A stickler for tradition

Unique Hobbies

On the other hand, young entrepreneur Pratiksha Sanghani completely disagrees. She believes that there are people who still have a soft corner for greeting cards. The problem is that they are either too hard-pressed for time or don’t like the typical commercial cards that are available in the market.

To bridge this gap, Pratiksha started using her creativity to make personalised greeting cards. “Greeting cards can never go out of fashion, especially when they are personalised to one’s liking and are unique,” says Pratiksha, who makes handmade greeting cards, scrapbooks, book marks, photo frames and other craft items, which she calls ‘Inspirations.’

She picked up this hobby nearly a year ago and says that  there is nothing more satisfying than seeing the smile on a person’s face when they get the card of their liking. “I was always interested in crafts and started off by attending a quilling workshop. Soon, I discovered that there are more methods and techniques and started using those while making cards. I used to gift them to my friends and family. And when the word spread, I started getting orders online for them as well,” she adds.

One of the most challenging things about making cards is translating what the individual wants into the final product, as well as keeping each item different. “Keeping things unique is the mantra I follow. There are times when people want something
specific but when it’s left to me, creativity is just endless,” she says.

She explains that she starts off by deciding the theme and the elements she has to use on the card. Using basic components like handmade paper, stamps, ribbons, a cutting machine and paints, Pratiksha’s themes range from nature and butterflies to colour, to name a few. And her inspiration is boundless. “Being a creative person, I get inspired by many things. I also read a lot online and check out newer methods. But one thing I never do is copy from the internet. My collection is completely mine, so I don’t like recreating something that has already been done,” she adds. And most of the time, she doesn’t put any wording inside the card. “Unless someone asks me to, I don’t really put in any wording. That’s the beauty of personalised cards — you get to put in your own little message,” she adds. 

While she has lost count of the number of things she has made till now, she does admit that it takes a lot of effort to make a card. “There is a lot of trial and error involved. One can’t get it right in the first attempt. When I first started, I did had to spend a lot of time and effort, and I still do. There are days that I can finish an item within a few hours but at times, I take an entire night to finish something. This is especially the case when I make scrapbooks — a lot of thought goes into it, since I am working with pictures and other items which I want to present in a unique way,” she adds.

Pratiksha says that there are many things one must keep in mind while making a card, the first being the framework of what exactly one wants to put into it. “The best method is to keep things simple. People tend to clutter up the card and put too many elements into it, making the card lose its beauty. I like things neat and don’t like shoddy jobs. So, I ensure that there isn’t any glue coming out of the card and the finishing is perfect,” she adds. Another must for her is being open to criticism. “I have been lucky — people really appreciate my work. But I am always open to criticism, without which I’ll never be able to learn or improve,” she says.