Cards for Church: Fellowship

If you are here only for the OLW card, scroll to the bottom.

Part 5 of a series on Church Card Ministries:

So...you have decided to start a church card ministry, you have planned and prepared and your card designers have put together card kits.  Now it is time to have fun! 

Our cardmakers range from a 6th graders all the way up to ???  Some attend our church, some are mothers or friends or friends of daughters of members!  We even have some that come that have no apparent connection except for a love of cardmaking.

The fellowship is phenomenal.  We share our recent crafting purchases and discuss our favorite brands/stores/websites.  We bring cards that we have made in other classes and discuss techniques.  We catch up on each others' lives.  We might even participate in a little gossip!

The following photos are from our December gathering, which is not our best attended session - people are so very busy.  But there are enough of us that want one last "escape" before Christmas that we meet anyway.

The table of card kits.

The first arrival selecting the card kits that
she wants to make.

Here are a few photos of the participants that didn't mind their photos appearing on my blog!!

And the final result is a table full of cards!

This is just a small portion of the cards we made this month.

As your ministry gets going, you can find so many other opportunities to gather.  The following is a picture from an amazing event that we held last May.  We gathered to make cards for soldiers' use - blank cards that they could use to send back home (it's not like they have a Hallmark on the corner!).  We made 1,000 cards!!

Church card ministries are the ultimate ministry!  We had so much fun as we created our cards.  And now they are in our card "sales" racks.  I can't wait to see people gathered around the cards tomorrow morning between services.  I will remember the excitement of creating those cards and now others will be excited to buy them - and they will definitely bring a smile to the recipient!  All of this, and the church raised a little money!

Please feel free to contact me or comment if you have any questions.  We are so thrilled with what we do, we would love to get others started. (In fact, one of the ladies in the first pictures was visiting from a church 90 miles away as they are thinking about starting a card ministry!)

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This series of Church Card Ministry posts is dedicated to my mom, the founder of our card ministry.  I was so blessed to be able to share this amazing experience with my mother.  We all miss you and remember you every time we gather.

Shirley Heier
1939 - 2006

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Set 269 - Embrace Life

This week's One Layer Wednesday challenge was simply "Back to the Beginning".  What technique or product got me hooked on cardmaking?  I thought and thought - but I suddenly realized that I was trying to come up with a technique or product to make a card for this challenge - not the one that got me hooked.  Because the simple truth was that it was the stamps that hooked me.  I don't have an artistic bone in my fingertips. I can't draw a stick figure.  Even trying my hardest, I don't have handwriting that can create a beautiful sentiment - it's not even legible.  I had no way to create art.  Rubber stamps did that for me.  Even I can create miniature works of art!!

The leaves are actually inked in a darker green, then coated with Shimmer Paint.

• Stamps: Stampin' Up Embrace Life, Verses Rubber Stamp sentiment
• Inks: PaperTrey Ripe Avocado and Dark Chocolate
• Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Natural White
• Accessories: PaperTrey Dark Chocolate satin ribbon, Tsukineko Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint, Mark Richards small pearls

Cards for Church: How?

Part 4 of a series on Church Card Ministries

Now it is time to get ready for a cardmaking session.  Gather all of your crafters!

Our cardmaking group is open to everybody!  We have people who only ever ink a stamp at our monthly gathering, Stampin' Up demonstrators, people who have been published and one wonderful lady who has won a national contest!  Our challenge is satisfying all levels of crafters and allowing them to successfully create cards.

We make sure that we have a variety cards to fit all levels and to interest all cardmakers.

We have cards that work for experienced crafters. This card looks fairly simple but it involves heat embossing (the bird is embossed in copper) and watercoloring.  Plus there is a bow and a lot of people panic when they see a bow. 

Here's another card that is a little tough - rock-n-rolled image, border punch, and a line of plants behind the image.

We have cards with new techniques.  I have used this looped ribbon technique before (see this post for instructions) but I have not taken it to our cardmaking group yet.

We try to have cards that use fun new toys.  I recently purchased this die set from Clear Dollar Stamps.  Check out their display of all of the fun uses.  The card also uses a coordinating stamp set from Clear Dollar.

Be sure to remember absolute beginners.  This card does have a Cuttlebugged background but I find that new stampers get very excited when they run something through the Cuttlebug and see the texture!  This card just involves a basic stamp, an embossing folder, two punches and a simple knot in the ribbon.

We ask that each designer create card kits with all the supplies pre-cut and ready to go.  Usually a card's worth of supplies fit into a pencil box or an oversized pencil box.  (FYI - I always take my Cuttlebug machine along with me because I use so many embossing folders or die cuts.)  Don't forget punches, special adhesives, etc.

Pre-cut and ready to go!

Boxed into an oversize pencil box.

Here's another fairly simple card.  This card has some coloring with Copics.  Our group LOVES to color.  I think it takes them back to their childhood!  Cards with coloring are always the first ones that are made.  This card also uses a "cheater's bow" because nobody that I work with likes to make real bows!  ("Cheater's bow" instructions follow the pictures.)

I'm looking at this picture and
realized that I didn't add the
stamps.  I guess I better do that
before I box everything up!!

Boxed into a regular size pencil box.

Here are the pictures describing how to do a "cheater's bow".  This would definitely be better in video format but I don't have the ability to make a good video!!

Cut a strip of ribbon that fits across
your card front plus another few inches.
Tie the first part of a knot...just
as if you were tying your shoes.

Before you tighten the knot, slip a
piece of ribbon through the knot.
(The turquoise is just for contrast!)

Tighten the knot.  You can then trim the
edges of the "bow" piece.  Wrap the
ends of the long piece around the
back of your paper and adhere with
a piece of tape.



Blue and Brown Watercolored Bird:
(Set 265 for my 2010 goal of making sure that all of my SU sets see ink.)

The colors for this card come from the color throwdown.

• Stamps: Stampin' Up Every Moment
• Inks: Stampin' Up Chocolate, Marina Mist, Bashful Blue, Versacolor Pigment Black
• Paper: Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip, Marina Mist, Bashful Blue, watercolor paper
• Accessories: Stampin' Up embossing folder, Marina Mist taffeta, copper cord (retired), scalloped border punch; Mark Enterprises Ultra Detail Copper Embossing Powder, misc copper brads

Reverse Prints Thank You:
(Set 266 for my 2010 goal of making sure that all of my SU sets see ink.)

The colors for this card come from Curtain Call Color Challenge.

• Stamps: Stampin' Up Reverse Prints, There She Goes Here For You (background plants), Verve Celebration of Thanks
• Inks: Stampin' Up Concord Crush, Crumb Cake
• Papers: Stampin' Up black, white, Crumb Cake, Concord Crush, Basic Gray
• Accessories: Stampin' Up Basic Gray Taffeta, Martha Stewart crown border punch and butterfly punch, Tim Holtz tiny attacher, gems from Michaels

Illuminated Thank You:
(Set 268 for my 2010 goal of making sure that all of my SU sets see ink.)

This is for SplitCoast Stampers Ways to Use It challenge which was to use "letters". 

• Stamps: Stampin' Up Illuminations
• Inks: Stampin' Up Crumb Cake, Not Quite Navy
• Paper: Stampin' Up Not Quite Navy, Crumb Cake, Bella Bleu dsp
• Accessories: Stampin' Up Kraft Taffeta, Antique Brads

Raspberry and Black Thank You:
This is for SplitCoast Stampers Ways to Use It challenge which was to use "letters".  I chose the use them as an accent with the text background.

• Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps Designer Label Additions, PaperTrey Round & Round (an anniversary gift set), PaperTrey Text
• Inks: black and PaperTrey Raspberry Fizz
• Papers: black and white
• Accessories: Clear Dollar Stamps Designer Label Dies, Stampin' Up rhinestones

Thanks so Much with Greenery:
(Set 267 for my 2010 goal of making sure that all of my SU sets see ink.)

• Stamps: Stampin' Up Eight Great Greetings
• Ink: Stampin' Up Garden Green
• Paper: Stampin' Up Certainly Celery, Garden Green, Pumpkin Pie
• Accessories:  Stampin' Up oval and label punch, Cuttlebug embossing folder, gems and ribbon from Michaels

Up, Up and Away Birthday:
I was having a little mojo problem last night, then Colleen's card got me all revved up and I CASed it!

• Stamps: PaperTrey Ink Up, Up and Away
• Ink: Memento Black and copics, Stampin' Up Bermuda Bay
• Paper: DCWV Citrus Stack
• Accessories: PaperTrey Ink balloon, cloud and scalloped border dies, Nestabilities label die, Offray ribbon

Cards for Church: Preparation

This is a long post.  If you have only clicked here for today's card, scroll all the way to the bottom!

Part 3 of a series on Church Card Ministries:

OK.  You have decided you want to start a church cardmaking ministry.  Now what?

There are many decisions to be made.

1. When will you gather?
We meet once a month, but have two sessions to fit everybody's lives.  We meet on the first Thursday of the month from 6:30-8:30 and the Friday afternoon after that from 1:00-3:00.

2. How many cards will you need?
We have grown to three full racks of cards that we maintain, but we have been at this for a decade, so the ministry has had a chance to grow.  You might want to start smaller.

We make four of each card that we put on our racks.  (See yesterday's post for the pictures and types of cards).  We find that any more than that and they don't all sell.  Four seems to be a good number.  The designer of the card has all the supplies out to make their sample, so they might as well cut the rest of the sheet of cardstock and have three more ready to make!

3. Do you have enough cardmakers in your church to design and prepare cards?
You can get by with total beginners to MAKE the cards, but you need some experienced cardmakers to DESIGN them. Our designers put together a sample card along with a kit of supplies to make three more of that card.  (Tomorrow's post will go into detail on our card kits) 

At our monthly gatherings, each cardmaker puts together one kit of three cards and some make it through a second kit.  We probably average 1 1/2 kits per cardmaker at each session.  If I have 20 people show up to make cards, I need 30 card kits available - that's a lot of preparation.   So you definitely want to make sure you have some experienced card designers on board!

4. Will you "reward" your team of cardmakers?
For every card kit that our cardmakers make, they get one free card - it can be one that they made or anything off the racks.

5. How will you display the cards?
We have been lucky enough to get donated racks from scrapbooking/cardmaking stores that have gone out of business. (Lucky for the racks, very unlucky to lose some great stores!)  If you have to buy the racks consider two things (1) they need to be sturdy enough so they don't tip which means a little more expensive and (2) look for racks that don't go too low to the ground - one of our racks gets very low for people to stoop and look so the cards on the bottom don't sell as well.

We also have a small table next to the racks that includes the money box, some extra envelopes and a few instructions on mailing handmade cards.  (NOTE: we do try to keep our cards fairly flat and a standard size so that mailing isn't an issue - but sometimes you just HAVE to add that extra embellishment or make a square card!)

6. How will you sell the cards and for how much?
Will you leave the cards out at all times or is it a special Sunday morning event?  The purchase of our cards is on the honor system.  We keep a lock box on a table next to our card racks.  You may want to carefully consider this.  I know of one church that has had their cardmaking money stolen twice.  So far, our lock box has stayed put.  We like keeping it out at all times because we have people drop by all week long for cards.

How much will you charge?  (NOTE: be sure to work on a donation basis - I believe there are other consequences if you "sell" the cards.) We request a donation of $3/card or 2 for $5.  I think this is probably underpriced for what you get, and I know a lot of the "buyers" agree as they will donate more than is requested.  So it all works out.  We don't scare away anyone by a high price, but we tend to average higher than the price.

You should also decide if the funds that you raise have a special purpose.  Our funds go to the church crisis fund for families in need except for October - breast cancer awareness month.  We make breast cancer cards and donate our funds to research. 

7. Are you going to "protect" the cards?
This is a fairly minor decision but we struggle with it on a regular basis.  Do you want to keep the cards in individual plastic bags (such as the ones sold by Stampin' Up with a little adhesive on the closure)?  This keeps them protected from fingerprints and from being shoved back in the racks causing embellishments to be dislodged (Yes...this is a pet peeve of mine!).  In our experience, if we try to protect them, people still take them out of the bags to see them up close and personal so it's a waste of time and money. But we do keep trying!

8. What supplies could you/should you have on hand?
There are a number of supplies that we keep on hand as it is easier to buy in bulk and, frankly, cheaper for your designers if the church supplies them:

• Envelopes.  We use fairly cheap envelopes that we buy on sale at Office Depot or Staples.   They are quite cheap and somewhat flimsy, but you have to balance the cost of your cards/supplies vs. what the church raises in funds.  At some point, you could cross the line such that the church would make more if you gave them the money that you spent on supplies!
• White/Ivory cardstock.  Our designers just use a quarter panel of cs/dsp for the front of the card.  That way they can get a sample card and the three cards that are made from one sheet of paper.  We supply the cardstock on which the front is glued.  In that way we can buy reams of cardstock from paper supply stores
• Adhesive.  Adhesives can get EXPENSIVE.  Tape-runners are very pricey and don't have all of that much adhesive in them. We have settled on two types of adhesive to satisfy people who have different preferences: Scotch double-sided tape and Zip-Dry Paper Glue.  Both of these can be purchased cheaply (the Scotch tape in bulk at office supply stores and the Zip-Dry at any big box hobby store on sale or with coupons).  And...very importantly...they stick!  Our cards get a lot of handling and other adhesives have fallen apart on us.
• Basic supplies: We have boxes for each table of cardmakers that include the following: tape dispenser, stamp cleaning pad & spray, scissors, scissors just for ribbon, tweezers, small ruler, paper piercer, scrap paper and a small 12" paper cutter.

• Stamping surface: Our church has those white "plastic" tables.  If you have those, run your hand across them - they are seriously warped.  So, to get a good stamped image, we also supply thick foam stamp surfaces for each individual.  We use red Rubber Stamp Pads by Darice.  They are 11x17 but we cut them in half.  You can also use thick craft foam but for badly warped tables, it doesn't help as much.

We are finally at the fun part - making the cards.  Tomorrow, I will talk about how we put together card kits for our group to complete.

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Today's sketch challenge at SplitCoast Stampers had lots of angled panels which is really not my favorite thing.  (In my former life, I had a career as an actuary - lots of math - I don't do angles!)  When I do see angles, I think humor, so here's my attempt - - -

You know you're old when...
your driver's license picture
looks better than you do!

• Stamps: Gina K You Know You're Old When...
• Ink: Memento Black and copics
• Paper: PaperTrey Spring Moss, Enchanted Evening, DCWV dp
• Accessories: Stampin' Up Navy Grosgrain

Cards for Church: What?

Part 2 of a series on Church Card Ministries

In yesterday's post, I discussed the two prongs of our church cardmaking ministry - for church use and for fundraising.  The cards for church use are fully explained in that post.  I am going to focus a little more on the fundraising side.

We maintain THREE card racks.

The racks are stocked as follows: (I am using "section" to indicate one column - so the brightest part of the card rack above, to the left side of the photo, is 2 sections.  I am only including this as an indicator of the relative proportions of the cards that we create. Our proportions have come about by watching "sales" and determining which cards go the quickest.)

• Birthday (3 sections)
• Kids (1 section) - includes birthday, congrats, proud of you, etc.
• Thank You (2 sections)
• Miscellaneous (2 sections)
• Sympathy (2 sections) FYI - this section can be difficult to maintain as it can sit for a long time with average "sales", but if somebody passes away in the congregation, the cards will all disappear.  It is a good idea to have a "stash" of sympathy cards.
• Thinking of You, Thoughts and Prayers (2 sections)
• Get Well (1 section)
• Wedding & Anniversary (1 sections)
• Baby, Pregnancy, Baby Shower (2 sections)

We also have the third rack, hiding in the back of the photo in the shadows, that we pull out for holidays or special church occasions:

• Valentines Day
• Easter
• Graduation
• Confirmation
• First Communion
• Mother's Day - this is a good time to remember the "donation" principle of the church card ministry.  It's heartwarming to see children put in a hard-earned quarter to buy a card for mom or dad!
• Father's Day
• Halloween - we keep these fun, not scary
• Thanksgiving
• Christmas - Be sure to have these out in early November or else people will already have purchased their cards.  It's actually not our bestselling type of card - so many people buy bulk cards or photo cards, but it would be strange NOT to do Christmas cards in a church card ministry

FYI: We often do a few special cards for some "minor" holidays and occasions, e.g. St. Patrick's Day, 4th of July, or Back to School.  It's also fun to do teacher thank you displays with cards and other fun things like hand-crafted post-it note holders.

The purchase of our cards is on the honor system.  We keep a lock box on a table next to our card racks.  You may want to carefully consider this.  I know of one church that has had their cardmaking money stolen twice.  So far, our lock box has stayed put.  We like keeping it out at all times because we have people drop by all week long for cards.

We request a donation of $3/card or 2 for $5.  I think this is probably underpriced for what you get, and I know a lot of the "buyers" agree as they will donate more than is requested.  So it all works out.  We don't scare away anyone by a high price, but we tend to average higher than the price.

Stay tuned this week for more details on the preparation for the ministry and for the actual event!

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Set 264 - Yuletide Bits and Borders

I wasn't going to do any Christmas cards this week because I am preparing for our monthly church cardmaking gathering and we did Christmas cards last month.  But, when the SplitCoast Color Challenge came up with River Rock, Real Red and Old Olive and I remembered the Stampin' Up Dashing dsp from a few years ago - all my Christmas stuff came back out!

Someday I am going to learn to photograph glitter.  The red glitter on the snowflake is super sparkly and is a great match to Real Red.  There is also a clear coating of glitter on the snowflake strip that you can't see at all!

The sketch for this card comes from Technostamper.  I really like her sketches.  They are fun without relying on bizarre shapes and angles or on a million layers. 

• Stamps: Stampin' Up Yuletide Bits and Borders
• Ink: Stampin' Up Old Olive, River Rock
• Paper: Stampin' Up Real Red, Old Olive, River Rock
• Accessories: Art Institute Christmas Red Glitter, Martha Stewart Crystal Fine Glitter, spray adhesive

Cards for Church: Why?

Part 1 of a series on Church Card Ministries

The vast majority of my cards go to our church card ministry.  It's a wonderful ministry to be involved with - it's the perfect excuse to spend way too much time in my craft corner!  In all seriousness...I am doing something that I love, for a church that I love.

It's also an excuse to make cards that I would never otherwise get to make (and, of course, to buy stamps for those cards).  For example, I have two boys - a teen and a tween - but for church, I get to play with girlie cards.  Also...my friends are way beyond child-bearing years (sorry ladies!), but for church, I get to play with baby stuff!

And I LOVE the fellowship time we share when we all get together to make our cards.  It's such a fun time, we even have people attend who are not members of our church!  We all come to make cards and get new ideas and techniques - all without any sales pressure as so often happens in home parties and store classes.

So those are the selfish reasons for a card ministry, but why do we have a church cardmaking ministry?

For church use:
Upon request, our church card group makes cards in bulk.  There are so many reasons that a church may want to send cards, including:

• Thank you for volunteers, e.g. Sunday School teachers
• Outreach, e.g. Thanksgiving food baskets
• Get well, thinking of you, etc. for church members and friends
• Special occasions, e.g. Graduating seniors, newly confirmed youth

A hand crafted card just adds that special caring touch for each of these occasions.

For fund-raising:
Our cardmaking group meets monthly to create a variety of our cards for our "sale" racks.

These racks are always open - people can buy all week long.  Amazingly, we have people who are not even part of our church drop by to stock up!  We do ask for a "donation" of $3/card or 2 for $5.

It's the ultimate ministry! 

• Cardmakers get to do something they love.
• The people buying them get a personal handcrafted work of "art".
• The people receiving the cards know they are loved and cared for. 
• All of this - and the church gets a donation!

Stay tuned throughout this week for complete details on how to start and run a church card ministry so you can consider starting one on your own!

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Set 263 - Stipple Celebrations



I have one card to share today.  I deliberately stepped away from scallops, flourishes, flowers and glitter today (although I still used a little ribbon) to be sure that we have a masculine card on our church card racks.

The sketch comes from Stamping 411.

The colors come from the color throwdown.

• Stamps: Stampin' Up Stipple Celebrations, Inkadinkado Expressions & Frames clear set
• Ink: Stampin' Up Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, So Saffron
• Paper: Stampin' Up black, white, Old Olive dsp
• Accessories: Spellbinders label die, Stampin' Up Black Gingham, Marvy Uchida corner punch