Personalised Christmas Cards with Paperless Post

This is a sponsored post

  

Every year we seem to get fewer and fewer Christmas cards - actual Christmas cards, that is. With an increasing focus on climate change and the environment, it just doesn’t seem right any more to be sending out dozens and dozens of cards - not to mention the cost of the stamps.

That’s not to say I am against the idea of sending cards at all, for one thing I love to make greetings cards so of course I like to send them! But with a very active toddler I hardly have any time any more and the idea of sitting down to write a pile of Christmas cards seemed a bit overwhelming.

Instead, I sent cards to family and a few others but for the most part, decided to send e-cards this year. I’ve used Paperless Post before so went straight back there this time to make our Christmas card.

We had a Christmas themed photo shoot for my daughter in November - we’d done the same the year before when I was on maternity leave via a ‘bumps and babies’ group and as it was really good value, we did the same again this year.

The photos aren’t particularly Christmassy - my daughter is wearing a pretty red velvet dress but there were no props or Christmas images in the photo. Even so, I thought it would be nice for a Christmas card.

Paperless Post has sections for all sorts of greeting cards ranging from birthday cards to event invitations and also business flyers. I went to the Christmas section and looked at cards where you could add your own photos - there were well over 200 designs.

I chose one that I liked and uploaded the photo just by a couple of clicks, then added wording, selected whether I wanted a coloured background and the envelope. It’s really easy to add multiple recipients’ email addresses, and if you have used Paperless Post before, it remembers addresses, so you just have to start typing in the person’s name. That made it so quick to set up a list and to send the card out.

As I ended up doing it quite late at night - as is often the case when you have a toddler - I was also able to schedule the card to be sent at a suitable time, which was a function I liked.

The site uses ‘coins’ to pay for the cards, which you buy in blocks, with the price per unit decreasing the more coins you buy at once. You can get a card for just a couple of coins which as far as I can tell works out at less than sending a card in the post given the price of stamps these days.

My family and friends seemed to like receiving a personalised card and I think the pictures of my daughter were particularly appreciated by family even though I was giving people a print out of some of the photos anyway - and using Paperless Post made doing my Christmas cards a lot easier this year!

Thanks to Paperless Post who gave me coins to use on their site in return for this post. All opinions are my own.

Forever Friends Decoupage Christmas Cards

A year or even two years ago I bought a set of Forever Friends decoupage Christmas pictures in Wilkinson’s – I remember it well as I only ever go into that shop about once a year as it’s not in a place I visit very often. I hadn’t opened the packs and came across them the other day when I was supposed to be tidying my craft supplies. I thought the cards would be so quick to make that I could justify pausing my tidy-up to make a couple!

 

Each sheet in the set came with three or four layers, starting with a background rectangle, then sections where you build up the bear. I used adhesive pads to make each layer stand out, and used a sentiment from another pack on the bottom of the card. The Christmas print background papers, which I covered each card with initially, were also from the same Forever Friends set I think.

 

It’s nice to be more creative and not just follow the designs prescribed but on the other hand these look quite professional – I didn’t even have to cut out the decoupage layers myself, they popped straight out of the pack!

I'm sharing these with the That's Crafty! Challenge and Papers Creators Crafts Christmas themed challeges.

Tattered Lace Ornate Reindeer Christmas Cards

When I got my Sizzix Big Shot cutter two Christmases ago, I also received a beautiful tattered lace die called 'ornate reindeer'. I cut out several reindeer from sparkly cardstock almost right away, with a view to making cards for the following Christmas, but then that Christmas (last year) I made a few cards but think I forgot about these die cuts! So when I came across them earlier this year I made a few cards that I am now able to send out this year.

I've written before about using the die cutter and tattered lace dies. This one was particularly fiddly in places so my poking tool came in handy!

What I hadn't realised initially was the size of these dies - they take up most of the size of a standard 6x4 card blank, not leaving much room for other embellishments.

 

I did try out some different things though I'm not sure which of these works best and I don't feel like I'm really doing justice to the tattered lace die cuts. If you have this die and some good ideas for how to use it, please let me know!

For these first two cards I used large gold card blanks so I wouldn't need any other background. For one card I cut a gold oval with scalloped edges using another die, and mounted the reindeer on it - the reindeer is cut from sparkly red card. I added the words 'winter joy' which are from another die - I think it's actually a die of Christmas baubles with the words in the middle.

For the card on the right, I cut the reindeer from sparkly black card and mounted it using the smallest adhesive pads I could find which I even cut in half but you can still see them behind the reindeer. The ornate shapes around the edges are offcuts from die cutting - as this was so long ago I can't remember if they were the bits that came out from the spaces in between the antlers or from another die altogether. I used a 'merry Christmas' gold outline sticker to finish the card.

Here I covered the card blank on the left with two pieces of printed paper in complementary light blue colours - you can't see too well but I think they both have a snowflake design. I cut the reindeer from sparkly gold card and stuck it on the top half of the card, and a wooden gold card topper saying 'joy' - from a pack from The Works - on the bottom.

For the second card, I turned a gold card blank sideways and put two reindeers facing each other - one made from sparkly bronze card, the other from sparkly gold, with a 'merry Christmas' outline sticker in the middle and two little gold stars in the corners.

Finally I made a CAS (clean and simple) reindeer card using a green card blank and a reindeer die cut from gold card (non-sparkly this time) and a 'merry Chrismas' out line sticker.

I found the last of these in particular quite masculine so am linking up with the Cardz 4 Guyz challenge where the theme this week is reindeer.

Tree and Santa Pattern Christmas Cards

These two cards are mainly made from a mini set that contained a few pieces of patterned paper and one sheet of die cuts. I think they are quite fun but there is also something a bit masculine about them, I think because of the colours and also the geometrical shapes.

On the first card, I covered a square card blank with the patterned paper and mounted a die cut tree with adhesive pads. It's also a little hard to see but there are a few tiny die cuts in the shape of presents and snowflakes also on adhesive pads so they stand out. To finish off, I used a 'noel' shiny red sticker from a different pack.

For the second card I covered the bottom half of the card with patterned paper and used a piece of washi tape across the edge as a border. The two child (elf?) stickers at the top were actually left over from a pack of Christmas address labels that I think came from Ikea a couple of years ago. Finally a 'tis the season' sticker in the top right corner completes the card.

I am sharing this with Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge and Cardz 4 Guyz where the theme is Christmas trees.

Silver Toned Christmas Bauble Christmas Card

One of the card making magazines I got as part of a special offer last year had a Christmas card kit attached to the front cover, that had various die-cut circles. To me, the circles looked like Christmas baubles, so I took a rectangular card blank and covered it with a piece of paper from the same kit, that had rows of what looked like Christmas decorations, and then stuck on three of the circles using adhesive pads.

I then took a sheet of silver outline stickers that I often use as borders, and chose one that had a chain link effect (some are more like a wavy line) and used that to make it look like the baubles were hanging from something.

I like the design and the colours of this card - silver with purple hints. I've stashed this away for next Christmas!

I'm sharing this with Sparkles Christmas Challenge as the theme this time is ornaments.

Bright Colours Festive Bauble Christmas Card

One of the card making magazines I subscribed to just before Christmas came with a selection of freebies to make your own Christmas cards. As well as the free gift on the front cover, there were the usual printed papers in the middle of the magazine. These are thin pages printed on both sides - which seems a bit pointless as you can usually only use one side - and related images that you can cut out.

What was unusual was the colour scheme - pinks, yellows, blues and purples, not normally colours that are associated with Christmas. I used one of the printed papers showing Christmas baubles to cover a card blank and cut around some other baubles and used adhesive pads to raise them off the card. The sentiment in the middle is also from the printed papers in the magazine, stuck onto card and mounted again with an adhesive pad. It's a bit different from the other Christmas cards you might receive!

I'm sharing this with Sparkles Christmas Challenges as this month they've asked crafters to use non-traditional colours.

Ice Skating Decoupage Christmas Card

Here's another Christmas card I made at the end of last year but put away in my stash for next Christmas. The pieces all came free with a card making magazine so it was a pretty quick make. First a festive scene for the backing paper, then a strip of patterned paper vertically down the middle of the card. An ice skating scene in decoupage - I think it had three layers - stands out from the top third of the card, and a sentiment ' -Merry Christmas and a happy new year' - sits in the bottom third.

I hope I remember where I put these when it comes to Christmas!

Traditional Poinsettia Decoupage Christmas Card

Poinsettia is a winter-flowering plant, associated with Christmas perhaps because of its red petals. Apparently the star-shaped leaves are thought to be a symbol of the star of Bethlehem that the three wise men followed, with their colour symbolising the blood of Christ.

The plant is commonly seen on Christmas cards, like this one that I made. The kit came free with Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine, with die cuts in different designs including the ones I used to make this card.

I covered a square white card blank with red backing paper then stuck on a square die cut with scalloped edges that filled almost the entire card. It had a circular hole in the middle, into which I stuck the round topper, raising it off the card with adhesive pads. And that's it - really quick and easy to make but a nice looking card for someone who is more of a traditionalist about Christmas.

I'm sharing this with the Crafty Catz weekly cardmaking challenge and Trimmies craft challenge.

Snowscene Houses Foil Christmas Card

Yes, I know it's January... but some people like to get a head start on making their Christmas cards! This is one I actually made in November, but as I mentioned before, I only managed to make a few Christmas cards so I decided to save them til next Christmas when hopefully I will have made more.

This one uses a set and a design that came with one of the card making magazines I subscribed to for a few months at the end of last year. It came with several sheets of die cut toppers and backing papers of varying sizes.

This card shows a snowy scene with a festive sentiment at the front. I started by choosing a piece of backing paper - this is all one piece, including the stripe two thirds of the way down and the different pattern at the bottom.

I then added the main topper, a silver foil-edged picture of a snowy street, and mounted the small topper with the sentiment overlapping slightly. I cut a piece of border - on another sheet of card provided - into three sections: two to go diagonally over the corners of the card and one to come down from underneath the sentiment. The pieces are all glued flat but this card would also look good if you used adhesive pads to raise some of the elements off the card.

I'm sharing this with Ecletic Ellapu, a blog which is hosting a Christmas card making challenge. There are two themes, one of which is 'anything Christmas'. I'm also sending this to another site called Christmas Card Challenges.

Reindeer Christmas Cards and Paperless Post

 

It's been a couple of years since I've had time to make my own Christmas cards - at least. This year I had a week off work in November to use up annual leave and spent most of the week tackling tasks around the house, but I did allow myself one whole day to do fun things - and spent a good part of that day making cards.

 

I've mentioned before that I got a great discount on a three-month subscription to three different card making magazines. Each one comes with free gifts and as it was getting close to the end of the year, the freebies tended to be for making Christmas cards.

 

This one, Cardmaking & Papercraft, came with a selectin of foil-finished cardboard pictures, frames and toppers. I thought it was a bit boring to start with - other free gifts have included rubber stamps and decoupage sets - but actually when you are making Christmas cards you often want something that won't take too long. Plus, the pictures were lovely and have resulted in some of my favourite Christmas cards that I've made so far.

 



 

 

 

 I copied the suggested designs in the magazine which were very good - I like this first one most of all. I used a piece of backing paper to cover a square white card blank, then stuck a pink sparkly frame at an angle. Using the largest reindeer card topper I stuck it on the front of the card and tucked a couple of corners through the frame - I love this effect. Then I cut small pieces of border pieces and stuck them across the four corners of the card. Finally I used a small circular card topper in the corner of the reindeer picture, and a sentiment topper across the bottom.

 

 This second card is more of a clean and simple design, again taken from an idea in the magazine. I covered a square white card blank with a piece of light purple paper that had a Christmas bauble design down one side, and stuck a border topper a few centimetres up from the bottom.

I used another large reindeer card topper again at an angle in the middle of the card, and a Christmas wishes sentiment tag to the left. I think the tag looks a bit odd on its own and in retrospect maybe needed some ribbon but I still quite like the card as it is.

 

Even if you enjoy card making as much as me, it can be really hard to find time to make cards. As I only managed to make a few, and had already bought some cards I wanted to specifically send this year (they have cows on, perfect now I'm married and Mrs Cowe!) so have decided to keep hold of these until next year!

I've just come across a website called Paperless Post which provides both online and printed cards like Christmas cards (as well as other stationery) which is donating to (RED), the charity which partners with retailers to send money to the Global Fund that fights HIV and AIDS.

Each purchase from the (PAPERLESS POST)REDChristmas collection supports (RED)’s fight for a world without AIDS. 8% of the price of every paper card and 25% of the price of every online card goes to the charity, which I think is a good thing for them to do, so I'm happy to help publicise the campaign (and have received no incentive or compensation for doing so).

Handmade Christmas cards (2012)

Here are a couple of quick snapshots of the Christmas cards I made this year. I didn't have very much time at all so only made a few.

In the top photo from clockwise:

1) pyramid shaped card where I covered the three triangular sections with different backing paper and cut out "ho, ho, ho" from an old Christmas card, and added a few snowflake stickers as well

2) Gold card blank with Forever Friends Christmas stickers with a banner made of red card saying 'happy Christmas'

3) Silver card blank covered with blue festive backing paper where I cut out a square to let the silver card show through, and added some Christmas stickers and two pieces of silver ribbon across the bottom

4) Gold card blank with various snowflake die cuts and stickers and a round festive scene from an old Christmas card

5) Gold card blank with poinsettia (?) stickers that actually raise up from the card slightly and a 'merry Christmas' banner

6) Gold card blank with the top part covered by blue festive paper and a die cut with three Christmas trees mounted on top, and a white panel with a 'Christmas wishes' outline sticker

7) (centre) A white square card blank covered in festive paper with a star shape cut out of the middle to show the white card, and some Christmas stickers inside the star shape. It also has two small cardboard stickers on foam pads to stand out, that say 'someone special' and 'with love' - this one is for my boyfriend.



In the picture above, from top 1-r:
1)A white square card blank covered in festive paper with a star shape cut out of the middle to show the white card, and some Christmas stickers inside the star shape. It also has a 'seasons greetings' gold outline sticker in the top corner.
2) Silver card blank with 3D Christmas tree stickers, a strip of patterned paper across the bottom and some other stickers
3) White square card blank covered in festive paper with some children's stickers (penguin, Christmas tree, robin)
3)Bottom row: gold card blank with die-cut Christmas trees, silver snowflakes and I used a hole punch to punch out a row of Christmas tree shapes along the bottom
4) Card covered in festive paper and using Forever Friends stickers
5) Silver card blank with a star and some sticky ribbon

I need to start making my Christmas cards much earlier next year... maybe in January!

Christmas cards 2011

Here is a selection of some of the Christmas cards I made this year. I didn't have as much time as I would have liked and so therefore kept them relatively simple. Next year I hope to be able to put a bit more time and effort into them... maybe I should start making them in the summer!

These first ones (above) are a mixture of a decoupage pack and some simple stickers and backing paper.

These next ones (below) use a mixture of Forever Friends stickers and some cute penguin stickers.

Silver and gold outline stickers look effective on a plain green background - and are fairly quick to make!

This one was for my boyfriend, an extra large card using pieces from a decoupage pack.

Christmas cards

These were the first Christmas cards I made a couple of years ago. I bought a pack of card blanks that contained red and green cards and envelopes. I also bought a pack of die-cut reindeer heads and other shapes including Christmas trees, which I used to make these fairly simple cards: These used similar die cut shapes, mounted onto a piece of paper in contrasting colour to the card itself. The card in the top right corner below used a foam Christmas tree shape and a silver metallic snowflake.

The two cards on the left used foam shapes, which I bought as part of a cheap sticker pack; the ones on the right use pictures I cut out from old Christmas cards, along with outline stickers saying "Happy Christmas" and silver snowflakes. I don't think they look as good as the die-cuts but when you have to make about 50 cards it's hard to spend as much time on each one!