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Cheers
Give a Cheer
Give a Cheer
It occurs to me I make more cards with just die cuts than any other. Stamping (other than sentiments) and coloring are distant seconds and thirds. I have the tools and the inks and the media to do so much more, and I need to start exploring those areas sooner rather than later.
From experience over the past few years, I've discovered it is really difficult for me to make Christmas cards with just one design. Add all the die cutting, and it gets rather tedious, even if I like the design and like making cards. At a certain point in the Christmas rush, I just want to throw up the hands and go lay down and take a nap - or four or five... So, thought I'd try multiple designs in smaller batches and just mix it up a bit. We'll see how it goes and whether I end up falling back into just one design.
I have been on a birdcage kick, it seems, for the last couple of months. I simply want to work with them. So, this first batch of Christmas cards hits that note. I also wanted to stay in the realm of traditional colors, so I chose greens and golds. I had a pack of holiday glimmer paper I wanted to use for this, and paired it up with matching color cardstocks.
I embossed the main glimmer paper layer with a music embossing folder (real song, by the way - Joy To the World). Then I set about getting several die cuts made to figure out what I wanted to use. I ended up with a combination of die cuts and punched pieces, and then dry fit one card to see how I wanted to arrange things. Arranging things sometimes works for me, and sometimes not. I had a combination of simple and fancy, I'm hoping I got away with it. I also decided to add some ribbon to the mix, as the die cuts just didn't seem "right" on their own.
After getting my design down, I set about cutting all the papers and die cuts and punch cuts, so I could sit down and just have an assembly line going to put together the cards. Stamp and glue in the insert, emboss all the mats, add ribbon to the mats, glue to front of card bases, add the sentiment panels, then the birdcages, then the die cuts. Worked ok, certainly a better use of time than doing all the work of one card at a time.
No added embellishments this time around. The glimmer and gold papers are bling enough. I did add the little red birds as an afterthought. I felt they needed to be there, instead.
Outside supplies:
Stampin' Up!: Regal Reindeer and Leaves of Holly stamp sets; Holly Berry dies and Bough punch; Evening Evergreen and Soft Succulent inks; Soft Succulent satin shimmer ribbon; holiday Glimmer (Evening Evergreen, Gold and Very Vanilla) paper pack and Real Red Glimmer paper; Distressed Gold specialty paper; Merry Melody embossing folder; Evening Evergreen and Soft Succulent cardstocks.
Park Lane 110# ivory (white core) cardstock from Joann's.
Thanks for spreading positivity!
October 31, 2022
October 31, 2022
October 31, 2022