I freely admit that I'm usually quite late to start my personal Christmas cards. A lot of that has to do with the Christmas card classes and kits I design for Memory Bound. Those big projects tend to occupy a lot of my time during the fall months when one would normally work on Christmas cards.
Instead of rushing around at the last minute, this year I decided to try something different. I've been working on my cards for several months now off and on as the mood strikes. This has turned out to be a very good process for me and now I have 45+ cards already done. Since I'm still on a roll I'll just keep going, and any extra cards I don't need will be saved for next year.
One thing that has helped me be more productive this fall is setting up a little "station" with my Christmas card stash. I bought a new line from Stamperia this year (like I needed more Christmas stuff...HA!) and filled one of my mom's old glass fridge containers with the chunky die cuts. In the other one I placed some larger pieces I've had for years. I love some of them so much that I don't know if I'll every be able to use them, but step one is having them handy! In the small bowls I placed text pieces I've made and cut apart and smaller die cut pieces. My glitter, Nuvo Drops, and sparkle brush also fit nicely on the tray.
I have a small enamelware tin which came from Mom's kitchen filled with extra die cuts and punched pieces. I will often make a few of these from scraps of cardstock to have on hand for cards. It's really nice to be able to dig around and find just what you need.
So with this set-up, whenever I feel like making a card I have everything I need to get started.
I started putting the completed cards and lined envelopes into one of my many Longaberger baskets. As the year has progressed, I had to break out a bigger basket to hold them all! It's nice to have a visual reminder of my progress.
In addition to making cards with newer products, I'm really making a concerted effort this year to use up some older stash. One of my favorite companies (now sadly out of business) was October Afternoon. I have a lot of their products that I just can't bring myself to use...especially for cards that will be given away. But I finally decided I COULD use some of the papers in this old 8x8 pad.
In looking through my stash of die cuts, I found a lot of kraft tags, so I decided to come up with a design to use a few of them up. I started with a panel of patterned paper from the pad, then added a cream die cut stitched rectangle and tag. Beyond that foundation, each of these cards varies a bit based on the cut-apart artwork I used on the front.
I still have plenty of these papers left so I may make a few more October Afternoon cards from my stash. I also have a lots of kraft tags left so I know I'll be using this design again! It's a good foundation for any card for any occasion.
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