I Made My Own Card Scoring Board and You Can Too

For cards to fold neatly, it helps to score them first. That is, you make an indentation with a dull blade, such as a bone folder, on the outside fold line. But whenever I tried to measure and mark the exact center of my cards, I found it very difficult to be precise enough. And it was awfully fussy.

Then someone told me I could get a Martha Stewart brand card-scoring board at Michael's, a kind of template and guide, which this someone (also a card maker) found to be very helpful for getting that precise scoring line.

I'm no fan of Martha Stewart, nor, to be honest, of shopping at Michael's. But once I got the idea in my head that I could use a template to guide my scoring, instead of measuring and marking each card, I thought maybe I could make my own. 

Sure enough, a piece of cardboard, a Sharpie, and a couple of rulers are all that's needed. Why two rulers? That's the key to getting the card placed precisely before scoring: I hold the wooden ruler ("Women Rulers") on edge against the cardboard to guide the placement of my card, then line the metal one up with the line I drew with a fine point Sharpie on the cardboard, and score it with a bone folder.

Sometimes, especially in winter when the air is so very dry, I still get a less-than-ideal folded edge. When that happens, I rub beeswax along the fold, followed by my finger.