Ho, ho, ho.
That's about as merry as it gets around here at this time of year. I find myself not feeling terribly Christmassy until the very last minute (although for a wonder I have actually finished all the gift buying early - I know, I couldn't believe it either!).
Each year, I have been asked by my employers to make handmade cards to send out to our customers. It's only a small company, but that's still in excess of 100 cards - *phew*. I almost didn't do it this year, as I was a little burnt out after making 100 of
these (which I really liked, but not after the first forty or so). But at the last minute I remembered that our customers have enjoyed these cards in the past, they have come to kind of expect it, and I get paid for my efforts :-)
So without further ado, here is this year's effort. This isn't all the cards - but you get the idea. As you can see, I've revisited an old favourite,
Season of Joy - still available in this year's catalogue (but sure to retire next year). It really is a great set, with enough stamps to create quite a variety of looks. I added a rhinestone to the star of each, just for a little extra "wow".
I made some in Old Olive, some in Pacific Point, and some in Cherry Cobbler (however I teamed the Cherry ones with Very Vanilla rather than Whisper White - love the "vintage" look those to have when they're together.
The cards were a snap to make ... I quickly worked out that I could get three bases out of a sheet of A4 by cutting two 19 x 10.5cm strips from one end, then flipping it 90 degrees and trimming the remaining piece down to 19 x 10.5cm. Each strip was then scored at 14.8cm, leaving a 4.2cm flap for the front. Then I just stuck A6 pieces of Whisper White or Very Vanilla behind the (decorated) flaps.
And here is a closeup of one of the cards. As you can see, I used my Scallop Edge punch down the edge of the flap, and dressed it up by embossing that section with the Finial Press Embossing Folder. After a time I realised I could put two pieces through the Big Shot at a time - the second piece wasn't embossed quite as deeply, but looked perfect anyway. Unfortunately, I didn't work this out until I was on the last 18 or so LOL.
Anyway, they all went out in the mail on Friday, and I have already had a couple of comments from the customers - feedback is a wonderful thing!
And in case you're wondering, here are links to
Christmas 2009's cards for work, and
2008's as well. Next year I'm going to start early. No, honest.
Images © 1990-2011 Stampin' Up!®
Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Season of Joy
Ink: Old Olive, Pacific Point, Cherry Cobbler
Cardstock: Old Olive, Pacific Point, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Very Vanilla
Other: Scallop Edge Border Punch, Finial Press Embossing Folder, Basic Rhinestones
With only a few days to go, I thought I had better share my Christmas cards for 2011 ... those of you who saw my previous post will recognise this instantly LOL. Yes, I CASEd myself again this year - it was hard enough coming up with one design I could mass produce, why would I want to try to think of another?
As with the cards I made for my employers, I trimmed each edge with the Scallop Border Punch, and embossed them using the Finial Press Embossing Folder. This time I used my time-saving tip of putting two through the folder at a time from the start ... you may be able to tell from this closeup that the embossed design doesn't look quite as crisp as you would normally expect - this card uses the bottom of the two embossed sheets.
So without further ado, here is this year's effort. This isn't all the cards - but you get the idea. As you can see, I've revisited an old favourite, Season of Joy - still available in this year's catalogue (but sure to retire next year). It really is a great set, with enough stamps to create quite a variety of looks. I added a rhinestone to the star of each, just for a little extra "wow".
Here's the first of the three holders I made last week. This one is based entirely on this one I made earlier this year. Because it was for my nephew, I had to restrain myself and not cover it with flower stamps and "pretty" things - lucky the owl fits nicely into this category! In retrospect, I should have put a little Christmas hat on him; sadly I didn't think of that until much later.
Here's a closeup of the owl (click to get a better look). You can also see that I spritzed the background with my Champagne Mist shimmer spray (lovin' this stuff!) (click here for a little more detail about the product, about halfway through the post). You can also see a little of the texture of the cardstock - this is the textured type, available as part of the 12x12 packs of single colour cardstock.
And here's the inside ... you can use Velcro to hold the gift card holder closed, but I prefer self adhesive magnets (you can buy this stuff by the sheet from craft stores).
As promised, here's a picture of the Christmas card that my lucky friends and family are going to receive this year.
Here's an exteme closeup, where you can actually see the flecks of paint (click for a closer view). If you could see the actual card, you would see that it has a glow about it, and really adds to the overall effect - I'm very happy with this year's efforts!
... and for a wonder, I'm organised (well, so far).
Another Christmas has passed, and we can all breathe freely for a little while at least ... while I enjoyed the break, there seems to be a ridiculous amount of pressure attached to Christmas - sorry, just got a little "bah humbug" there *g*.
I changed my mind *g*.
Yes, Christmas is only just around the corner! Which means that I should have started and finished making my personal Christmas cards by now (as opposed to the ones that I make for my employer) and have them stacked up neatly ready to be mailed out to my friends and family.
Well, mostly these. Okay, so there's only four cards here, but what you can't see is the other 96 which I made recently (with the help of Sharon - thanks Sharon!).
The problem with giving gift cards is making them look interesting. After all, they're nothing more than a little piece of plastic, no matter how pretty the pictures are. The solution - make cute little folders to put them in! I used instructions which are found on many websites to create these. Simply cut a strip of cardstock 4-1/2 by 11 inches (I was following US instructions), then score at 3, 5-1/2 and 8 inches. Fold into a W shape and stick the middle bits together at the sides and bottom. Use the Word Window punch to cut a slot out of the centre piece (and punch an extra bit out with a circle punch if you like) and there you have it.
Just for comparison, here's two of the holders I made last year, using a nifty little pattern found here ... how clever and cute is that?
Okay, because Blogger refused to cooperate the other day, I couldn't upload a close up of one of the cards I made for work. Rather than scratch my head over it all, I have taken the easy way out and scanned a card for you to see. The colours have come out kind of odd, but that is an issue with the scanner and the expanse of white on the card - something else I am not going to fuss about just now *g*.
You can imagine how happy I was to get this lot finished! Yep, there are 100 cards in that pile.
I was blurfing (yes, of course you know what that means ... you're doing it now! Blog surfing, that is) earlier and decided to visit the very talented Marelle Taylor's blog over at thINKspot. Her stuff is simply gorgeous *sigh*. Anyway, I was taken by the card on this post and, because I am actually supposed to be doing something completely different, ended up making this instead.
