Advanced Card Making Tips

How to Streamline the Process of Making the Open Door Invitation Card

You can find the basic directions for an open door card here.

When the customer I made this open door card for reordered the same design for an even larger party, I decided I'd better come up with a quicker way to cut the rounded top of the doors.

The straight sides of the doors are easy to cut using a metal ruler as a guide.

I couldn't think of any common object I could use as a guide for the top so I made a template using a sheet of heavy clear plastic.

I buy the clear plastic covers for bound reports in bulk from an office supply store to use as liners in my panadieres; but any thick clear plastic will do.

Place a reject or test print of the card on a cutting mat and position the clear plastic over it.

Use a sharp craft knife to trace and cut the curved section.

Here is the finished template.

To cut the rounded tops of the cards, run the craft knife along the template making sure to hold the knife vertical or even angled a tiny bit away from the plastic. If you angle it toward the plastic, you may catch the edge of your template and ruin it.

Bonus Tip: a Great Tool for Scoring Cards

I have a rotary wheel paper cutter which used to be my primary paper cutter. Now I have a paper cutter with a drop down blade which is great for straight cuts; but I still use the rotary wheel cutter for perforated and scalloped cuts, as well as a scoring guide.

The cutter's ruler and grid lines are very helping for positioning. The drop down arm holds the paper or cardstock firmly in place.

Take a bone folder or other scoring tool and run it along the drop down arm. I'm using the back edge of a cheese spreading knife in the picture.

Hey, it works!