The Cards Of Christmas Past

I am right in the middle of making Christmas cards....


I make about 150-200 each year so I usually start working on them in October to get it done....it is truly a labor of love! 

 I can't show you this year's card because it is supposed to be a surprise, but I thought I'd post some photos of cards from years in the past...my theme is always a Christmas tree....

This is the one of the first handmade Christmas card that I ever made.   Ben helped me make them and we had so much fun that I decided to make cards every year....

Here is one is made from magazine pages....I just cut out anything green and then chopped it up in bits.  That way the tree is at least 50% green....

This one is a "shaker box".  The glitter is loose and moves around when you shake the card....

 I love sewing on paper....it's so easy and really saves money because adhesive is SO expensive.  Here is one where I sewed photos onto a card shaped like a house...

This one had a special closure feature...

With a message and photo inside on dictionary paper...

I think this one is my all time favorite.  I used up lots and lots of paper scraps and each one was so unique....

Here is a really simple one...who doesn't love glitter glue?

This one utilized old Christmas cards....

This one utilized paint sample strips.  Just recently I saw some photos on pinterest where they cut the trees at an angle so the white strips are on the diagonal and it looks SO much better.  I could have gotten twice the trees per strip and they look so much more festive that way!  Sad that there was no pinterest back then...

And this one utilized magazine and catalog pictures decoupaged to card stock.....sticky work!

Here's one using fabric and iron-on adhesive, sprayed with glittery spray paint...

...one using felt cut into the shape of mittens then embroidered with beads...

 
...and one that's just fun....

And finally, the single most time consuming card I've ever made...it was like making 5 cards in 1...

About half way through this project I wondered what in the world I had been thinking...

To top it all off the cards were just barely under the weight limit for special postage, so if the envelope was a little heavy or I added a note or photo to the envelope it made it more expensive to send.  They had to weigh every single envelope at the post office...but, they turned out beautifully so I guess it was worth it.

It's a challenge to come up with a fresh idea each year....