Great Paper for Beginner-Friendly Crafts

Are you looking for the best cardstock paper options for your Cricut machine? I’ve got you covered! In this article, I’ll show you the top six tips for choosing papers that work best with the Cricut Explore, Cricut Maker, or Cricut Joy.

Cardstock is used in many crafting projects, including scrapbooking, stamping, and paper crafts. It comes in various thicknesses, weights, and colors.

Learn about the different types of cardstock available and their uses.

Tools and Optional Supplies

Tools: 

Cardstock

Cricut Maker 3

4 Card Cutting mat

Cricut Joy

Optional Supplies: 

Tutorial for making greeting cards

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You can use any cutting machine but Cricut is very popular among beginner and experienced crafters. 

It has an easy-to-use cutting system that allows you to cut designs directly onto the paper. This makes it easier to create unique projects and gives you more control over how your project looks.

Cricut Card Stock Selection Guide

The best way to get started is to choose the right paper. Cardstock that’s too thick will cause jams, while thin cardstock won’t cut through properly.

1. Selecting the Right Type of Paper

There are two main types of card stock available for Cricut machines: high quality textured and specialty. They will both give you a nice smooth flow when passing them through the cutter.

The right kind of paper will give you a clean cut instead of using paper that’s not specially made for card designs. 

If you try to cut corners and go with lower quality paper, you’ll end up with incomplete cuts in your final project.

High-quality textured cardstock

The high-quality textured cardstock is acid-free, lignin-free, and buffered. It’s an 80-pound premium, textured, solid-core cardstock.

This makes it ideal for making cards, banners, party decorations, paper projects, and much more 

You can use it with all Cricut cutting machines.

Specialty cardstock

Specialty card stock has more intricate designs and patterns. Certain types will only work with specific cutting machines. 

Definitely check for compatibility or do a test cut with your machine.

2. Choosing the Best Color

If you’re looking for the perfect color combination for your project, consider the following tips:

• Choose colors that complement each other. This will make your project pop.

• Avoid pastels. Pastel colors tend to fade quickly.

• Don’t use too much black. Black tends to dominate the design.

• Consider the background. A white background makes any color stand out.

3. Making Sure it’s Thick Enough

There are many types of card stock available to use with Cricut machines

You’ll get the best results from thicker materials. Thin paper may be more affordable but won’t hold up as well.

4. Getting the Most Out of Your Printer

Two-tone cards are fun but what if you’re looking to make more intricate designs?

Use your home printer to print, cut, and add other things to your card like photos. You don’t need to have the best printer to do this. A regular home printer will work. 

5. Use an Embosser

Some of the Cricut machines have an embossing function. Embossing means they can cut shapes into paper using heat and pressure.

6. Use Pens and Markers

Add more decorative effects to any of your cardstock projects with Cricut pens. Get a design from Cricut Design Space or draw a freehand design using the markers.

7. Machine Compatibility

Not all paper and cardstock are compatible with every Cricut machine. The types offered by Cricut will work with the following machines:

• Cricut Explore Machines
• Cricut Joy 
• Cricut Maker

Ink Colors

In addition to the type of paper you choose, there are other things to consider when choosing ink colors for your pens and markers. 

First, you need to decide whether you will print black letters on white paper or vice versa. 

If you plan to use both black and color, then you should select an ink color that contrasts well with the color of the paper.

Types of Cardstock 

Cricut Paper & Cardstock

There are several different types of paper and cardstock, each with its own characteristics. Here are some things you didn’t know about them:

• Smooth cardstock is the most common type of cardstock. It has a smooth surface and is usually white or off-white. Poster board might seem like a nice thick cardstock material but it will not be a good choice to make cards with.

• Insert cards

These are two-tone cards. You can skip the messy step of gluing and pasting with these. Here’s how to use these. 

1. cut your design into the face of the card
2. remove any excess
3. the insert color will show through from the other side 

The insert cards come in matte and glossy options and can be used with the Cricut Joy card mat instead of the blue lightgrip mat or the green standardgrip mat.

• Cutaway Cards 

These cards have adhesive on them already making them really simple to use. Each set comes with 8 cards in the pack. There are glitter cardstock options too.

All you need to do is stick a stand-out backer to the cutaway card, cut a design or words on it, weed away the sections you don’t need, and you’re done.

Watercolor Paper 

This paper has a smooth finish and comes in several colors.

You can use any color of watercolor paper, but some colors will give you better results than others. If you’re using a darker color, make sure you choose a lighter shade so that the design shows up well against the background.

Glossy vs Matte Finish

• Glossy cards are often used for invitations, announcements, and thank you notes. They are also commonly used for business cards.
• Matte cards are more durable than glossy ones. They are typically used for greeting cards, photo albums, scrapbook paper, and other projects where durability is an issue.

Color Options

• White cards will go with anything. Since you can add so much to them, this makes them really easy to use.
• Black cards are a great choice for accent pieces to add in small doses to a lighter card. They’re also great for special occasions like Halloween.
• Colored cards are ideal for children’s crafts and party invitations.

Other Types of Paper

There are other types of paper that you can use in your card making projects, each with its own unique characteristics. Here are some types of paper that you can use with cardstock:

• Textured paper has a surface that can be bumpy, rough, and smooth in various parts. The rough side will add depth to your greeting card. Use it together with wrapping paper for gifts.

• Crepe paper. Delicate papers like crepe paper or tissue paper can be used to make paper flowers to add to the border of your card.

• Recycled paper is made from recycled materials (newspapers, magazines, old books) and is considered environmentally friendly.

Want to save this for later? Pin it to your favorite DIY board on Pinterest! 

You know that you won’t remember all of these tips so just go ahead and save this post to your  Cricut board on Pinterest. You’ll thank me later.

More creative craft ideas! 

If you loved this list of ideas, I hope you will try my other easy DIY Cricut card ideas!

Conclusion

You’ll be able to create beautiful cards using the best cardstock for your Cricut machine. Let me know if this post helped you find out what type of card stock works best for you!