Gorgeous Greeting Cards: Stamping & Beyond

Make the perfect greeting card for every occasion with versatile stamping techniques, embossed texture and more!

Learn how to incorporate memorable greetings into your cards using repeated background sentiments, floating greetings, embossed resist techniques and more — all with tips and techniques from professional cardmaker and instructor Nichol Magouirk. Discover the secrets to achieving embossed texture without any actual embossing, and find out how to use masking to create a slick new set of stamps without spending a dime. Make elegant landscape scenes, and stamp on vellum for a background with a soft effect. Hand-color stamped and die-cut embellishments, and embrace the latest in paper craft trends with embossed ombré greetings. You’ll even experiment with stunning watercolor and painterly effects for cards that are memorable masterpieces. Need to freshen your stamp supply? Head over to the Craftsy supplies page for an inspiring selection of stamps, paper, tools and more! 

What you get:

• 7 HD video lessons with anytime, anywhere access
• Class materials, including a detailed supply list
• Hours of close-up instruction
• Answers from Nichol in our virtual classroom

The Craftsy Guarantee:

• Watch classes on your own schedule: wherever, whenever you want
• Your access never expires
• 100% money back guarantee

Lesson plan:

1. Stamped Greetings (18:34)

   Meet your instructor, cardmaker and blogger Nichol Magouirk, as she previews many of the amazing stamping techniques you’ll learn how to use on all of your greeting cards. Discover what type of ink works best on a dark background and pick up tips for cleaning stamps as you change from one color ink to another to create vibrant statements. Learn how to add dimension using die cuts you make yourself and see Nichol’s nifty trick for applying tiny glue dots to the back of small embellishments.

2. Die-Cut Greeting Background (21:36)

   Attach die cuts to the background of a card to create a faux embossed texture as Nichol offers advice for using the Big Shot die-cutting machine. Also, die cut and stamp flowers for an elegant embellishment. Learn timesaving tips for applying and storing embossing powder for less mess, and see how to avoid paper warp when embossing on vellum.

3. Altering Greetings (26:18)

   Customize the stamps you have as Nichol shows you how to mask off elements to change a stamp’s design. Learn how to cut clear stamps apart to create individual stamping elements. Learn tips for stamping greetings in two colors for added dimension. Finally, see how to stamp on subtle texture and echo elements from the outside of your card with your inside message.

4. Floating Greetings (24:44)

   Elevate your cardmaking skills as you stamp a background landscape scene and add a layer of vellum to build the scene and add softness. Hand-color stamped and die-cut embellishments as you add texture and dimension with embossing, pearls and a floating sentiment for a truly intricate card. Learn how to layer on color with markers to bring your embellishments to life, and pick up tips for fussy cutting.

5. Vellum Background (23:04)

   Create a dynamic, intricate background as you learn how to stamp a three-color plaid pattern using Nichol’s systematic method to keep track of which color goes where. Then, see how adding a vellum overlay can tone down a vibrant stamped background, allowing focus to remain on the greeting. Learn how to stamp and emboss on vellum and stamp multicolored embellishments which can be die cut or fussy cut. You’ll love the variety of cards you can create incorporating these techniques!

6. Ombré Embossed Greeting (16:55)

   Stamp an embossed ombré greeting as you add different-colored embossing powders to individual lines or parts of a stamped greeting or image. Then, discover how to remove the excess powder in such a way that you can use it for a second ombré-effect card! Learn how to add subtle background texture with ink that nearly matches the color of your cardstock. And finally, pick up tips for adding sequin embellishments as well as decorative ribbons to any card.

7. Embossed Resist Background (22:54)

   Learn how to emboss an entire background with small detail as Nichol demonstrates with a background stamp. Pick up tips for masking off a border and embossing large areas. Once your background has its texture, add and blend distress inks to color in the background; your embossed designs will resist the ink! Learn how to blend different ink colors to create a watercolor effect. Finally, use clear stamps and markers to continue the watercolor effect on die-cut embellishments as you stamp designs and then go over them with a damp paintbrush to mimic a painterly effect.

System Requirements:

• Supported OS: Web Browser