Making Personalized Cards for Friends

I am terrible about remembering the birthdays of people I’m close with, let alone being prepared to give a gift to them. I’ve started to prioritize my friendships by making personalized, handmade birthday gifts. I realized that allowing someone to feel special for something that I’ve made, is a gratifying feeling. Since I currently make stickers professionally, I have the resources to create stickers for gifts. In this post, I’ll be covering the process of creating them, from start to finish, including the pop-up card.

Sticker Making – Having extra supplies and extra practice

I already enjoy making stickers, therefore I get to utilize those supplies and get extra practice honing in on this skill that involves tedious work digitally, and physically. It’s a win-win scenario for me. Additionally, finding another purpose and expression for my art allows me to explore graphic styles that are outside of my current shop. Lastly, I get to use the extra paper and materials that come from the sticker batches and I’m glad it’s not going to waste.

Gift-Giving is a Production

Now if you’re going to do something intentionally, it easily turns into a project/production. The project of gift-giving, from what I’ve notated so far is:

1. Keeping a track of birthdays by adding them, in an incognito way, to the contacts on my phone. This way, their birthday shows up on my calendar and I can prepare ahead of time.
2. Remembering their pets (and names) or their hobbies. Usually, I will make a sticker out of my friends’ pets or what they’re into, so getting a photo, or photo reference, is key.
3. Pop-up card creation: This is where I can get fancy in presenting the sticker. I think of the color and contents of the card. Adding printed patterns or foil designs on the paper or envelope is also optional.

Pets – Why that’s the best subject

Why do I aim for pet stickers you ask? (Even though you didn’t ask lol) Generally speaking, people love their pets. Therefore, having a decal or sticker of them to personalize other items, is another priceless way to be reminded of them. I do not have any pets, however, I do have respect for pet-owner companionship and how precious that bond can be. From the stickers I’ve made so far, either pets or a hobby of some sort, are the best subjects for stickers.

Pop-up Cards – They make people cry lol

The first pop-up card with stickers that I made for a coworker, caused her to cry. I didn’t expect this reaction, but it was a real and genuine experience between her and me that I’ll never forget (Jenna I love you! lol). A pop-up-styled card is a quick and unique way to present a personalized sticker experience. To make it, I looked up youtube tutorials for “handmade/DIY popup cards” and found this one. I follow this tutorial for all of my cards but I add a creative twist to them.

Trial and Error – A lot of things can go wrong while doing this.

I needed to make a point to mention the trial and error it takes to make something by hand. The craftsmanship shows in the polished look of even a simple card. To take pride in a gift, I make sure that each detail is perfect and this level of perfectionism stems from my art background and eye for precision. Stickers going from digital to physical include a lot of details within themselves. However, for the card, working with paper, measurements, and hand-written notes, everything has to be on point with this also.

Closing | Recap

I love starting traditions that can not only be an addition to celebrating someone, but it is something that can evolve in terms of skill and ideas. The whole point of being in friendships is to choose who to pour into and who pours into you. So having the title of a friend means something important to me.

Thanks for reading this post, there are plenty of ways to celebrate the relationships and friendships that you cherish. Hopefully, this inspired you to do something nice for them (or yourself) when their birthday or special occasion comes around.