This Year’s Cards. 2024

 I’ve sent out pre made cards the last couple of years. This year I reduced my card list and made a few. Not bad. Merry Christmas!

Tomato Cage Christmas Card Holder

 Tomato cages turn out to have uses outside of the garden. I like this one as a place to display Christmas cards. The lights are a nice touch.

Christmas Card Season Has Begun

 We have only four out of town cards to send so I’ve given myself a goal of getting those out this week.  I’m such a putz, though, and it takes me forever to do each card.

For this first one, for instance, I envisioned a felt tree with some small red and green buttons I’ve had forever sewn on as ornaments. 

Then I thought of the fun I had one day in the button aisle at Joanns.  Oh, and how about some of those Christmas beads I grabbed last year? This card is going to weigh a pound.

 

 I added embroidery and beads.

 Then a load of buttons and some sequins.

It took me all day to sew all those little things on. What a hoot. My mother in law will like the card.

WIP Wednesday: Christmas Cards

It's time to start making those charming handcrafted cards that everyone loves, loves LOVES to get in the mail.

Nobody could have more fun things to use on their cards than I do, because I have an eye for Christmas magic and all things ho ho ho.

This year I'm using cream colored cards rather than the usual red and green, simply because I ran out of them and haven't seen any others.  I also think a lighter background might show off some of my rubber stamps and sparkly things just a bit more.   Speak of magic, Michaels had some really cool foil accented cards they mean to be used as picture frames.  I think they will also frame some of my clipart and other little scenes I can create inside the frames.

I found some fun things in the Target Dollar Bins --which are now mostly Three Dollar Bins--but the price is still pretty nice.

Target has been offering all sorts of decorated clothespins, tapping into some deep well of clothespin love I didn't even know I had.  I can't resist any of them.  

The paper stripes in the package are supposed to be used to make paper chains.  Ha ha ha!  You might be able to get a couple of chains out of a pack.  These are much better for card making or scrapbooking. 

The little wooden Christmas trees, so cute.  Nice in and of themselves, but a fiend could also decorate the teeny things.  I bought a glue gun this fall that I haven't used yet but attaching wood to paper seems like a good job for it, right?  Or are we talking three alarm fire?  Oops.

Ah, really nice packs of green and red paper from Michaels, and an adorable little Christmas paper pad from Martha Stewart.

Happiness is...Christmas Crafts :)

Your card is in the mail, or will be soon....

Christmas Card Production Begins Now!

I have all my Christmas stamps and pads out.

Have my various glues, dots, and embellishments...

Snowmen signed by my boy while he was here for T-Day

 

Now to just customize as much as I can each card to fit the person receiving it, and to have fun using my many supplies.  Ho ho ho.

Homemade Christmas Cards Again This Year, Ho, Ho, Ho!

Last year my creations met with mixed reviews, but far be it from me to be discouraged.  I haven't started them yet, noooo, not with all this time I have these days, noooo.   I like a nice deadline, ya know?  I give myself deadlines all the time to keep myself moving.

So, we have a snowman stamp with three snowmen (clearly a mom, dad and their wee snowball of a son).  I always stamp that on the inside and we all sign our name under the appropriate snowperson. 

Last year I used some incredibly thin paper that my mom had from who knows when, thinking it was nice to pass it on that way. The stamp ink didn't dry very nicely on this paper so there were a few smears when you went to sign your name.  Tsk.  This year I'll just cut cardstock.

  

I like to have this part pre-made before the cards themselves because our wee snowball lives a hundred miles away.  I can get him to sign in his spot at Thanksgiving then just glue the signed liners in.  that part worked last year.

One thing I learned last year is that those gemlike stickers that are raised up and some other spiky things I loved putting on the cards get ripped by the Post Office in transit.  Bumpy mail is not a good thing.  So in order to feed my glittery inner beastie, I'll hand cards to people as I see them this season, and make sure those I mail are boringly flat.

If you get a boringly flat card from me this year, my apologies.

Card Making Ho Ho Ho

I am making my own Christmas cards for the first time.  I'm not sure what the recipients will think of them but it beats the Kmart specials I've been sending for the past few years. 

This is so much fun.  I have tons of papercrafting tools and have added Glitter, glitter glue and all sorts of other embellishments to my stash. 

I'll also include a picture of me and mine and a custom made Christmas Word Search to the package and delight city at the other end, right?

Merry Christmas!

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CAROLERS	CHIMNEY	CHRISTMAS
COOKIES	GIFTS	HOLLY
LIGHTS	MANGER	MERRY
MISTLETOE	ORNAMENTS	PRESENTS
REINDEER	RIBBON	SANTA
SNOWMAN	STAR	STOCKINGS
TAGS	TREE

Make your own Word Search:

http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/WordSearchSetupForm.asp

 

 

 

I loved my cards. They were received enthusiastically by two of the recipients and the rest were bleh.  Hmmpf.   I had a lovely time trying out different techniques.  I am going to keep making them anywho.