2011 - Christmas Card Challenge

I was really happy with the results of Christmas Card Challenge last year so I'm running another one this year! What I have learned this year is that the cards need to be completely done. I needed to add inserts & credits on many this year which slowed me down.

I will be posting my cards the first of the month along with suggestions and encouragement to participate in the challenge. In the end, the objective is to get your cards made throughout the year and the themes are meant to be inspirational. Join as many months as you want. If you participate, please add a comment including the link to your card so others can be inspired. I'm looking forward to seeing your creations. Become a follower of my blog if you want to be notified of my postings.

Here's my list of themes with a few ideas next to each of them:

Jan - Vintage Christmas - St. Nick, Victorian images & colors, Antique Ornaments, Old Fashioned
Feb - Musical Christmas - Carolers, Instruments, Drummer Boy, Carols & Hymns, Nutcracker
Mar - Color - Monochromatic - several shades of a single color
Apr - Winter - Snowflakes, Snowmen, Penguins, Sleds, Skates, Sleighs, Igloos
May - Reason for the Season - Nativity, Manger, Stars, Angels, Wisemen, Bethlehem, Doves
Jun - Color - Chocolate/Red/Cream - any combinations of these colors
Jul - Christmas Around the World - Feliz Navidad, Poinsettias, Father Christmas
Aug - Christmas Glitters - use glitter on your card
Sep - Color - Non Traditional Colors - Pink, Lime Green, Teal, Turquoise, Kraft, and much more.
Oct - Natural Christmas - Pinecones, Mistletoes, Raffia, Pine Trees, Twig Wreaths
Nov - Christmas Decorations - Ornaments, Stockings, Candy Canes, Lights, Gingerbread
Dec - Color - Metallics - Gold, Silver, Bronze, Copper

Christmas Cards - Custom Designed

I designed these cards for a client. The music sheet ones are in 4 different colors (green, sepia, mauve, & brown) with 4 Christmas songs (O Little Town of Bethlehem, Away in the Manger, Joy to the World, & Silent Night). The leaves are printed then a red hydrangea silk flower was added with 2 graduated sized gold sequins on a tiny gold brad. The insert was customized to their specifications.

The Wisemen cards were also designed with a blue and taupe backgrounds and a custom insert.

I'm really happy with the way these turned out.

Photo - Merry Christmas

It's Christmas Eve and I have way too much left to do!

I hope you have a great Christmas season over the next few days. We are celebrating ours on Boxing Day!

Photo Calender - Angels

This is this year's calendar. They make great gifts.

I've put together photos I took over the year into a 2011 calendar. I've been to cemeteries, churches, Christmas displays and other places to take photos of a variety of angels. The photo on the front here is one of the angels that guards the Book of Remembrance in the Peace Tower in Ottawa which holds the names of each Canadian soldier lost in war. I have praying angels, heralding angels, rejoicing angels, singing angels and musical angels. Here's my calendars from last year.

Card - Digital - Poinsettia

This is a photo I took couple of years ago of a great poinsettia plant. I framed it and added a greeting and voila! another card ready for printing. Print, add an insert, an envelope and a bit of personal note and it's ready to go! Great option for last-minute cards.

Card - Digital - Bethlehem

Another digital card. I drew the line art quite a while ago but added the oval background this year. The original art took a long time to produce but I have been able to use it for several projects. This is a quick and easy card. It is designed for a person to print, add an insert with a personal greeting and an envelope and be ready to go. One person can make many in a few hours and it is done!

Photo - Poinsettias

I was out to the Muttart Conservatory on Sunday to take in some of the season's atmosphere. Of course, poinsettias were featured extensively. As you can see from this collage, there were many colors on display. I'm not sure about blue poinsettias with glitter besides. There were bears on a train in the feature pavilion. I managed to find holly in the temperate pyramid. It was a good few hours. I updated my blog header as well using one of my photos.

Card - Digital - Burgundy Star

I designed this card with digital elements from AriaSparkle Graphics. The background is a digital scan of a green fabric. The placement of the background involves ensuring that I stay within the printer's margins and align it to ensure even borders when the full sheet is cut in two. The PEACE are individual digital elements. I colored them to match the star element. I placed the star at an angle to the greeting. It was printed on natural parchment card stock. Here's a link to the last year card.

Card - Silver Snowflake

I created this card for a group at work. I used a white card and added a black layer stamped with white ink and embossed. I cut 2 Sizzix snowflakes in white and silver, layered them and used a brad to hold them in place. I added a few tiny brads over the card front to repeat the white circle theme. I cut the sentiment from silver paper with the Cuttlebug Red Tag alphabet.

Cmas Card Challenge - Dec - Santa/St.Nick

I have added St. Nick to the category which will allow vintage images and coloring to the category. You can stamp, die-cut, color print, watercolor, chalk, marker or emboss these jolly men onto a card. Here's the cards I made.

I started with a vintage St. Nick image which I color printed. I layered it onto off white cardstock coordinating with his robe and then burgundy cardstock matching his overcoat. I selected a Blue Bayou cardstock which matched the background.

Left: I embossed the top 2/3 of the card with a Cuttlebug folder. I placed a ribbon just below it and taped the ends to the inside of the card through a slit in the fold. Glued the St. Nick layer to the top left corner. Added a greeting stamped in white below and a MS punched snowflake on the right. Added a silver sparkly in the centre.
Right:I created a gatefold card. I stippled the outside edges of the card with Ruby Red ink. I stamped a small flourish in white ink to the left of the image. I glued the St. Nick layer to the left card flap.

I made 8 of these cards:

Total to date: 131

Christmas Stack Class - Version 2

A friend hosted a Christmas Stack Class for co-workers on Monday night. It was a smaller group and a different atmosphere. We had a good time!

I made up some of the card kits in a different way than the one I designed originally. It was fun. I know this happens every time I have a class because there is no rule that the supplies provided in the card kit must be used in a particular way. It's their cards they can make they way they like. Participants use their creativity and come up with great ideas. To the left are a few of the cards I made.