Fun Festive Makes #3: Greetings Cards

Season's Greetings

In this 3 part series we're looking at a few fun and relatively quick festive makes, so you can enjoy some crafty goodness over the season without getting overwhelmed. This time we are looking at making some simple xmas greetings cards.

In part 1 we looked at some ideas for gift knitting, and in part 2 we took a trip down memory lane to our childhood with some simple paper snowflakes.

Creativity is important for well being - and before you say you're not creative, think play! Everyone is creative - but many of us have simply forgotten how to play. Take a little oasis of joy away from the noise and hurly burly of the festive season, embrace simplicity and enjoy!

As we mentioned in previous posts, don’t feel you have to be all or nothing with this - be real about how much time you have or want to dedicate to this so it still feels fun. You don’t have to slog away making your xmas completely handmade - it’s ok to just buy some things and keep the handmade for your nearest and dearest who are really going to appreciate your creations. I usually mix things up with some charity bought cards, handmade, and digital depending on who I’m sending them to.

Making Easy Festive Greetings Cards

Making  your own unique cards can be great fun, and also add a more personal touch for the lucky recipients. You can make these as simple or complex as you want to, depending on your time and  what you enjoy. I made these for xmas, but you can easily use the same approach to make batches for other occasions such a birthdays.

To save some time opt for ready cut card mounts with matching envelopes - these are readily available from craft or lifestyle shops like The Range (uk) and are fairly inexpensive.

If you are a crafter then you are bound to have some stash - and you don’t need to go out and buy a load of xmas themed material - unless you want to that is! Just use what you have - anything goes.

Unless you are making just a few cards for the special folk in your life, then it’s a good idea to work in batches. I’ve just decorated a large sheet of cartridge paper using wood blocks and stencils in layers with acrylic paint or Gesso (white emulsion would work for this). Then once that’s dry wash over with watercolours or dyes. The acrylic paints are 'waterproof' when dry, so resist the water colour washes. To keep things simple you can paint the background first then print/stencil over the top. 

Next I’ve folded and torn the sheet into rectangles which will be applied to the card - this is a quick and easy way of creating an interesting and unique background. I rubbed the torn edges with a gold oil pastel to add a bit of glitz - you could also use gold gel pens, paint or pencils/crayons too so you don't need to get an oil pastel if you don't have one.  

Because I had it in my stash I’ve used a rubber stamp with white embossing powder for the greeting (Nadolig Llawen is Welsh for merry Christmas if you were wondering). If you don’t have any of that, you could just write your own greeting in white, or use your computer to make a page for multiple greetings that you can print off and cut out.  

Keep adding elements if you feel they are needed, depending what you have in your stash. I made a little stamp using fun foam and card in a bird share which I printed in gold on some red paper. The red underneath will alter how the gold looks. I added a little bit of ancient glitter from the depths of my stash before cutting out the birds, then a dab of another gold around the edge to cover the red edges.  

All that’s left then is to assemble your cards........then best get them written and posted before the last post (note to self)!  

I hope this series had been helpful and inspired you to get crafting , and that you manage to ring fence some 'you' time for  festive creativity.  

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This post was originally published in Dec 2020 and has been updated