How to Make Madhubani Greeting Cards

WHY MAKE A HANDMADE CARD?

When I was small my mother told me that anything that is handmade carries a special energy in it. Nothing can express your emotions such as gratitude or love better than something made by you! Since that day I started making cards only for those who could appreciate but at times I cannot help but feel a need to make a handmade card for strangers as well. Sometimes it's important to say things out but we might not find the right way to do it. For me, drawing is this medium and although it's not a professional drawing, it still does the job.

Yesterday was one of those moments when I felt the need to make cards by hand. It was my daughter's last day in play school, last parents' meeting and I indeed felt incredibly thankful for all the teachers and helpers who took a great care of my daughter and gave her so many...things made by hand\. Every Friday she would bring home a new origami, an Indian flag like painted paper plate with Gandhi-ji's photo, a rakhi wrist band, an orange Karate belt and so on. She surely learnt how to read and write and for some reason it seems like a miracle to me. She used to cry everyday for the first two months of joining the school but now she doesn't want to leave it! It's some great occasion for handmade card making!

HOW TO MAKE A MADHUBANI CARD:

YOU'LL NEED:

1. Colored handmade paper

2. Teabag treated plain handmade paper

3. Black permanent marker (thin, for CD's)

4. 0 size brushes

5. Acrylic paint

6. "Fevicol" glue (or simply "glue")

7. Scissors 

8. Heavy books

13 STEPS:

1. Tear your colored handmade paper into A5 size pieces and then fold in half. You can choose any size you want. My size was A5 (half standard scanner A4 paper size or 5.5x7.5" or 14x19cm).

2. Tear teabag treated plain handmade paper sheets into small pieces ( 4x5" or 10x14cm). You can choose any size you like.

3. Draw Madhubani style illustrations using a black permanent marker (of course black ink with a nib or a pencil will also do).

4. Draw single borders on the other piece of paper. You will need 2 small sheets for each card. One will serve as a cover and the other one - a place to write on.

5. Color your illustrations using acrylic (handmade, fabric, poster or any other paint). You can use golden on top of the other colors to add some expensive, Indian or simply a slightly festive look.

6.  If the color came on top of the black lines, outline them again after the coloring is finished.

7. Cut the edges of the paper sheets to get a neater look, although torn edges can add more authenticity and an "old rusty look". (I cut mine before coloring - it doesn't matter).

8. Go to Google and find some quotes to write on the inner side of the card. I looked for some educational quotes as I made my cards for my daughter's primary school teachers (there were many nice teachers in school). Write the quotes.

9. Choose the right color for your cards. Before gluing, add the illustrations on the handmade paper to check which one's looks the best: green, orange or blue. Do so for all of the cards, until you get the maximum out of each card and their background.

10. Glue the illustrations on the front side of the card and the sheet with a greeting - on the inner side. Use a separate paper to press it with, don't make your hands sticky with glue.

11. After applying the glue, put the card in an exercise book, or magazine.

12. Put some heavy books on top for weight. Keep it there overnight.

13. DONE!