Handmade Greeting Card Kits. are They Playing With a Full Deck?

Card crafts are big business. Not only do we have card 'assembly packs' complete with surface decorations to master. Many of us are making a beeline for the do-it-yourself version, which comes with instructions and materials to make a specific project.

The true crafter may well turn their nose up at anything that diminishes original creativity and turn instead to the craft kit. Why? Because they are a great way to have a go at different craft ideas and techniques.

Handmade cards have much to recommend them to a wide range of people:

1. You may be a first time crafter hesitant about what to do and how to do it
2. Perhaps you're confident in one craft and looking for a new project to test your skills
3. As a seasoned crafter you may like 'time out' to try a new product by a new supplier
4. If you're a teacher, a craft kit can give you an idea to share and a chance to practice first
5. You may know someone who'd love a craft kit as a thoughtful gift

They'll be many other types of people and reasons for choosing crafts and that perhaps is the professional craft suppliers' problem. It's because craft kits and handmade greeting cards are so in vogue that there are so many places to buy them. After all, the kit has much in its favor:

1. All the essential specialist materials are ready to go
2. Instructions are included
3. Photos on the finished article are included
4. There are possibilities of trying more ideas
5. The creators are usually experts in their field

Opting for an off the shelf kit rather than giving in to one's own freedom of expression may seem an easy solution but 9 times out of 10 it isn't. Why? For the very reason that craft kits are so popular.

The world and its wife can put together a craft kit, but it takes careful thought - and practice to come up with a winning way of presenting information.

Just take a moment to think of some of the craft instructions you've read lately - or in the past and ask yourself some important questions:

1. Where they well written?
2. Was the layout easy on the eye?
3. Did you get a photo with the instructions?
4. Was the project easy to scan?
5. Could you get a feel for the project is a short time?
6. Where the instructions small enough that you could follow them?
7. Where they written 'from the beginning' with nothing left out?
8. Were all the materials listed?
9. Was there an idea of what next and how to take things further?

You may think I'm picky but then I've eaten, read, slept and taught craft for many years. With 20 years experience as a craft teacher I've read far too many craft instructions that have left me puzzled. Honestly, some would leave you wondering if they were talking about the same project.

Not all kits come with good instructions. Making a handmade greeting card from printed instructions can be fraught with difficulty.

If you're investing some of your cash into card crafts then you deserve to track down a publisher or supplier that really will deliver what they say.

One of the joys of finding a greeting card kit that you like - and are successful at, is that usually, the company can offer you a range of other projects. That's a real bonus. Having found a style that you're now familiar with, feel free to indulge yourself in other ideas.

Kits can be a relatively cheap way of getting started in a new technique, or extending confidence you already have.

But be hesitant and check out a Company's publishing power and writing prowess. Take some time to get comfortable with a style, layout and vocabulary that you are happy with. We don't all want brevity, neither do we need pages of instructions.

The real art is in giving enough information to give you confidence in the project - and the instructions. You want to be able to trust that they will lead you to the finish without giving up.

Good instructions should give you bite sized steps that you can then apply. Too many steps at once can be overwhelming - and that's where we give up. And rather than blame the kit, we may blame ourselves.

Those who write instructions have a lot of answer for and a lot to live up to. If they've laid their cards on the table, you should be able to too, with a successfully completed handmade greeting card at the finish.