Free Vintage Business Card Blanks for Junk Journals and Collage Art
Quick Summary
Two free printable sheets. One sheet features eight blank vintage business cards, and one sheet features 16 mini business cards.
Each card comes from a 19th-century printer’s sample sheet.
Depicts trades such as tailor, seamstress, milliner, shipper, sign painter, and more.
Ideal for junk journals, collage art, and mixed media storytelling.
Customize the blank spaces with names, quotes, or your own creative touch.
In the 19th century, a well-designed business card was a small but powerful mark of identity. Printers showcased their artistry and skill through sample sheets, demonstrating layouts, decorative frames, and imagery tailored to different professions. This printable collection brings those antique samples back to life, offering you a set of blank vintage business cards that once awaited the names of real tailors, dressmakers, and artisans.
Today, they become a beautiful foundation for creative reuse. These tiny relics of commerce are perfect for junk journalers, collage artists, and storytellers, inviting you to imagine new identities, businesses, and lives for the people who might have once handed out such cards.
About the Free Printables
These free printables include two collage sheets containing either eight or 16 vintage business card blanks, faithfully restored from an original 19th-century printer’s sample. Each card depicts a different trade, such as:
Tailor or Dressmaker: A Victorian gentleman being fitted for a suit jacket.
Milliner: Hats galore.
Shipping or Trading Company: A ship, globe, etc.
Painter or Sign Maker: Brushes, paint buckets, and an artist at work.
Winemaker or Distiller: Bottles, barrels, and a patron receiving a tasting.
The cards feature intricate engravings and linework characteristic of Victorian design, but without printed text. That means you can personalize the blank space with your own handwriting, stamped names, doodles, or even small collage fragments.
The cards are an ideal size for tucking into pockets, decorating pages, or layering with other ephemera in your journal spreads.
How to Use The Printables
These blank business cards can be surprisingly versatile once printed and cut apart. Here are some ideas to get started:
Junk Journals: Use them as faux business cards for your journal’s imaginary characters such as a milliner in Paris, a painter by the sea, or a tailor in London. Write short notes or quotes on the back.
Mixed Media Collage: Layer the cards behind portraits, fabrics, or pressed flowers for a nostalgic industrial aesthetic.
Gift Tags or Mini Labels: Add string and use them as unique, vintage-inspired gift tags for handmade presents.
Artist Trading Cards (ATCs): Their size makes them perfect for trading or swapping with other artists.
Altered Books: Glue them into book margins or between pages as identity “clues” in themed altered book projects.
Scrapbooking: Include them in heritage layouts, especially if you’re documenting family members who worked in trades or craftsmanship. Or you can partner them with these Occupational Portraits from the same era.
For a more aged appearance, print them on ivory cardstock or tea-stained paper, or lightly distress the edges with ink.
Business Card Printable
More Creative Inspiration
One of the most delightful ways to use these cards is in storytelling journaling, where each card becomes the calling card of a fictional person from another era. Imagine filling your journal with the “businesses” of people who never existed: a tailor who sews dreams, a sign painter who works only by moonlight, or a shipwright who builds vessels that never sink.
Or, if you love vintage design, consider using them as miniature logos or labels for your handmade items. You can scan and digitally overlay your name or business details in elegant typewriter fonts before printing them.
You can even use them in collage challenges or swaps, decorating each card differently to explore your creative range.
Other Free Printables You Might Like
Here are additional printable collections that pair beautifully with this one and encourage creative exploration across different eras and aesthetics:
Free Millinery Hat Ephemera Printables — A perfect complement to the milliner and seamstress cards, featuring elegant hat illustrations from an early 1900s catalog.
Free Vintage Store Ephemera Printables — Add old-fashioned signage and labels to your projects for a charming shopkeeper’s aesthetic.
Free Elegant Plants Printable Collage Sheets — Use these intricate botanical prints to layer natural textures behind your cards.
Free Vintage Envelope Printables — Create a tuck spot for your cards out of vintage envelope images.
Mini Business Cards
FAQs
Can I handwrite or stamp directly onto the cards?
Yes! The cards are intentionally blank, making them perfect for adding personal touches. For best results, use fine-tip pens or archival ink stamps.
What paper should I print them on?
For journaling and collage, 32 lb matte photo paper or light cardstock gives sturdy results without being too thick. For gift tags, you can print on heavier cardstock. Use lightweight paper for layered collages.
Can I resize them before printing?
Absolutely. Scale the sheet to 80% for smaller tags, for example.
Final Thoughts
These Vintage Business Card Blanks are more than just decorative printables. They’re invitations to imagine. Each blank card is a spark for a new identity, a new craft project, or a moment of connection to the artisans and tradespeople of centuries past. Whether you fill them with quotes, doodles, or fragments of your own creative story, they’ll add timeless charm to your journals and collages.
So print a few extra sheets, experiment, and let your imagination take the lead. After all, who knows what kind of “business” your next character might run?
You may also enjoy these free collage sheets.
Terms of use:
Free to use for personal or commercial projects. You may print the collage sheets as many times as you wish for your personal crafts or in your projects to sell, including: art journals, scrapbooks, junk journals, collage art, etc. You may not redistribute or sell the collage sheets “as is" in either print or digital form.
If you wish to share the files on your own website, please do not make the files available for download directly from your site. Instead, include an image with a link back to this site.
To the best of my knowledge, these are all royalty free images that are in the Public Domain in the US. However, you should always do your own research if you plan to use them commercially.
