Christmas Cards 2022

Technically, I'm going to use one design - Taylored Expressions Triple Slim Holly Holidays stencils. But that will give me three different designs and I'll do some in different color combinations. I'm loving these stencils that make multiple cards. Lots of bang for the buck and saved time!

LOL, this is why I don't pre-cut too many ahead of time anymore - I have a ziploc bag of pre-cut pieces from previous years that I ran out of enthusiasm for. I'll need to go through those and see whether there are any I can use this season. 

i cranked them out at once and with just one design. since i wanted to move on to other xmas projects, one design was going to work best with my assembly line method.

For years now I've had a goal where I try to create 5-15 holiday cards a month all year long. By the time December gets here, I usually have more than enough. I change the design each month. I statrted that after a particularly gruling December and I told myself I didn't want to panic craft in December ever again.

Also, the last two years I've had my self-named "Merry May" goal. Each day in May I do some holiday themed project. Either cards or tags or gifts...whatever. I have such a stash of old holiday kits and this gives me a reason mid year to work with supplies I otherwise probably wouldn't touch for another 5 months. Also cleans out some room (in theory) for that year's new releases. A lot of cards come out of this month - lots of different designs. I probably have too many cards this year already. I'm not completely sure what I'm going to do about that.

I voted one design because of my experience last year.
For the first time, I tried the "all different designs" idea. I enjoyed the creative process but I never "perfected" a card design and it was less efficient. When I went to mail them out, I was wasting time picking different cards for different people (Oh, they'll love that, oh, don't waste that good one on them...etc)
And this year I'd like to recreate some of the cards I particularly liked, but I don't know who got which cards last and I don't want to duplicate!!!

That's my issue... every year. I often end up making something with a brand new stamp or die because I can't remember who got what the year before.

I have 3 different groups of people I'm making for. Donations are a year-long crafty free for all, lots of duplicates and variations. (That suits me well because I'm hopeless at doing the same thing over and over.) Crafty friends want something crafty and don't care about my face. Family doesn't care about the craftiness and would probably rather have a photo card, which would be the easiest for me, assuming I could get a decent photo with my husband that feels seasonally appropriate.

So I'm always struggling to find something that keeps it simple for me but also fits what other people would want. One year I did a flatlay of a photostrip of us which I quite liked but idk, probably seemed weird and pretentious to most people I sent it to. I'm about ready to give up tbh, especially when these days I only get a handful of cards from people I actually know.

I have 3 or 4 different ideas for this year and I need to pick one and commit.

I get bored with a design after about 20 cards. So normally I have 4 to 5 different designs.

I usually do 4-6 of one design before I move on. This year though I have done about 30 using one Sheetload of Cards design with different paper combinations and a different focal image and sentiment. But I've also done some others. I don't even know how many cards I need.

I typically use a collection pack with a coordinating 6x6 pad. I will choose a sketch and pick a couple of papers and make as many as I can. Then choose new paper and change the sketch. I get bored making the same card over and over.

I voted a few different designs. Since I did the Pinkfresh card event and the SCT Crop & Create cardmaking event recently I already have several different designs and completed cards there. I've also purchased some new stencils and stamps/dies for this year so I'll use those as well.

I'm loving the Taylored Expressions Triple Slim Holly Holidays stencils and the Create in Quads Peaceful Pines and am using those both this year.

I'm trying something a bit different this year. I have been batch-making background panels (using stencils or hot foil designs) one day, then another day making lots of sentiments, then another day making lots of dies cuts with no real particular card design in mind. This weekend I am going to work on turning those into cards. We'll see if this was a good plan LOL!

I also signed up for the Christmas/Holiday card swap here for the first time so I'm excited about making lots of cards. I typically send out about 25-30 cards for friends and family and in the past two years have stuck to one or two designs for those. I used to do photo cards but my son is 20 now & since he is grown up I didn't think people would want photo cards anymore...idk maybe I'm wrong...

I personally enjoy seeing people's photos, no matter how old the "kids" are or if there are no kids in the photos at all. But I second-guess this for myself because it's just me and my hubby, no kids, no pets even, and I've never found a good way to pose with our house because it's uphill from the road. Travel photos are fun but I would rather have a wintery photo. Hubby is sick of me dragging him to a mall Christmas tree in November (which then stresses me out) and he's not keen to dress up so we can't do a funny Santa hat card or something like that.
Overthinking is my default which also doesn't help. Most people are happy whatever you send!

I love getting photos of friends and family. It’s fun to look back over them through the years. Have hubby put on a nice clean shirt. Don the Santa hats, take a selfie from the waist up. Done!