Sorry, but I don't have any free suggestions.  I use a bought software
called American Greeting Create-A-Card, put out by Broderbund.  I think
Microsoft puts out the Hallmark version of this.  Create & print your own
greeting cards, labels, business cards, posters, iron-on transfers,
envelopes & even stationary.

Do you have Microsoft Word????  I think I made a few printed cards ages ago
with Word, long before the card software became available.  The hard part is
getting things to print the way you want them (on 1/2 of the paper so you
can fold it, etc., etc.), so I probably wasted a bunch of paper.  Sometimes,
at stores like Office Depot and Staples, there are displays of $10 or $5
CD-Rom software (no box, just the jewel case, shrinkwrapped).  I *think*
I've seen older versions of Create-A-Card there. They usually have stuff
like that there, not to mention game bundles & whatnot.

--?
The ONE and ONLY
lefthanded-pathetic-paranoid-psychotic-sarcastic-wiseass-ditzy
former-blonde in Bloomington! (And proud of it, too)? email me at
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I build all kinds of cards, forms, bookmarks (that you use when reading
books) etc. and don't have any particular software specifically for that
purpose. For both a the card and the coupon booklet I'd use Word and
whatever the form/spreadsheet tool within Word is called in English. You
wouldn't (necessarily) put any borders to separate the cells of the
"form" as they'd be visible on the card, just the ones you see on the
screen but aren't printed. As for hearts and flowers, if you do have MS
Office, you'd also have the ClipArt tool full of this stuff, if not, I'm
sure there's plenty of sites with the ClipArt-kind of pics.

The card could be a regular sized sheet of paper folded four ways. All
the printing would be on one side - making the cover and inside of the
card. The backside of the paper would be blank; it wouldn't be visible
on the card. You'd just have to keep in mind when positioning text and
pictures to put the items on the covers of the card and the insides of
the card in opposite directions... Have I managed to confuse you
thoroughly yet?? :)

Design the card/paper to be folded like this:
 _____________
 |     |     |  <-- that would be the cover,
 |     |     |      put text and pics upside down,
 |     |     |      front cover on the left, back on the right
 |_____|_____|
 |     |     |
 |     |     |  <- this would be the inside of the card,
 |     |     |     text and pics right way up
 |_____|_____|     (text usually on the right)

The backside of the sheet is inside the folds.

Just a suggestion...

If you have one of the standard word processors, like Word or WP, you
probably also have access to templates which can guide you in creating the
card. Since I was forced away from my beloved WP when I took my current
job, I am now more familiar with Word resources. Some templates come with
the software, others are at:

templates
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/default.aspx

Lots of examples under 'Holidays and Occasions'

clip art
http://office.microsoft.com/clipart/default.aspx?lc=en-us

For a coupon booklet, you could simply set your page up as a giant table,
or a set of labels, fill in each as desired, cut on the dotted lines (so
to speak) and staple together. But there are also templates for those.

I made my Christmas cards in WordPerfect, and I'm sure you could do the same
thing in MS Word.  I didn't have a template.  Instead, I just set my page
for landscape (horizontal) instead of portrait orientation, then used the
"columns" setting to divide the page into two large columns.  The two
columns became the front and back of a "card."  It is possible to create
cards where you would fold the page in half, then in half again -- but that
is more complicated.  I inserted a photo on the front "cover."  I also
printed text and a photo on the inside.  To do that, I followed the same
procedure but needed to run the same sheet of paper through the printer to
print on the reverse side.

I'm not sure if this is clear.  Please ask if you need clarification.

MaryL

Found a freeware program for making "fancy documents" including cards on
download.com.
http://www.download.com/Serif-PagePlus/3000-6675_4-10183725.html?tag=lst-0-17
or http://tinyurl.com/6sfg8

I have NOT tried this program and it was the only freeware program for
making cards I found on download.com. You may want to check the user
opinions or download, try it out and delete if it doesn't work for you.

My only suggestion is to get it printed at a print shop like Kinko's rather
than at home.  They have very high-quality printers, and the colors come out
nicely.  This is more important if you're trying to do photos than if you're
just using some single-tone graphics, though.  I don't know if having it
printed would violate "the rules."

I"ve done some cards simply using Microsoft Powerpoint, or Microsoft Word.
The major trick is to a) know where what has to go before you even start
(ie, do a rough sketch by hand) and b) set the paper size correctly in the
program, and c) before printing out the final copy, print a very light black
& white "draft" version so that you can see how it fits onto the paper
before doing the final copy.

Still, the old fashioned way of scissors, glue and coloured pencils or paint
work just as well if you are doing a home job anyway.

Good luck!

Yowie

Check out http://h10050.www1.hp.com/activitycenter/us/en/index.html
they usually have various projects available with templates etc.
Currently under seasonal projects they have valentine's coupons and
cupid's card shop :)

Jill I can't make things on my comp; either but I have started making them
by hand, of course I can only do individual ones, but so far, I have now
made about eight or nine and use transfers on them, I just made one for my
neighbour when her husband died, I make up a little poem, and write
it in gold pen, so far they have been very well received, and I love doing
them,  anyway good luck    Jean.P.