Peridot Cards

A long time customer recently contacted me about making Christmas cards for her.  Instead of mass producing a single layout, I like to do a unique layout for each card.  This way there will hopefully be the “perfect” card for each recipient.

The papers I selected included different colors, not just the traditional red and green, and different sentiments, not just Merry Christmas.  I used many different printed papers from companies like My Mind’s Eye, Recollections and Authentique.  And specialty papers from DCWV, American Crafts and Crafters Companion.  Embellishments included ribbon, brads, baker’s twine, rhinestones, peel-offs and washi tape from companies like Queen & Company, Love From Lizi and Recollections.

I think I ended up with a good collection that has something for everyone.  Some of my favorites are the black and white with red mirror matting (in the first and second picture), the red and white stripe with red mirror matting (in the third picture) and any of the cards using the pink and teal retro prints (in all three pictures).

I really enjoyed making the cards and hope I am asked to do this again.

I purchased a Michael’s grab bag a few months ago hoping to get some of the paper, stamps and washi tape I had seen other people getting in their grab bags.  No such luck for me.  I ended up with a lot of kids crafts – fun foam, stickers, pom pom kits, etc.

I’m not usually a fan of stickers and I’ve never used fun foam, but I decided to try some of the grab bag supplies on cards.  It turns out that several of the sticker sets coordinated with a Valentine paper pad I already have.  And, since the organization where I donate my cards has started collecting Valentine cards, it was good timing.

The sticker packages had both “flat” and dimensional stickers.  The package of fun foam included a ton of pieces with several heart designs and a few sentiments.

In addition to the fun foam and stickers, I used some Love from Lizi peel-offs and washi tape for embellishment.  Several of the fun foam pieces were multi-part where the heart images could be “punched out” and used separately.

One of the sticker packages had a lot of square stickers with fun Valentine sentiments.  The size of the stickers made them perfect to use with this Operation Write Home card sketch.

For this card I used both flat and dimensional stickers.

Here I “backed” the foam hearts with a piece of printed paper which made the “punched out” areas more of a focal point.

So far I’ve made 60+ cards and still have a lot of supplies.  I’m a bit overloaded on pink and purple and think I’ll move on to something different for a change.

This is my last batch of Thanksgiving/autumn cards.  I used some more older papers from my stash.

The first batch paired a paisley pattern with a stripe.  Neither are specifically autumn themed but I think the colors worked well for autumn cards.  I used more brown cardstock for the matting.  I also used a khaki colored cardstock, which I embossed with a leaf pattern, on a few of the cards.  Embellishments included sequins, Love from Lizi peel offs and brads.

The last few cards used a tone-on-tone embossed leaf print and pumpkin print papers.  The paper has been in my craft room for years.  I used brown and purple cardstock for matting.  Sentiments were stamped using Versafine Vintage Sepia and Olympia Green inks.  Embellishments included Love from Lizi peel offs and enamel dots.

This last batch included 19 cards which brings my total to 49.  To make sure the cards make it to the charity in time, I’m packing them up now and will drop them off for delivery.  I still have lots of fall print papers, so I’m set there but I will be on the look-out for some new Thanksgiving/autumn themed stamps to use next year.

The next batch of cards used papers from an older paper pad – Harvest Delight by Recollections.

The first few cards used a floral print with a gray background and a foil treatment.  Black cardstock was used for the matting.  For the stamped sentiments I used a few different inks – Versafine Onyx Black and Smokey Gray.  I used Versamark Watermark ink for the embossing.  Embellishments included Love from Lizi peel offs and brads.

The next few cards used leaf and burlap prints.  Brown cardstock was used for the matting.  All of the sentiments were stamped with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink.  Embellishments included more Love from Lizi peel offs, brads and some specialty paper.

This batch included 16 autumn themed cards, so I’m getting closer to my goal.

I decided to keep going with the holiday cards, so on to Thanksgiving.

The first batch used 2 papers I purchased last year.  The houndstooth print is from Pink Paislee and the other is from Bo Bunny.  All of the cards used kraft cardstock for matting and Versafine Vintage Sepia ink for the stamped sentiments.  Embellishments included leaf shaped rhinestones, bakers twine, Love from Lizi peel offs, washi tape and brads.

I made a total of 14 cards, which is a long way to my goal of 50.  As both papers were from multi-sheet packs, I still have many sheets of both papers left but decided to move on to some different prints.

With all the hot weather I’m finding it difficult to stay in a fall holiday mood, but…  I’m continuing with the Halloween cards for donation as the charity needs them by mid-September.

There is still a lot of paper left in the Dead & Breakfast paper pad.  I’m determined to use as much of the paper as possible before purchasing a new Halloween collection.

I picked a new layout to get started.  I liked the look of the glimmer mist on earlier cards and decided to try it on a few more.  I sprayed a black and white spiderweb print with purple and green glimmer mists.  I tried not to overlap the colors too much as I didn’t want to end up with a muddy brown color.  The purple and green added some much needed brightness to the cards.

Continuing with the same layout, I paired a bat print paper for the background with an orange print for the focal panel.  All 8 cards used the same sentiment but a different image to match the papers – spider vs. bat.  I liked the white sentiment strip on the spider themed cards, but not the bat cards so I tried sponging the sentiment with orange ink to match the focal panel.

I switched to a different layout for the next group of cards.  The simple layout allowed me to use some of the border strips.  I had a few of the cut out images left and used those as the sentiments.  To coordinate with the spiderweb paper, I stamped a small spider in the lower right corner of the card.

There was still quite a bit of orange and black printed paper left.  It is a larger busier print, but a couple of the border strips worked well with it.  To cover some of the printed paper, I cut out the sentiment and matting using a scalloped banner die.  Love From Lizi peel-offs were used to separate the different printed papers on all of the cards.

The last 8 cards used 3 different layouts and most of the remaining paper scraps.  The first cards used a silver foil spider print with some more of the orange and black print.  A silver peel-off was used to separate the papers and the scalloped banner die was used for the sentiment.

I was having a hard time with the silver foil bone print paper.  I didn’t really like it paired with other prints so I decided to make it the focal panel.  I used a couple different colors of orange cardstock for backgrounds and the last of the cut out images for sentiments.  Some black satin ribbon was used on the cards with the larger bone print focal panel.

And a ghost shaped brad and some black glitter peel-offs were added on the cards with the smaller bone print focal panel.

I’ve now met my goal of 50 cards and am definitely ready to move on to a new paper collection.  I haven’t decided if I’ll start Thanksgiving cards right away or maybe do a few non-holiday cards.

I’m on to my 2nd batch of holiday cards for donation.  I’m working on Halloween cards so I pulled out the Recollections Dead & Breakfast 12×12 paper pad.  I used this paper pad last year and still have several sheets of paper left, including a few of the cut-aparts.

The papers are all black, white, orange and gray in color.  A few of the sheets have a gold or silver foil treatment.  I like most of the prints, but find them a bit difficult to combine as they are all quite busy.  And as this is a 12×12 paper pad some of the prints are larger scale.  In fact, one of the sheets included larger images that I was able to cut out and use on several cards.

To not lose too much of the print, I decided to stick with the paper as backgrounds or larger focal panels.  Once I found a few layouts that I liked, I decided to make several cards using each.

My favorite card used a spiderweb print paper, orange cardstock and a stamped panel.  I think it’s my favorite because of the stamped panel.  I used 2 stamps, a spiderweb which fit perfectly in the left corner and the sentiment.  For some sparkle I added a couple Love From Lizi black glitter peel-offs.

The next cards used a few of the leftover cut-aparts.  The “eek” and “boo” sentiments are silver foil.  I paired them with a silver foil print for the background.  So the sentiments didn’t get lost, I matted them with black cardstock and then again on larger orange or purple cardstock.

My favorite cut-apart is the cat which I paired with a scrap of orange dotted paper.  I used a light gray cardstock for the background.  It was a little “flat” so I added a few dots with Marmalade Distress Stickles Glitter Glue.

For the last cut-apart, I matted it with a wide black cardstock border.  I used a scrap of larger print paper and orange cardstock for the background, separating the papers with gold washi tape.

I used a different layout for the next batch of cards.  Since many of the prints worked well with this layout I made several cards, changing them up by using ribbon, ink, glimmer mist, peel-offs, etc.

The first 9 cards used 2 printed papers, both with a gold foil treatment.  The next 9 cards paired a black and white spiderweb print with a silver foil spider print.  The black and white paper seemed too stark when combined with the other papers.  To tone down the white I first tried sponging the paper with black ink which I think it gives a kind of cloudy night sky look.  I then remembered some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist that I had purchased a few months ago.  I had never used glimmer mist and thought it would be fun to try.  I sprayed the spiderweb paper with the Golden Iron color.  It’s a different look than the sponged ink and gives the cards a subtle shine.

I then used a few of the larger sentiment images I had cut out.  I paired them with black and orange printed papers, separated by a Love From Lizi black glitter peel-off.  The card still needed something so I added a black flag in the upper left corner.

I used up the last of the cut-aparts on the next 4 cards.  The cut-aparts were the perfect size for this layout.  For something different, I used some ribbon and bakers twine to add interest to the cards.

I still have several sheets of paper left and haven’t met my goal of 50 cards, so I’m continuing with the Halloween theme.

I’m on to my next batch of Christmas cards for donation.  I needed another 20+ cards to reach my goal of 50 cards.

I’m still using papers from the never-ending Recollections Christmas paper pad.  I pulled out the blue snowflake paper, which is my favorite, to use as the background and a Christmas gift paper for the focal panel.  I used the Creative Memories Decorative Trimmer to cut the wavy edge on the focal panel.  I used a coordinating blue cardstock for the matting and the accent strip across the focal panel.  For some sparkle I added a glittered brad on the accent panel.

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I still had most of the 12×12 sheet of the Christmas gift paper so decided to use it as a background.  I added a strip of the blue snowflake paper to the right side of the card.  I stamped the sentiment, from the Joy Claire Christmas Borders stamp set, in Memento Bahama Blue ink.  The card looked a little “flat” so I added a few blue sequins.

For the next group of cards I combined some paper and cardstock scraps.  The sentiment is stamped in Memento Bahama Blue ink.  For some sparkle I added some silver washi tape and blue rhinestones.

There are several sheets of faux glitter paper in this paper pad.  I haven’t used any of them and decided to give it a try.  I added a purple ribbon to separate the prints.  I wasn’t sure what to use for a sentiment as it didn’t seem like a “Merry Christmas” type card.  I decided on a stamp that included a “Winter Wishes” sentiment and snowman.  I colored the snowman with Copic Markers and a gel pen.

I liked how the faux glitter paper looked and since there was most of the sheet left, used it as the background on several more cards.  I again paired it with the mitten print paper.  On the first couple cards, I added purple buttons.  On the next cards I added some Love from Lizi glitter peel-offs.

For the last few cards I used up the last of the pink and purple scraps.

I ended up with a total of 49 cards, one short of the goal.  There’s still a ton of paper left in the Recollections paper pad and I’ll be making more cards to donate.  For now, I’ll move on to another holiday.

The charity where I donate most of my cards has already started to package and ship fall/winter cards – Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.  It was a bit difficult to get in a cold weather mood since summer is just starting, but once I pulled out some Christmas papers and stamps I was able to get going.

For the first 3 cards I pulled out some blue and lavender snowflake paper that’s been in my scrap stack for quite some time.  It’s not the traditional red and green Christmas colors, but it has a nice wintery look. For some sparkle I added lavender glitter to accent the snowflakes.

I then switched to paper from the Recollections Christmas paper pad.  It’s a huge paper pad that I’ve had for years and no matter how much paper I use, the paper pad never seems to shrink in size.  I used the same layout for the next 4 cards.  I think it’s amazing how different cards can look just by using different papers.

I still had some of the stocking paper left, so pulled out a green snowflake paper to pair with it.  Instead of using the stocking paper as a single piece, I cut it into 3 strips and matted them on a piece of green cardstock.  To finish the card I added a small “happy holidays” sentiment.  I liked the look so much I decided to make a few more cards in a red theme.

I still had some of the red and green snowflake papers left so I paired them with the ornament paper.  To separate the prints, I used a scallop border punch on the matting for the ornament paper.  Keeping with the scallop theme, I used a scalloped circle to mat the sentiment.  To bring a little sparkle to the card I added rhinestones to a few of the ornaments.

Having used up the red and green papers, I switched to a completely different color scheme.  I pulled out some pink and purple print papers and a darker purple cardstock for matting.  I used VersaFine Imperial Purple ink to stamp the sentiment and a couple dies sets to create the sentiment panels.  Although it’s difficult to see in the picture, I added Love From Lizi iridescent peel-offs for some sparkle on the “Happy Holidays” cards.

So far I’ve made 26 cards.  I’ve picked a few other favorite papers from the Recollections paper pad and will be making several more Christmas cards.  My goal is to make about 50 cards and then switch to another fall/winter holiday.