Paper Strip Greeting Card

Jacki Joy
Feb 22
3 min read

Updated: Mar 24

Want to get into papercrafting, but don't know where to start?

This beginner-friendly paper strip greeting card technique is the perfect place!

You don’t need fancy tools — just paper, glue, a paper cutter, (or a pair of scissors & ruler) and some simple embellishments. It’s also a fantastic way to use up your paper scraps so nothing goes to waste.

These cards can be dressed up or kept simple with basic embellishments and sentiments. The best part? Using themed pads of patterned cardstock makes color and pattern coordination effortless and beautiful every time.

This tutorial will produce two A2 sized cards using one 8.5" x 11" sheet of heavyweight cardstock as your base. Alternatively, you can purchase precut and scored, blank card bases.

Close-up view of a handmade greeting card with floral decorations on a wooden table

You will need:

Two 4.25" x 5.5" A2 card bases: Either make your own (directions below) or buy them premade.
Two cardstock design bases: measuring 4" x 5.25"
Patterned cardstock: I'm using two sheets of 6" x 6", double-sided, cardstock.
A paper cutter: like this one.
Glue or double-sided tape: I'm using the Tombow MONO permanent glue and tape runner.
Stamps and ink pads: Optional, but great for adding sentiments.
Decorative elements: These can be as simple as scraps of paper to cut into tags for your stamped sentiments. You can also find a variety of premade embellishments online or at your local craft store.

Step 1: Cut and Score Your Base

Note: Another option is to cut the 8.5" x 11" cardstock across at 5.5" and then to score each card at 4.25".

Step 2: Cut The Strips

Today I am working with a cute ladybug themed pad from Echo Park Paper Company. I'm a big fan of their double-sided cardstock pads. They are super affordable and the coordinating pages make it easy to put together a card design. They also include a few pages of sentiment tags that you can cut out if you'd like a quick decoration.

You will select two (or more!) pages and cut each sheet into six 1" strips. Since I'm using double-sided paper, two sheets produced four different patterns.

Step 3: Glue The Strips

Lay the strips onto your 4" x 5.25" design base and decide what kind of pattern you are going to make. I like to start in the center and work outwards. Play with the angle of your strips and make sure they are long enough to cover the entire design base. Remember to only use a tiny amount of high quality glue or your project will warp.

Step 4: Trim

You can use regular scissors for this, or a paper trimmer for a more precise cut.

Save your larger scraps for use on future cards.

Step 5: Mount Your Design

Mount the design base onto your card. A permanent tape runner works well for this step.

Step 6: Decorate

I'm keeping my designs simple for this beginner-friendly tutorial. Patterned paper allows you to use minimal decoration and still have beautiful results.

For the first card I stamped "Hello!" onto a scrap of white cardstock and mounted it onto a scrap of black polka dot cardstock.

The glitter lady bug in the second design is an embellishment I picked up years ago at Hobby Lobby (I'm not sure if they are still for sale).

I used only the dashed part of the rubber stamp shown in the photo with my black Ranger archival ink pad.

I filled in the white space with some ss12 and ss20 Swarovski flat back crystals. I used tiny dots of the Tombow MONO glue and my wax picker to attach the rhinestones.

That's all there is to it! Two simple cards using readily available supplies. With practice, you’ll develop your own style and techniques that make every card unique. Hope you enjoyed my tutorial. I'd love to see what you created in the comments! JJ❀