Quick Assemble Cards!

Happy Christmas in July, Flockinistas! Melissa, here, with a few projects that will tickle your Christmas fancy and get you in the mood for that dreaded task of preparing Christmas cards.

Now, if you're like me, you wait until the absolute last minute and then end up buying cards because you don't want to spend the time making them. Who has time for that? Well, I have three different cards I made, using both of the Christmas kits available in the Big Pink Bird's Bargain Bin this month, and they each assembled in just minutes! Yes, there was a little prep work involved, but each card only contains one "fussy" item (that is an item that has to be die cut, hand cut, or has some kind of extra steps involved because it is more intricate). The rest of it is quick cuts, some inking, some adhesive, and ready to go out the door rather quickly!

Here, let me show you what I'm talking about:

This first set is fairly simple, and a more traditional card, in the sense of the stamping and the layout, but I really love how it turned out. It uses elements from both the traditional and the brights kits, some white lace ribbon (ask Suzanne about this if you're interested in it) that I soaked with a red Glimmer Mist (available via special order), a bit of green embroidery floss, ink (including Prima chalk ink in Rose Bud, available either as a set or individually via special order), and a layer of gold Stickles under a layer of yellow Stickles for the star. The stamped portion and it's mat are pop dotted off the card to give it some dimension, but it's still flat enough for a standard rate stamp. I considered my "fussy" item on this card to be two small things: the lace (because it had to dry, though the actual dying process took just moments) and the Stickled star (because I had to build up layers of Stickles to get the desired effect). All in all, I assembled five cards in about 5-6 minutes after prep work (the bow on the floss took a little extra time, but it's oh-so-cute!).

The card base for this card is 5.5"x4". The top pattern is 3.75"x3" with the bottom pattern measuring 3.75"x2.25". The mat for the stamped portion measures 4" tall, and is wide enough to give a .25" matting on either side. 

This second design uses the traditional kit only, and uses another ornament that I colored with Prima inks used like watercolors. Basically I dipped a brush in water, blotted the ink pad onto a craft mat, and picked the color up on the brush to paint the ornament with it. Because of this, my ornaments are stamped in Staz-On ink in black, so the colors won't run. I used some Stickles in Holly and glitter pens to bring more life to the ornament, and used some silver pipe cleaners that I had on hand from a previous craft project. I used my Silhouette to cut my borders, since to hand punch with my border punch would've taken longer (though not much... I've done it by hand before in the past). My "fussy" part on this project should be obvious: the ornament, which I stamped, then painted, colored, and Stickled. Once it was dry, I fussy cut it from the paper and pop dotted it to the card. All in all, I assembled five cards in about four-and-a-half to five minutes after prep work. 

The card base for this card is 5.5"x4". The top pattern is 3.75"x2" with the bottom pattern measuring 3.75"x3". The punched border is a .75" width (at the widest part).

My third card, and probably my most favorite, uses the brights kit only. It's a pretty simple design, but I really love it! It may seem like the simplest of all of the cards, but a bit of time went into the poinsettias. I used a Spellbinders Poinsettia die that *is* available for special order for those who love it as much as I do (one of my favorite die purchases of all time, other than my Silhouette), and it is more time consuming than I expected it to be, but that's mostly because I was unfamiliar with how the die actually worked when I started. So, basically, you have to run the die through once to cut the paper, and then remove the excess paper, flip over the dies, and run it through again with a self healing spacer (honestly, I just used a piece of extra chipboard and it worked just as well) to do the embossing. I did mine in four different card stocks that I had on hand: three shades of pink and a sheet of red bling, plus the green for the leaves. I curled the petals a little for added dimension and then layered them together in a specific pattern (dark to light, depending on which color was my largest petals). The finishing touches were the button for the poinsettia center, the lace, and the rub on sentiment (which is also part of the kit). The "fussy" part of this card is the poinsettia. The rest of it was fairly easy to put together! Altogether, I assembled four of these cards in less than four minutes after prep work. 

The card base for this card is 5.5"x4". The patterned paper for this card measures 5.25"x2.25"

So, if you've made it this far and don't feel overwhelmed, let me end this by explaining that, save for last year when there just was NOT time, I have assembled 50-100 Christmas cards by hand for the past 5 years or so. I generally spend a weekend on cards, and I keep my designs consistent to what I shared here: simple, with no more than one fussy item that I will prep for 5 minutes, here and there, over the course of a week. I cut all of the papers one day, then I will ink them (if I choose to do so). The next day, I create a little assembly line to put it all together. The nice thing about the assembly line is that you can get the kids involved in helping out, if yours are old enough to handle using the adhesive and sticking things to cards.

And there you have it! I hope you've found some of your Christmas spirit in this post and continue to do so as the month continues.

Until next time!
Keep scrappin',
Melissa