Looking for a fun & easy gift idea for Father’s Day or the man in your life? These Man Card Ideas can be easily engraved with a Cricut Maker or you may choose to simply print and cut them out and perhaps laminate them. I provide 22 FREE files ready to go!
How the Man Card Idea came about
The nice thing about these Handmade Man Card Ideas, is there are so many opportunities to gift them. This is why I created a wide variety of 22 FREE phrases for you to make or you can even design your own phrases!
Well, I should say “we” created them. This is how it all went down. I’m sitting in my office and say “Hun?” Gary from the Family room says “Yeah?” I say, “I think I need your help” or “approval” or “ideas” or “something like that”. He’s now walking into my office and copping a squat on a bar stool in my office”OK, what ya working on?” Then I proceed to try to explain from a woman’s perspective exactly what I was trying to come up with.
Apparently raising two boys did not qualify me for such a challenge.
Clearly I needed his help. The last thing I needed was a lame, womanly man card project. 😆
Once he explained the whole theory of the “Man card idea” I was right on board and we sat here the two of us cranking out and fine-tuning all of our fun thoughts. I was originally going to make four Man Card Ideas and we were just spitting them out like crazy!
Then my oldest son Kyle called me and I was excited to share my current project. (Mom goes into secret detective mode) “So what would you want your Man card to say?” [quiet pause] Mom’s heart rate begins to increase and she begins to self-doubt!
But wait! Here it comes…..Kyle simply states in a very matter of fact way. “Essential” Man Card. [Mom goes into the ecstatic mode as she just got her 2nd validation of an awesome Man Card Idea project approval]
“Ok, sweet! What else should it say?” Mom starts throwing out suggestions, some funny, some heart-felt etc. Then again, Kyle simply states “enuff said”
There you have it! Mom trying to throw too many words into the mix and “out of the mouth of babes” comes a simple, straight forward, matter of fact 2 words “enuff said”. Priceless! Thanks Kyle ❤
Very fitting for our current times of Covid -19. Especially since he’s on the Essential worker list! Thanks again, Kyle! 🙌
How to get the Free Man Card Files
I store my Free Man Card Ideas Files in my Resource Library.
If you need help with Unzipping a file and/or uploading it into Cricut Design Space, I made a video for Windows PC & MAC.
Supplies
- Anodized Aluminum Business Card Blanks (To Engrave)
- Card Stock (To Print) Pick paper according to your own Printer capabilities. I have a Brother and HP printer and both can print on #65 – #80 weight card stock easily. See below for my recommendations.
- Laminator
- Laminating Pouches
- Card Stock 65# (If you plan to Laminate)
- Card Stock 80# (If you plan to Print only)
- Cricut Maker (If you plan to Engrave)
- Cricut Maker Engraving Tip with Housing (If you plan to Engrave)
- Cricut Maker Engraving Tip only (If you already have the scoring wheel Housing)
- Paper Trimmer (Optional)
How to make the Printable Handmade Man Cards
If you plan on printing these cards, simply choose the .PDF file and print however many you would like then cut or trim to size.
If you want to print them all, you may wish to laminate them prior to cutting or trimming.
Let’s say you want just a full sheet of only the “Essential Man Cards” or the “Officers Man Card” feel free to leave a comment or email me and I will add them to my resource library in that manner. At the time of creation, I really did not know the best way to make these files user-friendly for everyone in every situation!
How to make the Handmade Man Card – Engraved
- Choose the .SVG file for engraving with your Cricut Maker
- Upload file to Cricut Design Space
- Be sure to un-group all the files and choose the 1 man card you will be engraving. Group the remaining cards together and then turn off its layer. Keep one of the rectangle shapes and turn one of them off. The extra template is if you want to add your own text and create your own man card sayings.
- Change the line type for the man card saying to “engrave”
- Change the rectangle shape card template to “score” (don’t worry, you will not actually be scoring the card).
- Align the saying on top of the template and align “Center” then “Attach”
- Click on “make it”
- Click and move the scored card to the 1″ X 1″ mark on the Cricut Prepare Mat as seen below. I recommend increasing your zoom level in the lower-left corner of the preview mat.
9. Click “Continue”
10. Click “Browse all Materials”
11. Select – Metal – 40 gauge thin copper – Then Click done in the lower right corner.
12. Keep the pressure setting as “default”
13. Select “edit tools”
14. Select Scoring Stylus then “Apply” (If you don’t have a scoring stylus please DO select it, it’s part of the process I explain in the next step).
Your screen will look like this below. But, do not load the scoring stylus “if” you have one, we’re just tricking the Cricut to pretend score so it will know where to engrave 😊 It will go through the motion of scoring, but it won’t actually score since there is nothing in clamp A.
15. At this point, your Cricut Maker “load” button will be blinking. Place your Anodized Aluminum Business Card Blank in the same spot on your actual Cricut Mat.
These business cards are thin and can bend easily so I would not worry about using the strong grip mat.
In the picture below the silver, the card is engraved and I also laminated it to see if it would strengthen it and it did! It would also help prevent fingerprints!
But I also noticed the engraving just does not look as good on the silver compared to the Black and Blue cards turned out to be the most impressive. The gold was OK but not impressive.
I am using the strong mat in my video because I’ve been using this mat ALOT so it’s not that sticky anymore and I like it that way for projects like this one.
If I did not have an older Strong grip mat, I’d probably be just fine using the blue light grip mat and a strip of blue tape on either the top/bottom of the card or the sides of the card.
16. Move roller guides clear to the right of your Cricut so as not to indent the card.
17. Carefully load the mat and center it with a touch of space on each side of the guides. This will help keep your project lined up.
18. Press load, then when the C light flashes press it.
Enjoy watching it engrave, I find it fascinating to watch. During the engraving process, the tip will stop and spin. This is normal and not to cause alarm. It helps to mitigate wear on the hardware.
19. When the project is done engraving, press the flashing load button to unload the mat.
20. Use a lint roller to gently lift any metal particles from the card. I would caution you to not wipe with even a soft cloth as it may scratch your design. If you don’t have a lint roller, I’d use masking tape or blue tape and tap it or even blow on it into the garbage or someplace where metal flakes won’t harm anything or pet’s paws. 🐾🐾
21. Turn mat upside down and because the card can bend easily, carefully lift the mat away from the card slowly so as not to bend it. You may even need to help it will your finger or your spatula with a soft cloth over it to gently remove the mat from the card. (It may help to watch my video).
It seems like a lot of steps but it’s really quite simple and quite impressive!
I really wanted to try this engraving on a stainless business card but the shipping right now would have taken over a month which I did not have time for. Just to see if it may be stronger but still engrave well. I love the look of the anodized aluminum business cards!
I got the multi-colored pack which includes silver. I tested engraving on silver and it did not look impressive like the black, blue, pink, and gold colors. Just a heads up! But you could put some vinyl on the silver color though!
Video of “How to make the Handmade Man Card – Engraved”
Let me know if you have any questions or comments below or on my YouTube Channel. Have a beautiful day!
Here are a few other projects to consider if you love to Engrave with the Cricut Maker
How to Engrave Aluminum Bracelets
Engraving Canning Lids and Acrylic
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