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Top Five Reasons to….

Erika L HayesLeave a comment
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

Wheelie Happy Hump Day

Erika L Hayes1 Comment
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As promised, I AM going to try and keep more stuff on my blog. Here we are, more stuff.

I want to encourage all crafty peeps out there, that it’s okay to copy a card. Most of the time what happens is you begin it helps break those mental blocks. I really loved this card from Vika Silmina. It’s a bit aged as these products came out a while ago. I looked at it and really wanted to use the Build-A-Tree die set that had been sitting on my desk for a bit. I loved the idea of a bear and trees so this was my launching point.

From the MFT blog

You can see where the inspiration took on its own life. I really liked the idea of the smaller scale “scene” from this card too.

While I loved the “thank you ring” die and I do own it, I decided to abandon the use of it when this card began to build itself into a more of a scene. I did get to use the Build-A-Tree set and love how it worked in this card. In case you don’t have this little lovely, You may want to check it out here.

It is my hope that you can see that finding inspiration in the beautiful designs of others is a great way to break the block. It also often pushes you to try new things. You may start off with a copy (in my opinion, the highest form of flattery) and end up with something completely different. Of course, it’s also okay to just copy a card you just like. (Be sure, of course, to give credit for the design if you post it online somewhere.)