One of the things I love about making my own cards is that I can make each one unique and as elaborate as I like. This often means spending a lot of time fussing with different tools and materials. If I’m making a card for a special occasion this is a labour of love and I’ll keep going until I’m done. With Christmas however things get tricky. There’s so many more cards to make that sometimes the amount of time I have for each one is greatly reduced. I still make some extra special ones, but for the bulk I sometimes need to pare down the process.

Today’s Simple Sunday card is one idea. It uses less than a quarter sheet of Designer Series Paper (DSP) so I’ll get 48 cards from one 12″ x 12″ pack. I’ll even have some pieces of DSP left over to turn into gift tags, but I’ll get to that another day.

PAINTED CHRISTMAS

For today’s project I chose a sheet from the Painted Christmas Designer Series Paper (DSP) pack. I started by cutting the sheet into four 6″ x 6″ pieces and set aside three of them while I designed this card.

From the remaining 6″ x 6″ piece I first cut off a 2-1/4″ x 6″ strip. Then using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I attached the strip to the flap of a Basic White Medium Envelope. Once I’d trimmed off the excess paper with Paper Snips using the edge of the flap as a guide, my envelope was done.

To line the inside of my card base I’d need a 4″ x 5-1/4″ layer of Basic White Card. Then from the remaining DSP I cut a 3/4″ strip and trimmed it down to 5-1/4″ high. Next, using liquid glue I attached the strip to the right-hand edge of the layer. Finally along the left edge of the DSP I glued a 1/8″ x 5-1/4″ strip of Real Red Card and set the layer aside.

Now I wanted one final piece of DSP and I cut down what I had left to 3″ x 4-1/4″. Then the leftovers were added to a pile of ‘scraps’ waiting to be turned into gift tags.

I was almost finished with my Paper Trimmer but I still needed two more pieces of card.

First I cut and scored some Evening Evergreen Card. Then I folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder to create a card base. With that done I used liquid glue to add the assembled Basic White layer to the inside.

That just left a mat for the final piece of DSP and so I cut a 3-1/8″ x 4-3/8″ piece of Real Red Card. Using liquid glue I mounted the 3″ x 4-1/4″ piece of DSP on top, before adding it to the card front with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

CHRISTMAS TO REMEMBER

At last I was ready for my sentiment and I wanted something quite big to act as a focal point. Eventually I chose “May this be a Christmas to remember and cherish” from the Christmas to Remember Stamp Set.

Using Evening Evergreen ink I stamped the sentiment to some Basic White Card. Then I cut it out using the Label Me Lovely Punch.

Before adding the sentiment to the card I decided I wanted a little gold shine. For this I cut 6″ of Gold 3/8″ Shimmer Ribbon and folded it in half. Then I attached the ribbon to the back of the sentiment in an upside-down V using Mini Glue Dots. Finally I added Stampin’ Dimensionals to the back of the sentiment so I could mount the assembled piece to the card front. With that my simple Christmas card was complete.

This is one of those designs that’s really easy to make in bulk. My method would be to split the project into stages e.g. score all the 8-1/2″ x 11″ sheets of card for my card bases at 4-1/4″ before cutting each sheet in half and folding and sharpening the creases. Then I’d cut enough pieces to line the card bases, followed by the Real Red layers and so on.

Once you have all the various pieces in piles it’s simply a case of putting them all together, and I do this production-line style too. So for instance I’d glue all the DSP strips to all the white card layers first, then add all the 1/8″ Real Red strips to all the layers. After that I’d fix the layers inside the card bases etc. It might seem like you’re only saving a few seconds here and there, but trust me when I say it all adds up. Even my decision to fold the ribbon instead of tying a bow saved time.

Of course the time saved is never wasted. Now I have time to make something else.

If you have other tips for saving time when making cards please share them by adding a comment below.

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Christmas To Remember Stamp Set in a bundle with the coordinating Christmas Pinecone Dies. Placing my order using the single “bundle” item number meant I saved 10% off the cost of buying the same two items separately. I’ve included a link to the bundle in case you want to explore this option.