Guest Author - Carol Taller

I love making greeting cards! I think homemade cards are the most personal way to say happy birthday, or thank you, or I care. This magazine is all about card making; with fun ideas, samples and suggestions.

CardMaker Magazine is published every other month by DRG. An annual subscription in the US is $19.97 and the single newsstand price is $5.99 per issue. The tag line on the cover claims the magazine is about “handcrafted greetings for all of life’s occasions!”

The July 2008 issue boasts “103 hot projects for summer card making!” The cover also announces an article about “Cards gone Wild!”, Ink Essentials, Celebrate Summer!”, and Postcards that rule. Feature articles in the July issue also included: “Card Calendars”, “Stars and Stripes Forever”, “Summertime Fun” and “Christmas in July.” The articles and samples with each article were charming and fun. The work is lighthearted and despite the abundance of exclamation marks, the magazine doesn’t go over the top on the topics covered.

In every issue there are articles on “Quill it Easy”, “Happy Birthday to you”, “Surprise Holidays”, “Say It With Style”, “ Card Caper”, “A Card & More”, “Total Package, Photo Panache” and “Sketch Book”. The following departments also cover articles each issue: “Editor’s Notes”, “Reader Letters”, “Our Favorite Product”, “CardMaker Bookshelf”, “Readers Reach Out”, “In Our Next Issue”, “Design submission Guidelines”, “The Buyer’s Guide” and “The Last Word.”

My favorite ongoing column is “Readers Reach Out”. In each issue a recipient is picked to receive cards, and readers are encouraged to follow a theme. In the July 2008 issue cards were sent to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas, and the theme was gratitude. Cardmakers were encouraged to leave the inside of the cards blank so that the cards could be used as thank you notes from card recipients. What a wonderful RAK to participate in!

This issue also had an article on the different uses for different inks. I always try to read articles on inks, since I experiment a lot and sometimes wonder what’s best. This article clearly described the differences between pigment ink, dye ink, chalk ink, and specialty ink. Lisa Johnson, author of the article, suggests dye ink when using clear stamps. This was the first time I read about an ink suggestion for clear stamps. Now I will have to try and compare!

I enjoyed CardMaker Magazine, but it is not a magazine to learn new techniques. The samples are beginner to intermediate level, fun and interesting with quick descriptions. If you have never done the technique before you may find it hard to follow, so use the magazine for ideas and inspiration. The card samples are fun; enjoy the show!