PaperspotUK

This is a really simple, small business marketing idea, and is aimed at a beginner.

Graphtec GB sells scratch off sticker sheets. I have seen them used for Gender reveals and the like, but it occurred to me today that most people love these and can't resist a scratch - so to speak! Also, with commercial scratch cards one never seems to win anything, so how good would you feel as a customer to receive a scratch card with your order, scratch off the silver and find you had some money off, or free postage on your next order? So this is my idea for all of you out there with small businesses! 

My website e-commerce product (which shall remain nameless) allows me to set up codes for this sort of marketing tool, and I can set it to once only, until an end date, or for use a certain number of times before it becomes null and void. If your site is not that sophisticated, you could still send out codes and keep a note of them on a good, old pad of paper. I think I will send these to customers who place orders over £30, and advertise them on my blog and Facebook pages to encourage traffic.

Equipment:

• Silhouette Cameo or Portrait
• Printer
• Card stock
• Silhouette Scratch off sticker sheet
• LW Typewriter font by Lori Whitlock #55159 (optional)
• Paper cutter (optional)

Draw a rectangle with the rectangle tool, fourth down on the left hand side. You can make it any size you want, but a common business card size is 5.5 cm x 8.5 cm. Either adjust the size manually, or open the Scale tool which you will find on the top menu. It lies just to the right of the rotation tool. 

To import a business logo or picture, go to File/Merge on the top menu, left hand side. Find a picture on your computer and select, then hit OK. Place it within your rectangle. Select the Text tool (LHS), choose a font from your list on the RHS. I used the LW typewriter font #55159 available from the Silhouette store. Type whatever words you want. Adjust the size to fit your first business card, and make more text areas as needed.

As I am not going to cut this on my Silhouette, I don't have to worry about what lines are set to Cut, and I don't need Registration marks. Select the outer line of the card, and open the Line Style menu (top menu). I made the lines blue, but you can leave them red. Adjust line thickness to 0.5. This is to ensure the lines are printed to help you slice with your paper slicer. Replicate the business cards on your A4 paper. I got ten onto the one sheet. Print this onto card. Cut the sheet into individual cards. 

Draw a shape that will cover the text code area of your card. I chose a rounded rectangle. Select that shape and press Ctrl+C to copy it. Make a new file and press Ctrl + V to paste the shape.With one sticker selected, go to Cut Settings and select "Scratch off Sticker" under the settings. Replicate the first sticker as many times as you want. 

Put a scratch off sticker sheet onto a cutting mat. Check your blade is set to a depth of 2. Send the file to Cut. Remove the mat from your machine and gently remove the shapes. I found that some of the yellow backing paper wanted to come away. The sticker should have a black underside if all the paper has been removed. Apply them to the area of the business cards that you want hidden. That's it. All done! It is tempting, but resist from having a scratch yourself :). 

Best wishes, Hilary