Top Five Reasons to….

Year-round Christmas cards. Yes! I try to make 5-10 Christmas cards a month. Why? Well, as most of you know the season for Christmas Stamps and Dies starts sometime in September. There are so many choices! I sometimes “over buy” for a year. I rarely send out cards that are identical. Additionally, I often found in the past that I would buy many Christmas theme sets and only pull them out once a year, if at all.

After a few years, some of the products I purchased didn’t even see the light of day. I only would use my Christmas goodies a few months a year. What a total shame.

When I was talking to my BFF (Golda)about this, she mentioned that she had some of the same frustrations. She told me she would make Christmas cards throughout the year. I can’t remember if she set a number, but I decided if I made 10 a month that’s 120 Christmas cards, or even at 5 that is 60 over the year. This struck me as a good plan mostly because I wouldn’t need to stress the already stressful season. I usually have some to spare and pass on to charity which is another bonus. I found also that I really enjoy the longer time spent as I can think about the people I am sending cards too. It makes for a much better year.

Maybe this is something you can start doing! Think of all the fun you will have. Also, the guilt doesn’t hit as hard on buying the latest and greatest when you have already been using your stamps from previous years! You know that over the upcoming year you will use them!

TOP FIVE REASONS TO MAKE CHRISTMAS AND HOLIDAY-THEMED CARDS YEAR ROUND

  1. I am not stressed about getting cards out
  2. I get to address 5-10 envelopes a month for Christmas cards (if they move a quick label fixes it) and have no need to have a marathon addressing session (Bonus: I also sometimes have time to add cuteness to the envelope that will be going out.)
  3. I get to use my product all year long
  4. I get exposed to the other things in my Christmas themes to use on everyday projects. I find that a lot of my Christmas theme stamps and papers can go with everyday goodies to make a fantastic pairing.
  5. It usually helps keep me in a holly jolly mood all year round

Simply Watercolor Christmas

Yes, I am a forever student. I just began the Online Card Class Simply Watercolor Christmas. Yesterday was day one. Using the ideas from the instructors I completed two cards.

Watercolor Project #1 – Gift box
Watercolor Project #2 – Christmas Tree

While my cards are not my favorite, I did discover something fun in class. I love the way Kristina showed me how to get a more opaque look from the metallic paints. A couple things that I would point out.

  1. MAKE sure your paint is DRY before removing masking tape
  2. Burnish the side of the tape that will be holding back the watercolor
  3. Keep those pencil lines light and when possible, use water soluble pencil
  4. Don’t be afraid to experiment.

On my tree, I wanted to make a big star, but I wanted to highlight the paint not the die cutting. Because the sentiment is large, I decided to paint the star.

Problem: I am not so good at star painting. Like they are more than primitive stars more like toddler star.

Solution. I die cut a star from masking tape. My original though was to use it as a mask, but I couldn’t use the negative space because it was so thin on one side and I didn’t think the tape would hold the watercolor back. (There was other stuff on the die cut).

Second Solution: I used the positive edge of the star placed it over the tree, and outlined it very carefully with the gold paint. Removed the tape and then filled in the star. It work wonderfully!

Something I love about taking classes, they make me think. I must not fall back on my comfortable way of doing things. That star is my happy for this first class. I love how it looks on that tree! It really was the finishing touch.

Stay tuned for more projects.