Christmas cards - little trees, a baby Jesus and a snowflake

 I taught three Christmas card classes yesterday as a fundraiser.  These were the first cards I taught at each class.  The kits all had the same supplies - 4"x 4" decorative paper, 1 1/8" strip of coordinating paper, 3/4" strip of coordinating cardstock, a little embossed tree die cut (SX) (CB) OR a colour printed Jesus die cut (Nesties) MDZ) and a coloured laser printed greeting punchie (SU - Word Window) with a coordinating layer (SU- modern label).

 As you can see there were several options available to the participants in designing their  cards.  The pieces could be arranged to create a portrait or landscape card with the large piece on the top or the bottom OR the left or the right.  The embellishment could be placed on the left or the right and the greeting could be positioned in quite a variety of locations.

It was fun to play with the layout to see how many options were possible.  It was also fun to work with so many different papers as well which really helped to give all the cards a bit of a different look.  I created over 200 kits for the three classes so to make the process manageable I located sheets of decorative paper which coordinated with the little trees which were already cut.  I cut each sheet of decorative 12" x12" paper into nine 4" x 4" pieces and then I found scraps of decorative papers in my stash that coordinated and cut nine strips.  Then I dug into my cardstock scraps to find coordinating pieces and cut the little strips and punched the greeting layers.  I embossed all the little trees and the cardstock strips to add texture to the card.  Once all the pieces were cut I designed my greetings, chose colours that coordinated with each decorative paper, printed and punched them all out.  As I assembled my kits I added coordinating cards, quarter sheet inserts with sayings and put all the pieces into an envelope.  One of the ladies requested all religious cards so used the little Jesus graphic from Melonheadz, digitally coloured it to coordinate with the papers I was using, laser printed what I needed on white cardstock and die cut them with my scalloped circle Nestibilities.  This is only a sampling of all the options that I created.
Everyone was happy with their cards and they created even more variety as they positioned elements diagonally, left some elements off completely and located their embellishments and greeting it yet many other locations!!
UPDATE:  I had another small class so I changed up the kits just slightly so they would not be exactly the same as the previous ones.  This is the one features a snowflake as the focal element.  I added a snowflake brad in the center to add some dimension and stability so it could be adhered with 3D foam tape.
Love the versatility of this sketch!!!!

Therese

I CASEd this idea from somewhere on Splitcoast. The original had been trimmed to the edge of the Cuttlebug design. Instead I layered a white embossed layer over a white card! Happy with how that turned out. Created a colour printed tag to go with the ribbon. I cut a piece of ribbon that would overlap both sides of the card (6"-6.5") and glued the ends to the inside of the card on both the top and bottom. Tied a shorter piece (3"-4") to the first with an overhand knot. This technique saves ribbon and looks just as elegant if you provide an insert in the card. I trapped the tag's gold cord in the knot. You can glue the tag in place if you want or leave it dangling.

I always include inserts in my cards to allow them to be reused by simply removing the old inset that has been written on and replace it with a new one. I think it would be cool to see how many times a card could be reused!! Handmade cards are so beautiful that I think they should have more than one life. Besides it is a very green and environmentally friendly thing to do. I refurbish all the handmade (sometimes some of the commercial ones as well) cards I receive and donate them to a local non profit organization!! They really appreciate the cards!! You could donate the refurbished cards to seniors homes or retirement residences, any non profit, or package them up and donate as prizes for a fundraiser. Be creative!! It goes without saying that it is inappropriate to refurbish a card and then to present it as your idea and creative work!! Whenever possible I retain the creator's credits on the cards I refurbish. It works out perfectly when they have added an insert to their card!!
Therese