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Post by joblackford on Mar 5, 2018 21:50:13 GMT
Who's crazy like me and already making Christmas cards?!
I know some of you probably make holiday cards throughout the year, either for your own needs or to donate to the Caring Hearts Card Drive.
Last year I got ambitious at the last minute and made a bunch of cards for the Pea exchange and Caring Hearts and had to scramble to get my own family's cards out in time. This year I'm trying to work ahead and make a handful of cards each month during the year. I'll probably do a big Christmas in July session when Hallmark has their holiday movie week, and I'm sure I'll still freak out a little bit in Oct/Nov, but I'm hoping not too much. I already chose a couple of pictures from last Christmas to use for our personal cards this year (luckily we don't have kids so no one will notice if we send out a year old photo!)
I'm trying out some different techniques to see what kind of holiday cards I can make in bulk, which ones are fun to make, which techniques might also be fun for other cards, etc. So far I bought two cool Memory Box dies that I'm using with distress oxide inks - one for inked inlay techniques, and one intricate sentiment that takes up most of the card, with a splotchy distress tree shape behind it.
I have 15 mostly finished. Not quite as many as I had planned, but I might be able to finish some more of the inlay ones this afternoon.
So anyway, who's interested in chatting about their out-of-season holiday cardmaking? Want to share some inspiration?
Anyone want to brag about how many cards they've made so far?
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Post by freeatlast on Mar 5, 2018 23:27:22 GMT
I always say I will start early. I always say I will make one design a month. I always do neither. Congrats to you for being motivated and starting so early.
Our fall crafty weekend getaway is in late September this year, not our usual November date. I know I will use that time to make Christmas cards for the Caring Hearts Card drive, a local nursing home and the Pea exchange. That may qualify as "early" Christmas stamping for me.
It would be nice not to be working under an extreme deadline on these cards and to be able to play with techniques. I'm kinda jealous!
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eastcoastpea
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,252
Jun 27, 2014 13:05:28 GMT
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Post by eastcoastpea on Mar 6, 2018 0:28:24 GMT
I have 26 made so far. I'm pretty happy with how they came out.
I sometimes go to auctions on Saturday nights. I went Saturday and they had brand new rolls of two-sided tape and I bought four rolls for cardmaking. The tape is an inch wide. It was a pretty sweet deal at four rolls for $1.
I have already bought enough card blanks for this year's swap. I have the paper to stamp on as well but it needs to be cut down and for some reason I often have difficulty cutting down paper in a straight line.
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oaksong
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,167 
Location: LA Suburbia
Site Supporter
Jun 27, 2014 6:24:29 GMT
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Post by oaksong on Mar 6, 2018 3:59:16 GMT
A Christmas card thread is a good idea. I’ve been thinking of working on Christmas one week a month. There are some kits I didn’t get to last year, so it would be nice to knock those out before the new holiday stuff appears. They seem to come earlier every year.
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Post by riversong1963 on Mar 6, 2018 12:00:28 GMT
This is such a great idea, and congratulations to those who have started early! I might join in later this month.
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nicolep
Drama Llama
Posts: 7,205
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Post by nicolep on Mar 6, 2018 14:33:29 GMT
Oh my gosh, that is getting ahead! I love the idea but I am already behind in my PL album for this year lol. I just made my cover page this past weekend.
I would really love to make a bunch of Christmas cards this year. I used to make around 130 and really enjoyed it.
YAY to all of you getting a jump on it!
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Post by warrior1991 on Mar 6, 2018 15:13:19 GMT
In 2016, I went to a 2 day crop in February and got 53 card bases/fronts made. (no images or sentiments, I added that later). It was so fun and I loved having so many done early.
Last year I made Christmas cards through out the year and had a ton then for the 2 places I donate them to. I had my card for family and friends planned out early, but didn't put them together until early December.
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Post by paperaddict on Mar 6, 2018 22:25:53 GMT
I need to start making Christmas cards because I always leave it to the last minute and this year, I didn't get to participate in the Caring Heart Drive. So thanks for Christmas thread. Great idea. Would love to see pictures of cards people made.
Also, this past season, I bought tons of Christmas stamps, dies, and papers...some I haven't even open, then I bought more when all the Christmas stuff goes on sale. I seem to enjoy buying the stuff to make the cardsmore than getting around to making them. Need to change this.
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Post by paperaddict on Mar 6, 2018 22:26:28 GMT
Sorry, I meant last year.
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Post by paperaddict on Mar 6, 2018 22:27:21 GMT
Regarding Caring Heart drive.
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Post by joblackford on Mar 7, 2018 5:00:26 GMT
I'm glad I'm not the only crazy cardmaker here  I played around some more after I posted and got my tally to 23. The last few turned out really quite well, too. instagram linky (I hope) |
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Post by paperaddict on Mar 7, 2018 6:51:32 GMT
They look great! I want to get that memory box die...more now...thanks for the "nudge" .
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scrappington
Pearl Clutcher
in Canada
Posts: 3,139
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Post by scrappington on Mar 7, 2018 11:13:11 GMT
I really should this year. I just got a ton of xmas stuff on clearance.
But last year I used up most of my 6x6 paper pads. I didn't find any on clearance I liked though.
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Post by wandawoman on Mar 7, 2018 12:27:53 GMT
We had snow and very cold weather in January. Since it was a good time to stay in I decided to work on Christmas cards then instead of August when I am not in a Christmas mood. I made 100, and it is such a relief to have them done.
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scrappington
Pearl Clutcher
in Canada
Posts: 3,139
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Post by scrappington on Mar 7, 2018 14:22:12 GMT
I'm glad I'm not the only crazy cardmaker here I played around some more after I posted and got my tally to 23. The last few turned out really quite well, too. instagram linky (I hope)Your cards look great. I really like them. Did you use oxide inks for the background? |
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tracylynn
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,903
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Post by tracylynn on Mar 7, 2018 20:53:37 GMT
I have about 40 done so far. Those are mostly from kits that I hadn't put together yet and didn't need for this past Christmas. I think I have one more Christmas card kit that should net me around 15-20 more cards. Between the Pea Exchange and personal cards, I did around 175 last year. I'm going to aim to have 125-150 done before the Pea Exchange sign up this Fall. Then finish off after that.
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Post by joblackford on Mar 7, 2018 22:28:16 GMT
Wow, wandawoman! good for you. That must be such a relief. I prefer to craft in season too, but since I started selling my cards I have had to train myself to craft 2 holidays ahead (this December I'll probably be making Valentines  ) scrappington yes, I've been playing around with my new distress oxide inks, although the darker greens are regular distress I bought for another project. (Much harder to blend than oxides - ugh! I'm glad I started with the oxides or I would've hated distress inks). I've just been doing some basic ink blending and then I got the bright idea after the greens didn't blend very well to spritz with water to help them along and I got snow! (duh, I should've thought of that earlier!) I got the idea to do the ink blending with inlay dies from Jen McGuire. (video linky) I have lots of color combos to try out to keep me from getting bored. paperaddict I've been obsessed with Memory Box window dies ever since I watched the video I linked to ^^ but i told myself I only need a couple, so I tried to choose really carefully, something that I would really love that wasn't too fiddly to work with. We'll see how long it takes until I get bored and want to buy more. I spent quite a bit of time looking at videos using their dies, and their online lookbooks, getting ideas before I chose. I have seen people layer their dies too, for a shadowbox look... so I might need a snowy tree scene too... tracylynn sounds like you're well on track! |
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CeeScraps
Pearl Clutcher
~~occupied entertaining my brain~~
Posts: 3,930
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Post by CeeScraps on Mar 9, 2018 14:00:45 GMT
I just have to cut out/mount my insides for my cards and I'm done.
Yup.....I do this because this time of the year isn't crazy!!
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Post by christinebk on Mar 9, 2018 15:48:51 GMT
I was totally thinking about starting Christmas cards because I want to try out different designs. I have so many Christmas stamp sets that have no been used yet. Glad I'm not the only one thinking about this. I won't share on IG but will share here, I'll only post timely cards on IG (my IG is www.instagram.com/cbkirch/). Following you on IG joblackford  |
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Post by warrior1991 on Mar 10, 2018 18:37:55 GMT
I got 4 simple ones done this morning  |
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Post by joblackford on Mar 10, 2018 21:49:27 GMT
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pilcas
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,238
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Post by pilcas on Mar 21, 2018 22:04:46 GMT
I have about 20 done. On Sundays I spend time with my mother and due to her health issues we basically watch tv. I will bring my Copics and I color away the afternoon. Then during the week I turn the images into cards.
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Post by streetscrapper on Mar 22, 2018 1:38:28 GMT
I used to think starting this early was CRAZY... but I make almost 60 cards (all the same) and for some reason I’ve got a couple of ideas spinning already and they all involve colouring with pencils ... so this may mean that I will be starting now too...
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Post by warrior1991 on Mar 22, 2018 13:06:36 GMT
I ordered 4 Christmas paper pads yesterday. If I start on some cards now, then take a break over the summer, I'll be ready to work on them again when the new products come out in the fall. |
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Post by joblackford on May 19, 2018 21:59:37 GMT
How goes it early Christmas card Peas?
I took a bit of a break to go home to NZ + do a huge custom card order for a friend, but I got back to my Christmas cards and I'm up to about 70 now. I used up an Echo Park winter 6x6 pad to make 32 cards that made me very happy. And I'm still having fun with distress oxide blending and my deer die. I think I'll make a lot more of that design.
I haven't done sentiments though. I'm not thrilled with the sentiment stamps I have right now, so I may need to shop for some new ones.
I should give my fancy Xmas tree shaped greeting die another go. It's a bit fiddly but it looks so impressive. I bought some adhesive sheets to make it easier to work with. I have some ideas for making the background look better too.
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Post by warrior1991 on May 19, 2018 22:32:15 GMT
I haven't made any more since March, but now that I turned the AC on as we skipped spring here in MN and went right to summer, I'm thinking some Christmas/Winter cards might be nice to bring cool thoughts. I was going thru my digital stamps recently and found a bunch of Christmas ones I forgot about. I might have to make a cheat sheet or something so I remember that I have them. |
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Post by kikitwo on May 20, 2018 1:38:07 GMT
I have a 100+ cards made for the Pea Swap. My personal cards are made, just not put together which I plan to do at the Expo in June! Congrats to the rest of you that have made so many cards!
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Post by anniefb on May 23, 2018 1:40:19 GMT
Well done with the awesome progress everyone. I haven't started mine yet but as I make fewer and fewer each year (I figure about 20 this year) I should be ok. I know what sets I want to use so it's just a case of getting stuck in and starting. Too many other things to do though!
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Post by grammadee on May 23, 2018 2:53:08 GMT
justjac and I plan to attend a crop in June and we will be making Christmas cards there. I am looking forward to giving our new Karen Burniston dies a workout, making some interactive pop up cards. I have the card bases. Need to select the other papers to use, as well as stamps and other supplies.
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Post by jameynz on May 25, 2018 6:46:10 GMT
I start my cards in August/September....for the pea swap.
This year I will be doing more, as there is a charity in NZ that gives Christmas Cards to the residents in rest homes that would otherwise not be acknowledged. So I may start earlier......
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