Greeting Card Stock

[Lahree]

Does anyone print their own greeting cards to sell? If so, where do you purchase the stock? I have seen card stock with pre-folds at Office Depot, but by buying them that way (with the fold) it costs as much as $2 a card to start with. There isn't going to be a profit left at all if I sell them for, say $2.50, which is what the average greeting card goes for around here. People don't CARE if it's a print of my original art on the card and that it is big enough to count as a 5x7 PRINT suitable for framing. They want to buy a cool greeting card for about as much as they can at the local WalMart or grocery store. Throw in the cost of envelopes and the ink it takes to print on my home printer and I am in the hole. Again. Sigh.

I saw card stock at Office Depot that is 8 1/2x11, Bristol Vellum, 65lb, 96 bright that has no pre-folds in a pack of 250 for $13, which is way WAY better in price, but I would have to fold it myself and that probably doesn't have as professional of a look.

Suggestions/helpful hints anyone? If I could really sell my fairy cards AT A PROFIT FOR ONCE :( , I would go to the trouble. I certainly can't afford to have a service print them and get any kind of profit whatsoever.

[Roses]

Staples sells some card stock in boxes of 100, sold flat with a prefold in the card. Most of the ones I've bought have been around $8-9 a box, envelopes included. I had some problems with the Avery card stock. When I folded the card, it broke into 2 pieces at the fold. I've tried buying flat card stock without the fold but the fold never looks good after I've folded it.

I've been happy with the quality of all the brands I've tried except for the occasional Avery where the fold breaks.

[CindyH]

Lori, I'm not a scrapbooker, but I play one on TV....no, not really...but I watch alot of them while I'm painting.

There is some sort of scoring tool that they use to help them make really nice folds. I'll bet that would make your folds look more professional.

[bmac]

Have you gone to a local printing office to get some prices? I had some black and white cards (smaller) printed 2 years ago from the church drawings that I did. I had about 600 cards printed for around $125.00 including envelopes. I sold packs of 10 cards with envelopes for $10.00. Each pack had a variety of the 3 drawings that I did. You might just get some quotes on prices. I think printing them on your own printer would be more trouble than it is worth. I tried some and didn't like the quality and the waste.
I will scan a sample later. Right now I have to go get my hair done. Freshen up my color. :D

[artfulscribe]

Great question!! I hope you continue to get responses! Local people keep asking me for prints/notecards of the train station I did, and I have no idea how to go about it in an economical way...

Roxana

[Katydid]

a "bone folder" is the tool - it will help score and crease the fold neatly.

http://www.dickblick.com/zz129/64/

[Valda]

I just noticed this thread.

I do print my own cards and use two different cover stock papers. They are both by Wausau, and are acid-free. They ARE pulp papers, so the acid-free refers to some kind of buffer they put in it.

Both these papers are recommended for ink-jet printers:

Astropaque (smooth finish) 80 lb cover (28.77M) #70611
this paper is smooth (but not glossy) and very white. I use it for my business cards and other promotional materials as well as note cards. Ink jet printing looks very good and sharp on this smooth surface.

Sundance Cover (felt) 65.0 lb (23.37M) #04821
this paper is sort of an off-white (although it says "bright white") and has a texture on it that resembles CP watercolor paper. I use it for note cards of my artwork, especially of my watercolors. It makes the cards look like original art.

I purchase the papers from Xpdex which is nearby, but anyplace that sells Wausau papers would carry them, as they are not specialty items.

Re LIGHTFASTNESS/LONG LIFE
Because these are cards and I am not selling them as "prints" I don't feel that I need to use 100% rag paper. Afterall, Hallmark doesn't. I know some people will frame one and treat it as a print, but if they ask me about it I will tell them it is not on art paper and won't last a long time.

I do spray the cards with a product that I purchase from Inkjetart.com - Premier Art Print Shield - a UV, water resistant lacquer - made especially for protecting inkjet prints.

Re: folding
I think the pre-folded papers are for rank amateurs who have no clue how to fold anything. If one is careful to make the fold accurate, it can be creased well by running a round object or burnisher across the fold (pressing on the back of the card makes the front look better - just don't use a pen barrel that has writing on it because it WILL come off - ask my how I know!)

Hope this information is helpful. Buying a ream of cover stock makes the cards cost pennies each rather than dollars.

[Dawn]

I print my own cards but it’s a lot of work the way I do it. I tried many papers and was never happy with the reproduction, this is what I do.

I get card stock at paper zone, I buy a neutral one, I then print my information on the back of them. Next I print the images, many at once on a single sheet of really good paper. I then have to cut them out and paste them down. The cards cost me about $1.00 to make, that includes the plastic sleeve’. They do take a lot of time!

I have been frustrated by the time it takes but have been unwilling to compromise on the quality. I will try the Sundance cover, lets hope it works for me. If it dose I will still print some the old way, they are on acid free paper and have two different prices.

[Bob Ebdon]

Don't know how relevant this will be to most folks, but the UK people might be interested. I buy card stock , from 10-1000 in assorted sizes from a firm called Craft Creations - www.craftcreations.com (http://www.craftcreations.com) . I get single-fold, Smooth White. Their cards are available in many, many colours, sizes, papers (including recycled, but beware as many are not suitable for inkjets), formats (apertures, double folds, fancy edges, etc), and I have always found them very prompt and helpful. I also buy envelopes and poly bags to put them in from them. The last lot I bought, cards, envelopes and bags for 100 cards cost me around $45 (£28). Don't forget to add in what for me is the biggest expense when printing cards - the ink! But I still reckon that 100 cards cost me around 40p(70c) each, and I sell at £1.20p ($2.10c) each. And I sell well.