Ring Shaped Thank You Cards | How to make cards in Bulk

Hello, everyone!

Today I have another project for you all and it also has an unintentional tutorial. As in, when I clicked these step-by-step pictures, I didn't intend to make a tutorial. I made 20 Thank you cards in the shape of an engagement ring. The cards went out to close friends from a couple at their engagement party.

Here's what the finished card looked like:

Sorry about the horrible lighting. When I made this project, my camera was acting up. :(

Whenever I've made cards bulk (and that's a total of three times, including this one :P) I have realised that it's always easier to create backgrounds with stamps, inks and/or colouring than using Patterned Papers because the hard truth is that paper pads have at the most three copies of the same sheet.

So on these cards, I dry embossed and distressed. Let's see the whole process shall we?

Making Cards in Bulk

Always treat your craft room like a production floor. It's easier to do Step 1, 20 times, then move on Step 2 and repeat that twenty times, than doing Step 1-10, 20 times.

First things first

Make a sample card and while you create the sample (and make changes if necessary), note down each activity you performed, and if possible, even the order in which you performed them. For instance, cutting the base cardstock, scoring and folding it will always happen before you do anything else. If you're using PP, then cutting PP will be the next step and so on. Make a note of these and also note what tools and supplies you need for each step so you don't have to struggle for something in the middle of the process.

Here's what the prototype looked like.

If you see the sample and compare it with the finished card, you'll see that:

a. This is a very raw product because I haven't focussed on the finishing and neatness.

b. The diamond isn't sparkly and neither are the champagne glasses.

c. The circle is cut at the top and is not a perfect round. Rings don't have that, so I changed it later.

d. The sentiment is stamped in black ink instead of being embossed in gold.

e. And there's also a difference in design. Instead of the dry embossed layer, my original idea had me distressing the base completely and just the edges of the embossed layer.

And that's okay because the idea was to give my friend an idea of what the finished card would look like (and see it for myself). This allowed her to suggest any changes she wanted and me, to realise how I had to work for the rest of the cards and what I needed to do differently if anything at all.

The real hard work, after all, would be put while making the final cards. :)

Tweet: Want to make cards in Bulk like a pro? Check out these tips by @infniteemotions --> http://bit.ly/CSHO004-Creating-Bulk-Orders & go create!

Step 1

For these cards, the first step was cutting the card stock (CS) for the base. I realised that to fit the CS through my Cuttlebug (yes, I still use that) I will have to trim the 12 x 12 CS into smaller pieces. So I measured the size of the circle die I was going to use (the largest one in the Spellbinders' Nestabilities Large Circles Die Set - the complete list of tools and supplies at the end of the post) and decided to cut the paper to slightly larger than that. It turned out that I had to cut the card base to 4"x 4". I needed 20 cards, so that would mean 40 pieces.

It is always a good idea to plan for and make 2 or 3 extra cards when doing bulk orders because: a) If you mess up, you have backup pieces, and b) If you have leftovers, you can always use them as samples to show the next client. [Or just store them as keepsakes :)]

So I cut around 45 pieces because each 12 x 12 CS would give me 9 pieces of 4 x 4 CS.

I also cut 20 smaller circles (steps to measure the CS same as above, only using a circle die two sizes smaller.)

Step 2

I then printed the content for the inside on half of those cards - 20 (or so) pieces. It is easier to print on square or rectangular pieces than on a circle.

Important: Before you cut the CS to smaller pieces, check if the smaller pieces will fit through your printer. You can do this by checking the minimum paper size in your printer settings, so even if your paper is 0.5cm larger than that, it'll work. If not, then you might have to print first and then cut. Or try a very complicated method of printing. I'll share that in one of the later posts. :)

Of course, if you're stamping the sentiment then you can skip this hassle altogether.

Step 3

Then I die cut all the pieces using the largest circle from Spellbinders' Nestabilities Large Circles Die Set - both, the ones on which the content was printed and the blank ones. I also embossed the blank ones using the same die. I wanted a good border on the front.

I also die cut 20 smaller circles for the embossed layer.

Step 4

Then I scored the 20 printed pieces about 3/4th of an inch from the top. That's where I'd glue the two pieces and the score line would help the card open up.

Step 5

Next, I ran the smaller circles through Provocraft's Musical Flourish Embossing folder and then distessed them with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink.

Step 6

I stamped wine glasses from Fiskar's Aged With Perfection set. I wanted two glasses per card, so I needed 40, but I stamped around 45. Once I was done stamping, I coloured the wine in all the glasses (before cutting) using a golden Faber Castell Watercolour Pencil and then smoothened the colour out with Koi Waterbrush. Once it was dry, I added some Stickles Glitter to make it look like sparkly champagne.

Step 7

Then I fussy cut all the glasses using Fine Tip Scissors. I chose to colour first because it was easier to colour on a large sheet than hold tiny pieces in place.

Step 8

a. I cut CS into 20+ pieces measuring 1"x 2".

b. I stamped 'thanks' using Versamark Watermark Ink. The sentiment is from Lawn Fawn's Many Thanks Stamp Set.

c. Sprinkled Ranger's Super Fine Detail Embossing Powder in Gold.

(I did steps b & c on 4-5 pieces at a time because I didn't want to embossing ink to dry)

d. Then, I heat set all sentiments one by one.

e. When the embossing had cooled off, I cut the edges to make the pieces look like little ribbons. 

Step 9

For the diamonds:
a. I cut CS into 1" x 1" pieces. I randomly cut the edges off one of the pieces to give it that shape. Then, using that as a guide, I cut the other pieces.
b. I distressed the edges of all the pieces using Tumbled Glass Distress Ink.
c. I squirted some Stickles glitter on the center of each piece for a sparkly effect and spread it out with my finger.

Here you can see all pieces are individually made and ready to be assembled. Once this is done, it's just about gluing the pieces together.

Note that I first created everything I needed before gluing anything down. Because nothing is stuck to anything else yet, this ensures that there is minimal room for error.

Next, I started gluing the pieces down.

1. I glued the embossed and distressed smaller circles on the larger circle for the front of the card.

2. I glued one diamond above the score line on the other circle (the inside of the card) 

3. On the embossed circle, I adhered two champagne glasses and then the sentiment ribbon.

4. I added the top circle to the bottom, and voila, cards were done! :)

Tweet: Want to make cards in Bulk like a pro? Check out these tips by @infniteemotions --> http://bit.ly/CSHO004-Creating-Bulk-Orders & go create!


Here's a look at all of them together :)

And now, time for a few close-ups :) 

Tweet: Want to make cards in Bulk like a pro? Check out these tips by @infniteemotions --> http://bit.ly/CSHO004-Creating-Bulk-Orders & go create!

Supplies used:

Tools

Fiskars 12" Paper Trimmer

Martha Stewart Scoring Board

Cuttlebug Die Cutting Machine

Spellbinders' Nestabilities Large Circles Die

Embossing Pads

Fine Tip Glue Applicator

Provocraft Musical Flourish Embossing Folder

Ranger's Foam Applicator Brush

Acrylic Block

Sakura Koi Waterbrush

Fine Tip Scissors

Anti-Static Pad

Heat Tool

Products

Card Stock - Locally purchased

Fevicol

Tumbled Glass Distress Ink

Fiskars Aged to Perfection Stamp Set

Memento London Fog Dye Ink

Faber Castell Watercolour Pencils

Stickles Glitter

Versamark Watermark Ink

Ranger's Super Fine Detail Gold Embossing Powder

That's all I have for you today. Hope you found this post helpful. I'll be back soon with details on How I calculate the price of my cards. Stay tuned :)

Love,

Nikita.