When is it appropriate for men to give postcards? What do you need to make greeting cards? The best ideas on how to make a men's postcard with your own hands: from paper, threads, buttons. Tips for beginners.
A men's card is an elegant present that you can make with your own hands. Despite the simplicity of most of the techniques for creating a greeting card, the master has a difficult task. A craft for a man should have a number of distinctive characteristics and qualities so that such a gift is appropriate and pleasant for the person being gifted.
When do men get postcards?
For a modern person, a postcard in most cases is a symbol of a holiday and sincere congratulations. Meanwhile, close to 100 years ago, an uncomplicated card was banned. A proposal to systematically use open letters in order to save resources was put forward to the German-Austrian Congress in 1865 and rejected by the latter due to the unethical nature of such postage. However, during the European wars of the late 19th century, cards nevertheless gained popularity among the military.
The first men's postcards were for informational purposes only, but the senders often decorated them with their own drawings, so over time, card manufacturers began to supplement the shipment with a beautiful image.
In the course of the evolution of postage, beautiful men's postcards began to be divided according to the topics of the images placed on them:
- Congratulatory … Designed to inform the person about a pleasant date and convey the sender's best wishes. Such presents are appropriate for a birthday, name day, and other significant dates for a man. Most often, status items are depicted in pictures - cars, money, drinks.
- Species … Information cards about a particular professional branch.
- Artistic … Images on paper represent a famous reproduction or are the work of a contemporary artist.
- Advertising … Designed to convey information about a product or service to a person.
- Business … A new type of stylish men's postcards that are presented exclusively to business partners. These cards have a laconic design, but are designed to build trust.
It is appropriate to present greeting cards directly on the day of the name day or the celebration of a significant date. The design of the card and its greeting inscription should correspond to the theme of the celebration. Specific, artistic, advertising, political and other types of cards will be gladly accepted by philokartists - collectors of postcards, the date and reason for such presentation may be different. Well, business cards are presented only in cases prescribed by business etiquette.
Note! Do-it-yourself men's postcards in the business environment may be considered an unnecessary present, but for relatives and friends, the value of such a presentation increases significantly. Separate groups of philokartists collects only hand-made cards.
Materials for making men's postcards
A distinctive feature of a men's greeting card is its brevity. Even if several elements are depicted in the picture, they are harmoniously combined in a single color scheme or image style. An eclectic theme and contrasting colors should only be chosen if you are confident that the recipient will appreciate it.
Greeting cards can be of several types:
- Single layer … Postcard with congratulations or an inscription on one side and a beautiful image on the other.
- Double layer … A distinctive feature of such a souvenir is a beautiful frontal part and a congratulatory inscription on the spread. Most often there are two-layer cards for men "Happy Birthday" or personal ones.
- Volumetric … Outwardly, such a postcard may look like a two-layer one and be a sheet of paper folded in half, however, panoramic cutouts, spreads and applications are hidden inside the volumetric crafts. Thus, when a souvenir is revealed, a three-dimensional 3D picture is revealed in front of a person.
In order to make a man's postcard, you will need thick base paper. For single-layer cards, such paper is cut to the size of the craft, for two-layer cards, the size of the blank should be doubled (so that the card can be folded later). Well, in volumetric postcards, you need to make a margin for the thickness of the panorama or folds inside.
In the future, the base can be decorated with scrapbooking paper. In specialized stores, you can pick up themed pictures for crafts. The background for a man's postcard can be neutral, for example, a solid color or with a basic pattern (for example, a checkerboard).
Also for work you will need:
- scissors, a clerical knife, and best of all a cutter, with such a tool it will be possible to make a very even cut line, as on industrial postcards;
- glue or double-sided tape - depending on the volume and complexity of the structure that you want to join together, choose a product of the appropriate strength;
- Ruler and pencil.
The further set of tools and materials will depend on your skills and ideas. For example, if you want to simulate mailing, then you need stamps and seals for scrapbooking. But a personalized men's postcard can be created not only using the scrapbooking technique. So, for cards, the techniques of isothreading, decorating with buttons, embroidery and even woodcarving are also applicable, the main thing is not to limit your creativity.
Careful planning is the key to success in creating a stylish men's postcard. After thinking over the style and design of the greeting card, lay out all the materials you use on the table. Evaluate if they match in color, texture, density. Preparatory work is best done in natural daylight. If in doubt that any element fits into the overall composition, it is better to replace it or remove it.
Important! When choosing a technique for creativity, consider not only the tastes of a man, but also the reason for giving. So, for example, on Defender of the Fatherland Day, a card with a button tank can be perceived more joyfully than an ornate scrapbooking craft. But a men's anniversary card, even in restrained black and white colors and with a simple applique, looks more appropriate than the most complex isothread patterns. For the correct selection of ideas, materials, technique of execution, you will need not only creative skills, but also an understanding of human nature.
How to make a men's postcard with your own hands?
Beautiful cards "Happy Men's Day", and it can be a name day, a wedding, Defender's Day, Father's Day, should correspond to the theme of the holiday. For example, on the occasion of an anniversary or a wedding, a man can make a postcard in the shape of a tailcoat using the scrapbooking technique. For a loved one - to embroider a heart using the isothread technique. As a rule, children make cards out of buttons for their fathers, a cute card will become an unforgettable gift. But even for experienced craftswomen, buttons will be an excellent material for creativity.
Postcard to a man made of paper
The simplest version of a men's postcard for congratulating on an anniversary is a craft in the form of a tuxedo. For such a greeting card, you only need a white cardboard base, black paper and a few buttons. Creating a beautiful men's postcard will take no more than 10 minutes.
A V-notch is cut into the black paper to follow the cutout of the jacket. Black paper is applied to a white base and glued. We decorate the white cardboard that appears in the V-neck with a butterfly made of black paper and white buttons. On the spread of such a postcard, a congratulatory wish is written.
If you have more time, then try to master the basic techniques of working in the scrapbooking technique. Aged postcards look very interesting in this technique.
Necessary materials:
- cardboard size 14, 8 by 21cm (A5 format);
- background paper (for scrapbooking) in neutral shades;
- a printed picture that conveys the style of the craft, for example, a retro photo;
- glue, scissors, ruler;
- scrapbooking stamps;
- twine for final decoration.
We make a man's postcard using the scrapbooking technique:
- We fold the cardboard in half to make a two-layer craft blank.
- Cut paper for scrapbooking 0.5 cm smaller than the blank.
- The background image (scrapbooking paper) and printed pictures are artificially aged. To do this, you can use an industrial aging machine - a special scrapbooker tool, but you can cut the edges with ordinary scissors or wipe with sandpaper. After the edges have been finished, fold them to one side or tear them slightly to enhance the frayed effect.
- We tint the edges of the paper blanks with brown paint and a small sponge. You can also age the edges on an electric stove.
- We glue a printout of a retro photo or postcard to the background paper. Cut and level the edges of the two layers, age them using the method described above.
- We glue the processed paper on the front part of the blank.
- On the spread of a man's postcard, we glue a template of aged paper. The finished material can be purchased in art stores or online.
- If desired, the spread can be decorated with a postage stamp and supplemented with a congratulatory inscription. It is better to use ink for the inscription.
- Close the folded postcard with twine.
Important! Another method of aging is to hold the paper near a hot electric stove. In this case, the edges of the workpiece will turn a little black and bend. When aging a postcard with an electric stove, do not forget about safety precautions, as soon as the edge begins to smolder, immediately unplug the stove and remove the paper from the hot surface.
Postcard for a man made of threads
Textiles in creativity add a sense of warmth to the product, and therefore crafts from threads are most often given to those closest to you. For a men's holiday, a postcard to your beloved can be made using the isothread technique. It doesn't take much time to embroider on cardboard, but the result will surprise even experienced craftswomen.
Necessary materials:
- cardboard blank of A5 format;
- thread red;
- awl and sewing needle;
- red A4 paper;
- glue or double-sided tape.
We make a man's postcard from threads:
- Draw or print an embroidery pattern on a cardboard blank. A ready-made template is easy to find on the Internet, for a loved one it can be a heart.
- With an awl in the cardboard we make holes so that the sewing needle with thread can pass through.
- Sew the opposite holes with a red thread.
- We put the embroidered cardboard on a base (cardboard or paper) and fasten it with glue or double-sided tape.
- On the spread of the postcard, we write wishes.
A simple but beautiful postcard for congratulations on men's day is appropriate for a birthday, Valentine's Day and just as a declaration of love. As your experience in technique grows, the complexity of embroidery can be increased.
Men's postcards from buttons
On a men's holiday, postcards do not have to be strict and restrained. Crafts from buttons look very cute and a little childish, but it will undoubtedly be pleasant to receive such a congratulation from a loved one. Buttons are used to replace any round elements on the card image, for example, the wheels of a car. An uncomplicated move will add originality to the postcard. If you have time, use the buttons to create a real appliqué.
Necessary materials:
- colored paper, and preferably cardboard;
- pencil and ruler;
- buttons in yellow, blue and white in different sizes;
- glue.
Making a postcard from buttons:
- We use the sun and the cloud as a base drawing. We draw the outline of the idea on cardboard.
- Fill the contour of the cloud and sun with buttons of the appropriate colors.
- We attach the buttons with glue.
- We decorate the opening part of the postcard with colored paper and add wishes.
The main difficulty in the work is the selection of buttons of the required size. Try not to allow situations where the edge of the button goes beyond the contour of the material, but also do not leave empty spaces between them.
How to make a men's postcard - watch the video:
A man's postcard is a simple and at the same time very complex craft. Simple because, technically, creating greeting cards does not take a lot of time and effort. And it is complicated, because it is very important to choose the right theme, pattern and even shades of materials that a man will like. But if you carefully think over your craft and use our recommendations, you can surprise your loved one.
