Can you believe it's almost October? That's the best month to start designing and creating your holiday cards! With all the awesome new stamps and accessories in the Holiday Mini Catalog, there's almost too many ideas from which to choose! How do you decide?
If you are planning on doing some mass-producing of Christmas cards this year, remember to keep your project easily duplicatable. With a clean and simple design, your production line will be fun, not overwhelming. Plus, you can always step-up your simple design when you want to create a few extra-special cards for the most important people on your card list.
For today's examples, I'm starting with a simple design inspired by Sandi MacIver, then adding some additional stamping or different accents to show a variety of looks.
The elegant designs from the Peaceful Season Level 2 Hostess set perfectly complement the traditional colors of Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke and Very Vanilla. The holly leaves are colored with markers, and the dove is stamped with VersaMark, heat embossed with Gold Embossing Powder, and cut out. The new Vanilla Seam Binding makes a lovely faux-bow. So simple, yet very lovely, and super-easy to recreate over and over again!
Then, I tried some variations.
Same design, with two quick additions: the background piece is embossed with the Square Lattice Impressions Folder and the edges of the sentiment are heat embossed with gold.
Next, I tried stamping off some holly sprigs and adding a real bow to the background piece. Then I added a pierced border and some Basic Pearls to the greeting. This one took a little more time to make, but the pretty bow, lighter stamp images, and pearl details soften the look of the card.
It always amazes me how just a few details can change the look of a project so much!
Finally, I stamped more of the background of this card, which probably took the longest to do, since I had to re-color the rubber stamp so many times. I also threaded a new Deck The Halls Big Button through the Seam Binding before tying a bow. The thicker button means that this card would need to be sent in its own padded envelope, attached to a holiday package, or hand-delivered. But you know that special someone would treasure it!
What stamp set will you be using for this year's holiday cards? I'd love to know in the Comment section below!
Angie
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