Christmas Cards for Seniors

 

I prepared some Christmas cards for seniors which will be distributed to nursing homes by a local scrapbook store.

I have several techniques in this collection of 24 Christmas cards.  

1) recycled commercial cards onto new card bases and new inserts - several which worked better in the 5x7 size.

2) refurbishing handmade cards I have received - some from friends who took my card making classes so the designs are mine but I did not make the cards, some I received in my monthly card exchange. 

I am very happy with the selection and variety in this collection.  Soon they will be delivered to the scrapbook store.

Seniors Week - June 7-13 2021 - Card Donations

I have put together a stack of cards for a local scrapbook store - Scrap and Bean who put out the word that they were accepting donations of cards for seniors. The cards will be distributed to Senior Care Homes in the area. Seniors Week is celebrated June 7-13, 2021.

Can you do something for a senior in your sphere of influence? There are several suggestions for safely celebrating this week.

These cards are upcycling a commercial card into a new life.  It was a large card and has been transformed into 3 cards. 

For the card on the left I trimmed an area of the card to leave a good border around it.  I then punched some slots with the Stampin Up Slot punch and tied a piece of warm blue seam binding between them.  This layer was adhered to a dark purple card base.  I added a SU Modern Label punchie and Word Window greeting in the top right hand corner adhered with 3D foam tape.

For this card and trimmed the card in the same way as above.  This time I wrapped a piece of gold metallic ribbon around the decorative layer and tied a knot and trimmed the ends.  I put together another greeting with the same tools as earlier.  I matched the Modern Label punch to the card color.  Again mounted with 3D foam tape.

This 3rd card I adhered the upcycled layer to the front of a navy blue card base.  I added a Stampin Up Decorative Label punchie greeting with 3D foam tape. 

I will collect from my sister the ones she made before I deliver them.

Thank You Cards - Compassion House

I am delivering some thank you cards to Compassion House today.

Another DSP Split with an oval greeting where I offset a yellow one behind it!    Another with pink tones!

 

A recycled butterfly card which was trimmed to fit the front of the card.  A card with a bit of a masculine theme with the old Jalopy in the bottom right hand corner.

I made up some old card kits to get them out of the house.  These were originally birthday cards so I added an oval Thank you greeting with 3D foam tape and voila another card to go.  I trimmed these watercolored glitter cards to fit on the A2 sized card and layered with a colored layer onto a black card.

Doggie Birthday Cards

I was asked to make some birthday cards for her granddaughters with a card she received for her birthday.

I managed to get two 5x7 cards made because it was a trifold card.

This is the full card front.  I had to cut it down a bit on the length.

I adhered it on a pink card base.

I then printed a greeting on a piece of the same pink card in Rose Red.  I trimmed the piece to .5 inch by 3 inches.  I then used a corner rounder on the top left and right corners. It was adhered to the card front aligned along the stitched line with 3D foam tape.

I placed a blank white sheet insert.





I trimmed the cut out layer of the card to just under 5 inches wide.

I chose a warm white card base to coordinate with the gate in the image.

For the greeting,  I measured to determine where I could place it then color printed it onto the card front when I printed the credits on the back.

The doggie layer was adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape aligned to leave a small border on the bottom.

I placed a blank white sheet insert.

Sympathy Cards - Recycled

I refurbished a couple of commercial Sympathy cards for Mom.  At their age Mom and Dad have a need for quite a few of these. 

I have put together a couple of sentiments for the inside and I will let her choose the one she likes.

Cards are so expensive these cards.  This will save her cash for other things.

I know she has a funeral this week to attend.

Thank You Cards - donated

I dropped another set of thank you cards at Compassion House as I was there to facilitate a card making session.

The women staying there for their cancer treatments are encouraged to prepare a thank you card for those who donate funds to keep this wonderful house running.

These are recycled commercial cards with additional layers added to provide more interest.

Love the gold foil ones.  I have the backs which will show up somewhere in card making on my desk.




I love these daffodils.  Watercolor always feeds my soul.  I love the border and the cute butterflies.  With a good variety to of colors I was able to coordinate them with ivory and yellow card bases. I added green layers.


These glitter cards I was able to watercolor myself.  They are very sparkly and I really enjoyed the process of applying color as I saw fit.

I added thank you circle greetings in turquoise to coordinate with the handmade flower to these copper flower cards.


I added layers to these beautiful blue stripes and marbled ones.  Adding turquoise card base on the first with a daisy punchie in the bottom left and corner.  I added black to the second one.  




I added purple silk flowers to the one on the left.  Then coordinated the card base with the flowers.


The one on the right I added to a burgundy card base to match the border around the greeting.  I added a daisy punchie from burgundy card stock and held in place with a small brad.

That is 14 cards.   I do not really know how many the house uses but I keep the box full as I can.

R2Go All Occasion Stack Kit

I had the daughter of a friend request some card kits as an activity for the women's group she runs in Ontario. She is here visiting her Mom for a couple of weeks. I jumped at the chance!

These are coordinated printed card stock with stripes and daisies.  They were corner rounded 4 inch squares. 

I cut the striped one in half and adhered one half aligned to the top and bottom edge of the card leaving a small border.

I wrapped a piece of white satin ribbon around the daisy layer, knotted it to the front and trimmed the ends.  It was adhered to the card front with 4 pieces of 3D foam tape.

I adhered a Stampin Up Modern Label white greeting  in the top left hand corner of the daisy layer. 

The card has a quarter sheet blank insert glued to the inside.

I have not used the following layout for quite a while.

I cut 12x12 designer paper into 6 inch squares.  I then cut the paper with my Creative Memories cutter on the largest circle with the red knife.  This is just under 6 inch circle.  These were then cut in half.

The paper shown here is by Making Memories - Animal Crackers - Jack Vanishing Dots.  I chose coordinating card stock in several colors for the kit. I adhered the half circle along the fold and trimmed the excess on the right and left card edges.

I added a black seam binding ribbon tied along the fold and trimmed the ends.  I then added 3 black sequins on the right hand side adhered with Bling Zots.

Of course, I turned to the old stand by - the DSP Split.

The designer paper was cut to  4.00 x 5.25 inches then cut again at 3.5 inches.  The small piece was turned over and aligned to the larger piece. These  taped on the back together to create a full layer. 

The paper shown here is by We R Memory Keepers - Wildflower - Botanical.   I just love this paper.  I provide a variety of paper and card stock in this kit.

I aligned the Espresso color grosgrain ribbon across the join and taped the ends to the back of the designer paper layer.  This layer was then adhered to the card front.

I color printed some greetings and punched them with the Stampin Up Artisan Label.  It was adhered to the card front over the ribbon with 3D foam tape.

I started with the label cut with the Tim Holtz Cameo Frame die.  I used a variety of designer paper for the labels.

The card bases are all white card stock.

I then cut a large card stock flower with the Sizzix Flowers & Leaves die.  I chose the color based on the color of the label. 

I added a large & small silk flowers in white with a white flower sequin on a white brad.  Using a push pin to make a hole in the designer paper I then pushed the prongs through and push them apart on the back.  The label was then adhered to the card front.

I added the color printed greeting punched with the Stampin Up Artisan Label punch.  It is adhered to the card front below the flower with 3D foam tape.

I have included the card samples so she had teach the class with something to show the ladies participating.

Shared Birthday Card order

I had a request from a friend for a spring looking card for her aunt who shares her birth date with my friend.

I chose to recycle a commercial card featuring Goldfinches. I trimmed it so that there was an even border on a 5x7 A7 large card.

I added a purple layer which was cut into 2 triangles which were adhered in the bottom left and top right corners.

I printed the aunt words onto the same card stock as the card and punched it with the Stampin Up Modern Label punch.  It was adhered to the top left hand corner with 3D foam tape.  I added the rest of the sentiment to the insert on this inside of the card.

Iridescent sequins were added to the card front with Bling Zots.

Sympathy Card

I made this card for my friend who lost her Dad a week ago. 

I have recycled a commercial card front into this 5x7 A7 large card. 

I trimmed the commercial card on both sides.  I trimmed extra on the right because there was some pink which I wanted to remove. With only the purple left I chose a purple card to coordinate. Purple is her favorite color so that should be appreciated.

Now I had to add a bit of cardstock on the right to make an even border.  I cut a strip from the back of the card and cut it with my Deckle Edge scissors. I taped the edge to the straight edge with tape.   I added a length of purple satin ribbon over the join and tape the ends to the back of the layer.  It was adhered to the card front.

I added iridescent sequins to the card front with Bling Zots. It will be on it's way tomorrow.

Thank You Cards

This was an easy one as I cut trimmed the front of a small card and adhered it to the front of a coordinating purple card.

I love the teapots with gold accents on this image.








These pine cones images were left overs from a Christmas stack kit.

This one I added a black layer to a red card then adhered the pine cone square aligned to the left.  I added a greeting with the Stampin Up Itty Bitty Stamp set and cut with the coordinating framelits set. 

 

I chose a black card.  I layered the pine cone onto a layer of white leaving a small border.  I ripped the bottom edge.  I added a length of self adhesive lace in red below the white.   I then added the greeting  which was stamped on a Stampin Up Word Window Punchie.  I added a white tiny brad and added it to a Modern Label punchie. The greeting was adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape.

This is a refurbished card featuring a snowflake punched out with a circle.  It was added to an ivory scallop punchie.

This was layered onto a Tim Holtz label die cut in black.  It was layered onto a printed greeting layer. 

Then added to a coordinated deep rose card.

I delivered 10 cards in all today.

Thank You Cards - Pink Heart

This is a recycled card.  I cut the main element from the original and reused it.

I layered it onto a piece of purple and then punched small daisy flowers from the cutoffs.  I placed them below the main element and held them in place with pink brads.

The purple layer was adhered to the card front of a pink card.  The insert inside is blank.


Another card with the same heart element.

I ripped right edge and mounted it on a brown card stock layer.  It was adhered to the front of a pink card aligned to the right hand side. 

I added some stitching in brown thread on the left hand side.  Placed a pink handmade paper flower in the wide opening held in place with a pink brad.

These are headed to my Thank You Card box.

Son in Law Card Order

I had a friend ask for a birthday card for her son in law.

I recycled a landscape element from a commercial card.  I trimmed it close to the border.

I printed a custom greeting layer on a piece of textured card stock.  I chose a green color to match the textured card base.

These were layered then adhered to the card front.

I added a gold star sequin in the bottom left hand corner held in place with a gold tiny brad.

Gold Butterfly Card

I came across this wonderful butterfly image in my stash.  A layer from a commercial card gathered sometime along the way.

Once trimmed to leave a large border I mounted it to a salmon colored card front. 

Another quick card to put in my card box.

Would do nicely for a sympathy card.

Refurbishing Store Bought Cards - Christmas

This a sample of the store bought Christmas cards in my stash accumulated over many years.  I am working to refurbishing these into useful cards.  I find store bought cards a challenge because they are generally larger than the A2 invitation size I normally make, so the images are sometimes too large.  At times, I can trim them to fit on the smaller card bases.  The smaller cards work at lot better like the We Wish You a Merry Christmas.  See the sample below.

Here's a few cards I made from the stash above. 
The tree was trimmed very close and mounted onto red card base. 
The Joy was a small card which I trimmed then mounted onto a white layer then onto a matching blue card base.
The star had wonderful color so I chose a deep red burgundy card base to which I adhered the trimmed store bough card.  Then I added the greeting made from gold Stampin Up Decorative Label punch, a green label and the greeting is a SU Word Window punchie.
The We Wish You card as a small one trimmed then adhered to a kraft layer to which I added a black hand drawn border to repeat the black in the store bought card.  It was adhered to a warm red card base.
The Peace earth was a small card, trimmed to the right proportions then adhered to a deep red card stock then adhered to a matching blue card base.
The winter street scene was trimmed a lot to get it to the right size the adhered to a mint green card base.  I added 3 white tiny star brads in the center of the glitter snowflakes in the top of the Thomas Kincade image.
The triangle tree with words was a small card, trimmed and layered to a gold spattered brown layer which was then layered onto a bright green card base.

Check your place for old Christmas cards and see how you might re-use pieces to make your Christmas cards this year.  A green idea which re-uses and saves paper and ultimately trees.

Card Order - Sympathy Cards

I made these sympathy cards by recycling pieces of used greeting cards.  Many people prefer to give me the card they receive rather than throwing them away.  I have a large collection and need to start decluttering myself.   At least these are not hitting the landfill.
I just sorted and found images I felt worked with the sympathy theme. I printed the border and sentiment on neutral card stock in a coordinating color. I then trimmed the recycled colored image to fit inside. 

I have a good variety of images which would work for guys and gals.  I'm very happy with the way they turned out. 

I have card club cards to work on next.

Card Club - November - Watercolor Ornaments

I started with color printed cards with the watercolor ornaments on it.  I cut the card with the Tim Holtz Cameo Frame die.  I chose a purple card which coordinated well with the image.  I wrapped a length of purple thread on the left hand side of the die cut then adhered it to the card front. For the greeting, I punched a Stampin Up Modern Label punch in green then added a SU Word Window punch with the sentiment.  The greeting is adhered at the bottom of the ornament die cut with 3D foam tape. 

Winter arrived yesterday, so our numbers were smaller than usual but we spent time after card making having tea and cake.  It was great.  The drive home was not.

2BGreen - Recycled Cards - 4

 Another set of 2BGreen cards made from recycling/reusing elements from cards received from others.  This is a gift for a friend with a birthday.  The card on the left I trimmed then added a Stampin Up Decorative Label punchie from the same card so it matches perfectly. Added a Word Window greeting.







The one to the right is a great image of a tea cup.  I just brushed it's edges with an ink pad and left it blank to be used for any occasion.

Roses are always a favorite.  The dark accents are gold so I punched a SU Decorative Label punchie in gold and added a word window greeting. Mounted to a pink card.

The card front was trimmed to leave a small border and adhered to a golden yellow card.  I added a white and then golden yellow silk flower in the top right hand corner held in place with a tiny black brad.

This great watercolored violets image was trimmed and layered onto a purple card.  I created a band with the same card stock then added an oval greeting mounted with 3D foam tape.

2BGreen - Recycled Cards - 3

Here's another set of 2BGreen set of cards.  I'm glad I ensure these cards are enjoyed another time by new set of eyes.  These cards are made from elements from cards sent once already.  I find card stock and other elements to make them into something new.


Here's one that's perfect for a young person's birthday.


Some of these cards have a wonderful soft watercolor feel to them which I just love.  This last one I cut the scallop border with the Stampin Up Scallop Border Edgelit.  It's great because I used the back of the card which matched the card stock perfectly.