Crisp creases for handmade greeting cards

By David Heyman

Producing handmade greeting cards is a creative endeavor, whether you make original art on the cards, mount photographs on the front, or run blank cards through your inkjet printer for digital techniques. Whatever method you use, at the end of creating your masterpieces, you end up with needing to fold the cards to produce a finished product.

Here are two tips to help you acheive stress-free and professional results:

• If you are using pre-scored cards, you only have to worry about gettting a crisp crease, as the cards have a measured score line, to ease in folding. A burnishing tool will greatly assist in this process. This lightweight and inexpensive tool saves mashed and abraded fingers, and allows for consistent sharp folds, with less work. Simply line up the two edges of the card together, then slowly draw the tool along the crease edge, using pressure to make the crease tight. The natural flexibility of the tool gives you just the right degree of strength, while never being too abrasive, or marring your card images. This technique works well on inkjet cards too.

• For those that use their own paper, or make unusual sized cards, a score line will need to be made on your card, for best results. The Top Score Multiboard has a scoring tool that can make customized card folds on many different papers and card stocks. After you make scored card blanks, follow the above tip to get professionally finished creases.

Use the tools that the pros use to take your card making to the next level!

Burnishing Tool

TopScore Tool