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I really enjoy making the more intricate cards, but I find when my recipient opens them more often than not they don't know what to do with them.
Just recently I gave a telescoping card (which I thought was pretty easy to figure out) and the recipient pulled the top layer up rather than rotate it and ripped top layer right off the card.
I'm wondering if I should put instructions inside cards that take a bit of figuring out.
Have any of you had this experience? If so, what to you do?
If there is anything at all tricky about the card, I do include a little card with printed instructions. People just aren't expecting anything other than a straightforward "open the book" style card. I can see that someone might rip something off, because they just didn't take time to see what would happen if they pulled something.
I usually say something like this: "This is a special (name of card, i.e. telescoping, easel, etc.) card I made just for you. Here's how it works:"
Then write a simple explanation of what they should pull or fold.
__________________ Bugga in OK
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." Dalai Lama
The tricky ones are not the only ones that need explaining. Last year I sent a standard "book style " card to my Mom. When I visited her during the holidays I noticed she had taped all of her cards on her closet door for all to see. Except mine was hung upside down. I wasn't going to say anything but I just couldn't take it any longer and when I asked her the reason why she said she couldn't tell what the picture was. I said " Mom it's a picture of a snowman". Took the wind right out of my sails.
Anna Lee
The tricky ones are not the only ones that need explaining. Last year I sent a standard "book style " card to my Mom. When I visited her during the holidays I noticed she had taped all of her cards on her closet door for all to see. Except mine was hung upside down. I wasn't going to say anything but I just couldn't take it any longer and when I asked her the reason why she said she couldn't tell what the picture was. I said " Mom it's a picture of a snowman". Took the wind right out of my sails.
Anna Lee
Now that is funny! :mrgreen:
__________________ Bugga in OK
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." Dalai Lama
Oh, Anna Lee, I feel your pain, yet I'm laughing so hard tears are rolling down my cheeks.
I once gave a card to a friend using an old SU stamp set. One of the stamps was an embellished "F" as the theme of the set was friendship. She looked at it and asked me why I put a sofa on the front of the card. I have to admit, that was the last time I used that stamp!
Oh, Anna Lee, I feel your pain, yet I'm laughing so hard tears are rolling down my cheeks.
I once gave a card to a friend using an old SU stamp set. One of the stamps was an embellished "F" as the theme of the set was friendship. She looked at it and asked me why I put a sofa on the front of the card. I have to admit, that was the last time I used that stamp!
Kim
HaHaHa - keep 'em coming gals. I love them!
__________________ Bugga in OK
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." Dalai Lama
I handed over a telescoping/easel card for my niece to my husband and kids and they looked at me... I showed them what to do and they looked at me... I suggested I add a sticker to the card with a quick sketch of what it looks like open and directions to open it and make it stand. They replied that would be a good idea.
Yeah I thought it was obvious...and my eldest is studying ti be an engineer. ..
And then there was the time I popped an embellishment on dimensionals and the birthday girl was trying to take it off...
The tricky ones are not the only ones that need explaining. Last year I sent a standard "book style " card to my Mom. When I visited her during the holidays I noticed she had taped all of her cards on her closet door for all to see. Except mine was hung upside down. I wasn't going to say anything but I just couldn't take it any longer and when I asked her the reason why she said she couldn't tell what the picture was. I said " Mom it's a picture of a snowman". Took the wind right out of my sails.
Anna Lee
Helpless giggling here... THANK you! I needed that.
Similar, only mine was sideways. The thumbnail shows the correct orientation. How could anyone not know this??? LOL
I think these situations stem from the fact that WE are cardmakers, and our recipients are not. WE made the card, WE know how it should open, but our recipients don't have a clue. How could they not know? Because they are not wrapped up in this gotta-get organized, gotta-get the newest tools, gotta get it now, crazy world of stamping and cardmaking. If they only knew... they'd probably have us committed!
__________________ Linda E
Caution: You are entering an artistic zone. This is not clutter - this is creating. These are not pajamas - it's my work uniform.
I made a bendi-fold card for my DH's birthday this year,( WT435 Birthday Boat ) and since he was over in Portugal at the time I packed it in his case. Now - he makes cards from time to time (pop-up style), has a huge interest in origami and origami architecture and has made a fair few paper models. So I thought he'd see the tabs and slots and work it out.
....
....
....
:rolleyes: not. He was amazed when he got home and I assembled it to put on the mantelpiece with his other cards. So if I send any of those I'll definitely be putting instructions.
Friends I sent easel cards with calendars on the base to last year did work them out, but with difficulty so I think those need instructions too.
But I too would have thought the telescoping card was self explanatory!
On the other side of the coin, I had an email from my aunt the other day thanking me for her Christmas card and asking where I sourced my lovely patterned papers. Well - about 95% of my cards start out as just white card because I don't use a lot of DP, and that was one one of them. But I suppose I feel glad that she thought my stamped background looked like fancy purchased paper!!
Helpless giggling here... THANK you! I needed that.
Similar, only mine was sideways. The thumbnail shows the correct orientation. How could anyone not know this??? LOL
I think these situations stem from the fact that WE are cardmakers, and our recipients are not. WE made the card, WE know how it should open, but our recipients don't have a clue. How could they not know? Because they are not wrapped up in this gotta-get organized, gotta-get the newest tools, gotta get it now, crazy world of stamping and cardmaking. If they only knew... they'd probably have us committed!
Well, truthfully I have to say I'd probably have put yours in the wrong orientation too :oops: - because I make most of my own cards in portrait format, and because the sentiment works equally well both ways that would have been what seemed natural to me. Sorry!!!
I don't send cards that are not the typical layout. I know I would have to include a step by step instructional video with them if I were to send one to any of my family. I sent a spring card to my mom (springy fold - not Spring seasonal) and she asked what she was suppose to do with it. I said just put it on a table and it just sits there... I sent an easel card to my friend and she said because of the extra bend in the card it keeps falling down when she stands it up... :(
Sabrina, I was poking fun at myself, although I didn't make that clear. I have such a specific mindset and tunnel vision when it comes to my cards, that I don't even realize how someone else might see them.
__________________ Linda E
Caution: You are entering an artistic zone. This is not clutter - this is creating. These are not pajamas - it's my work uniform.
I sent a teepee/ pyramid card that my dil had trouble figuring out even with my instructions. Mist of my cards that are difficult I gives in person to help them with the fold.
__________________ Kathy FS852 SCS Member #241,587
Oh my lord, you ladies have are so funny! The bit about having to send along an instructional video written by cat woman put me over the top...taking bladder control to new heights I'm laughing so hard.
For uncbballfan, I clearly saw it was a landscape orientation, but isn't it nice that people can enjoy it both ways? Just sayin'
mlhaun, so there is hope that someone might figure things out without the video!
I'm not sure how you would explain a bendy card without adding to the confusion.
I even had someone not understand how to pull a standing pop up card though I had the word pull in the semi-circle on the bottom. Turns out they were holding the card at the top and preventing themselves from opening it...kind of like a Chinese finger trap; the harder you pull the more stuck you get!
Sabrina, I was poking fun at myself, although I didn't make that clear. I have such a specific mindset and tunnel vision when it comes to my cards, that I don't even realize how someone else might see them.
For my Christmas cards this year I did an easel card. I typed out instructions and cut them out nicely with my paper cutter and inserted it into the card.
Inserting Instructions in Cards
