Saturday, November 22, 2008

My Art - Christmas Cards

Peace on Earth! What we all want for Christmas!!

This is a large card that fits in a #10 business size envelope. I wanted the poinsettias to really show and found that the A2 size really didn't show them off the way I wanted it to. Love the colours - almond, warm red, sage green and silver!! This is also gift wrap I bought last year at Michaels. I just knew that I had cardstock to match the red. In the end, because of the size of the class I did not have enough red so I used almond as a base card and cut strips of the red to line the top and bottom edges so it would LOOK like it was on warm red. Works for me!! Gold embossed the greeting on vellum and ripped the edges. Discreetly added double sided tape - two little pieces behind the words and ensured that I caught the vellum with the brads in the snowflakes (Martha Stewart) to secure it in place. A card that came together very well and has some weight to it!! Very happy with the end product on this one!!



This is the last of the five in the large Christmas card class!!



Therese

My Art - Christmas cards

This is a quick and easy card!! The bottom layer is gift wrap I bought two years ago at Michaels. Well worth checking out the gift wrap as you shop during this season. Buy a roll or two to make Christmas cards for next year!! I stamped the harlequin (SU) on the top section and then added the decorative paper. I colour printed the words and then ripped both sides before I glued it over the
top edge of the paper. The star is plastic and was part of a garland I bought last year - not sure where $1 or Canadian Tire. I just cut them all apart and used a glue dot to attach it to the card front. Everyone really liked this card!!
Therese

My Art - Christmas cards


Glitter just makes every thing sparkle and is always appropriate for Christmas!! On this card we glittered our little tree on the back side of the acetate so to keep the stray glitter at bay!! I stamped the little tree on the front of the acetate with black Staz On and we coloured the star and trunk with Sharpie markers on the back. We also applied white glue with a very fine tip to the tree then sprinkled on ultra fine green glitter ($1 Store). It takes a while for the glue to dry clear but we assembled the cards anyway and by the end of the class some of them were already dry - clear - so you could see the glitter!! A really fun card!! I cut the aperture in the blue layer with my rectangle Nestabities and my Cuttlebug machine!! Sure does a nice job and so much quicker than an exacto and a ruler!! I added a snow bank of white cardstock so the tree would have a place to stand and stamped a greeting on the outside!! The background is coloured printed on the card front. A few layers but worth the time!!

Therese

My Art - Christmas cards

A cute little gingerbread man to spice up the holidays!! This little guy is cut with a Sizzix die! My sister has one and cut these for me!! We added "frosting" with a white gel pen. SU sells a nice white opaque one that works very well. We added red cardstock behind the hearts and black behind the eyes. Some of the girls who took the class went all out with the frosting - gave him cheeks and a big smile, doubled up his hearts, etc. The gingerbread man is mounted over handmade paper which is paper I have made myself so it has texture and flecks of naturals in it. I tied a twine cord around the spine which worked with the textural quality of the handmade paper and the colour scheme over all. The greeting is preprinted twill tape that I bought at Michaels in the Bowtique ribbon section. It was the perfect length for this card!! Gotta love it when all the elements come together and work well together!!
Card number two from the large Christmas card class!

Therese

My Art - Christmas cards

White on white for Christmas!! I used the D'vine swirl CB embossing folder for the background which is layered onto white cardstock. The strip across is also smooth white cardstock. The greeting is actually colour printed onto vellum in blue (font called Embossed) and then embossed with Iridescent Ice (SU) embossing powder. Be sure to not have your embossing powder too close to your printer because they are really not compatible. The sequin snowflakes were iridescent on one side and plain white on the other. I used silver brads to attach them through all the layers and onto the front of the card. I love the winter blowing snow feel of the D'vine swirl background!!
This is one of the cards we made in my large Christmas card class - 20 cards!! 4 of 5 designs!!

Therese

MM - Countdown Calendars

Countdown Calendars for Christmas!! Who doesn't need one of those to keep us on track and doing what is important rather than what is urgent!! I made these for the Merchants Mill but my girlfriend bought two before I could get them delivered!! They are going to adults that she thinks would be willing to countdown with their kids. Each page has a number from 24-1 to indicate how many days there is left OR the day of December - works either way. Each page also has a pocket which holds an activity to be done that day. I made some of my own and then did a few internet searches to find more so in the end they are a composite of what I thought was appropriate. Because the activities are just tucked in a pocket they can be moved around from year to year to fit your schedule. The activities are flexible enough for all kinds of families - little kids, older kids, no kids, grand kids, etc. I bound the pages with my NEW Zutter!! Works so nicely and give a really nice look to the calendars!!
I hope you are getting ready to countdown to Christmas with your family no matter what it looks like. Take the time to spend time with each other as the season comes on. You will all treasure the family time you created for an hour or so every day and it will make it a Christmas to remember for all of you!!

Therese