Die-cut Christmas cards

Hi!
This is the usual story every single year: Early autumn I notice that the amount of Christmas cards is increasing in the social media. Christmas is soon here! My head starts spinning of ideas, and I look forward to making lots of different Christmas cards, personalized for every receiver. I start planning, but not making the cards yet.
Then other priorities shift my focus elsewhere, and the great idea of spending several wonderful evenings making Christmas cards fades. With card design plans totally forgotten I suddenly realize that it's December already. Christmas preparations suddenly take all my extra time, and then two nights before the last Christmas card mailing date I start panicing. The first night I spend planning the one design I will use for each and every card, and the second night I stay up almost until morning making the cards, just in time to get them mailed for Christmas. Phew!

This year I even surprised myself. I managed to start early, as the Paperilla blog design team was challenged to create quick-to-make Christmas cards. I played along and my first lot of six cards is now ready. In the middle of November! Woohoo!

The main element for this card is a die-cut Christmas bauble, cut with a new Sizzix Thinlits die set 'Festive Bird'. The detailed design does not require much other embellishing, and I just added the heat-embossed Christmas wishes panel and a white die-cut twig (using a die from Sizzix/Tim Holtz 'Holiday Greens' set.



I decided to make six cards at one go, so I started with cutting pieces of grey cardstock, slightly larger than the bauble die. Thin two-sided tape is of great help when die-cutting and adhering die-cut pieces containing lots of fine details. I taped the back of the grey cardstock, and run the paper through my BigShot, with die facing the grey cardstock and taped side against the cutting plate.
If the tape has a strong backing paper the die may not cut completely through all the details which is the result you want. When you remove the backing, most of the little scrap pieces stay on the backing making the cleaning of the die-cut piece super easy.
I attached the grey die-cut baubles on white cardstock and cut out the circles with scissors, and decorated the card fronts with red birds, die-cut with the same baubles die. Little red dots are seed beads I like to use often on my cards.

I continued with die-cutting the twigs and heat-embossing the Christmas greeting text. For the card background I cut a simple panel from patterned paper, and glued it down on the folded card base. I'm not too fond of symmetrical designs, so therefore I placed the panel bit on the left.

Then I die-cut the top parts for the baubles, glued the pieces together, and glued the images on the card front. Baubles are hanging on the white twigs with silver yarn.

I really like the festive look of these cards. And the fact that they were really easy to make!


Wishing you a wonderful weekend!
Hugs,