When I redesigned my brand earlier this year the item I was most excited about designing was new business cards. I ordered beautiful double thick cards from Moo but the basic edge colors they offered did not match my brand so I of course decided to do it myself.

The problem was I couldn't find the right tutorial that worked and ended up having to go through a series of trial and errors. Luckily I finally had success with acrylic paint and since many of you have asked how I did it I thought I'd share this tutorial with you.

Materials:
Clamps
Acrylic Paint in the color of your choosing
Foam Paintbrush
Thick Business Cards (It is important the cards are on thick paper or the color won't be visible)

1. Start off by stacking a few inches worth of cards and clamping them on both sides. You'll want a junk card on top and bottom that you are willing to sacrifice as they will get paint all over. I use the same junk cards with each round I do so that I don't waste too many.

It is important to get the cards lined up as perfectly as possible. Make sure the clamps are tight but not so tight they buckle the cards as you don't want paint getting in the sides.

Tip: At first I had trouble lining my cards up so I just used one clamp and pushed the cards against the bar as a guide. If you do this you'll need to release the bar and turn the cards to fully paint them and I recommend applying pressure to the end without the clamp to prevent any paint from getting in the side.

2. Next you paint all four sides with acrylic craft paint in a color of your choosing. A lot of the tutorials I saw online recommended spray paint but spray paint was a total disaster for me and got in all the edges. I found acrylic paint was a lot easier to control.

Tip: Make sure you aren't getting any clumping of paint, especially on the corners.

3. The paint will dry quickly so you want to separate them when they are almost dry but not quite so that they don't stick together.

4. Lay them out to finish drying before stacking them again.

5. And voila you have beautiful edge painted business cards that will impress your clients and colleagues.

Disclaimer: I will say even with this method I did still get a few cards where the ink leaked. I tried several different approaches though and this one gave me the best success and most control over the ink.