by Jessika Hepburn, O Happy Day Handmade
I spent a silly amount of time looking at unique portfolio designs for yesterday’s post and I was inspired by some truly fantastic business cards to create today’s feature on handmade business and calling cards. Since your business card is often either a first point of contact or a way of marketing yourself it is worth putting in the extra time and capital and present your business in a memorable way.
Nothing says handmade more than textile business cards. Graphics can be printed on printable cotton sheets or onto iron on transfers or they can be stamped or silkscreened, they are also a great way to use up your favorite fabric/felt scraps.
1. Blogger and crafter Jessica Levitt created these bright fabric business cards to spread the word about her crafty blog by machine stitching a paper card onto scraps of fabric cut out with pinking shears.
2. Designer and illustrator Rachel Novak made these elegant business cards by gluing fabric to heavy card stock and then gluing card stock with her information onto the fabric side. I love the look of these cards!
3. An example of fabric business cards with printed iron on transfers from Julie Antinucci
4. These business cards from Pocketful of Pinwheels were printed by Spoonflower where you can print custom fabrics on demand!
Clients love to ask designers to make things “pop” now you actually can with pop up business cards!
5. Etsy’s FAHpopups from Buenos Aires sells sets of 50 customized pop up cards for only $40 USD!
6. OrangeYouGlad design company created these funky pop-up cards for their staff.
If you have an earth friendly business consider creating some kind of eco business card like the ones pictured above.
7. These punny cards blooming cards from designer, illustrator and creative thinker Jaime Weick will bloom in four days if you get the bottom of the card/envelope damp.
8. I love these simple and modern letterpress cards printed by paperedtogether letterpress. They are made of handmade paper embedded with seeds so that they can also be planted.
9. Struck Creative created these clever seed envelope/business cards for Lush they were letterpressed with the business info and then filled with seeds.
Wood veneer business cards are lovely and rustic with a real modern aesthetic making them perfect for a range of business card styles. They can be die cut like the ones pictured here (10) from a tutorial on papiervalise’s blog and then stamped or stickered with your business info. Or you can stamp the blanks with a logo or pretty image like these little birds cards made by Vancouver’s Cabin (11). The blanks are available from Lee Valley for only $3.50 for a package of 50.
A little innovation goes a long way when it comes to business cards, where a regular business card might get tossed in the recycling a little work of art will be kept around and possibly even treasured. I know that I have a collection of cards that are too lovely to ever get rid of even though some of the businesses are no longer in operation.
12. I am head over heels in love with the die cut egg shaped business cards designed by Imagehaus for Amma Maternity and then printed on letterpress by the amazing Studio on Fire.
13. Ellie Snow, author and editor of Mint handmade these sweet cards embellished with fun paper tape and twine.
14. Even just choosing an unconventional shape like these small round cards made by Starr Design can make the difference between a great card and a boring one.
15. And sometimes simple is lovely too like colourful letterpress business cards from sweetharvey.
With so many options to choose from there is really no end to how creative you can get with your business cards, happy crafting!
