Gift-Matching Hybrid Cards

How to Make Hybrid Cards to Match Your Gifts

Here are a couple of ways to make hybrid cards to match a gift. Gift baskets of all sorts make lovely eye-appealing gift packages. Coordinating the elements is easier than you may think.

You'll need digital graphic software like Photoshop or Photoshop Elements and white card stock for both cards.

The baskets used here are fabric bread baskets or Panadieres. Panadieres are gifts in themselves because they serve all sorts of purposes other than serving bread. They make handy catch-alls for dresser or desk top; or can be used to corral mail or keys near a door.

Each basket contains a pack of paper napkins selected to coordinate with the fabric and a 4 x 4-inch birthday card to match the napkins. I tucked a CD of classical music in the multicolor basket and jasmine-scented guest soaps and incense sticks in the blue basket.

Hybrid Card Instructions

Create an 8 x 8-inch document at resolution of 300 psi using your graphic program. The screenshot below shows how two 4 x 4-inch cards can be laid out side-by-side. The 4 x 4-inch card fronts are positioned on the bottom half of the page to be printed. The top half - which will form the back of the card outside - can carry your personal logo if you like. Just be sure to flip it upside down in your document.

Card 1: Scanned Image and Digital Products

Scan one of the napkins for a perfect match.

I've added a couple of Scrap Girls digital products to complete the card front: Jan Hicks' Card Sentiments Birthday Brush and Valerie Randall's Different Color yellow Ric Rac.

The green background for the "Birthday Wishes" brush is simply a green rectangle created with the rectangular shape tool and then given a bunch of style effects for texture. I just played with various styles until I got an effect I liked.

Card 2: All Digital Products

For the front of Card 2, I used a paper from Scrap Girls designer Erica Hite's Creative Spirit collection. The paper coordinates beautifully with both the blue floral design of the panadiere and of the napkins.

The Louisa May Alcott quote which I layered on top of Erica's floral paper is from Valerie Randall's Batik collection. Valerie is a master at creating amazing word art. The quote says,

I also used SpeedScraps Cristy Vanderwall's Supply Tracker Script to help me keep track of all the digital products I used so I can give credit where credit is due!