What Kind of Cardmaker Are You? Finding Your Own Way to Enjoy the Hobby

Projects and original photos by BellaArt Creates; collage enhanced with AI using ChatGPT.

Over the years, I’ve tried a lot of different cardmaking techniques. Some of them I enjoyed right away. Others were fun to experiment with, but they never became something I wanted to do regularly.

I’ve used watercolors, Copic markers and brush markers. I’ve worked with stencils, experimented with wet ink on die cuts, played with patterned papers, blended inks and tried all sorts of different ways to create backgrounds and focal points. I’ve made easel cards and other dimensional cards, and I’ve spent plenty of time experimenting just to see what would happen.

Trying all those techniques taught me something important about cardmaking. I don’t have to love all of them.

When you first get into cardmaking, it can be easy to look at everything other cardmakers are doing and think you should be doing it too. Someone is beautifully coloring stamped images with alcohol markers. Someone else is creating watercolor backgrounds. Another cardmaker is making elaborate interactive cards and scene cards, while somebody else seems to have mastered every stamping technique imaginable.

You can start to feel as though becoming a “good” cardmaker means learning how to do it all. But I don’t think it does. I think part of becoming comfortable with any creative hobby is discovering which parts of it make you want to keep creating.

For me, that turned out to be die cutting, ink blending and using patterned papers for backgrounds, as well as making quick, clean and simple cards. I can love the techniques other cardmakers use without forcing myself to do them when I’m not particularly comfortable with my own results.

Die Cutting

This is one of my favorite things to do when making cards. It’s a lot of fun die cutting images like flowers, critters and sentiments to place on a card. You can add dimension with foam tape underneath die-cut pieces or let them lay flat. I also love background die sets and larger dies for making shaped cards, like arches.

Ink Blending

Give me some beautiful paper and coordinating cardstock, add a set of dies, some inks and a blending brush, and I’m happy. I love taking my brushes and blending colors onto a card base, a card panel or even the die cuts themselves. I enjoy choosing colors and watching them work together as the card comes together.

The card below is one where I die cut the flower petals and used my pink ink pads from Pinkfresh Studio to blend color onto them. The blending gave the flowers more detail and added interest.



I’ve also ink blended an entire A2 panel to create a background and then added flowers that I colored with Copic markers. I loved the ink-blended background, but I wasn’t as happy with my Copic coloring. And that’s a perfect example of what I mean: I can enjoy part of a technique or project without deciding that I have to love every part of it. Trying it still taught me something about what I enjoy most.



Ink Smooshing Die Cuts

I also enjoy working with layered die sets. With floral layering dies, I can mix ink colors on a piece of acetate, spritz them with plain water and dip the die cuts into the ink. It’s a quick and easy way to add a watercolor effect to a project. That’s what I did with the four cards in the photos below. I simply let the ink and water dry, and my flowers were ready! From there, they work as a nice background for any card.





Layering Patterned Papers to Make Cards

This is another technique I gravitate to a LOT! I think patterned papers have come a long way from what they once were. There are so many beautiful designs to choose from. I like to trim different papers and layer them on top of solid cardstock. I also enjoy using ephemera, stickers and pre-die cuts from card kits to layer my cards.

The picture below shows four easel cards I made using patterned papers and stickers bought from my local Dollar Tree. I constructed my card bases, added my sentiments and done!





Those are the parts of cardmaking that feel most like me. That doesn’t mean I regret trying the other techniques. Quite the opposite. Experimenting helped me figure out what I liked. Sometimes the only way to discover that something isn’t really your thing is to try it.

I can appreciate a beautifully colored image without wanting to spend hours coloring one myself. I can admire someone else’s watercolor card without deciding that watercolor needs to become my specialty. I can try a technique, enjoy the experience and then move on without feeling as though I failed to master something I was supposed to learn.

There really isn’t a list of cardmaking techniques we have to check off before we're allowed to call ourselves cardmakers. And that’s one of the things I love about this hobby.

There Are So Many Ways to Make a Card

Two people can sit down with the same basic supplies and create completely different cards. One cardmaker may love stamping and coloring. Another might reach for patterned paper first. Someone else may enjoy clean and simple cards with lots of white space, while another cardmaker loves layers, embellishments and lots of little details. None of them is doing it wrong. Our preferences are part of what gives our work personality.

Even the supplies we reach for again and again can tell us something about the kind of cardmaker we are. I know what happens when I walk into my craft space. I naturally gravitate toward the supplies and techniques I enjoy most.

That didn't happen because somebody told me what my cardmaking style should be. It happened because I kept making cards.

Trying Something New Still Matters

Finding your favorite techniques doesn't mean you have to stop experimenting. I certainly haven't.

One of the reasons I've enjoyed crafting for so many years is that there is always something else to learn. A new product might make me curious. I may see another cardmaker use a technique in a way I hadn't considered. Sometimes I simply wonder what would happen if I tried something differently.

So I experiment. But there's a difference now. I don't experiment because I think I need to know how to do everything. I experiment because I'm curious. If I discover something I love, wonderful. I've added another technique to the things I enjoy. If I don't love it, that's okay too. I learned something.

What Kind of Cardmaker Are You?

Maybe you're the cardmaker who could happily spend an afternoon coloring one detailed stamped image. Maybe patterned paper isn’t your jam because you like making your own backgrounds. You may love making scene cards, or perhaps you love using OLO or Copic markers.

Perhaps you love dies, ink blending, stamping, embossing, watercolor, making shaker cards, interactive cards or clean and simple cards you can put together quickly. Maybe you haven't figured out your favorites yet. If you’re new to the party of cardmaking, I would say just take your time and enjoy the process. Eventually, you’ll stumble upon what you like and how you craft. You’ll discover the colors you reach for the most.

That's all part of the fun. Trying things. Playing with supplies. Watching tutorials. Learning from other cardmakers. Even making cards that didn’t turn out quite how you thought can help you get closer to finding your own style. And, that’s not necessarily about choosing a label for yourself. Sometimes it's simply realizing: This is the part I really enjoy. And once you figure that out, you don't have to make cards the way everybody else makes them. You can make them your way.

So, what type of cards do you like making the most? Tell me about it by commenting below!