Paper Lace Handmade Cards

I’m always looking for great DIY birthday card ideas and especially homemade birthday cards because I never have them around when I need them.

It also doesn’t hurt to gift a beautiful handmade card to a friend.

I’ve been on this paper lace kick for a while and designed a few to share with everyone. Most people like to use vinyl for more intricate cuts but there’s something about paper lace that looks so nice for a card.

Plus, I don’t always keep a full stock of every type of crafts material around but if I buy cardstock, it usually comes in a pack so I have all the materials I need in one go.

I’ve also learned a few tips that might help with the process.

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Materials for Paper Lace Cards

Cardstock

I’ve tried pretty much all the major brands of cardstock and I find this Neenah Creative Collections works best for this type of design.

I say this because I find I need to use the Standard Grip mat for more intricate designs to minimize snags and the Creative Collections paper grips the mat the best and leaves the minimum amount of residual fibers.

I find the more textured papers are less optimal for paper lace.

• 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 – Here are a few of my favorites for cardmaking:

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

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

Template for Paper Lace Cards

I’ve included my free templates for the floral and leaf cards in my resource library.

How to Make a Paper Lace Card

Cut out the lace piece and base card using the templates.

So a note on this… the thing with card making is you have to remember you also need an envelope. I’ve sized my templates to be a standard 4x6inch card. I’ve included a cut file for the associated envelope.

The thing with envelopes is you have to be able to make it on a standard piece of paper or cardstock. This particular set I have sized for the standard 12x12in cardstock.

However, if you only have standard letter size paper, just resize the whole projects. Just make sure you resize everything together so they stay in proportion to each other!

Scoring the Card

I have a love hate relationship with scoring with the Cricut. It’s almost never worth the hassle for small things like this. That’s why I did not include the score line in the template because people forget its there and it ends up being a cut line ruining the whole thing.

I just fold the card in half. It’s that easy.

Gluing the Lace

Spray glue probably works the best but I don’t have a space where I can spray glue so I have to resort to other options.

I like to put a dollop of glue on a scrape and then use either a paper clip or toothpick to dab it on the back of the lace.

I first flip the lace over and dab around the perimeter.

I then flip it back onto the card base and align it in place.

I glue each portion of the inner lace one section at a time.

That’s it! Have fun!

Related Articles:

All Cricut Cards with Free Templates

All Cricut Rolled Paper Flower