Special Christmas greetings

 It is always hard for me to make Christmas cards way earlier than December, as many people do, so I end up having more than I need to do once Thanksgiving rolls around.  I am trying to train myself to think Christmas earlier each year if I am going to want to make cards for people.  This year I am about two weeks earlier than usual, so I am pleased with my "progress!"

I am using Maymay's Adore Him stamp set this year and I really like the sentiments included in the set.  So far I have made six cards all basically the same design, using an old die set for a snow globe from Paper Wishes along with the new stamps.

I embossed a piece of vellum paper and attached it to the front of the card, then made a narrow frame to go around the outside edges.  That way the vellum is protected where it wants to tear from the embossing.  I also colored a circle of vellum to place behind the stamp of the holy family, and added a few white snowflake dots around the image.  The edge of the globe is three layers thick just to give a bit of extra life to the card, the top layer is cut from holographic paper.

Praying blessings

 When I received the latest Maymay Scripture stamp set called Knowing He Will, I was thrilled because of the timing of the wonderful sentiments.  There are a number of special thank you cards I wanted to make in the next few weeks and this set fit what I wanted to say perfectly.  Here is the first card I have made using the set.  It is for the church deacon assigned to stay in touch with our Sunday School class.  He is a young thing, compared to us senior women (he's in his late 30's, is my guess).

I used paper from a pack of 6 x 6 in. fall papers I purchased earlier.  So far I have made about 30 cards using pieces and parts of that pack of paper.  I've pictured several in earlier blog posts, and am tickled that I have gotten so many cards from that one pack of 24 papers.

Telephone Card

 Another Maymay Made It stamp set I purchased is one I anticipate using a lot because I send a lot of "praying for you" cards.  Here is a card I made to send to a friend who is a new widow and needs some encouragement in the form of a reminder that God is right there with her and that I am praying for her.

Scripture-based Stamps

One of the things I have wished I could find for card making was stamps with nice Bible-based messages because I send so many cards trying to encourage folks to trust the Lord, or know I am praying for them.  I have found one here and there through the years but not much until ... 

I found Maymay Made It!  Maymay has a whole line of Bible-based stamps, some are whimsical/cute and others are more serious, but each set has Bible verses and verse-based messages along with simple art stamps that go along with the theme of the set.  I love them!

I joined her stamp set of the month last month and got a set that is mostly a Thanksgiving theme but can easily be used for encouragement cards as well.  Here are three cards I made using it:

World Cardmaking Day 2022

 October 1, 2022, was World Cardmaking Day and I did something I have never done before. I set aside all my usual Saturday tasks to make cards most of the day.  The bathrooms did not get cleaned, the laundry still sits in the dirty laundry basket, the living room remains un-dusted.  The only thing I did was to cook supper. BUT I had a great time making cards.

I decided to use papers from a 6 x 6 pad of fall designed paper.  I looked for ideas on designs and chose two methods to use as my idea base.  I ended up making ten cards:

The papers are basically the usual fall colors - red, gold and orange with a tiny bit of green thrown in, so I used metallic brown, metallic rust, and metallic green papers for the bases of the cards.

The first six cards I made using a template for a 6 x 6 one sheet wonder, which made three cards from one sheet.  I used two papers to do that.  These are the cards I made with that template, which I found on the Internet:

The other four cards I made using an idea I found on Pinterest where you cut four sheets into four pieces each, stack them up by shape and size, then place one of each sheet onto the front of the card.  

  

Here is what I made, and if you look carefully, you can see one piece of each of the four sheets on each of the card fronts.  I was not sure I would like it, but as it turns out, I really enjoyed making these cards ... simple but the result is quite effective, I think. By changing the backgrounds, the cards looked different (I am not good at making all the same ... I would never have been able to work in a factory where I had to do the same thing over and over and over!).

A Rosy thank you

 I like the simplicity of the current sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.  It is the perfect format for a thank you card I needed to make.

 

 Here is how I used it.

Celebration

 I made this card for a friend who was just declared cancer-free by her doctor.  I and all her friends have been praying for her for three years, so this was a celebration for us as well as for her. 

The sentiment I used is from a stamp set I purchased in 2016 and I thought it suited the circumstances perfectly. 

This card follows the sketch for the current challenge over at Retro Rubber Challenge Blog, so I think I will enter that challenge.  Not only did I use an old stamp for the front of the card, I was able to use a piece of pretty roses paper that I've had for a while and I added the scallop cover die in the background that I have had for several years as well, so I am pretty pleased with the final card design.