There’s no point denying it, we’re definitely on the countdown to Christmas now. So over the course of the next few Mondays, we thought we’d bring you some inspiration in the form of Christmas cards, but not just any Christmas cards – these are useful Christmas cards! They’re the kind that you can make into a practical production line. The kind of versatile design where you can give each one a unique touch, but that still follow a similar layout so that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel for every card you make. Enjoy!
Sue Tonga loves to send Christmas cards to her extended family members that are personal and handmade. Sue's family love to see photos of her kids and so she created this cute pocket card which holds a tag with the kids' photo and room for a handwritten message. Sue chose to use the Crate Paper Snow Day collection which contains a lovely set of whimsical chipboard elements which were perfect for embellishing the cards.
To create the card, Sue first started with a base of Kraft cardstock that measured 3 3/4 inches x 5 3/4 inches. Sue then cut a piece of Hambly gold overlay and a piece of Snow Day paper to create the pocket. Sue adhered the Snow Day paper to the bottom of the overlay with double-sided tape and then sewed the combined piece to the Kraft cardstock, leaving the top open to allow for the tag to slide in an out.
Sue then adhered the Kraft cardstock to a piece of vanilla cardstock measuring 4 x 6 inches. To create the tag, Sue cut another piece of Kraft measuring 3 1/4 inches x 5 inches. Sue cut a different pattern of Snow Day paper, sewed around it in gold thread and added a 3 inch square photo to the centre. Sue then stuck it towards the top of the tag and added some ribbon and a fabric brad to finish it off.
Sue says you can easily make more than 12 cards using the Crate Paper Snow Day chipboard set due to the simple card design. It is fun to be able to create lots of cards that are all similar but are unique too. And don't forget, if you don't have children and would still like to do something like this for your Christmas cards, you can always include photos of your favourite Christmas ornaments instead.
These BasicGrey Jovial cards are super effective and great to make on a production line when you’re creating a large volume of cards in preparation for Christmas. To make them, Kathie’s used the Jovial 6x6 paper pad and a set each of Woolies, Pops and Die Cut Shapes. She estimates that you can make around ten cards with one set of products, with loads of paper left for other projects.
Making the cards is easy. Kathie simply cut her favourite sheets from the paper pad to 6x4inches and adhered them to blank cards cut from Vanilla cardstock. She then trimmed the offcut patterned papers with decorative scissors to create a pile of border strips. She overlayed two or three strips over each background sheet, then adhered one of the DieCut shapes over the strips with 3D tape.
A Wooly or a Pop perches on top of each shape. To finish, Kathie printed up some Christmas sentiments on the leftover cardstock and adhered one to each card.
Caz whipped up these quick and easy Christmas Cards using the new Everybody Loves Christmas rang from Echo Park. Caz cut out the 8 larger journaling blocks from the Journaling Cards sheet of paper. She then chose co-ordinating patterned paper for each one and covered the front of the white cards.
The journaling blocks were mounted on double sided foam tape and attached to the lower half of the card. 2 thin strips of contrast patterned paper were added to the top and bottom of the cards and a sticker where needed.
Caz then used the smaller journaling blocks and some other strips of patterned paper to decorate envelopes to match the cards.
