Christmas Cards

The pleasure of making handmade Christmas cards starts early at my house.

"I will honor Christmas in my heart,
and try to keep it all the year.
~Charles Dickens"

Some papercrafters I know literally start making their new supply right after New Year's Day. Generally I start making them in about July. I love to give a special greeting to each of my family members and friends, and that means making quite a few cards. Now I have started being part of the Christmas Cards for the Troops drive I make even more.

There are so many styles to choose from. Traditional salutations are the ones many of us are familiar with - the rich greens, reds, silvers, golds and purples or royal blues are natural winners for reminding us of the season. We also have favourite images to use - think stars, trees, baubles and angels like the one I made above. There is no mistaking the purpose of these cards.

But what if you don't have a stamp or die cut or punch with traditional Christmas images on it? Improvise, I say! Here I have used a small palm tree punch to build my own Christmas tree. For me this card has a humorous angle to it as Christmas occurs in summer in Australia, where I live, and palm trees are much more likely to be seen here then than snow. You could of course substitute any other small stamp or punch to make your tree.

A card like my palm Christmas tree may take a little more time to make, which is fine when you have started making them early, but what if you would like to make a card quickly? Again you can use some basic shapes to make a lovely card. Here is a card I made from an idea inspired by Kristina at her KWerner Design Blog (thanks, Kristina!) It uses circle punched from Christmas designer paper and a few metallic pens to dress up the baubles. I've punched little holes in the designer paper background to thread the cords through and tie them off in front. This way the cord can show through on the other side of the card front. You could use any other colour scheme that appeals to you and substitute the cord for ribbon. You can see how you could make a number of these cards quickly.

Traditional is not the only way to go when making your Christmas cards. Many designs are made with soft pinks and yellows like I used for my angel card at the top of the page, or shades of rich brown, or very dramatic and sophisticated black and white. The choice is yours.

Here I have used a tree stamp and added a little star to the top of each one to make them Christmassy.

If you would like to make this card or use some of the techniques shown here, I have written some instructions for how to make it.

Do You Have A Favourite Handmade Card to Share?

Do you make greeting cards? Please do share it with me.

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