Christmas cards - manger scenes and winter wonderlands

 I always make the last card an easy one so because by then most are anxious to be finished.  These cards feature full colour digital images colour printed onto white cardstock. I printed them as close to 4" x 5.25" as possible so that I just needed to cut them close as I cut them apart.  The shepherds and manger scene are from a holiday clipart CD I have owned for years called Click It.  The other four image I found on Pixabay - they have LOTS of great images which you can download and use for free.  My favorite is the mountain ash berries!!!

 Actually, I really like all of them!!  This is just a sampling of the ones I used.  For this card the participants simply had to adhere the two ends of the ribbon to the back of the image, glue this element to the front of the coordinating card, layer their greeting (SU oval and scallop oval ) and adhere it to the card using 3D foam tape.  I located mine over the ribbon but not everyone saw fit to follow suit so again there was a good variety of designs that emerged from this card kit.  Some did not use their ribbon as to preserve the integrity of their nativity images.

So the day finished with lots of finished cards and many happy card makers - some first timers too!  I am very happy with the amount of money that was raised through this process and we also gleaned deeper friendships and much happiness as a bonus!!

Therese

Christmas cards - embossed images combined with greetings

 These are part of the second set of cards we created at the classes yesterday.  I used five small Sizzix embossing folders which I have not used very much if at all since I bought them.  I see that I have one missing - the little Christmas tree!!
I cut 8.5" x 11 colour printed papers into four and trimmed them to 4" x 5.25", found coordinating cardstock for the cards and then some coordinating 1/8" ribbon.  It took a couple of times to create the rectangles for embossing with the greeting in exactly the right place so that I could emboss the top, add the ribbon over the greeting, trim the bottom with decorative scissors and have everything balanced. Once I worked it out I printed the greetings on neutral cardstock - white or ivory to coordinate with my decorative papers.  Next, I embossed them two at a time with my Big Shot and trimmed the bottom edge with the scalloped scissors.  Each kit included a card, decorative paper, an embossed image, ribbon, an insert with a saying in an envelope.  The participants glued the decorative paper to the front of the folded card leaving a even margin all the way around.  Next, they had to adhere the ribbon below the embossed image, trim the long end off, and tie the leftover piece onto the front to simulate a bow.  Next they used a push pin with a foam to pierce each little scallop.  I forgot this step on one of mine.  This focal element was then glued to the front of the card over the decorative paper.  Again, there was much creativity applied to the process of designing the cards which is one of the reasons I love to teach - I learn so much from those who come to learn from me.

Again, I used a wide variety of papers so the cards easily differentiated.   Because I had provided portrait inserts most created portrait cards but there were a few who when they came to put in their insert discovered they had created landscape cards. No problem, I had printed spare inserts in both formats so that if this situation arose, I could simply provide them an insert that was appropriate to their design.
UPDATE:  Had another small class with these kits so I changed the focal element so the cards would not be the same.  I used a triple embossing die which produces three images.  I choose to use the ornament one as it fit nicely with this card design.  I printed the greeting on the same size cardstock as for the Merry Christmas/Joy to the World ones and simply glued the little embossed ornament to the top.  Worked out really well!!

Therese

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