Paper Crafts magazine Presents: 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop

Christmas is coming! It’s that time of year when I start getting excited about Christmas cards and crafts and cookies and all the wonderful things I plan to do this year. Of course, most often my dreams exceed my available time but oh well! That’s life.

Can you tell that I seriously enjoy Christmas? It’s my favourite time of the year. It’s a time of peace and hope, a time for family and a joy for the senses. If you’re looking for some fabulous Christmas inspiration, look no further. I’m so excited about this latest Paper Crafts Magazine issue, Holiday Cards & More.

Why?

So many reasons. It’s always one of my favourite issues as it is packed chock-full of ideas for my favourite holiday. The creative ideas always get me in the mood to create. Just look at that uber-cute spool tree on the cover. That’s a must-do project for sure! I just can’t wait to get started.

Speaking of getting started, I actually did get a head start on Christmas last spring when working on designing submissions for this issue. I’m excited to have 12 projects in it. When it comes to designing for Christmas in the spring, it’s always a bit of a challenge to get your head in the right time of year but once I pull out those holiday papers and goodies, the joy of Christmas pops right back up again.

Looking for this issue? Find it on-line here.

Christmas can be a busy time though, right? It always sneaks up. Holiday Cards & More features lots of quick and easy projects so you can squeeze them into your hectic schedule. They are easy to mass produce and great to mail.

So how about a blog hop featuring quick and easy holiday cards for today? I actually created two. I just couldn’t help myself! 😉

This card uses the new Jingle collection from Lily Bee Design. I just adore the muted holiday colors. I’ve die cut the snowflake from patterned paper over chipboard for a simple wintery look. Now if you just can’t help yourself for a few special cards, this design would also be easy to step up a notch if for some strange reason you have an overabundance of time. Some tied on twine, some bling or some glitter on the snowflake will do the trick.

Supplies: Kraft Cardstock by Bazzill, Jingle 6×6 Tiny Tablet by Lily Bee Design, Snowflake die by Sizzix, Craft-a-Board by Essentials by Ellen, buttons by Basic Grey, Tissue Tape by Tim Holtz, corner chomper by We R Memory Keepers, Glue Dots®

Tips for Creating Quick Holiday Cards

• limit your layers – it will save time, money and also postage fees
• purchase 6×6 paper pads for your cards as all the papers will coordinate and save time
• choose a simple layout
• die cutting your own embellishments can save money. to save time adhere your patterned paper to your chipboard before cutting so that you can die cut in one single step
• adhere buttons and other embellishments with Glue Dots for instant adhesion
• stamp your sentiment or leave without one for even quicker cards
• go for a clean look. i love inking and distressing but they do add time
• mass produce your cards by doing all the cutting in one block of time, the stamping in another block of time and adhering layers in another.
• i love bows and twine but leaving them off your holiday cards will really speed things up
• don’t over think your design – use the kiss approach (keep it simple stupid 😉 )
• remember…it’s the thought that counts!

This card also uses the Jingle 6×6 paper pad. Once again I’ve used a simple design and added some pretty snowflakes for a wintery look.

Supplies: Jingle 6×6 Tiny Tablet by Lily Bee Design, White Snowflake Transparencies by Maya Road, Christmas Emporium Cling Stamp 3 by Hampton Arts, Jet Black Archival Ink by Ranger, Pearl rhinestone stickers, Tiny Attacher by Advantus

I hope you’ll doing some blog hopping today for some fabulous quick and easy holiday card designs. I know they are going to rock! Just check out this line-up…

• Chan Vuong
• Teri Anderson
• Kelley Eubank
• Maile Belles
• Vanessa Menhorn
• Amber Daigre
• Lorena Canto
• AJ Otto
• Windy Robinson
• Betsy Veldman
• Dawn Petrick

Lastly, you just KNOW that Christmas means giving and this blog hop is all over that! There’s lots of ways to win!

Check it…

• leave a comment on my blog (this post) by midnight (MDT) on Sunday, Oct. 2 for a chance to win a copy of fabulous Holiday Cards & More, Vol. 6
• stop by all the above blogs on the list and leave a comment for more chances to win a copy of this issue
• Don’t miss this one!!! Stop by the Paper Crafts Connection for a chance to win an absolutely wonderful stampalicious paper crafting prize. Seriously. I’m totally jealous of whomever wins it! Good luck!

Whew! Aren’t you glad you stayed with me to the end?

Ready, set…start hopping! And good luck!