Using What You Have to Make Cultural Cards | Tips and Tricks

  Hello Friends and Crafters!

I have a bit of a different card post today and I'm going to show you how to use your everyday craft supplies to make cultural cards (well, one in particular). I want to show you that it doesn't really matter which background you are from and which festivals/events you celebrate, you can use your current stash and modify your items to your liking to fit your occasion. 

Here's a little background on these cards. During this month in the Indian calendar, there is a festival that is celebrated called Raksha bandhan. This is a Hindu festival and usually brothers and sisters come together to spend time together and celebrate the bond they share as siblings. The sister will tie a bracelet called a 'rakhi' on her brother's hand as a symbol of their bond and she will give him sweets to mark the day. The brother will usually give his sister a small monetary gift as a thank you and this entire gesture is to keep their bond strong through time. I usually celebrate this yearly along with a lot of Hindus. So I actually make these cards every year and I wanted to take the time to share them with you. 

I have a short reel below which basically explains the principles I use to put these cultural cards together. They are also outlined below for your reference. I hope you can use these ideas to make your own cultural cards and tailor your stash to your needs!

Reel/video short

Basic principles:

1) Look through your stash and pick designs that fit your culture, background or festival. With so many craft companies out there nowadays this is easier to do than you might think. 

I chose the Paisley Dreams and Paisley Glimmer sets from Spellbinders June 2022 Club Kits since this design is prevalent in many East Indian fabrics. 

2) Pick any stamps or die sets with the alphabet or letters and numbers. I always make sure I have a couple of these in my stash in different sizes and styles - one of these sets is good enough.

I chose the Be Bold Lowercase Letters and Numbers die set from Spellbinders and the Concord & 9th Lovely Letters stamps in Uppercase and Lowercase.

3) Use the letters to customize your sentiment. 

I stamped out and die cut "Raksha Bandhan" for 3 cards.

 

4) Use generic sentiment stamps or foil plates to add on to your sentiment. By generic, I mean words like "happy" or sub-sentiments like "have a lovely day", "with love" etc.

I heat embossed the word "happy" from the C9 Color Me Happy stamp set for one card. I foiled the "Wishing you a happy" from the Spellbinders Sentiment Banner hot foil plate and die set to start my sentiment on the second card. And I foiled the "heartfelt thoughts" sentiment from the Spellbinders Celebrate You Glimmer Sentiments set to add as a sub-sentiment on the third card.

5) Be creative with what you have - you can probably put together cultural symbols and signs. I always use my Number dies with a bit of ingenuity to create an Om sign!

I used the Birch Press Design Number dies to cut a 3 and 2 out of black cardstock. I cut the bottom tail off the 2 and flip the other piece and glue it behind the 3. Then I add the tail of the 2 above it with a dot to create the Om sign. You can usually see the join of the 2 and 3 so I usually add glossy accents or stickles on top to disguise this.

6) Don't forget to add something to the inside of your card. I always add just a little something to the inside to create a completely designed card. You don't have to do this but it makes a big difference and only takes a few minutes longer.

On the insides of my cards I used the Persian Motifs Stamp set by Altenew. I stamped it on some light coloured paper that matched the colour schemes of my card and I attached to the card insides.

And that's basically it!

 

So please, look through the items in your stash and see what you can use. I love the saying "the possibilities are endless", but it is so very true! Whatever occasion it may be, you can always tailor your items to work for you - just use your imagination. All of the products have been linked below for your shopping pleasure! 

As always, thanks for stopping by. And don't forget to leave me a comment, as I love hearing from you! And don't forget to follow me on Instagram @deezinesbyd!

Supplies

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