The US holiday Labor Day is celebrated on the first Monday in September, which pays tribute to American workers. Labor Day is a time when we can celebrate what we as Americans have overcome, and how we have more quality time we have to spend with our family and friends. During the Industrial Revolution here in the US workers often toiled long hours with little compensation for the most menial of tasks, but the Progressive era was crucial to bringing an end to these injustices. Now people have a minimum wage, and many companies actually strive to pay their workers a living wage. During Labor Day we can appreciate all the things that activists fought for when it came to decreasing the length of the work day, and improving working conditions in general. Unfortunately, today Labor Day in the US is more about celebrating the symbolic end of summer with a three day weekend and barbecues, but giving cute cards to family and friends can also be an appreciative way to let that hard know you care. If you think crafting is cheesy this may not be your cup of tea, but if you love to make cards this is a fun idea. This card was made out of of the following materials:
- scrap paper
- a drawing pencil
- markers
This Labor Day card is red, white, and blue to celebrate the American worker!
Step One: Find A Scrap Piece of Paper
This scrap sheet of paper was left over from another crafting project, so I decided to turn it into a card.
This piece of scrap paper was a remnant from a previous crafting project, so I decided to utilize it for my card. Handmade cards can be constructed out of any type of paper lying around your house, or you can buy high quality paper if that is your preference. There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to handmade cards.
Step Two: Fold The Paper In Half
Fold the paper in half. Evenly line up the paper and create a nice half fold.
Step Three: Make A Quarter Fold
Fold the paper into a quarter fold.
Take the half fold and evenly line up all the sides to create a neat quarter fold. Now the card is ready to draw on, or design any way that you wish.
Step Four: Start Writing The Letters On The Card
Sketch out the block lettering on the card.
Years ago I taught myself how to create my own block lettering as opposed to using stencils. Today many people simply love to print graphics off a computer, but I am old school when it comes to designing most of my cards.
Step Five: Continue Adding The Block Lettering
Continue sketching the block lettering on the card. I put the words Happy Labor Day on my card. The letters will be red and the stripes will be blue.
Step Six: Add The Stripes To The Card
Add the diagonal stripes to the card.
Add the diagonal stripes to the card. The stripes will be blue and white. The letters of the card will be red.
Step Seven: Finish Add The Stripes
Finish adding the diagonal stripes to the labor day card. I used the free hand drawing technique to add the stripes to the card. You can also use a ruler to create the stripes.
Step Eight: Start Coloring The Letters Red
Start coloring the letters with a red magic marker.
The letters will be colored red to symbolize the red stripes on the American flag. Okay I sort of flipped things around on the card by making the stripes blue and the letters red, the the red, white, blue on the card still stand for the American worker!
Step Nine: Finish Coloring The Letters Red
The letters look really nice in red!
Step Ten: Color The Stripes Blue
Use a blue magic marker on the stripes.
Use the blue magic marker to color in alternate stripes on the card. the vertical stripes add interest and contrast to the horizontal stripes of red block letters. Coloring the stripes on this card was fun and eye popping.
Final Product: The Completed Labor Day Card
The Labor Day card is complete and ready to give to a friend.
Some of you are probably thinking it is weird to see someone make a card by hand, but I must say I enjoy the old fashion art of letter writing. It is pure joy to make cards for my family and friends and send this via the US mail. Not only am I helping our local post office with my old fashion letter writing, but receiving letters through the mail is enjoyable. When was the last time besides a birthday that you ever got a nice card? Birthdays and Christmas are not the only days of the year when you can send nice hand crafted cards.