Handcrafted Christmas Cards - 2012

 

I spent this weekend designing and creating our family Christmas cards.  I have had the materials:  Blank cards, red scrap booking paper, ink pads, butcher twine type string, assorted stamps, since September.  Stumbling across a 50% off sale at Michael's Arts & Crafts and stocked up ahead of time.  I had all intentions of having the cards done and ready by Thanksgiving but Hurricane Sandy and numerous other life detours delayed my creating them until now.

Some of of what kept me from starting the cards was my ever changing ideas for what they would ultimately look like!  Enter inspiration!  I recently purchased this book by Genine Zlatkis.  She is an illustrator and blogger that lives in Mexico.  Beautiful drawings of birds and nature!

 

   I found this kit on another trip to Michael's Arts and Crafts.

 

Here's what was inside!

A soft eraser like material to carve into stamps and a linoleum type cutter with two size blades, one thin and one thick.

 

I sketched several ideas before I came up with this tree.

I like how it ended up looking like a wood block carving.

 

  I was recently gifted some beautiful handmade paper that I stamped the trees onto.

 

I stamped the trees onto sheet after sheet of beautiful handcrafted paper!

Enough to make 50 cards.

 

I cut them out and glued them to some red scrap booking paper that has a great tree bark like texture.

 

  I had furry company the whole afternoon!

 

My "Studio" was the large hassock in front of the chair which I sat.

Worked away while watching "It's a Wonderful Life" and various other Christmas movies with my daughter.

 

Here's the finished product outside and inside.

You can't see it in the picture but there are also three snowflakes stamped on the front of the cards in superfine white glitter.

 

  I tried out different sayings for the inside until I came up with this...

 

The inside of each card is lined with green tissue paper with the saying:

"Joy to the World"

Don't you just love the little Gnome guy in the corner?!

 

The little Gnome dude is a stamp I picked up last year!  Just couldn't resist him!  He graced the front of our cards last year with an evergreen branch and red berries.  I had to use him again!  I will also stamp him in the bottom corner of the envelopes.

 

This is picture of our fireplace mantle all decked out for the holidays!  The wreath I constructed from grapevines that grow in the woods on our property.  I was able to make two large and one small wreath with what I pulled out of the woods this year.

 

I used these hexagon blocks I made in July to make a garland.  They had been sitting in my stash of projects in progress.  These were much inspired by all the beautiful handmade garlands I have seen on the web.

 

Our tree is filled with these cute little critters (all different animals) that are made of natural materials along with candy canes, pine cones and handmade ornaments this year. 

Enjoy the Holidays!