More Christmas Card Stash-Buster Cards

As I've come to the end of some of my (hoarded) Christmas stash, I've made a few "one-off" cards. That means there is only one of them! 

In years past, ALL of my Christmas cards were one-off cards but that is just crazy-making. Nowadays, I'll repeat designs even if some of the materials are different. I'll do that until I reach the end of a collection, then I'll make a "one-off" card. Such cards are also great stash-busters.

Here are some examples from this fall's Christmas card lollapalooza, which is just a fancy word for the mess happening right now in my craft room:

 This first card is not a new design but it worked well to use up the tiny (and I do mean TINY!) bits from this paper collection. And believe it or not, I think I MIGHT be able to eke out another notecard or two from what I now have left. At some point, I'm going to have to quit with these leftovers but I just love them so much!

This card used up an October Afternoon elf and two strips of my hoarded Authentique papers. Sadly, this is another company that I think is now out of business, so I can hardly stand to use these papers! I will probably have to keep a small stash just to look at from time to time. *sigh*

My long-time scrapbooking friends will remember Ki Memories, one of my all-time favorite companies, also long out of business. Somehow I still have stashes of Ki paper which occasionally work for cards. The inspiration for this card was the snowman. When cleaning out some embellishments, I ran across his hat, body, and scarf separately. I glued them together, vowing that he'd find his way to a card this year!

At the bottom of my die cut bin I found several large circular pieces (I think they are also hoarded October Afternoon bits). I arranged three coordinating bits in a zig-zag formation on my card front, then added in Santa, a greeting, and some glittered greenery. This zig-zag design is one I know I'll use again for different themes.

The red and green chipboard stockings were the inspiration for this card. I don't even remember where they came from, but they've waited a very long time to be used on a card! As I dug through my stash, I found a grinch-style die cut tree that matched perfectly. After that, it was just a matter of finding some paper to coordinate, and this card pretty much made itself.

Having made these and several other "one-off" cards, I'd suggest starting with the focal point and not the paper -- in this case, the stockings, Santa, snowman, elf, etc. For me, it seems easier to find paper to coordinate with those items than it is to find focal point pieces to match papers. And keep in mind, the paper you use does not even need to be Christmas themed, as long as the colors and patterns coordinate. Many of the papers I used, especially for envelope liners, are not designed for holidays. 

Here's to more stash-busters...so we can make room for new and beautiful goodies!

Thanks for stopping by today!
Janet