DIY: Luggage Tag Business Cards


Today I've got a little DIY post where I'll be showing you how I made my own handmade luggage tag business cards. A business card is often your first opportunity to make a good impression, done right and it's a chance to show a little bit of what you're about and hopefully it might lead to something more. I am of the belief that there's no point in selling yourself as a creative person and then handing over a poor quality, boring, seen-it-a-million-times-before business card. Something out of the ordinary will show straight away that you're an innovative thinker, and there's also more chance that your card won't just get stuffed to the back of a pile, never to see the light of day again. Plus, who doesn't love something handmade right? 

There's a chance that you might actually be reading this because you picked up one of my luggage tags from my exhibition at the Manchester School of Art degree show, if so - a very big thank you for visiting and for your interest! I'd love to know what you thought about my work and please do have a mooch around my blog for more examples. 

So, without further ado lets get started...

You Will Need:
Luggage Tags (I got mine from Amazon - you'd be surprised how difficult it is to find a shop that stocks them these days!)
A Custom Stamp Making Set (I borrowed mine off a friend but I've seen these sold on Amazon)



These custom stamp sets are really very nifty! I've seen so many beautiful business cards created using a made to order custom stamp but I just couldn't justify the cost myself - plus I'd worry that my details might change. These sets allow you to make infinite numbers of personalised stamps of different sizes and shapes, and once you're done you can just put it all back and reuse. 

The most time consuming part of this DIY is making up the stamp itself. The letters can be quite fiddly but just take your time, making sure to measure up your text against one of your luggage tags every now and again to ensure that it all fits nicely. 

For my tags, I used a rectangle base to write out my blog address, e-mail address and Instagram handle for the back. For the front, I used the oval base, writing my name along the top and 'Graphic Design' along the bottom with an asterisk symbol in the middle section. Take some time to play around with different layouts and designs until you find one that you're happy with and that fits well onto your tags. 


It's a good idea to test your stamp before you go ahead and start making the proper business cards. There's a chance that some letters might turn out backwards or you've made a spelling error etc. etc, so make sure it's all as you'd like first. 


Then it's simply a case of getting stamping! I found it easiest to do a row (about 5-10 tags at a time) of one stamp so that when you come to turn them over and do the other side, the ink should have dried. I'd also advise you put some paper down underneath especially if your design runs over the edges slightly like mine. The process of stamping all of these cards was strangely therapeutic for me and I was somewhat sad once I'd run out of tags to do! The great thing about it though is that you can make as many or as few as you need - as long as you have a surface to stamp on then you have a business card!


And that's all there is to it! I'm very happy with how these turned out. The method is so versatile that you really can make these your own. Why not try a different surface? Envelopes? Leaves? Cardboard? Or perhaps a different design, ink colour or surface texture? I can't wait to give these out and ultimately that's the goal, you need a business card that you're proud to hand over. 

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