Christmas cards

Anyone who knows me well enough to get a Christmas card also knows that they're homemade and never made out of new materials. This year was no different. Here's an array of the different cards that I put together for Christmas 2012!

All of the coloured paper I used is from magazines, because I have what seems like an endless supply of them. My cardstock is usually from the backs of used up notepads or scraps given to me by friends who didn't know what to do with the small, leftover pieces.

Style 1: cut-out

This was a common style in my cards this year. The idea behind it is simple: you cut a design out of the front layer of your card, then paste some kind of pretty paper behind the cutout so it becomes colourful. In this case, what I did was take some scrap cardstock and paste them together at the end of the process, creating a two-sized card without a fold. That way, I could paste the raw edges inside, where the design could show through the window without having a messy back on the card.

This cut-out style is what I used for most of my cards this year.

Cutting out a window and putting pretty magazine pages behind them is a cute way to 3-D your card!

I keep the backs of my cards simple, so I have lots of space to profess my undying love for the recipient!

 Style 2: postcard

The key to this style is to essentially cover one side of a piece of cardstock with beautiful paper, leaving the back to write on. In my case, I used really colourful magazine ads to create the postcard-like front, then I wrote a little message on it to make it festive. The back is totally blank, giving lots of space to write a nice message. This is a really simple card, but can be really beautiful if you choose your decorative paper carefully!

This style is really simple. I made a matching lined envelope (see top & far right) for an extra special touch.

This card went to my friend, Carolyn, and had its own matching lined envelope for a hint of fancy.

I try to choose paper that's beautiful and colourful but also has spots you can write on.

I'm really looking forward to experimenting with different styles and shapes for next year, so we'll see where that takes me. For now, Happy 2013!