I love cards made with ephemera cut-outs like you see at stationery stores. I decided to give it a diy try, using just cardstock, ordinary craft supplies, and my own designs. I created a printable sheet for a happy birthday card that has a background and images you can pick and choose from to make it your own. The free birthday collage sheet may be downloaded at the bottom of this post.
Materials:
Printer
White Cardstock
Decoupage Scissors
Steel Ruler
Self-Healing Cutting Mat
Scoring Tool
Paper Cutter
Double-sided tape or Glue Stick
Foam Adhesive Dots
Optional: Baker’s Twine, Toothpicks
STEP 1 Download and Print Card
Download the PDF using the email form at the bottom of this page and save it. The PDF is a letter size, 8.5×11 inch sheet. For paper, use a bright white cardstock. If you do not have a printer, you can also just have them printed at an office store local to you.
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is free from Adobe, and then open and print the sheet.
STEP 2 Cut Out Your Ephemera
Use a paper cutter to cut out the background rectangle. I sized mine to just under 5×7 inches, using the guides on my paper cutter.
Carefully cut out the ephemera using your decoupage scissors. You can either leave a little of the white border or cut it all off. I chose to do some with a border and some without.
Take another sheet of blank white cardstock, and use your paper cutter again to cut it down to 10×7 inches.
STEP 3 Score and Fold
Use a scoring tool and ruler to create an indention for folding across the center (at the 5 inch point) of the blank card you just cut. Place the ruler then lightly score it. This will allow you to fold the cardstock cleanly, without any cracking. After you have scored, fold carefully.
STEP 4 Adhere
I laid the ephemera out on the card to plan my design before I started gluing. I then glued the blue background sheet to the front of the blank white card.
I used the adhesive foam dots to attach the ephemera, which gave it a 3d look. Baker’s twine is perfect for the balloon string, and toothpicks serve as handles for the little pennants. The leftover ephemera will go in my scrap pile for future cards and gift tags. That’s it! Enjoy the collage sheet!
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Please use a computer, not a mobile device, to download your printables.
Note: Printables are for Personal Use Only, and the PDF may not be sold, distributed, or posted on other websites. If you wish to share this project, please link to this page. Happy crafting!