Are you old fashioned like me? Do you still send out Christmas cards? I love the tradition, and I try like the Dickens each year to keep it alive. (Ha, ha. See what I did there?) Of course, I get busy like many of us do, and it sometimes ends up feeling like just another chore to get done. But something serendipitous happened last year. And after successfully repeating it this year, I’m happy to say I love sending Christmas cards again.
I make a lot of cards as a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator. A lot! (Shocking, right?) I love making them, but between classes and workshops and demonstrations last year, I was left with more than 50 different cards by the beginning of December and nothing to do with them. At the same time, I was stressing because I hadn’t even started designing my own cards yet to send out.
Well, I don’t know how long it took this numbskull to finally put two and two together, but it dawned on me that I could just send these cards to my friends. Who says all the cards had to be the same anyway, right? So, I went one-by-one through my recipient list and chose a card from my stash that “fit” each person, whether it be style, sentiment, color, or just overall feeling. It was so much fun, and in the end, I used nearly all the cards I had made.
I did the same thing again this year with all the cards I’ve made the past two months, and I’m happy to say I enjoyed it just as much. I especially love how it forced me to actually think for a few moments about each person I was sending a card to, which just felt so much more personal. And once again, I used almost my entire stack of cards. It’s a win-win!
These first five were from my “Sweetest Christmas” Card Crafting Café class I taught in November.
I used three main stamp sets for these cards; Christmas Banners, Sweet Candy Canes, and Peace to You, all from Stampin’ Up! Aren’t the candy canes the cutest? Most of them were die cut directly from the Sweetest Christmas designer series paper (DSP) while others were stamped first before die cutting.
It was also important for me to remember “the reason for the season” this year in my cards. The Peace to You stamp set, with its images of Mary and Joseph with Baby Jesus, and the wintry scene around the church, was the perfect way to do that. I even tried some non-traditional colors on a few of these cards and I think they turned out beautifully.
These last cards were made using Penguin Place and Peaceful Deer, two of my favorite Stampin’ Up! holiday stamp sets. I used these stamps a lot last year, so I only made a few cards with them this year. These two were my favorites.
As you can imagine, I had a lot of fun making these cards. And now that I’m no longer tied to sending the same card to everyone, I can spend time trying out new stamp sets and techniques each year, make a bunch of different cards, and still use them to spread the joy of the season with others. What do you think? Is this something you’ll try? Or do you have a card tradition that you do? Leave a comment and let me know.
I hope these cards inspired you and that you’re having fun doing something crafty this holiday season. In the meantime, I wish you all the Merriest of Christmases, the Happiest of Hanukkahs, and overall merriment this holiday season. Peace to all of you, and until next time… keep on crafting!
-Steve
