Making A Woven Paper Balloon Greeting Card

My current greeting card supply is running low so it’s time for me to put a new bunch together. (Scarily, it’s also going to be time to start making Christmas cards soon, but that’s a post for another day). I like to have a few cards at hand so that I can send something out quickly when I inevitably forget about an impending birthday and don’t have time to make one.

I’m going to share a technique that I’ve been using for a few years now: paper weaving. I originally had the brainwave of using this method to save wasting all of my paper off-cuts, some of which are far too pretty for the recycling bin. But it’s become a go-to card making method for me because I can put together several cards at the same time, test out new colour schemes, and add all sorts of embellishments to give versatile looks.

It all starts with the paper, which I cut to strips of a quarter inch width.

Most of the papers I use for cardmaking come from a couple of stores. The Papery here in Ottawa is great for textured papers, Japanese chiyogami, and ready folded cards in a rainbow of colours. Michaels is always a firm budget favourite for interesting printed designs. But I’ll chop up anything! Old wrapping paper, vellum, wallpaper, junk mail; it all gets used.

I lay out the strips and tape them to a flat surface to keep them in place. Then I simply weave through other strips, alternating over and under in the same way you would do with a loom.

This is continued until there’s no more space for strips to be added, at which point I add tape to the other three sides to stop anything slipping about for the next few steps.

Next is to decide on a design, and anything goes here. You can see my Past Projects page for some of the different styles I’ve used previously.

I’m going to use this woven piece to make some more balloon design cards because they can be used for all sorts of occasions. I cut out the shapes I want to use from card or paper and stick them onto the back of the woven sheet using lots of glue to make sure that the woven pieces don’t come apart. Once completely dry, the shapes can be cut out and added to the card design.

And there you have it; a woven paper greeting card ready to be sent to a lucky recipient

This card is far from perfect, but each one is unique and that’s part of the charm of making designs to send to friends and family. I regularly encounter people who want to make a special card, and I’m happy to help with some friendly tips. The most important advice I can give to anyone wanting to give cardmaking a go is that it’s never going to be perfect, no matter how much you fret over it. But I can guarantee that everyone who gets a personalized card will be thrilled with it, and flattered that you took the time and effort to make something for them. You’ll always notice a rough edge or a slightly wonky angle, but it’s the last thing they’ll focus on.  So give it a go – you’ll probably find that you enjoy making something as much as someone else enjoys opening that lovely envelope with their name on.