Handmade Cards for Guys

I made this set of card designs meant for guys mostly because I needed one for myself to gift to my husband.

Once again, I find myself sifting through the cards in Cricut Access trying to find one that doesn’t take a gazillion different types of material and the entire afternoon to make.

I really hate it when they charge extra for the ones that are simpler to make even though I’ve already paid my monthly subscription.

I finally just decided to design a set myself so I always have something handy when I need it.

I’m sharing it with everyone for FREE because I want to save you from this same headache.

This set of SVG cut files for handmade cards for guys is available in my resource library:

Materials for Cricut Cards

*this article contains affiliate links for your convenience, see full disclosures here

Cardstock – You can obvious make these cards with whatever colors you please. I just find the non-textured cardstock to hold up a bit better for more intricate designs.

• Assorted Starter Pack – Basic assorted colors, great starter pack, perfect weight for most papercraft projects
• Cricut Joy Insert Card Packs – You don’t have to use these with the Cricut Joy, they are nice material kids for cardmaking.
• Cardstock Warehouse Brand on Amazon – I love the quality of all the matte-colored cardstock with Cardstock Warehouse. It is my go-to brand for individual matte colors that I might need
• Poptone Assorted Variety Pack – This is the perfect peppy assortment of colors of heavy cardstock. It’s a heavy cardstock assortment with colors I actually use frequently for cardmaking.
• Seasonal Assorted Variety Pack – This is a slight variation on the Poptone assortment and has a quite few neutrals that complement almost any accent color.
• Stardream Metallics Line – For paper crafts, the Stardream line is the go-to for a metallic shimmer finish. It is the perfect sheen to make any project pop. The core is also colored is which hard to find for metallic paper.

Glue – My favorite adhesive is actually a glue dots dispenser. The important thing is to use something that doesn’t warp the paper. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Scotch Adhesive Roller Dispenser
• Rubber Cement
• Glue Pen
• Art Glitter Glue

Cutting Machine – I use a Cricut. Check out my recommendations for Cricut machines and accessories for beginners for more info.

Tips for Making Cricut Cards

I like to use the light grip mat for most cardstock projects. I feel like something has happened to the Standard grip green mats lately and they are too sticky. It is nearly impossible to get the smaller scraps off the green mat efficiently.

Use a lint roller for paper scraps. Another reason to use the Blue mat is you can just lint roll the paper scraps off the mat. Best investment ever.

I like to glue the piece from the bottom up. So for example, the gears card, I glue the blue base onto the card base. Then I glue the gears on. I find positioning the smaller elements to be easier adding them in this sequence.

Skip the Cricut Scoring altogether. I did not bother adding scoring lines to the card. Most people forget to convert them to scoring lines. It also rarely lines up well. I just fold and scrap with my scraper. If you don’t have a scraper, use a credit card.

You can add your own sentiment if you’d like, I left the design blank for that purpose.

There are many ways to add letters. Cardstock has the most consistent look but I find it takes more time to position for some fonts. I sometimes resort to vinyl if I am in a hurry.

If you are interested in using the drawing tool as I did for the baseball card, check out my tutorial on how to do faux calligraphy with the Cricut to get that bouncy font look for your cards.

Related Articles:

All my Cricut Cards Design

Cricut Paper Flowers

DIY Clay Cuff Links