If you read my post on Friday, then you know I’ll be leaving Wednesday to attend the SNAP conference in Salt Lake City. It’s a craft/DIY blogger conference and it looks like it should be really awesome! One of the first rules of attending a blog conference is…you don’t talk about the blog conference. Just kidding. It’s that you need to bring business cards! I have two options I’m working with right now and both are a little DIY (because that’s what this conference is all about dudes)! So, I wanted to share my easy-to-make watercolor business cards just in case you need to make a few of your own someday and want/need/desire some ideas.

I love that each card is unique and can easily be customized to the color scheme of your business. The best part is that, thanks to the Mint machine by Silhouette America, I now have my own custom made card stamp I can use over and over again!

Before I got the Mint machine, I watched this video that made it seem super easy to make a custom stamp. Not surprisingly, when I got one myself it really was that easy and user-friendly! The software even mirrors your image for you (a step that I’m always forgetting when using my vinyl cutter for heat transfer vinyl)!

The Supplies:

• Mint machine by Silhouette America
• Black Ink
• Large 90mm by 45mm stamp sheet, mount, and base
• Watercolor paints, Thick watercolor paper, and paint brush
• Scissors
• Colored card stock and gold paint pen (optional)

You’ll begin by downloading the software, then launch the program and create your business card. I stayed fairly simple with and just included my blog name logo, social media info, website, and email. Go as fancy as you want or keep it simple and clean.

Once I had the look I wanted, I plugged the Mint machine into my computer, turned it on, and selected Silhouette => Send to Mint. Then this screen came up:

See how the program automatically mirrors the design for you? Technology! Then it’s just a matter of feeding your stamp sheet into the machine. When it comes out, simply remove the stamp sheet from the white frame and add it to the mounting base.

Next, it’s time to apply the ink. This is where a Mint stamp differs from a traditional stamp. For Mint stamps, you’ll actually load the stamp with the ink. It soaks it up into the design portion, kind of like a silk screen of sorts.

Just add ink around all the design portion of the stamp (in my example, just on the logo/text) and the stamp will drink it up. Stamp the stamp (that would make a great band name by the way) a few times to get rid of the extra ink. Once the stamp is clear, it’s time to make business cards!

I began by stamping my design onto thick watercolor paper, spacing them a little bit apart from each other. Once dry, I used watercolors to paint several colors on each design and then cut them out using my rotary cutter and ruler to make sure that I had the correct size. You can flip-flop this step (paint first, then stamp) and see which way suits your design best.  Just make sure the paint is dry!

The watercolor paper gives the cards and nice texture and decent thickness, but if you’re looking for an extra special touch, you can either glue a piece of colored card stock to the back or laminate the cards for a glossy look. I ended up gluing colored card stock to the backs for another pop of color and used a gold paint pen to color the sides and top edges of the card. I can’t wait to hand these out! (Well, maybe I can because they’re pretty and I want to keep all of them:)