Thursday, January 13, 2022

{Spotlight Project} Maria Gets A Start On Christmas Cards (By Recycling Christmas Cards!)


Happy New Year, STAMP friends!

Here we go with another 365 day trip around the sun. Sure hope this year might bring a little more hope for all of us. Speaking of which, I "hope" you're not sick of Christmas just yet. Putting decorations away I just can't bring myself to trash beautiful received Christmas cards, can you? Today I'm sharing an idea for recycling them and letting their beautiful artwork shine on a handmade Christmas card that you can send next Christmas. Interested? I've made a few. Here's one.


STEP 1
Gather supplies -Old Christmas cards, dies with a good-sized open area (ornament, tree), word dies for sentiment, texture plates.



STEP 2

TIP: You probably already know this but to see which area of patterned paper (or a background or a recycled Christmas card) you want to die cut, die cut the shape from scrap - I use vellum - and move it around until you find the perfect spot. Then you can place the die, carefully remove the vellum, add washi to hold the die in place and die cut!



STEP 3
Decide which texture plate best complements the die cut shape. I went with the squares to contrast the round ornament shape.



STEP 4
I had originally planned to inlay the die cuts and then run the whole panel through my machine with the texture plate making everything cohesive, but texturing the ornaments too. However I feared the texture might make the cute gingerbread men harder to see...



STEP 5
... so I ran the green panel with the texture plate and then die cut the ornaments from it. Adhered it to a white cardbase and inlaid the die cuts. I could have just adhered the ornaments onto the panel. But I had inlaid die cutting on my brain!



I made a couple more while I was at it.

Another using the ornament die and inlay technique on some cool graphic gold foiled PP...


And then I switched to circles and the circle texture plate...


Here more circles with the grid texture plate and a gold foil sentiment to contrast with the natural tones of the PP and snowflakes.


I`m done with Christmas cards. Promise! I hope maybe you'll consider breathing new life into old Christmas cards at some point in your future. And if I should ever inspire you to place an order in the shop, I'd appreciate it if you'd use my STAMPGIRLMARIA code for an additional 20% off at no extra cost to you. Here's to a good new year (I first wrote "great" but don't want to push my luck!)



on

12 comments:

  1. JanisThursday, January 13, 2022 at 12:26:00 PM PST

    Love your ideas using circle and ornament dies on old Christmas cards. I agree that the lovely artwork is too pretty to toss. Thank you for the inspiration.
    <3 J

    jwoolbright at gmail dot com
    HerPeacefulGarden.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Aimeslee WinansThursday, January 13, 2022 at 1:14:00 PM PST

    Such a great inspiring post, your ideas and gorgeous cards are fab, thanks! xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glennis FThursday, January 13, 2022 at 1:30:00 PM PST

    Thank you for these great ideas for recycling

    ReplyDelete
  4. MadeByMeghanKThursday, January 13, 2022 at 2:26:00 PM PST

    Ahhhh the gingerbread is soooo cute!

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  5. Denise BryantThursday, January 13, 2022 at 2:37:00 PM PST

    Great ideas! I love the texture plate designs!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ms. TampThursday, January 13, 2022 at 4:49:00 PM PST

    Great project ideas on how to repurpose some received cards. I like the tip for using the vellum to place the die.

    ReplyDelete
  7. cghundleyThursday, January 13, 2022 at 9:17:00 PM PST

    Love the way you
    inlaid the die cuts
    in the cards!
    Carla from Arizona

    ReplyDelete
  8. sharon gFriday, January 14, 2022 at 8:46:00 AM PST

    I have thought of doing that, too. I like.....

    ReplyDelete
  9. kiwimeskreationsMonday, January 17, 2022 at 11:38:00 PM PST

    Oh what a great idea to texture the background and then die cut sections from the existing card...
    Stay safe
    Blessings
    Maxine

    ReplyDelete
  10. ionabunnyThursday, January 27, 2022 at 8:42:00 AM PST

    These are fun and pretty. Great design ideas. Hugz

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  11. mamawcindyThursday, January 27, 2022 at 9:38:00 PM PST

    Love the way you recycled the Christmas cards. Great Idea's.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Tina Z.Tuesday, February 8, 2022 at 11:09:00 PM PST

    yes, this is such a great idea, I love to recycle!

    ReplyDelete

Spammers have been in full force lately so I had to turn comment moderation on. We love hearing from fellow crafters (not spammers), so your comment will be approved as soon as possible. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts with us :o)