That’s right, we’re prepping for Christmas! With how busy our holiday crafting schedules can get every year; we could all use a head start! We’re kicking off this year’s Christmas season making cards with the Joy of the Season kit. The best part—the cards we’re making come together so quickly that you could probably assemble all 20 from one kit in less than an hour!
The Joy of the Season card kit is part of our Cut Above® program, which means it comes with everything you need to make 20 polished handmade cards, 10 each of two designs, in no time!
Along with the pre-printed card bases, die-cuts, and envelopes, included with each kit is an easy-to-follow instructional/inspirational guide. As Monica illustrated in the video above, these cards are very simple to assemble. Once you start putting together one, the rest will come together intuitively.
After you’re through assembling the card fronts just the way you like them, choose a perfect sentiment from the Joy of the Season stamp set to add to the insides.
Both, the stamp set and card kit, are available for purchase on their own or together. Whatever your holiday card needs this Christmas season are, we’ve got you covered!
If you’re a busy experienced card maker or someone who’s been hesitant to give cardmaking a try, the Joy of the Season cards are especially wonderful because, with just a small amount of effort, you can create stunning cards quickly and with ease. That’s the purpose of a Cut Above experience!
Cut Above kits aren’t just for card makers. For our scrappers (we haven’t forgotten about you!), we’ve got a sneak peek of a Christmas themed Cut Above layout kit coming out in our November–December catalog that is to swoon for!
Just like their card kit counterparts, the scrapbooking Cut Above kits come with all the necessary pieces to skip right to the assembly portion of the craft! All you need to add to the mix is your favorite adhesive.
The Cut Above layout kit being released on the first of November includes pre-printed base pages and die-cuts, stickers, pre-cut paper pieces, photo placeholders, and printed instructions that come together to create two coordinating 12″ x 12″ two-page layouts.
Not only is this layout kit perfect for scrapbooking your holiday memories, but it makes a great Christmas gift, as well! Gift it assembled, with or without photos, or unassembled, inviting someone to participate in the art of memory keeping.
Cut Above is the perfect solution for those who enjoy the art of cardmaking and scrapbooking but are also looking for a quicker alternative. Even if you’re a die-hard decorative card maker or scrapper who loves to spend hours on a project, Cut Above kits are great for celebrating relationships and for catching up on documenting your stories without sacrificing quality. The Cut Above experience is a win-win!
If you love the idea of these Cut Above kits, just take a look at some of the other kits available in this same style on our website.
We don’t know about you, but we’re starting to hear Christmas bells ring here at Close To My Heart! (Yes, we know it’s still two months away…😬) In all seriousness, the holiday season is right around the corner, and if Christmas cards are your jam, it’s time to start planning for these festive creations! What we have to show you today is truly special, as it allows you to celebrate your dearest relationships and memories by showcasing your favorite photos, right on the front of each card! It also puts a brand-new twist on a favorite art technique—shaker cards! Picture This Christmas is a beautiful way not only to flex your creative muscles, but celebrate your relationships with the people closest to you.
Our Picture This Christmas special is built on the idea that your own personal photos have an incredible power to inspire joy in those you love most, and who doesn’t love to inspire joy and share their legacy? 😄 We are all about expressing and sharing the products of your creativity with those closest to you, and the holiday season is a prime time to do this! Let’s take a look at the amazing opportunities available through the Picture This Christmas special and how you can use these cards to spread a little extra Christmas cheer among friends and family.
One amazing thing about Picture This Christmas cards is the ease with which they come together. Picture This Christmas cards were designed with the Close To My Heart Cut Above® format, which means that the creative process takes just a few minutes from start to finish, and you’re left with an absolutely stunning card at the end of it! With Cut Above® projects, each workshop kit contains pre-cut paper pieces, die-cuts, stickers, and even pre-printed card bases, so all you need to create your cards apart from the Cut Above® kit itself are your choice of adhesive, and a journaling pen to inscribe your personal message on the inside of the cards. Cut Above® projects are a great option for crafters of all types and experience levels.hey can serve as an easy starting point for crafters just discovering this mode of creativity. For more experienced crafters, they make a quick project that they can do in a short amount of time, with minimal effort, whether to wind down or just to catch up on a few crafting goals! With Cut Above®, there are a wealth of creative possibilities to help you realize your crafting vision, whatever it may be!
To showcase just how easy it can be to create with the Picture This Christmas Cut Above® card kits, we’re going to go through each step of how these cards came together. For our Picture This Christmas cards, we start off with a pre-printed, pre-cut card base, measuring 5” x 7”. These cards are larger than our standard 4¼” x 5½” cards for a very special reason. As we mentioned at the beginning of this post, the cards in a Picture This Christmas kit are designed to feature your own personal photos, and by providing a 5” x 7” card base, your cards can comfortably accommodate a 4” x 6” photo!
With card base in hand as a starting place, we next attached a photo to it, taking care to center it, and then continued by attaching the provided frame die-cut. As with the photo in the previous step, make sure to take care when placing your frame, aligning the corners of the die-cut with the corners of your photo. By taking extra care when placing your photo and die-cut frame, you will be left with a more polished card at the end.
After placing the photo and attaching the frame die-cut over it, we used the provided evergreen branch and pennant sentiment die-cuts to add some extra flair and pizazz to the corners of the photo. The addition of these die-cuts helps to add some depth to the photo, and definitely ups the visual interest of the overall card.
And just like that, with only a few simple steps, we created a beautiful, polished card with a one-of-a-kind personal touch! This card, while simple, is an excellent example of how a Cut Above® kit can be used to incredible effect as a quick and easy crafting solution.
If you’re wanting to take the creative process a little further with your own Picture This Christmas cards, we have an outstanding option for that as well! Let’s take a look at how you can really shake things up and take this card design to the next level by adding a full cardfront shaker window!
To create Picture This Christmas cards with shaker windows, we started out by centering the photo on the base, and then attached a perimeter of 3-D Foam Tape and added a few pinches of sequins or other shaker window fill pieces to the center, directly over the photo. To make this a quick and easy process, we offer three different Picture This Christmas Shaker Window Card kits with Gold, Silver, and Iridescent Flower Sequin options.
Once we made our shaker element selection and added it to the center of the photo, we carefully trimmed a 5” x 7” piece of clear acetate from the 12” x 12” sheets included with the Picture This Christmas Shaker Window Card kits and centered it over the photo and base, making sure to line up the corners. Once the acetate was secured, we centered the die-cut frame over the acetate and base and embellished it at the corners with the provided die-cuts. After this final step, our shaker card is complete, and we’re left with a stunning and uniquely personal card, perfect to send to a loved one or friend!
As a fun, final touch, Picture This Christmas also includes the 5” x 7” Envelope Flap Thin Cuts to decorate the flaps of your card envelopes, as well as an exclusive stamp set to add sentiments to the interior of your cards! These stamps and Thin Cuts can be used to further personalize and set your cards apart!
No matter who you choose to send your cards to, or which photos you decide to feature on them, your Picture This Christmas cards are a beautiful reflection of your memories and identity, and are certain to be treasures for years to come! What photos will you showcase on your Picture This Christmas cards? Tell us all about it in the comments below!
By this time of year most of us have already taken new family photos (or have them planned for the very near future) in anticipation of turning them into beautiful Christmas cards to share (and show off ☺).
This year, instead of having someone else print and make your holiday cards, make them yourself! We’ve prepared some tips to show you how to personalize your cards even more using your creativity rather than someone else’s ready-made template.
Check out the tips below as you’re thinking of all the people you plan to send a little holiday cheer to.
Tip #1: When stamping on your photo, use one with lots of negative space.
To stamp a holiday message directly on your photo, choose one that has lots of negative space, like the photo above. Negative space is all of the area surrounding the subject of your photo. Using a photo with plenty of negative space gives you a place to stamp your holiday message without covering the subject—like the face of one of your family members!
Tip #2: Matte photo paper works the best with any ink.
Printing your photos on matte photo paper is the best option for using them as photo Christmas cards. Matte paper works well with any ink. If you like the raised look and feel of embossing, matte photo paper is also the best option. You can use the VersaMark™ Ink Pad and your choice of embossing powder. (For even more color options, try our mini pigment pads with clear embossing powder!)
Keep in mind that VersaMark™ ink will absorb quickly into the matte photo paper. If you are going to stamp and heat emboss multiple images, emboss between stamping each image to make sure the embossing powder sticks to the ink.
Tip #3: Glossy photo paper requires StazOn™ Ink.
If you prefer the finish of glossy photo paper, you can still stamp on it! Just use the StazOn™ Ink Pad. This ink is especially meant to work on smooth, nonporous surfaces, and it will adhere to your photo much better. Other inks will smear on glossy photo paper.
Tip #4: Use a strip of cardstock over your photo for the stamped image.
What if you aren’t sure about stamping on a photo? Or maybe your photo doesn’t have space for a sentiment? That’s ok. You can stamp or emboss your message on a piece of cardstock to adhere on top of your photo like you see in the image below.
Tip #5: Make your photo card a different shape.
Tired of sending rectangle cards? Shake things up this year by making your photo card a square or even a circle. (Get creative and maybe even use a Cricut® shape!)
To create the circle card above, print a 5″ x 7″ photo. Then, trace a 5″ circle over your photo and cut it out. Finish by distressing the edges of your photo to hide any pen or pencil lines.
Tip #6: Don’t forget your envelopes.
When creating your photo cards, be sure to size your cards to fit in standard size envelopes.
Here are some examples that we used. These are common envelope sizes that you can find at your local craft store or online.
Card Size Envelope Type
3″ x 5″ 4BAR
4″ x 6″ A6
5″ x 7″ A7
5″ x 5″ 5¾” Square
6″ x 6″ 6½” Square
The photo card size refers to the dimensions of the entire card. If you like the look of having a mat behind your photo, trim your photo and then attach it to the cardstock or paper mat of your choice.
The photo card above measures 4″ x 6″, including the photo mat. The envelope type that will fit this size is A6. You’ll notice that this card also has great negative space for stamping the holiday message.
One of the great things about making your own holiday cards is that no two cards have to be the same. You can personalize each sentiment and use different photos if you want to.
Our friends at Persnickety Prints are standing by with some great deals going on right now! Check them out to get your photos printed and get started on creating your own personalized Christmas cards this year!
December is well underway and we are now officially justified to be completely and unashamedly obsessed with Christmas. Is there a better time to get extra creative and crafty? We don’t think so. With our hearts turned toward holiday crafts and projects, we’re finding ourselves crushing more than ever on our favorite My Crush™ Holiday Happenings book and assortment. The possibilities with this book are magically endless!
If you look beyond the obvious uses of the book, you’ll notice that what’s inside can be used in a multitude of ways that extend well beyond the original purpose. Think of this book as a Russian nesting doll: The pieces work great together AND individually. The 30 pages of whimsical designs and textured finishes are the perfect ingredients for baking up some crafty Christmas masterpieces. So go ahead, rebel against every librarian in history and take the pages out of the book! Only then can your creativity be set free to create something wonderful with all the festive bits and pieces.
To get your cogs of inspiration turning, we’ve picked three of our favorite ideas to highlight below.
First up is a new spin on a classic form of memory keeping. Enhance your traditional 12″ x 12″ pages by using the beautiful patterned papers in this mini album. They provide a lovely finishing touch of Christmas and the holidays to precious memories.
The envelopes that come in the assortment are just the right size for holding gift cards! Stick an envelope onto one of these simple cards, made from a mix of papers from the book and the assortment, and then add a little ribbon and trim. You’ll have everything you need to create a unique stash of holiday cards ready for gift giving.
How about a one-of-a-kind beautiful banner to adorn your mantle for the holidays? This banner came together in minutes by simply using Cranberry striped twill ribbon to string together the papers and vellum pages of the book along with a few cards and embellishments from the assortment. It’s so simple, but it lights up the entire room!
With decorations and gifts as cute as these, your home is sure to have an extra dose of the Christmas spirit this year. You might want to add a few extra cookies to Santa’s plate because when he comes to your house, he’s definitely going to want to sit and stay awhile.
For more inspiration on how to use the My Crush Holiday Happenings book to capture your holiday season, read our earlier post.
