Some very fun Christmas card ideas from my friend Vicki (who probably snatched them from somewhere on Pinterest!):
This one is made with a blue base card, red paper cut with "stamp" punches, and blue paper cut with square punches. Punch white circles for the snowmen's heads, place them in the corners, and trim the sides to match the square on which they sit. Use tiny black punched circles or beads for the eyes and smiles, and small orange triangles cut for the noses. Stamp white snowflakes across the bottom.
For this card, choose a Christmas-themed stamp and stamp it with red ink on a cream-colored rectangle of scrapbook paper. Glue this on a slightly larger red mat, and then glue the whole piece onto a slightly larger green mat. Glue the matted picture to the front of your card, stamp a sentiment at the bottom, and run a green or red ribbon through punched holes on the left side. (Make sure you punch the holes only on the front of the folded card, not all the way through the front and back.)
This card is similar to the last, except that the stamped image is stamped onto white paper or cardstock, colored in with color pencils, and the edges are inked. In this example, just one mat was used, and extra music note stamps were used around the card instead of tying a ribbon bow.
Here are a few more cards using various stamps, ribbons, border punches, embossed papers, and a torn and inked border.
Vicki is our favorite craft go-to person. She brought these cards in for an event at our ladies' group last Christmas. Since each lady would only spend about 20 minutes at each station, she made a "card-making express" table. She pre-cut or punched all the pieces that would need to be assembled for each card and assembled them ahead of time in ziploc baggies, along with any ribbons or stickers needed for that particular card. (The one pictured below has the completed sample on top.) She also laid out glue sticks, stamps, and inkpads. Each lady chose a baggy, assembled her card, and stamped it as she wished, either following the example or adding her own creative twist. Some also stamped a sentiment inside, while others left the insides blank. Each participant was able to make at least one card, and sometimes several, in the 20 alloted minutes and then take them with her. Everyone loved the event so much that we had a whole card-making event this year!
I love scrapbooking, but for people who would like to dabble in some paper-craftiness without making the commitment of starting a scrapbook that will probably never get finished, card-making events are great fun. Participants can make a few cards to send to friends without buying a lot of materials or starting anything that needs to be finished later. And there is no fun like the fun of getting a bunch of women together over crafting supplies! If you have one person get the materials ready ahead of time like Vicki did, consider having everyone make a donation to cover the supplies.
Happy card-making! :-)
