Thursday, December 31, 2015

2015 Christmas Cards To Share

Just because I have not posted much doesn't mean I have not been making Christmas cards.  I have been busy!  
Here are some of the cards I made for Christmas 2015.  Just click on each card to open them up larger if you want a closer look!

Enjoy
Netta








































Magical Christmas Window Card

Every year, my co-workers get a Christmas card from me along with some type of snack.  
The cards I make are normally time consuming and special for them.  This year the card fold is called a Free Standing Pop Up card but my cards had a door that opened.  You can see how to make a regular Free Standing Pop Up card here.  I just modified the dimensions a bit to make my idea work.  




The card I decided to make has 23 pieces and I made 13 cards in all.  It took me a bit to figure all the measurements right and after 3 attempts, I got it!.  The card was slightly bigger than an A2 size card when closed... 5 1/2 x 4 3/4.  I wanted the base of the card to be slightly larger to accommodate the doors once opened.   Lucky I had some envelopes that were perfect for this size and didn't have to make my own.  The width with the doors closed was 3 1/4.  To get the door sections perfectly, I first cut the blue section 5 1/2 by 6 3/4.  The extra 1/4 width allowed room for the fold and closing of the doors over the bulk of everything under it. After scoring where the door closing folds were, I trimmed the doors pieces off 1" up from the bottom so once the door section pulled up from the base, it could open.   

Here are some more views of the card so you can see the side views and how it fits into the envelope.







The Merry Christmas section, once completely opened, was on the bottom of the card. To close the card, the card base just slid up past the doors until it was flat.

Here is the back of the card where I wrote to the recipient. 


Made 13 in all and a couple were mailed out before I remembered to take a picture.


I hope this inspires you to go out of the norm and create a special card for that special someone!

Enjoy and have a great crafting day!!

Netta



Thursday, December 3, 2015

Vellum Christmas Tree

A few weeks ago I had a few women over to craft.  They had asked me to show them how I made my Christmas tree pop up using vellum and a stylus tool.

I set up my craft room onto the lanai so there was enough room for us.  With Christmas music playing in the background we all created this card, with me walking them through step by step.  
We had a lot of fun!  
Here is the basic card we created.  I loved seeing everyone's versions of my card.



Hope this inspires you to give this vellum and stylus technique a try!.  
Have a great crafting day.



Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Cozy Warm & Bright

It is now Dec 1st and my favorite season has begun!  At work we started playing Christmas songs and the decorations are going up.  All year I have been making Christmas cards but the crunch time is upon us!  

Every year I vow to completely  finish a card-front, back and middle.  Every year I start out well and every year I fail.  The day I am trying to get them labeled and in the mail...I am also busy trying to stamp the inside.  Not a good situation at all.  Very stressful.  But....I am happy to say that this year it was and has been different!  I actually have each card completed!  It's a good feeling.   My labels are done too.  Just sign my name, make a personal note, peel sticker for addresses and done.  

The card was created by mostly dies.  For the Memory Box Glowing Candle die I had to cut it 3 times for each card (green glitter paper, gold glitter paper and cranberry). 
 The Spellbinders Layered Poinsettia 2 smallest dies was cut from glitter gold paper and cranberry.  
The cranberry background was cut using one of the dies from Spellbinders Radiant Rectangles.
Merry Christmas came from Stampin Up Good Greetings set.
Martha Stewart pine bunch was the last touch.






I do not normally make more than 2 or 3 cards the same but I made 20 of this card only because they were made for someone else.  Out of all the cards I have made, this one is my favorite.  I will have to make myself one as well.  It took me about an hour a piece to make from beginning to end.  The glitter paper I used did not cooperate and would not cut well.  If anyone knows where I can get glitter paper that is not so difficult to use, please leave me a message.  

 Last night putting the last of the pieces together and I broke my favorite evergreen punch.  Guess I will have to go shopping!  *S* 

Netta