We create a beautiful and pleasant gift for New Year or Christmas with Vitebsk Courier!

TO winter holidays stores are filled with all kinds of postcards, sometimes the choice is so wide that even your eyes run wild. With such variety, we sometimes forget that an original card can also be a good addition to a gift. And what will convey our warm feelings better than a handmade card? On the eve of the holidays, we offer you our photo instructions for creating a hand-made postcard.

Hand-made postcard “Christmas wreath”

Last time we did one designed to decorate our interior; you will see similar motifs in this guide. So for those who haven’t found the strength or means to make a wreath, we’ll make one from a postcard.

For work, we will need colored cardboard or pastel paper (we use Murano paper) light, dark green and brown, a piece of ribbon in a rich New Year's color, two bells and a red outline or red half-beads, or even ordinary beads or small beads, We'll leave that to your choice.

We start by cutting out the base for our future postcard from a dark green sheet and bending it in half to make such a book. Our blank has proportions of 20x11 cm.

We cut out the backing from brown cardboard, it should be slightly smaller than the front side of the card, and glue it to the blank.

Using any handy object that allows us to draw an even circle, we make two marks: on light and dark green cardboard. The circle on a light sheet should be smaller than on a dark one. It is convenient to use a glass for this, since it has a wider and narrower side.

We cut out our blanks so that the edge turns out wavy. It is convenient to use curly scissors for this, but you can do without them. The “donut” made from dark green cardboard will be larger and wider; make sure that it fits evenly on the backing.

Check the resulting blanks so that the hole in the light one allows it to overlap the dark one so as to fit in the middle of its thickness.

Glue both pieces together and place them on the backing. Next we need a small bow. For convenience, we suggest tying it on a fork. This will allow you to get an even and neat bow.

We cut the ends of the bow and fasten them to a candle or lighter.

Glue the bow to the card.

We take the bells and sew them directly under the bow.

Using an outline or half beads, we form red holly berries on the wreath, three in a group. If you don't have half beads or an outline, use red beads or small beads and secure them with glue.

Without a congratulatory inscription, the card looks empty. We make an inscription using an outline.

Our cute and easy-to-make card is ready. Now you can complement it with decorations to your liking. And don’t forget to write inside your sincere and most warm regards!

* The calculations use average data for Russia

A postcard made by yourself is more valuable than its counterpart printed on a printing press. Moreover, the imagination of folk craftsmen knows no bounds. They decorate cards with coconut fiber and bamboo and balsa wood and gold and even candies and bagels.

hand-made cards: The essence of business

As a rule, postcards can be divided into two categories: postcards with small volume self made and postcards of a complex category. If the former can be stamped several hundred per day, then the production of the latter is more labor-intensive: one master can make from 30 to 70 such postcards daily.

Considering that one company employs from six to 25 craftsmen, a client order for the production of, say, a thousand handmade cards can be completed in three to 10 days. In addition to craftsmen who primarily have an artistic education, designers work on postcards - usually no more than four.

The main problem of this business is to find a good specialist for a small salary. On the one hand, the worker must have the ability to create, and on the other, perseverance and the ability to perform, in a sense, monotonous operations are required. Such qualities rarely coexist in one person. And few people agree to work for pennies. Today, on the European market, a handmade postcard costs about EUR5, but in Ukrainian retail it costs about 15 UAH. This difference in price is explained mainly by the level of wages.

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A variety of materials are used for making postcards: fabrics, plastic, paper, beads, buttons, oilcloth, paints... All this is purchased mainly in hardware stores or directly from suppliers who bring materials from abroad.

To the credit of Ukrainian manufacturers of hand-made cards, domestic products are not inferior in quality to foreign ones, and sometimes even surpass them. Ukrainian manufacturers constantly accept orders from the USA, Canada, Israel and Russia.

hand-made cards: Sales channels

The problem of sales in this business is considered one of the main ones. The fact is that, basically, manufacturers sell their products through bookstores and gift stores, such as “DC”, “Multi”, “Bukva”. But there are very few such networks in Ukraine, and, according to manufacturers, it is quite difficult to get there with postcards.

The most promising sales channel for Ukrainian manufacturers of handmade cards remains the production of custom-made products. In the structure of seasonal sales, the share of corporate orders is at least 50%. It is worth noting that custom postcard manufacturers have no shortage of corporate clients.

First of all, they are banks and other financial institutions, automobile corporations, large international companies - in a word, those organizations that care about their own image and can afford to spend money and time ordering original cards to pamper their employees, clients or partners with a non-standard, memorable congratulation.

hand-made cards: Profitability

Participants estimate the minimum threshold for entering the business at $8-10 thousand. This amount is quite enough to hire craftsmen and designers, purchase paper and materials and start working. According to the entrepreneurs of this business, it is not difficult to enter it, but only for those who are passionate about their business, who want to create beauty in addition to money, everything should amaze: paper, text, drawing, framing, layout, font combinations... If this no, then here you can lose more than you earn.

For the same reason, postcard manufacturers do not spend money on advertising. After all, a beautiful and original postcard is an advertisement in itself. The only way to promote for such companies is to participate in specialized exhibitions, both domestic and foreign.

Not only postcards are promising, but the gift and souvenir market as a whole, its profitability ranges from 20% and above. And if you don’t pay taxes and produce cards in small batches at home, then the profitability, of course, increases several times and even reaches 100%.

According to experts, the structure of postcard sales will change over time. In Europe, for example, everyday cards account for at least 60% of total sales, but in our country - no more than 40%. There they give or send cards not only for Christmas, birthdays and weddings, but also, for example, for Easter, Thanksgiving, Mother's Day, for housewarming, the birth of a child, and also for loving, parting, apologizing, visiting the sick or simply, to lift a person's spirits. For us, all this is still only in the future, but according to the observations of market participants themselves, this prospect is not so far away.

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Another distribution channel is large supermarkets. But there are also some nuances here: traditionally, large retail formats have been “occupied” by foreign manufacturers with their products, in particular, the Russian “monster” of the postcard business, the Open Letter company. Therefore, the share of sales through supermarkets in the sales structure is very small.

Market volume: 11-13 million UAH.

Development rate: 20-30% per year

Number of players: 4 large companies, a dozen artisanal teams

Profitability: from 20%

Prices: 12-30 UAH.

Based on an article by Olga Buryan in the magazine Power of Money

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Sometimes, in a handicraft impulse, you want to make something beautiful with your own hands, but as luck would have it, nothing comes to mind, and so as not to suffer again, I decided to put together a selection of examples of how to make a postcard with your own hands. Here different examples postcards and small descriptions of how to make this or that postcard.

I tried to select as much as possible different images both in style and topic, so that there is plenty to choose from. Of course, each postcard is just an example of how you can make postcards with your own hands.

To mom

How to make a card for mom? It’s clear that it should be the most beautiful and touching, but I want some specifics, right? The first thing you need to do is focus on the reason, it could be:

• an unplanned card for no reason;
• Mother's Day or March 8;
• New Year's and Christmas;
• birthday or name day;
• professional holidays.

Of course, no one can stop you from making and giving your mom a postcard dedicated to the first snow or even the release of your favorite TV series, but in general, the main reasons are indicated quite clearly.

A New Year's card for mom can be ordinary (from the point of view New Year's greetings, naturally), it is not necessary to somehow emphasize the special relationship. But birthday or mother's day - special holidays, in which it is worth presenting a personal card with the signature “To my beloved mother.”

How to make a birthday card for mom? Draw a sketch with a simple pencil, add a little color to guide you color scheme and understand what shades you will need as you work. So, you need to buy or find in the bins:

• a blank for your needlework (thick and thin cardboard is suitable);
• background image - this can be scrap paper, colored paper, any sheet that you like with an ornament, or you can simply artistically spray paint on a sheet of white thick paper or even use the monotype and marbling technique;
• chipboard for inscription - it is better to purchase a ready-made one or use a special stapler to decorate the edge;
• a couple of decorative elements - flowers, butterflies, beads and leaves;
• one or two large decorative elements - flowers or bows;
• decorative tape;
• good glue;
• scalloped ribbon or lace.

First you need to glue the background image to the blank, then arrange large flowers, and only then complement the resulting composition with small decor and lace. Dry well finished work, decorate with small decor and sparkles, and then sign - mom will be happy with such a sign of attention.

Now you know how to make a card for Mother's Day, and you can easily figure out what a card for an anniversary or angel's day should be like.

Another original version: the essence is that you need to cut out circles from colored paper, and then cut each circle in a spiral and twist it into a bud, you will get cute flowers with which you can decorate a card.

To dad

A DIY birthday card for dad is always very touching and sweet. Choosing a particular "papal" theme is not too easy, but there is a wonderful straw to grab onto - style. If you make a stylish card, then the father will undoubtedly be happy to receive it, even if it does not contain the usual symbols of “masculinity,” which in our country often include cars, weapons and fishing.

Naturally, if the father is celebrating the anniversary of his driving experience, then a car on a postcard is quite appropriate, but on dad’s birthday it is better to present a neutral and beautiful greeting card.

What kind of cards do men like:

• not too colorful;
• in a calm, slightly muted palette;
• with clean lines;
• in which a lot of effort has been visually invested.

I would like to say especially about the last point. If your mom liked a card made from a piece of lace, a bow and a beautiful chipboard, then dad will appreciate a hand-made poster from paper with an elegant, lacy cutout - painstaking and graceful.

Men admire the process, so before you make a nice card using the scrapbooking technique, think about how you can put your work into the card? This can be working with threads or embroidery, spirography and paper cutting, pyrography and much more.

Incorporate a few elements of hard work and love into your work and your dad's birthday card will be stunning.

So, we make paper cards with our own hands for our beloved daddy. Start by choosing a subject - this could be some element of a male portrait - a stylish beard and glasses in the spirit of hipsters, or the silhouette of dad's favorite pipe, you can also make some kind of heraldic flag or symbol.

Choose colors - they should be calm and beautiful, and also look good in harmony with each other.

Make a pattern for the future postcard and get to work - if this is a regular applique, then cut out all the elements and carefully lay out the future composition. And in the case of artistic cutting, it is better to spend time on the pattern and drawing. By the way, for this work you will need a good breadboard knife.

After all the main elements have been cut out, assemble the card - if you planned it using the scrapbooking technique, then you can simply glue the composition, and if you are trying to create a thin openwork product from cardboard and paper, then select shading colors for each layer - so that the work looked really delicate, you will need to choose shades that will highlight all the slits.

Make a central element on your card, and then put it under a press - this will help prevent the paper from deforming from the moisture contained in the glue.

In honor of the wedding

Do beautiful cards doing it yourself for a wedding is not an easy task, and here it is better to watch master classes.

A wedding is one of the most important events in the life of a young family, and therefore it is not enough just to draw a card, you need to carefully design and package it, and perhaps supplement it with some other elements.

How to make a beautiful card for congratulations on your wedding day:

• come up with an idea;
• ask the bride and groom main color weddings, or the main theme of the celebration;
• look various options postcards - using scrapbooking techniques, with embroidery, ribbons, and so on;
• choose several interesting lessons;
• make a rough postcard from paper and cardboard (and if you are not sure of your result, then it is better to do this step several times);
• do original postcards with your own hands;
• choose packaging and make it a little more unique;
• label the envelope and postcard.

Other occasions and recipients

Rest assured, handmade birthday cards will delight the recipients - after all, this is not just a DIY postcard made in a master class, it is a real man-made miracle that keeps a piece of the soul.

You can make cards for mom and dad with your own hands, or you can delight your friends before every holiday with a custom greeting - all you need is free time, good master classes and a little patience.

3D postcards look especially impressive. How to make a three-dimensional postcard? Come up with (or look at experienced authors) an idea on how you can shape it so that you get voluminous postcards. You may want to use more decorative elements, or you may decide to make a simple DIY birthday card with 3D elements.

By the way, if you are wondering how to make a postcard for your mother or friend with voluminous paper elements, take a closer look at children's books. Surely you still have several copies, when opened, carriages and castles, trees and horses appeared between the pages.

Take a close look at how these elements are made and glued together - you may be able to reproduce this in your sketch.

Or try to do something in the shabby chic style and scrapbooking with your own hands - it’s not as difficult as it seems, the entire main volume effect is created by layering elements. By the way, flat cards are also good. :)

I think now you have enough ideas for creating greeting cards, postcards and tags - craft for your own pleasure and bring joy to your loved ones!

Moving card - “Waterfall of Hearts”:

Some more ideas for inspiration:

We love holidays and love gifts. And we all love postcards - receiving and giving. Postcards are given for many events - birthday or New Year, March 8 or the birth of a child.

You go into a store - there are a lot of postcards, even the text is already printed inside - everything has already been thought out for you and said, but not from the heart.

Gift with love

Only handmade postcards can convey your feelings towards the recipient. Buying a regular cardboard card is easy, but making one yourself means putting a part of yourself into it. After all, when making such a gift, you imagine the person for whom it will be intended.

Remember, we are all in childhood, in kindergarten or at school they tried, they made cards for parents for the holiday - they carefully cut it out, folded it, and glued it on. Then they handed it over. Remember how carefully mom and dad accepted the gift, kept it, and many still keep it with your children's drawings and crafts.

Today, handmade products are becoming more and more popular. Embroidered pillows decorate the home, knitted items are worn with pride. Only the very lazy don’t sew, knit or glue.

Scrapbooking is gaining more and more admirers - photo albums, paper cards, made with love, made in a single copy - become a unique gift for various holiday events.

For anyone who has mastered at least the basics of scrapbooking, there is no question of what to give to a loved one, and these gifts evoke admiration.

The art of giving joy

Creating postcards from paper is called cardmaking. It is based on the use of paper and various additional materials. An experienced scraper will use everything when making a postcard - ribbons, small paper flowers, fabric flowers, cutting - elements cut out of paper, buttons, lace and much more.

There are many techniques for making postcards from paper.

Experienced craftswomen make multi-layered three-dimensional products; the more layers, the more interesting the postcard looks.

The elements are connected to each other with glue and even stitched. The styles in which the craftsmen work also differ - shabby chic, steampunk and others.

It is impossible to create two completely identical postcards.

It is impossible to say that cardmaking is a simple art. After all, in the process of creating just one thing, a composition is created, changed, and formed. A scraper must be an artist - know the basics and subtleties of creating an ideal composition, selecting materials, and combining colors.

Sometimes this process of selection and application takes more than one hour, or even a day - the artist is a delicate nature, there is no inspiration, and nothing masterpiece will be created. And sometimes everything seems to come together on its own - and here is a do-it-yourself card for the birth of a child or for a birthday loved one ready.

Look at a variety of photos of postcards - how rich the imagination of the craftsmen is, creating harmonious compositions from many small scattered details.

We create the gift ourselves

Experienced scrappers use special scrap paper for their work - it is thick and has the property of not fading or fading over time. This ensures that your gift will retain its beauty for a long time.

Scrap paper comes with various designs and is sold in sets or individual sheets.

Note!

We will also need:

• Thick plain paper for the base - watercolor is suitable.
• A utility knife and a metal ruler (if you get into scrapbooking, you can later purchase a special cutter to cut the paper evenly - scissors are not the best option for this).
• Scissors for cutting out small parts.
• Glue - ordinary PVA, stationery - will not work, it warps the paper, and over time it will turn yellow. Take Titan, Moment and the like - scrap goods stores will advise you and others - see what is available to you.
• Double-sided tape - it can also be used to connect elements of a postcard, and with adhesive tape on a porous basis you can create multi-layer three-dimensional compositions.
• Decorative elements - flowers, cuttings, ribbons, pieces of lace, elements cut out of scrap paper - butterflies, birds, twigs and others.

Buttons, pendants, buckles and other small objects can be used to create the composition.

Stamps are often used - with their help you can create an interesting background for a future postcard, add certain elements, and make inscriptions.

An interesting technique when creating three-dimensional cards is embossing - a transparent stamp is applied to the base, which is sprinkled with special powder.

The last stage - the powder is dried using a special hairdryer - the result is a three-dimensional image: most often this technique is used when creating the contours of a picture and inscriptions.

Figured hole punchers - they can make an openwork edge, they can be used to make voluminous flowers and cuttings.

Note!

In general, there are many professional tools for scrapbooking and cardmaking; it makes sense to purchase some only when making cards for sale. But having mastered the art, you will not only please your friends original gifts, but also replenish the family budget.

Select several sheets of scrap paper that match the style and color, apply a background to the base, and decorative elements matched by color on it. The composition must form a cohesive whole so that each element has meaning.

You can use special sketch diagrams; they will tell you how to arrange the elements to create a harmonious composition. Having carefully prepared everything, making sure that every element is thought out, glue it.

If something seems to be missing, add a couple of sparkles along the edges of the flowers, rhinestones, half beads. The main thing is the unity and thoughtfulness of the composition so that the postcard does not look like an appliqué.

There are many tricks on how to make a beautiful card:

• quilling - curls are twisted from thin strips of paper, then they are given various shapes - these elements are glued to the base, creating a pattern, a design - three-dimensional cards are obtained;
• iris folding - small strips of paper, ribbon, fabric are folded in a spiral, overlapping each other - an unusual pattern is obtained;
• shaker postcard - a multi-layer postcard with a transparent window inside which they move small elements– foil rhinestones, beads;
• postcard tunnel – voluminous postcard with multiple layers, the carved elements of each layer create an overall spatial pattern.

Note!

The inside of the card can also be decorated with stamps and paper. You can make the inside of the card unusual - when opened, the three-dimensional element expands - a heart or a bouquet of paper flowers will undoubtedly surprise the recipient.

You can't help but like such a paper postcard - it keeps warmth and a piece of your soul. If you want to master the art of cardmaking, attend master classes by experienced craftsmen who will tell you all the intricacies of how to make a beautiful card with your own hands.

Photos of postcards with your own hands