hand-crafted cards made easy ..

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(warning .. EXTREMELY picture-heavy post)

When I knew it was time to make our cards this year, the idea seemed like such a simple one.
hand-made Christmas cards ...
I mean really - how difficult could it be ? :)

Anytime you ask yourself that - you should ALWAYS know it's a precursor to terror.

ok, honestly it wasn't so much difficult as it was tedious and painstakingly time-consuming. But, in the end I managed to create almost 4 dozen cards; 90% of them unique + 100% created with scrap booking supplies & our little hands. :)

In the beginning - I tried to make each card totally different from the last.

ribbon cut at an angle in descending sizes
buttons hot glued on as ornaments


scrapbook paper cut to the length of the card
ribbon hot glued on top & bottom border


I laid my buttons on the card in a tree shape
lifted the buttons one at a time- placing them back onto hot glue
hot glued ribbon on top for 'tree star'


2 pieces of contrasting scrapbook paper cut to length of card and hot glued in place
ribbon cut to same length and hot glued over 'seaming' both papers together
stamped 'happy holidays' onto cardstock, then cut out and hot glued onto card

cut scrapbook paper and ribbon to fit card width

added scrap book candy cane embellishment + buttons and then stamped

scrapbook paper glued onto card with jewel sticker embellishments + a stamp


cut triangle + star + 'tree stump' out of cardstock
hole-punched multiple colors of construction paper & collected the dots
glued all together & stamped


cut these adorable squares out of a dollar store gift bag
cut ribbon to fit diagonally
hot glued all together


scrapbook paper and ribbon cut to fit card
hot glued together & stamped

cut equal rectangles out of scrapbook paper
lightly traced a circle with a coffee mug, onto the card
marked every so often for a the glue spot (very scientific, I know ...)
glued paper pieces onto card stock then stamped + hot glued ribbon

Fast Forward to day 3 of card making .. I decided to 'mass produce' the designs.

I loved the idea of totally unique cards - but honestly after hours of glue burns and trying to come up with new ideas; I figured 'it's ok to have similar cards.' :)

So, here are the rest of them in all their glory .. thanks for looking !
For the record ... next year - I promised the husband I'm buying cards ;)

cut backgrounds out of scrapbook paper & hot glued onto card front
created white 'frames' out of white card stock & glued onto scrapbook paper background
cut a triangle out of the same card stock, then sliced into pieces
glued together in shape of tree + embellished with jewel/ribbon



these trees are made of cute swatches of fabric, cut into triangles
because the fabric was red, I hot glued the fabric trees onto green cards
then hot glued thin brown ribbon for the stump + jewel embellishment for the 'tree star'


scrapbook paper + ribbon hot glued onto cards and stamped


scrapbook paper cut to fit & hot glued onto the card
ribbon + buttons hot glued as embellishments
stamped


these trees are made of cute swatches of fabric, cut into triangles
because the fabric was green, I hot glued the fabric trees onto red cards
then hot glued thin brown ribbon for the stump + jewel embellishment for the 'tree star'


scrapbook paper + ribbon cut to fit & hot glued onto the card
added stamps + stickers



ribbon cut at an angle in descending sizes
jewels hot glued on as ornaments


cut backgrounds out of scrapbook paper & hot glued onto card front
created white 'frames' out of white card stock and glued onto scrapbook paper background
cut a triangle out of the same card stock, then sliced into pieces
cut 'stump' out of wood colored construction paper
glued together in shape of tree
hot glued jewel for 'tree top star'



cut rectangles out of white + green card stock, then hot glued onto red card
stamped & decorated with scrapbook embellishment + square from that dollar store giftbag



scrapbook paper cut to fit and glued onto cards
ribbon hot glued onto borders & stamped

cut 4 equal rectangles out of a winter scrapbook paper
cut 4 equal lines of ribbon
glued both onto green cards
embellished with buttons, stamps & scrap-booking snowflake stickers

cut 4 equal rectangles out of a winter scrapbook paper
cut 4 lines of ribbon to fit length of card
glued both onto white cards
hot glued ribbons & stamped