May Your Days Be Merry
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‘Tis the season! The season to crank out those Christmas cards. For holiday cards, I like to create an assembly line process. I still try to create unique cards for everyone but streamline by creating many elements at the same time.
For these cards, I used Curious Metallic Card Stock in Ice Silver, Pow Glitter Paper in Evergreen, Royal Sundance Linen Card Stock in Emerald, and Neenah Solar White Card Stock. |
The first step in my process was to create a bunch of backgrounds. A quick way to get a big effect is with embossing folders. I pulled out about a dozen different folders and created backgrounds. I ended up with quite a variety. Below are three of the embossing patterns I used. From left to right, I used Braided and Harlequin from Taylored Expressions. The one on the right is Next Level Wave from WeRMemory Keepers. The linen texture and weight of the Royal Sundance works great for embossing. No cracking. Just clean, crisp lines.
Next, I started die-cutting. I keep a magnetic bowl near my die-cutting machine. I picked this one up at Harbor Freight while shopping with my husband. It holds all my dies while I’m working on a project. It also keeps me from losing them, too.
To adhere the die-cuts I use liquid glue. With intricate pieces like these, liquid glue works best. In this example, it gives me time to move the word around on the background until they are lined up correctly.
I also use a fine tip on my liquid glue for getting into detailed areas. I store this glue upside down with a floral pin in it. The pin keeps the tip from drying out. Storing it upside down keeps it ready to use.
After I had all the pieces die-cut and glued it was time to assemble everything. Below are three slightly different cards from the first set of backgrounds. For a subtle change, you can heat emboss with different colors or change the orientation. Of course, the backgrounds are different too.
For the next set of cards, I used the remaining embossed backgrounds along with a stamp set from WPlus9 called Be Merry. I layered up the sentiment with a die-cut glitter oval. I used Pow Glitter Paper in Cricket and MirriSparkle Glitter Paper in Red. Nothing says festive like some glitter!
To make each card slightly different, I added washi tape or bows or Nuvo Crystal Drops. All of these cards were sent to the Caring Hearts Card Drive. They needed to arrive by November 10 at the collection center. From there they will be sent to different nursing homes around the country.
Hopefully, these tips help with your holiday creations. All the red, white, and green cardstock is on sale at cutcardstock.com this month. Just in time for your holiday crafting! Don’t forget you can purchase pre-scored and pre-folded cards too. That is a big time saver when creating lots of cards around the holidays.
Thanks for visiting!
Inky hugs,
Marcia
