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Design & Sell Your Own Greeting Cards

bdkz by bdkz
Do you have a flair for design?

Are you an artist, graphic designer, or photographer?

Well then you can make money selling greeting cards that you design. It's easy to get started and lots of fun to have your own business. Here are some simple tips to get your card business up and running!

Getting Started

It's as easy as 1-2-3

The first thing that you are going to want to do is design about 25 cards using software like Corel PSP or Abode. You can also scan your artwork.

Use a theme like baby showers cards, graduation cards or wedding invitations. You can also design cards that are artistic in nature using digital art, traditional art or photography.

Tools of the Trade

A must have!

Designing cards is easy. Corel has many programs that allow you to create kaleidoscopes, vector art and freehand styles. Here are my favorite design tools!

Paint Shop Pro Photo X2

Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 [OLD VERSION]

Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 [OLD VERSION]

Amazon Price: $115.00 (as of 05/27/2012)Buy Now
List Price: $79.99

PSP is awesome for a beginner computer artist. It's easy to learn and in my opinion has the most options for creating beautiful artwork.

Adesso CYBER TABLET

Adesso 12 x 9 Inches Graphics USB Tablet with Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0 (CT-12000A)

Adesso 12 x 9 Inches Graphics USB Tablet with Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0 (CT-12000A)

Amazon Price: $99.99 (as of 05/27/2012)Buy Now
List Price: $149.99

If you love to draw freehand then a tablet is a must. These take a bit of time to get used to but once you master the technology the sky is the limit.

Canon Pixma MP530 Office All-In-One Inkjet Photo Printer

Canon Pixma MP530 Office All-In-One Inkjet Photo Printer

Canon Pixma MP530 Office All-In-One Inkjet Photo Printer

Amazon Price: $139.99 (as of 05/27/2012)Buy Now
List Price: $297.92

You'll also want to pick up a good scanner. This way you can scan your artwork, photos and nature items like leaves and flowers.

Where To Sell Your Greeting Cards

There are many great compaines to sell your greeting cards. I use all of these companies and am thrilled with the sales results.

CafePress

CafePress
Online store software lets you create and sell your own T-shirts, mugs, mousepads, and other products using your own artwork.

Greeting Card Universe

Greeting Card Universe
Greeting Card Universe is a site for freelance artists, allowing them to sell paper greeting cards. For free, artists create a storefront, upload their greeting card designs and earn royalties.

Zazzle

Zazzle
Design custom t-shirts and personalized gifts at Zazzle.com. Create custom printed clothing, greeting cards, coffee mugs, posters & postage manufactured on demand.

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  • cynthia-ann-leighton Apr 25, 2012 @ 1:00 am | delete
    Great information! Thanks.
  • goldenecho Apr 17, 2012 @ 6:16 pm | delete
    I can personally say that Zazzle has excellent quality printing, and I sell a lot more cards through Zazzle than CafePress. Haven't tried Greeting Card Universe. Shutterfly I've found to be poor quality printing on cards. It looks pixalized in comparison to ones I've ordered through Zazzle/CafePress...and the colors weren't as good.
  • gradientcat Apr 16, 2012 @ 10:17 am | delete
    I never thought about trying to make greeting cards before to sell them. Interesting lens.
  • bloomingrose Apr 3, 2012 @ 8:33 pm | delete
    I think this is one of this is one of the best ways for someone artistic to make a little money here and there, maybe more if you are very creative. I know two kids who used it in interesting ways, one would go outside someone's home, make a sketch - knock on the door and offer to put it on cards for them. Can you imagine? Another kid in the same family painted a giant canvas and cut it up, then pasted the pictures onto cardstock and commissioned it to sell to the opera. You don't have to be that talented though, I have bought beautiful cards of local photography or kitties and babies. I don't know the individual companies, I am interested in hearing which ones are better to work for.
  • ItayasDesigns Apr 3, 2012 @ 1:59 pm | delete
    Nice article! I sell a lot on both Zazzle and Greeting Card Universe.
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bdkz

Bonnie is a Community Organizer here on Squidoo.

She manages the Giant Squid VIP Writers program, organizes the Squidoo charity program and is editor... more »

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