pencils. "hello" is from the Citrus Blooms stamp set by Stampin' Up!®. 

Watch the replay of the Facebook live for these two cards:

Here are some more cards I created using the faux tile technique. I love that you can use whatever images you want. 

Everyday You & Me stamp set

Under the Moon stamp set

Penciled Pear stamp set

Seaside Wishes stamp set

Enjoy this technique and take your simple stamped cards (one layer) to the next level. 

Up-close pic of the scored lines, stamping and coloring of my pears.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today. I hope you've enjoyed the faux tile technique and have some fresh inspiration to give it a try. Please leave any questions in the comments. 

Need Stampin' Up!® supplies or just want to browse what's new? Head on over to my online store. 

Enjoy!  ~ Beth