Altered Greeting Card Projects

1: Create a new card from an old one: rather than going out and buying packages of card stock, keep old cards to use as "bases" for your greeting card making. They're easy to cover over, embellish, paint out and alter into a creation of your own.

2: Use the card as a base for a mini-book cover: cut the card into a small "book size" and staple in pages that have been cut to size. Alter the card to fit the theme of the mini book you're creating. This is a really fun project for kids (with supervision)

3: Cut the card up into bookmarks: I love making bookmarks out of something else. This is another great project for kids because they have the opportunity to experiment with a lot of different forms of media, textures, measuring and writing.

4: Cut the card up into tags: I'm always on the hunt for an interesting tag to use on a gift, on a scrapbook page or on another art project. Cutting cards up into tag bases has saved me a lot of time and money. I cut them into a variety of sizes and shapes using templates I've purchases, as well as some I've found on-line.

5: Cut the card up into ATC bases: you can never have too many ATC bases, as far as I'm concerned. I cut these from a wide variety of "recycled" goods and, on my list of favorites, is used greeting cards. They provide a very sturdy work surface for collage, assemblage and other mixed media work.

6: Use the images on the cards for collage work: this is a lot of fun! When I look through my old cards, sometimes there are images and elements I just can't "cut up into a base" and I want to keep. So, I have a separate stash of "images" I cut from cards to use in other art projects. I've used them the most on the covers of handmade books and journals to add a whimsical flair.

7: Use the text for collage work: remember to cut out interesting text from your cards, too. Cards contain a lot of pretty fonts, wonderful quotes and beautiful poetry. Don't let these opportunities slip by when you could be using these elements in collage work, assemblage, scrapbook lay outs and more.

8: Use your favorite elements from the card in scrapbook page lay outs: I love doing this because it takes me beyond the traditionally used scrapbook embellishments and allows me to create something more personal and creative. Use of color, images, and so on help make the pages pop. There also have been times when I've kept the cards intact for use on pages where a special occasion (when the card was received) needs to be preserved.

9: Create a board book: take five or six greeting cards and cut them down to the smallest size in your stack. Glue them together (I've found that dry adhesive - like a glue stick - works best with these projects because it prevents the stock from getting wavey) so the front of the card is sandwiched to the back of the next one. Place your project under something heavy (like a stack of books) for several hours to dry completely. Once your project has completely dried, alter each page spread and the cover as you would for an altered book project. When you're finished, you'll have a sturdy "board book" style creation.

10: Frame it for wall art: have you ever seen a picture on the front of a card and thought, "I wish I had something like that hanging in my daughter's room or the living room." So, why not do that? I've been framing greeting cards ever since I got my first apartment (in 1992) and I'll never get bored of this project. I've seen a lot of talk about this lately on home decorating shows and in home decorating magazines, so this seems to be a timeless project. (and an inexpensive one, at that!)