…my true love gave to me: a card with a greeting merry!
For the second year in a row, I signed up for the Christmas Card swap on Lettuce Craft, because who doesn’t like getting a little festive mail? Or mail in general, really?
Last year, I kept things fairly simple with a bit of embossing powder and die-cut messages (trust me, it’s simpler than it might sound), but this year I apparently lost all sense of reason when I saw the Christmas Trees box card on SVGCuts. This had presence, drama, and a great reason to play with some fun patterned papers that mysteriously find their way into one’s stash but don’t get used for being “too busy”.
Speaking of patterned papers: trying to decide on a colour scheme was pretty much impossible. In the end, I made three cards in a traditional red-and-green theme, and the other three using fun mid-century pinks and teals. The traditional set got gold stars and ornament hangers, and I used silver for the mid-century set. I stamped the back of each card with a fun, festive message that still left plenty of room to sign. The pattern came with a little train to attach to the inside front of the card, but I left it out to make things all about the trees.
I wouldn’t say that making six 3D cards was a mistake, but it sure was an undertaking. The actual assembly wasn’t so bad – I hit upon a rhythm and system that got me down to about 30 minutes of gluing and positioning per card – but cutting out all the different pieces and keeping them sorted until I could put them together was a challenge. I started by making little piles for each card, starting with the solid coloured base and then setting subsequent stars, tree bits, etc. on top, and then putting each little group into its own envelope to wait patiently to be glued together.
The other challenge came when it was time to mail them. When folded flat, they’re 7 inches square (or as square as you can be with irregular edges), which is bigger than most envelope sizes commonly found in stores. Sure, there are 9″ x 12″ envelopes for letter-sized paper, but that felt like overkill. I found some 7.5″ x 10″ “catalogue envelopes” at Staples which fit the bill nicely. And then…I worried that they would get bent in the mail, so I made little cardboard sleeves to give them a bit of stiffness. Some people helicopter-parent their kids; I do it to my crafts.
Luckily, my over-packaging seems to have worked: four out of six partners have received them so far, and they’re standing just as straight as they did before mailing.
Thanks for looking! 🙂
The Witty Child 