amy merrick by amym 78

made with love: stamped business cards

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If you’re anything like me, you have a hard time with business cards. I never know exactly what I want them to say, should I just use my name or put a title, too? When your career forces you to wear many hats, sometimes it’s nice to have multiple business cards that speak to each of your different jobs, but I can’t bring myself to get individual letterpress cards. This is a trick I learned at Saipua that makes amazing and special little cards, perfect for when you need them ASAP and have no particular photoshop skills, a letterpress, or a ton of money handy. One trip to your local Staples is it!

CLICK HERE for the full how-to after the jump!

What you’ll need:

– Small manila shipping tags, like these .
– Custom stamp kit, like this basic one available at Staples

– Ink pad

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- Using small tweezers, place each letter in it’s place

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- Make sure to spell each word backwards, it takes some getting used to but if you start each word on the right moving left, it’s significantly easier.

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- Test the placement of your spacing by stamping a few tags and shift them accordingly!

78 Comments

tara - scoutie girl

love this! i’m always changing my mind about my business cards too. and i really like the DIY look to compliment my business.

this might be a weekend project!!

DC Sarah

um, genius. don’t have the inclination or money to shell out for legit cards right now, but I can certainly do this! thank you!

Cerrissa

this is a great idea!

also check out moo mini cards. u can get up to 100 different things printed on one or the sides

us.moo.com

Jennifer

oh my goodness! I’m in the process of gearing up to re-do my personal identity and want to do stamping.

Thank you once again, d*s for being one step ahead to help guide me along the way! :-)

cjm

This is fantastic. And Cerrissa is right about moo cards. Cost effective and the quality is super.

c_tyler

I am totally in love with this! I’ll definitely be getting a custom stamp kit – the possibilities are endless.

Bridgette

You can easily buy a custom stamp with your logo on it and whatever type you like online, just google stamps and you’ll find it. Better yet, find a local stamp maker who will do it for you.

Alyn

We have a set of these and they are so much fun. Spelling is hard enough for me but spelling backwards is what gets me every time when using these.

Katharine

Lovely idea. It would also be resourceful to cut up old greeting cards or the paper samples you get in print design magazines and use that as the paper for your business card or tag.

Kristy

this makes me so happy, they’re gorgeous, love the handmade feel

arre

la la la loooooooooove this! as a multi-faceted professional, i often struggle with the business card issue. i think this just may be my answer!

kristen

wow, this couldn’t have come at a better time – I’m thinking of overhauling my display cards and was going to just purchase pre-made stamps… but this is a fantastic idea!

alexismaia

I have been looking for a stamp kit like this one forever! I can’t believe I didn’t look at Staples…duh. Thank you thank you thank you for this post. :)

Christine

From printing letterpress, I can advise that you look at the face of the stamp upside-down. The first letter of your first word will be placed at the bottom left-hand corner of the stamp’s surface. You can continue from left to right, bottom to top. The letters will be upside-down, but you can then place them from left to right in the same order you would if you were writing.

Summer

Eeeeeeeeeeeeem! This is wonderful! I’ve been using a roller stamp for my hang tags (similar idea), but this is even BETTER! :)

Ness lockyer

They looks great. I am trying to figure out my new business cards and like you said, it is hard trying to think of what to have on them. Might need to try this. It would look great on patterned paper too.
Ness xx

Vie Lewis

OH boy this brings back memories. When I was really heaving into rubberstamping and a hairdresser I made my own cards.Not only just stamping but handpainting every one!! And yes I could have been doing house work but this was fun. I made them for each holiday that was coming up.No computer then either.
I have 2 etsy shops and I think I will make cards for them (still have my 4k stampcollection)

Vie Lewis

p.s. I did have one stampmade for a small fee with my name and address etc so that saved time and they could be read !!lol , You can get 250 business cards for shipping only , get them plane and stamp yourpersonality on it.

cynthia nge

Oh yeah…I started my shop with cards like that before I progressed to Moo:) Though on occasion for the sake of nostalgia I revert to those stamps, but it’s always nice to accompany with a hand written note.

Andrea

so cute + perfect for a project i am working on! i predict a run on custom stamp kits at staples…

Victor Gordon

great idea, I did something similar but paid extra to have my rubber stamp made (should’ve gone to staples). Mine are on manilla coin and key envelopes which are roughly the same size as a biz card. And I can put pressed flowers or seeds inside.

stephanie

these are so extremely clever…thank you for being so generous-spirited and sharing! i’ve been using the larger shipping tags and some custom stamps to tag samples for clients…as soon as my cards run out (or maybe not!) i’m switching to this! thank you!

Janet Kenealy

I made a similar business card and always receive compliments when passing them out. I purchased a custom rubber stamp with my etsy shop name at my local stationery store for $9 and hand print on manila shipping tags.

marisa

I love these stamps, I made cards with them as well! They really make a great impression. I love the hand-made quality and the ability to change your info at any time.

lasergirl

That was exactly the look I was going for, only my Staples didn’t have small-sized shipping tags, and also didn’t have the option of a make-your-own stamp kit. They did offer a service where you could order a stamp to your specs, but they were VERY expensive.

Now, of course, that I’ve seen them on this blog I know how to do them, but I have sort of lost the excitement because now it’s not a novel thing anymore. :(

grace

lasergirl

even if we’ve posted it, i hope you’ll still pursue the idea. not everyone who takes your card will have read this post so i think the idea is still fresh and exciting to a lot of people :)

g

Mini Kurhan

This was the EXACT idea I had. I swear if I end up doing this, it’ll still be from my own creative process; I’m not copying! Funny to see so many great minds think alike on this one. ;p

Marcia

A friend in NOLA sent me a link to this site because I need to stamp the back of cards I will be making for a “Card Party” in March. I, too, will be running to Staples this weekend to find this handy kit. Many thanks for the idea!

Marcia Peck

A friend in NOLA sent me a link to this site because I need to stamp the back of cards I will be making for a “Card Party” in March. I, too, will be running to Staples this weekend to find this handy kit. Many thanks for the idea!

lasergirl

grace,

I do like the idea! I was attempting to make my shipping tags into 2-sided cards, one with the business, and one with “your appointment is” (because I do couture alterations and theatrical costumes).

I did make a bunch of christmas decorations (partridges and pears for a bare branch-tree) and I used the tiny sized ones and hand-wrote on them. Not sure if I have photos…. the branch thing was awesome.

Karen/helgesok vintage

Thanks for this! I happen to have recently bought a box of 1000 blank tags for just such a purpose! On a side note, if you’re looking for a bit of a laugh: I went on and read the reviews of the linked stamp on the Staples website and they were pretty hilarious.

emily at thirtyeight20

I had the same thought as lasergirl — that it wouldn’t be as cool now that lots of people will have seen this post — but I went ahead and made some of my own anyway! So far no one has said it’s cliche. :-)

I blog about my crazy house renovation, and this is something cheap, easy and fun that I can give to someone when they inevitably ask, “So how’s your house coming?”

http://thirtyeight20.blogspot.com/2010/01/homemade-thirtyeight20-business-cards.html

Maureen

Cute! I remember i had those rubber stamps when i was a kid. I guess they come in handy when making instant business cards. Nice idea :)

attalie

thanks for this post! I bought the kit and attempted to create my own custom stamp but ran out of the letters i need! Has anyone seen the letters without the kit for sale? I have tried finding them online, but am failing so far!

Sara

My roommates just got me the rubber stamp for my birthday and I’ve already made my first cards! I handed one out to a potential client the other day and he was very impressed with the originality of the card! Thanks for the idea!

matt

This is an amazing idea. I decided to take it one step further and call local college and public libraries to see if they had any old catalogue cards taking up space. I’m planning on cutting them in half and using the clean side to stamp my info. So old book info on one side, my info on the other.Thanks for the inspiration!

MyLittleTiara

Gosh, I love this idea. I am thinking of doing for my own. It goes so well with design, yet personable and simple too. Please, keep sharing more great ideas!!! I love design sponge!!!!

Just started my own blog too =). Please read and comment too =)

tremundo

great stamp kit and glad you shared! will work well with my ATC biz cards to add contact info.

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