Better Homes and Gardens Handmade Greetings for All Occasions

by Better Homes and Gardens

More than 100 creative greeting card ideas, ranging from simple designs to works of art, suit all skill levels and interests.Informative basics familiarize the paper artist with the tools, techniques,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0696218305
• ISBN13: 9780696218309
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Better Homes and Gardens Books
• Length: 111 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 7.6" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Handmade Greetings for all Occasions

Wonderfully illustrated and written book with easy as well as intricate card making examples. Some beautiful choices which I have made and sent and received rave reviews for.Handmade Greetings for All Occasions: 85 Cards, Gift Tags, and Invitations (Better Homes & Gardens)

It's A Great Book!

I am new at making cards and have purchased several books on the subject but, this book by far is the very best written and I just love all the ideas in it.

Broad variety and detailed instructions

I work with email 10 hours a day but I always loved sending and receiving handwritten letters. When I first came to the US I was quite impressed with the variety of ready to use cards you can buy here. After living here for a couple of years I guess I moved on to the next level and wanted to give my letters/b-d cards etc. an even more personal touch. This collection of cards and tags from 'Better Homes and Gardens' was exactly what I was looking for. I am pretty much a novice at making my own cards (no previous scrap booking experience) so I needed fairly detailed instructions on how to create a certain look, use embellishments, eyelets etc. and this is what you can find in this book - detailed list of materials/tools you need (sources are listed in the back of the book) and easy to follow instructions. The designs cover a wide range of styles and levels of complexity and will sure make your own creative juices flow (I love to work out designs with clay and left over yarns from my knitting projects). I also liked the fact that the authors don't condemn the use of 'ready to use' pieces from the craft store in your designs. An additional benefit is that templates are provided throughout the book and I loved the quotes that you can find on each page. I recommend this book to every beginner in card making and I believe that even more advanced levels might find some inspiration from these designs. My family and friends now appreciate my letters with this additional personal touch even more and I found a new way to be a little creative. Enjoy!

Card projects for all levels and tastes -- excellent!

Ever find yourself wanting to put more of an individual touch on your Christmas cards? Do readymade cards from the store seem a little too "canned" -- or maybe just boring? Perhaps the email invites to your friend's shower got buried with all the junkmail and you need something that will get people's attention. You don't want to spend all day on it, but there must be some way to rev up your cards or just get beyond the generic, fake-sentimentality that has become the greeting card industry.Better Homes and Gardens has compiled a great resource here for the crafter who wants to send something other than the Hallmark standard-issue greeting cards and invitations. Handmade Greetings for All Occasions really does cover most possible situations that call for cards (except for St. Patrick's day - wait, I never sent cards for St. Patty's day anyway!). True to the style of their magazine publication, BH & G's designs are contemporary, fun, tongue-in-cheek, cute, elegant, whimsical, classy, lovely, or any sort of appropriate mode you could ask for; and without exception they stand out. The ones that caught my eye, for example:A very girly purse-shaped card with an actual Velcro closure (perfect for my sister's birthday)A valentine's card with beginner-level quilling design all over the heart shape - easy and elegant!Autumn greeting cards with embossed papers and gilded leaves - rich looking, but fast to assembleColorful birthday cards with candle detailing baked from clayChristmas greetings with beaded motifs and appliqués. Stamp-embossed wedding card in vellum and silver; not exactly revolutionary, but simply lovely.The techniques/materials used to make the cards range all over the craft world today, but are applied with a light touch (I wish I had room to name them all in this review). For instance, a few of the projects call for stamps, others show you how to make accents with clay, wires, beads, botanicals, ribbons...the familiar array of skills to paper crafters and scrapbookers, but explained and illustrated at the beginner level for the rest of us. If you are not already a crafter, you will have to make some initial investment in tools and materials to get started with most of these projects. You will get a brief exposure to all different kinds of paper crafts being used today, and maybe come away with a new hobby or two. In my case though I had a lot of tools floating about because I scrapbook.I have looked at other card making books and find that often, the involvement or the investment is either too much for my purposes (such as making 40 invites for that baby shower) or so simplistic/standard that you may as well not bother wasting your time with handmades. HGFAO strikes just the right balance, so that the crafter can mass produce many of the projects for larger mailings or spend more time embellishing custom cards that become keepsakes. Let me reassure you that none of these projects look mass produced though. You will get lots o