diy: gold calligraphy business cards

by now we're getting to know each other a little bit, and so it's time to for me to let you in on a secret fact about me. i am a huge (huge!) procrastinator. when i was in highschool, i would start papers at 11 pm the night before they were due. when i have people coming over, i don't clean a thing (or cook, or shower, or do any other preparing whatsoever) until about 2 hours before their arrival. i fully admit this is a character flaw, and i have no idea why i am this way. i always feel like i do my best when there is little time and lots of pressure. and the good news is, i am rarely late. when the school bell rang, the report was done. when the doorbell rings, the house is clean (enough) and i'm wearing pants. so, i've decided it's all good.

i'm telling you all that to explain where this diy came from. it was 10 pm the night before the barn sale i went to a couple weeks ago. i knew i needed to take some business cards because i was going to be writing about the event, and wanted to let people know where to see the article! but i'm barely a blogger, let alone a professional blogger, so i did not have any business cards. and worse still, after weeks of knowing i needed them, and casually shopping around for some, it was 10 pm the night before and i was still business cardless.

that's when i pulled out some black card stock i had laying around, and my favorite metallic ink pen, and just made some. the next day i proudly handed out business cards like a real grown-up professional, and double-bonus, i now have a new diy post for ya. see? procrastination. it pays.

total time: 1 hour
patience level: teen sitting through a commercial break
total cost: free to me, but around $8 if you need to buy supplies.

materials:

black card stock (the thicker the better)
sakura pen-touch metallic ink extra-fine marker, gold
scissors or paper cutter
ruler

instructions:

1. measure, mark, and cut black card stock into business-card-size rectangles. mine were 3-1/2" x 2-1/4".

2. test the pen on one of your scrap pieces of card stock to get a feel for it, and to practice writing your name all fancy.

3. write your name all fancy on the front side of your cards. i have no idea how to do real calligraphy, so i just scribble a word and hope it looks pretty. there's some trial and error here, but it's fun. so play and enjoy. you'll get it. (and if you're not a procrastinator, and actually have time to learn a little calligraphy, grace has a round-up of some great sources).

3-3/4. when i did this, i went back over the downstrokes on my lettering to further fake calligraphy. in the end though, my favorite card was the one without that step. so i'm calling it a 3/4 step to indicate it is optional. (and to throw in a harry potter reference).

4. lay them out on a table, writing side up, to fully dry (ie. do not stack them on top of each other!)

5. once the front sides are dry, use a ruler or straight paper edge to block print your pertinent information on the back. (the first one you did should well be dry by now; it only takes a minute or two). since i was handwriting these, i kept it simple with just my website, email address, and instagram.

6. lay them out again as you go to make sure the back side dries as well.

that's it! i realize i'm going to have to go get real business cards someday, but for this occasion they did just fine. hopefully this will help you out in a pinch too! or maybe you'll be the anti-procrastinator and use this technique to start making your christmas gift tags. now. in july.