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.

Cards - Joy

I made these for my exchange cards this month. I'm using triangle trees again in pearl and Always Artichoke cardstock on the left one and Very Vanilla touched with Kiwi Kiss and River Rock on the right. I embossed them with Cuttlebug embossing folders - Devine Swirl and Tapestry. I added a vellum background. I placed the trees and then added a red satin ribbon layered with an Always Artichoke cardstock strip. The greeting was diecut with the Sizzix Shadow Box Alphabet from gold textured paper. I mounted them over the ribbon layer with foam tape to raise them a bit from the surface of the card. This year was the first time I used River Rock and I really like the color a lot!

Card Kits - Snowflakes

You will note that the scrapbook paper is not snowflake related. It still works! I used the silver organza ribbon down the center of the card. I mounted the large 3d snowflake over the centre will double sided tape between the ribbon and the paper then the glue dot between the snowflake and the ribbon. I added a small snowflake sequin in the centre. It feels good to be able to clean up and start new next year when I start Christmas cards.

Card - Farewell

We have a lady leaving our workplace who will be greatly missed. We had a potluck today for her to say "See you later" not goodbye. I made this large card to give everyone an opportunity to write a sentiment to her. She is an outdoors person so I decided it should have trees on it. I started with 8.5x11 Always Artichoke cardstock fold in half. I smudge the card with always several green inks with the direct to paper technique. I added some blue water cut with the Creative Memories wavy cutter and smudged it with navy ink. I added 3 triangle pine trees. Two are ivory and embossed with Cuttlebug Devine Swirl the other one is pearl cardstock. I added the setting sun behind the trees and I smudge a horizon line behind the trees. It would have been best to do that earlier. I added pearl stars in the sky. I stamped the sentiment with CTMH alphabet set in green ink.

Card Kits - Snowflakes

I have a few snowflakes left over from my classes so I thought I would make a few more cards. Here I selected a royal blue card and added an Cuttlebug embossed snowflake background. I slipped the wide silver ribbed ribbon through the hanger for the snowflake then glued it to the back of the embossed layer. This full layer was glued to the card. I added a small greeting which was punched with the Stampin Up! Window punch. I had added an insert with a Christmas sentiment to finish it off.

Card Kits - Snowflakes

I've used the large clear snowflake with some turquoise snowflake scrapbook paper in the back ground. It is held in place with a glue dot. I have mounted it on a white card. The background paper was ripped to leave a space of white card. I wrapped a piece of organza ribbon around the front of the card and knotted on the front.

Christmas Stack Class - Snowflake

I had a great Christmas Card Stack class today. There were 12 or so ladies in the room. Most left the class with their Christmas ready to go! Very good.

I have some great snowflakes on these cards.

I chose some snowflake background paper in blue purple and olive green. The greetings were color printed and punched with the Stampin Up! horizontal window punch. The blue card has a large snowflake held in place with a glue dot. The ribbon is placed horizontal near the top of the card and just knotted. The greeting is placed above the ribbon. On the green card the ribbon runs vertically around the card front. The ends come together at the top and holds the small snowflake in place and is tied into a bow. The greeting is placed on the bottom right hand corner.

Christmas Stack Class - Red/Green Holly

I bought this great Designer Paper but I found it was a challenge to create a card with it.

I decided on red and green cardstock as color options for this sketch. I created an accent to match the card color. I ripped out a strip of the DP to create a space to make the card stock visible. I added a gross grain ribbon tied in a knot and taped to the inside of the card. The greeting is a Stampin Up! scallop punchie, a coordinating 1 3/8 inch punchie and a color printed "Season's Greeting". I create 2 color options (red and green).

Christmas Stack Class - Foil Paper Blue/White

This foil paper appears quite dark but it really is not. I started with a white card and added a layer of great foil paper. The greeting was color printed and trimmed with decorative scissors. I chose a MS Snowflake punch in blue and a sequin snowflake all held in place with a blue brad.

Christmas Stack Class - Foil Paper Raspberry/Silver

This is a great foil paper with silver swirls on a raspberry background. It reminds me of a evening sky. I started with a white card. I chose to put a Sizzix silver star die cut onto the top 2/3 of the card. The ribbon across the bottom of the card is matte silver organza. It is pulled through a slit in the card fold to the inside of the card and taped to the card inside. The "joy" greeting was color printed on white cardstock and then punched into a 1" circle. A 1.25" silver punchie was added under the greeting. This accent was added to the ribbon.

Christmas Stack Class - Foil Paper Purple/Green

This card has a non traditional color combination of olive green, a bright purple and white. I had to visit the scrapbook store to find Bazzil cardstock in the coordinating colors. The card is white with a layer of foil gift wrap. The greeting is color printed on white and placed near the bottom of the card. I used the Stampin Up! Five petal punch on green and purple cardstock and a small white one to create the poinsettia on the right hand side of the greeting. All is held in place with the purple brad.

Christmas Stack Class - Triangle Tree

Top Card:

I started with a River Rock card. I trimmed the decorative paper to 5.25x4.00 inches. The greeting was printed on a sheet of the same cardstock. Originally the speckling on the tree was stamped but to quickly speckle a lot of trees I created a pattern in Corel Draw to color print directly onto the 8.5x11 sheet before cutting it into triangles. The triangle tree is Always Artichoke cardstock cut to 3.75" tall and 2.75" wide. The greeting was printed onto River Rock cardstock as well. I decided to punch holes into the tree to copy the dots in the background paper. The Berrylicious Bazzil cardstock tree was cut slightly smaller than the green one. They were layered together then glued to the card. A small piece of brown cardstock forms the trunk of the tree. The star is a sequin which was attached with double sided tape.

Bottom Card:

This card is the same sketch in different colors. The card stock is ivory and the background paper is a plaid Designer Paper.

Green Speckle for Trees:

Book - Fruit of the Spirit Bible Study -Sherri Harris

This is the book by Sherri Harris that I used for my Scrapbooking Bible Study this fall. It was published in 2004. It provides 10 lessons; 1 introduction and the 9 Fruit of the Spirit.The book does include materials to scrapbook but they designed several years ago and scrapbooking has come a long way in that time.

I had 6 ladies who participated; some who had scrapbooked before and some with little experience. I believe everyone enjoyed the study and some have scrapbooks to show for it. I would really recommend this study. I created coordinated kits for those who did not have scrapbooking experience, which included 12x12 paper, die cut letters for the title, brads, vellum for journalling and various other materials for each lesson. (My pages were created with a similar kit of supplies.) The experienced scrapbookers handled the scrapbooking with their own materials and tools. (click on the F of S label on the side to see all my pages)

Scrapbook Layout - F of S - Self Control

I created these pages using the same fortress wall printed on white cardstock. I modified the graphic in Photo Elements to remove a portion of the wall for the left page. I've used contrast in the background paper where the left one is darker and right is lighter. I added color to the letters on the left. I added flames to represent the chaos created in our lives when we do not exercise self control. Life is calmer, brighter, calmer, and protected when we have self control.

Card - Embossed Tree

I started with a True Thyme card stock. I added a layer plaid decorative paper in vintage Christmas colors. I cut a Very Vanilla triangle Christmas tree and put it into my Devine Swirl embossing folder then rubbed it with the Kiwi Kiss stamp pad. The red ribbon holder has a brad back to keep it in place. I found a nice 5/8" gross grain ribbon that coordinated. I hope my card exchange recipients enjoy them. Christmas is coming!

GG - Christmas - Buttons

I held my Greetings Galore - Christmas Stack class at the library today! It was a great class. Many great cards were made with the same supplies and a little imagination.

With this set of cards I used a Stampin Up! Christmas double sided decorative paper. It is very versatile and contributes to a good variety of cards with the same supplies. I used Real Red, Very Vanilla and Always Artichoke card stock. The Merry Christmas ribbon was purchased at Michaels a couple of years ago. It makes adding a sentiment real easy.

I made 10 cards today.

Total so far: 123

GG - Christmas - Polar Bear

Isn't he a cute polar bear? It was cut with the Create Cricut - Joy of Season cartridge. It allows you to cut the scarf seperately in a different color. The top snowbank was cut with the CM Wavy Cutter and the bottom was just ripped. In the class today, I used a marker to add the black nose on the bottom one which really helped. I glued the snowbank then trimmed it to the bottom of the card. The bear was placed ensuring that some blue can be seen to define his legs against the snowbank. A small yellow star punchie was added to the opposite corner. One of the girls today glued him facing the opposite way and the scarf worked as well which adds to the options.

GG - Christmas - Sequin Snowflakes

With the basic same supplies a variety of cards were made today.

The left has a Cuttlebug Devine Swirl embossed layer with 3 royal blue snowflake sequins placed over a white strip and held in place with tiny silver brads. Ribbon was added to above and below the snowflakes.

The right one has a Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossed layer. A color printed greeting strip was placed at the 3/4 level and glued in place. The 3 snowflake sequins were added with the tiny silver brads. The ribbon was placed just off the side fold and glued to the inside of the card. A small piece of ribbon was knotted onto the long piece. This works really well and is very easy to do and looks great. 2 great looks!

GG - Christmas - JOY

I selected green and red cardstock and ribbon. I added gold die cut letters to say "JOY". The fold is on the top. The decorative paper was trimmed to fit beside the embossing and the ribbon was placed between them. A slit was placed in the fold to pull the ribbon through and was taped to the inside of the card. The gold letters were glued over the decorative paper. On the bottom sample I left out the decorative paper and used the red ribbon to contrast. I laid the card sideways and had my greeting going across instead of up and down.

Cards - Christmas

I decided on a purple and ivory color scheme. I started with eggplant textured cardstock. I added a panel of ivory tulle which is taped down on the inside. The angel is a design my sister created years ago. I printed the angel on white cardstock then added the triangle for the dress, the circle for the head and the embossed heart at the back. The heart was cut on the Cricut and embossed with a Cuttlebug folder. The sheer ribbon was tied at her neck and a heart was added near the bottom of her skirt. I used a brad under the ribbon to keep her attached as trying to glue to tulle with d/s tape is not that effective. I added a Stampin Up! Word Window punched greeting.

I made 20 of these.

Total: 113

Nov 11 - Let us Remember

I just want to say "Thank You" to the men and women who willingly serve, ready to do what it takes. Conflict is hard in our own lives. These soldiers put themselves in harm's way to help others in need and to maintain freedom for all. May you all be safe and return to family and friends well. God Bless!

Scrapbook Layout - F of S - Gentleness

I wanted this page to be soft, muted, and give a feeling of quietness. I came upon the idea of a day with new fallen snow. Everything is white, and the snow muffles noises so it's quiet.

I placed my scripture verses up at the top of each page. I found pics in my collection of new fallen snow. I created snowbanks with felt at the bottom of the page. I added die cut evergreen trees on the right hand side. The snow flakes come from a flocked scrapbook page that I punched out individually with a .75 paper punch and glued on individually.

Cards - Christmas Photos

I wanted to create some cards using seasonal subject matter. Not many Christmas pictures in my 2010 photo collection. I had to go digging into my archives for ones that would work. The dove picture was taken a couple of years ago on a friend's Christmas tree. The poinsettia was given to us at work and I shot a few pics of it. Working with Adobe Photo Elements is getting easier. I really like to take close up pics but I'm finding when adding frames to them later means I'm losing some of the image. I will adapt my approach and find some appropriate subject matter this year!

Scrapbook Layout - F of S - Faithfulness

I decided on 6 areas of my life where there has been faithfulness by God and others. My parents, my health, my church home, my purpose, my friends, and family traditions. The squares are images color printed on vellum and clear embossed then mounted to the pages with tiny red brads. The striped paper on the pages lift up from the center to reveal my journaling. I've used Stampin Up! five petal punches in white to separate the topics on my pages. God is good!

Cmas Card Challenge - Nov - Stocking/Ornament

I've expanded this category a bit. The options for this category is wide open.

I decided to make a ornament shaped card. It took a while to figure out the size and shape of the base card. I used a 4" circle to start and drew an ornament based on that. I traced my paper template onto the black cardstock. I cut out the black card with an exacto knife and cutting board placing the fold at the top. I distressed the edges of the card. I cut a 3.5" nestabilities scallop circle in white and embossed it with a holly folder. I added a poinsettia made from the Stampin Up five petal punchies. I put 3 brads in the centre. I used the Stampin Up! Tab punch to make the gold ornament holder at the top. I wanted the card to open flat so I added a gold eyelet to the top card only and put a small hole in the fold to allow my waxed thread to hang straight.

I made 4 of these. My total so far is: 93.

Scrapbook Layout - F of S - Goodness

The idea is being a light into the world. I wanted to create light coming from a lamp which represents my presence in the world. I modified a lamp post I cut on the Cricut. I held it in placed with a brad in the top and some glue on the frame. I cut my yellow scrapbook paper to create the beams of light from the lamp. It took a bit because the lamp is on the left hand page and the yellow had to go passed the centre line onto the right page. I found a graphic on line which represents my community. I added my journalling on the vellum. I used pencil crayon on the title letters to work with the light.

Gift Card Holder - Crescent Tags

I made several blue snowflake ones. The snowflakes are iridescent confetti held in place with tiny brads.

The penguin is a 3D Christmas tag.

The gold wreath has a gold embossed "Peace" greeting at the top.

Silk flowers are great for layering. I added a stamped greeting.

Gift Card Holder - Crescent Tags

Gift Card Holders - I used the Sizzix Jumbo Crescent Tag die to make these. There is a card inside that holds the gift card. See previous post.

Vellum greetings held with brads and sequin stars ended up on a couple of these.

I placed a Stampin Up! Lattice Die (trimmed) with a stamped greeting and white poinsettia in the centre made from daisy confetti. The bottom daisy was colored with a stamp pad and they are held in placed with a brad.

The snowflake is MS with a horizontal punch greeting and a matching gross grain ribbon.

Gift Card Holder - Crescent Tags

These Gift Card Holders are made with the Sizzix Jumbo Crescent Tag die. The picture on the top right hand corner shows the additional card I placed inside that holds the gift card. I used the Stampin Up! Slit punch to create small crescent shapes to slide the card into. Each holder has an organza ribbon to keep it closed.

I folded the cardstock and placed it just inside the steel rule which leaves the fold on the bottom on the card. I used scrapbook paper, 3D Christmas tags, silk flowers, sequin stars, stamped greetings,

Cards - Baby Girl

I made a congratulations card and a set of cards for one of the girls at work who had a baby girl earlier this month.

I chose pink and green for my colors. The polka dot paper was printed on the color printer. The green is scrapbook paper. The card is bright pink. Those Stampin UP! nesting punches are great. The baby stamp is from a clear set.

Gift Card Holder - Recyled Cards

Some of these cards are so pretty they don't really need any other embellishment. For this blue one I added punched snowflakes and bling in their centres.

The holly card was great just the way it was so it was very easy. Check out the previous posts for a pic of how the gift card holder gets added to these cards.

Gift Card Holder - Recyled Cards

These are tri-fold cards which provide an envelope to hold a gift card. I cut out the fronts of old Christmas cards and glued them to coordinating cardstock. I added a few embellishments as required. See the previous post for how the card holder envelope is incorporated into the third flap.

These have an insert with a Christmas greeting.

Gift Card Holder - Recyled Cards

I'm creating some items for a fundraiser in November. I made several gift card holders.

These are full cards with a complete insert. I used a piece of cardstock 12x5.5 inches. I scored at 4.25 and 8.5 inches. It becomes a trifold card with 3.5 inches folded into the card. I placed a small envelope with a thumb space on this flap to hold the gift card.

The fronts are recycled Christmas cards. I added sequin stars to the Bethlehem on the left. In the cente a snowflake punch has been added to the night sky and the bottom was ripped below the greeting. The right hand picture shows the 3 pieces (front, back and flap) of the card.

Scrapbook Layout - F of S - Kindness

This was the first layout I produced as a sample for my bible study group.
I placed areas of my life in the 4 quadrants of the page on the right where I can exercise kindness (family, work, church and strangers). The curves flow into the centre circle which represents my life being fuller when I practice kindness in all these areas. I've placed journalling and scripture on the left with my title.