Christmas cards that didn't quite work

When I was making my Christmas cards I tried lots of different things - some worked and some didn't. These two were nice enough, but they didn't quite look right and I've been having problems figuring out why.

One problem with both cards is that the Christmas tree didn't stamp very well in the white ink, and filling in details with a gel pen didn't really work. I should really have turned the tags over and tried again.

For the one with the two tags I think it would have been better with a mat of some sort, possibly something embossed, instead of the snowflake background, and attaching both tags together rather than having them separate with ribbons going off in different directions.

The other one just looks a bit boring. I have no idea what I would do to make it more interesting, and I'm thinking a different design would have been better. I think I would have preferred cutting an aperture and suspending the tag, stamped on both sides, in the gap. I'll try that for next year.

25 cards of Christmas - Day 25 - Watercolour robin

Something a bit different for the last day of the series. I wanted to do some drawing and painting, so I drew this happy little robin using watercolour pencils. It was actually quite an easy drawing as the robin is basically a circle with a bump on the top for the head and a tail sticking out.

I haven't made the picture into a card, but for next year I'm going to get it scanned in, add a greeting, and print out a bunch of cards. Making them is a lot of fun, but we have a baby on the way and I don't think I'll get as much time to craft before next Christmas as I did this year!

Hope you all have a very merry Christmas and happy new year :)

25 cards of Christmas - Day 24 - Joyful robin

And we're back to basics. I realised I've done a lot of cards on this sort of format this year, sorry...

So cut a piece of red card smaller than your base and die cut an oval. Stick to the base and add white dashed lines around all the edges. Add an embellishment to the window - in this case a happy little robin - and write 'Joy' with a white pen underneath.

My only excuse for having so many really simple cards in this sort of design is that I was making cards with Brownies and looking for ideas...

25 Cards of Christmas - Day 23 - Origami tree

Honestly, this card isn't as difficult as it looks! It's three squares of paper, each a little bit smaller than the next, and all folded in exactly the same way, then stuck down.

Start with your square of paper and pre-fold it in half, pattern side out, in all 4 directions - horizontal, vertical, and diagonally. Refold your horizontal line so that the pattern side is in as well, then open out your paper.

Now we start the folding proper. Refold along the horizontal line with the pattern out. Next tuck in the sides so that they're folded in on themselves and the paper is now essentially two triangles on top of each other.

Take one of the points of the top triangle and fold it so that what was the side is now in the centre. Repeat with the other side and you'll have one section of tree completed!

When it comes to sticking the pieces down I found it was easiest to put a bit of double sided tape on the top of the bottom piece then stick it inside the piece above. I put a bit of tape under the centre points as well to hold them down because they kept wanting to pop up.

As with yesterday's card, add a bit of paper for a trunk, then use as you want as an embellishment.

25 cards of Christmas - Day 22 - Folded paper trees

I did something a bit different today and made some folded paper trees (good preparation for tomorrow's origami!) They look pretty effective, especially if you use double sided paper, but also if you use the same print on both sides of your paper or if one side is blank.

Start by cutting out a circle then cutting it in half. I used a 10cm circle to make mine, but you can make them any size you like.

For the folding, hopefully this diagram will help... The grey lines are roughly where you fold.

Take point A and fold it in to C. This makes the fold line on the left, and leaves B as the point. This will be the top of the tree.

Next take A again and fold it back so that the flat edge lines up with the fold line. You should now have the top 2 sections of your tree.

Finally, fold the opposite corner (the one I forgot to label on the diagram) and fold it behind so that the straight edge lines up with the fold line. You should have a finished tree shape!

You might want to put a dab of glue beneath each of the folds to keep it from unfolding on your card. Stick a strip of paper at the bottom to make the trunk, then use as an embellishment for your card however you liike. I kept mine simple and stuck the cards straight on to the base, adding a dashed line around the edge in metallic gel pen.

25 cards of Christmas - Day 21 - Shaker bauble

I couldn't let the series go without doing at least one shaker card. This one is fairly simple to do. I cut a circle out of a piece of white card a bit smaller than my card base. I embossed the sentiment in the bottom corner (badly...I'm having issues with static or humidity or something...) and then stuck a piece of clear acetate over the back of the circle with double sided tape.

I used foam tape around the edge of the aperture then added a generous dollop of red and green sequins. I got them in a pack of crafty bits from Poundland last year and they're perfect Christmas colours. I decided the foam wasn't going to be high enough so I added another layer to it before I stuck a piece of gold glittery card over the top.

I added a piece of gold glittery ribbon from the top of the bauble to the top of the white card and finished with a bow, then because it still looked as if it needed something, I used a gold gel pen to add dashed lines around the edge of the bauble.

To finish I layered up the foam tape around the edge of the white card, added a piece of double sided tape to the back of the gold card, and stuck it down to my card base.

25 cards of Christmas - Day 20 - Musical buttons

I'm a very musical person so when I saw this idea on Etsy I thought I'd have a go at making my own. I need to work on getting my lines straighter, and apologies for my handwriting, but anyway...

It's done straight onto the card base. Draw a stave (that's the five lines) that's wide enough to add your buttons on to later and add your clef and key signature. If you were making this for someone who plays a bass or alto clef instrument you could always (if you were feeling adventurous!) do the tune in that clef.

Using a pencil work out where your notes are going to go. I did We Wish you a Merry Christmas but you could use any Christmas music you like. If you're not musical but you wanted to do this card you could Google Christmas carol sheet music images to see what would work, or ask a musical friend.

Once you know where you're putting your notes, draw in the sticks and add buttons to make the bodies of the notes. Add in the lyrics underneath and you're good to go!

25 cards of Christmas - Day 19 - Button bauble

I've been breaking out my stash of buttons for a few cards this year and here's another one.

Start with your card base and draw a circle in pencil. You can do the bauble in whatever size you like - I used a roll of sellotape to get my circle. Make sure you leave space to stick on any ribbon or other embellishment you're going to add.

Use glue dots to stick buttons around the pencil circle, then top with a bow. I drew a string from the top of the bow to the top of the card to make mine a bauble, but you could just leave it as it is and make it a wreath instead. You could also add a stamped sentiment in the centre of the bauble if you wanted to.

The whole thing takes about 10 minutes to make and you could do the bauble in any colour you liked.

25 cards of Christmas - Day 18 - Button trees

These are great for using up scraps of paper or odd buttons from your stash.

Cut some small circles from glitter card (or whatever card you like) and a pot shape for the bottom of the tree. Stick the circles and a selection of buttons on to the card in a triangle shape, then stick the pot at the bottom. I used glue dots for speed, but you could use a glue gun if it has to be very firmly stuck to go through the mail, or white glue.

To add some more sparkle to the pink card I used sparkly nail polish to add glitter to some of the buttons.

You could choose to colour coordinate your trees like these, go with a red and green theme, or just go multicoloured.

25 cards of Christmas - Day 17 - Simple penguins

This is another card that's good to do with kids. If they can't do the cutting you can get all the pieces ready in advance and they can put everything together.

Start with a black oval and a smaller white oval. Stick the white oval towards the bottom of the black one to make the belly. Cut feet out of orange card - it's a sort of 'm' shape - and stick to the back of the black oval. Cut beaks out of orage card and stick on, attack googly eyes and stick to your card base.

You could change the colours to a brown body and red belly to make a robin, or do tropical birds for a non-Christmassy card.

25 cards of Christmas - Day 16 - Heart baubles

The final card using the wooden hearts I bought from The Works today.

I started by deciding where I wanted the baubles to hang, then attacked the ribbon to the card. The hearts went next and then I stamped the greeting in the corner. After I took the picture I realised the greeting looked a bit faded, so I stamped it again to darken the ink colour.

25 cards of Christmas - Day 15 - Paper strip trees

This is a fancier version of the card from the start of this series using foiled paper strips instead of washi tape.

Start by cutting a frame from metallic card. You could do any shape, but I liked the oval. Use a strip of metallic card as the trunk of the tree, then cut strips of patterned paper to make the tree. Top with a bow and you're done.

It's a very quick card to make but it looks really effective.

25 cards of Christmas - Day 14 - Let it snow snowman

I don't think the pictures of these cards do them justice, as they make them look very washed out and monochrome. In reality the red and white of the scarves and the holly stand out quite brightly against the black and white.

So to make these I used a snowman stamp I was given by a friend who was clearing out her craft room. I stamped in white Versamark chalk ink on black paper and then coloured the pictures. On one snowman I used hatch lines in white gel pen to colour the snow, in the other I used white pencil crayon. I used pencils to colour both snowmen's scarves and holly.

Next I die cut the snowmen out in ovals and mounted them on larger ovals. For the larger (portrait) one I trimmed off the bottom where the snow would be so the white underneath would show. I added dashed lines in a black gel pen around the white border, then wrote the messages in white gel pen on black card, cut them out and stuck everything to the base.

25 cards of Christmas - Day 13 - Santa's coat

This is my take on an idea that's been done many times - Father Christmas's coat.

I embossed a piece of red card slightly smaller than my card base with polka dots to make it a bit more interesting and then used square dies to cut out the shape of the belt buckle from silver card. I knew I wanted the buckle to be raised, so I stuck a piece of black paper behind the buckle and then a longer strip across the centre of the red card, wrapping the ends around the edges. Next I stuck the buckle on to the belt.

At this point I realised it would have been easier to do the white paper first, because then I had to put the white paper on, tucking it under the buckle and wrapping the ends over the edge of the red card. Next time I'll do the white strip first, then the belt. I added red buttons to the white strip - I think black would have looked better, but I didn't have any.

Finally I stuck the red card on to the card base.

You could vary the design with red and green to make an elf costume, or use white to suggest a snowman with a scarf instead of a belt.

25 cards of Christmas - Day 12 - Sleepy kitten

This is probably my favourite House Mouse stamp and I love making cards with it.

For this card I stamped straight on to the card base. I never have any worries about doing that, because if it doesn't work then I can just use the base for something else and cover it up with paper or embellishments or something else.

I coloured the picture with my Derwent Inktense watercolour pencils and once it had dried I stamped the sentiment and embellished with a red and white ribbon and the red stick on gems.

This card took a lot longer than the other ones in the series so far, but I really like watercolouring so it doesn't feel like a chore. Maybe not the best if you want to mass produce a card unless you start a while in advance of Christmas or you only have a few to do.

The other thing I like about this stamp is that you can customise the colours, so for my friends with cats I've tried to give them cards with kittens that have vaguely the same colouring as their pets.

25 cards of Christmas - Day 11 - Baubles

I got the embossing powder out again today to do my take on the bauble card. This is a good way of using up scraps - and of testing out some of the colours of my new powders!

I stamped pieces of green and red card with Christmassy patterns then embossed the snowflake with a fine gold powder, which came out fantastically, and the stripes with a gold glitter. This didn't work nearly as well and I was quite disappointed with it as it had looked more of a solid colour in the pot. It worked okay for this pattern though, at least.

Once the card had cooled I ran it through my die cutter to cut out some circles, then fixed them to the card base with dimensionals. If I'd been feeling more creative I'd have put a piece of patterned paper behind them first, but I was feeling uninspired and in a rush. Ho hum...

To finish the card off I drew on strings from the top of the card to the circles and drew in bows using a gold gel pen, then stamped and embossed the Merry Christmas sentiment in gold.

25 cards of Christmas - Day 10 - Christmas heart

Another heart-themed card today using the wooden hearts again. I admit I wasn't feeling very creative today, so it really is very simple. There are more exciting cards to come!

Cut a piece of red card just smaller than your card base then cut an oval out of the centre of the red card, just smaller than the width of the heart embellishment.

Stick to the card base and add a dotted white line with a gel pen around the edge of the oval. Fix the heart to the centre of the oval using dimensionals and finish with a bow. I had this pretty heart ribbon that went very well with the wooden heart.

Off to find inspiration now for tomorrow's card...

25 cards of Christmas - Day 9 - Let it snow

I just treated myself to a heat gun and selection of embossing powders, and among the powders was a really sparkly white and silver with little blue and pink flecks. It was just crying out to be used on something wintery, so here we are. It is incredibly pretty, but the pictures don't do it justice unfortunately.

I started with a piece of white card cut smaller than my card base and stamped the Let It Snow sentiment in Versamark. There are a few little snowflakes around the text on the stamp, but it needed more, so I found a couple of small snowflake stamps and added them around the sentiment, then embossed it with the pretty wintery powder.

To finish the card I mounted the panel straight on to silver card then mounted that on to the card base with dimensional fixers.

It's not a very complicated card to make, but it looks very effective and I was pretty pleased with the result.

25 cards of Christmas - Day 8 - Nordic hearts

More hearts for today going with a sort of Nordic feel.

I started by covering the base of the cards in brown sugar paper - what I had to hand. I would have used kraft card if I had it.

Die cut hearts out of white card and decide where you want them to go. I used a garland I'd seen in a shop as my inspiration, but you could do it like baubles or any way you fancy.

Stick ribbon down the middle of the sugar paper then add the white hearts and then the wooden hearts, using dimensionals (of course!). I thought about threading the ribbon through the holes in the hearts but decided against it in in end.

For the finishing touches I added a bow to the top of the plain white heart and added details with a white gel pen - dashed lines around the large heart, and along the sides of the ribbon on the other card.

25 cards of Christmas - Day 7 - Button snowmen

I made these cards with my Brownies last night and they went down really well. The kids enjoyed putting their own characters on the snowmen and even accessorised with a few hats cut out of card and stuck on afterwards.

Start by making a template - I drew around a roll of sellotape for the body and a smaller roll of tape for the head. Fold a piece of white card and draw around the template, making sure you overlap the folded edge and the flat bottom.

Now's the fun part! Decorate the snowman however you liike. I used buttons stuck on with glue dots, drew on the arms and the mouth, and tied a ribbon around the neck for a scarf. Stick on gems look good for a frosty feel, or you could just draw on the parts, use glitter, felt shapes, or whatever else you have in your stash.

My little army of snowmen will bea heading to my nieces this Christmas, but one of my Brownies gave one to me so he's going to supervise my Christmas preparations from the mantlepiece :-)

25 cards of Christmas - Day 6 - Partridge in a pear tree

This card was definitely more time consuming to make, mainly because of the die I decided to use. It's called 'partridge in a pear tree' and it's lovely, but it took a while to pop out all the tiny bits of card once it had gone through the die cutter!

Once that was done though, it was quite a simple card to make. Cover the whole of the front of the card base with patterned paper. This paper came in a pack of Christmas paper, but it would do just as well for Valentine's day or an anniversary or a wedding or any other occasion.

Stick the die cut to a piece of red card and fix to the base. I die cut an oval from gold card to make a window. The embossed edge is actually accidental - the card was thicker than I thought it was - but I liked the effect. Stick the gold frame to the card with dimensional stickers and add a little bow at the bottom.