ALL THINGS CHRISTMAS CORNER: Cards as Gifts

Cards as Gifts

This month we are doing something a little bit different for our monthly 'informative' post on the 12 Months of Christmas. While we spent our first two years discussing various holiday traditions, offering up some recipes last year, and then sharing some crafts in the earlier part of this year, we've decided to consolidate. This new monthly post will highlight All Things Christmas, from decorative ideas, crafts, recipes, traditions and everything in-between. And we're starting with an idea so amazingly simple you'll shake your head and say, "why didn't I think of that?"

The idea came to me as I was listing out the various family and friends to whom I give gifts. My best friend (not a crafter) loves when I send her cards, and one year she asked me to gift her with a set of cards instead of a "present".

Why didn't I think of this sooner? Almost everyone uses cards, to send birthday wishes, notes of thanks, or to cheer someone up. I still have friends who write letters inside cards to update me on what's going on in their lives. So this got me to rethink the way I create my cards.

Often when I make a card, I'll print the image I'm using twice, and make two cards instead of one. This gives me a surplus of cards on hand when needed, or in this instance, to put together as a Christmas gift.

For my grandmother, I used to follow the calendar with each family member's birthdays, creating a card for my Gram to give to all of us in the family. I even put the cards in their envelopes and set them in order from January through December. That way she only had to pull out the first card, write a personal note inside and sign the card, knowing that it would match the person whose birthday was coming up.

For my co-workers, I've created sets of monogrammed cards, matching my designs to their own personal styles. Since I worked in a school, there were always kids and families who gave us each a little gift at Christmas time, and those cards came in handy for thank you notes.

A gift of themed cards, like Get Well or birthday cards, is a cute idea. Another is to just create a couple of each type of card into a set. However you mix them up, you can cross names off your list while giving your family and friends handmade, beautiful gifts that you know will be used. I love getting a card in the mail from a friend for whom I've created that particular card!! 

The great thing about this kind of gift-giving is that you can start at the beginning of the year, creating cards when you have the time (just like you're doing here by creating Christmas cards all year 'round). I especially like to make and give Christmas Thank You cards, since almost everyone receives gifts.

Sometimes I will create a specific type of card for all the challenges I join and DT cards I make. At the end of a month, I can end up with eight or nine Thank You cards, and the next month have a dozen Birthday cards that I can use and put away for gifting.

When it comes to the "wrapping", you can package them in an already-decorated box or decorate one yourself with goodies from your holiday stash (think boxes that quick meals come in like Mac & Cheese boxes, etc.). Another great idea is to make your own card box out of your leftover supplies. There are several tutorials on YouTube whose videos I have linked in this paragraph.

Another simple way is to make or use a gift bag. Put your card set into the bag, fold the top over and punch 2 holes in which to thread some festive ribbon. You can add some jolly jingle bells or an ornate ornament. Or you can just stack your set of cards and tie them up with an organza ribbon and call it a day. 

Even in this age of social media, people still like to send cards to friends and family to stay in touch, congratulate them or wish them a very Merry Christmas. Just like we all do!! So spread the love by sharing your artwork as presents and everyone will have the merriest Christmas.

Challenge #44 Midway: Optional Theme...Add Some Greenery

Hello and happy Tuesday folks! It is the 15th of the month and time for our midway.

Before we start though, we need to say a sad farewell to Diane Louise. She has been on leave for the last few months and was set to return in September but has instead decided to step down permanently. Diane Louise has been an active member of the Merry Maidens for just a little over a year, having joined us in January of 2017 and only recently going on leave in April of this year. It has been an absolute pleasure having this incredibly talented lady as part of our team and she will be most definitely missed! I hope that you will all join me in wishing Diane Louise the best of luck as she moves on to new adventures in her life.

Now, it is time to get back to business. As we are halfway through the month of August, it is time to see what the Merry Maidens have been up to with their wonderful images from Lunagirl, our guest sponsor this month!

102 Vintage Victorian Angels Download Pack

Joyeux Noel Digital Collage Sheet

 

Old Fashioned Christmas Tags Collage Sheet

Victorian Christmas Digital Collage Sheet



Christmas Birds and Holly

Thank you so much to this month's generous sponsor for providing such amazing designs for the team to work with! Please pop over and pay Lunagirl a visit when you have the chance! You are sure to find something to add to your wish list while you are there!

While team members had the option of working with any of my Décosse's Dynamite Doodles papers, I did finally finish creating a special set called Christmas Greenery. Check out the preview:

Everyone who links up a minimum of two cards during the month of August will earn ONE of the digital papers from this set. The specific paper up for grabs will be shown during the winner announcement post. Additionally, one random winner will earn the full set of papers.

Have your say in determining which paper will be offered to those who link up a minimum of two cards this month by completing the poll below.

DIGI PAPER POLL
Please click "like" to choose the ONE paper that you would like offered up to participants who link up a minimum of two cards during the month of August. Poll will be open until August 31st, 11:59 p.m. EDT. Please note that you can get a better idea of what the actual paper looks like by bringing the preview ABOVE up in the lightbox.

Now check out what the Merry Maidens came up with to inspire you. Clicking on the names will take you to the individual blogs where you can check out the details for all these wonderful cards. Helen from the Sleigh Belles is joining us for the midway as well. Due to unforeseeable circumstances, she wasn't able to get her project done for the start of the challenge but thankfully is able to showcase her card during the midway.

So if you haven't entered already, what are you waiting for? It is time to link up your Christmas and other holiday cards for August. Whether you choose to link up ANY type of Christmas or holiday card you've made for a chance to win this month's Paper Kit, or link up two of them simply to earn your free paper this month, or you choose to also follow the optional theme to have a chance at the sponsor's prize, it is completely up to you!  

Here is a refresher of the details for this challenge...

Please remember that this is a CARDS ONLY link up. While we've had some lovely tag entries in the past, we've sadly had to disqualify them.

Challenge #44

Optional Theme: Add Some Greenery

Did you know that the Greenery we so often associate with the Christmas season has been used throughout history? It was originally used by Pagans during the winter solstice and then adopted by Western Europeans after the rise of Christianity. Once adopted by the Christians, the Greenery was given meanings associated with the religion. To this day many homes, businesses, churches and other locations still decorate with some form of greenery at Christmas time. Whether it is in the form of holly, ivy, laurel, yew, fir, rosemary or pine, the holiday season just wouldn't be the same without some greenery hanging about all over the place!

That is why this month, in order to have a chance to win the prize from our guest sponsor, we want you to create a card that has GREENERY featured prominently in your overall design. The great thing is that there are lots of ideas to choose from including Christmas trees, wreaths, holly and berries, ivy, pine boughs, poinsettia plants, and of course, mistletoe! Which ever form of greenery you choose is totally up to you!

 If you do follow the optional theme, be sure to add FT after your name so that we include you in the draw for the prize. Keep in mind though, that you don't need to follow the theme to link up your cards and earn a free paper each month or for a chance to win the featured paper set. You only need to follow the theme if you want a chance to win this month's sponsored prize of a $15.00 gift certificate to the Lunagirl store.

(Reference:  Cooper, James. (2000-2018). Holly, Ivy and Christmas Plants. Available: https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/hollyandivy.shtml. Last accessed 5th Jul 2018.)

If you are new to this unique challenge, you can find out the impetus behind why I started it under the 'Introductions' tab.  As this is a different kind of link up where we have both an Anything Goes Christmas or other December Holiday option AND an optional theme to follow, be sure to read all the details and rules you need to know in order to participate, by checking out the 'Challenge Details' tab (both tabs located at the top of the blog).

You can find the Challenge Details Summary along with the link up for
Challenge #44 by clicking HERE.

Don't Forget, if everything goes according to plan...

• I'll try to post two winner announcements before the month is out. 
• Our new challenge will start on September 1st.
• Other special posts may be published throughout the month. Be sure to sign up to have our posts delivered by email or follow us through Bloglovin' so you don't miss a thing!

 

We look forward to seeing you participate!

Challenge #44: Optional Theme...Add Some Greenery

Hello, crafters! It is the first day of August and that means it is time for our next challenge to get under way! I don't know about you but to me it feels like the summer is just flying by. It might be because I'm buried knee deep in tasks trying to catch up from my recent situation. It is not helping that my computer is randomly shutting done anywhere from every 10 to 45 minutes depending on the day. We found out that it is due to the Windows upgrade from April but still haven't found the solution for this computer. At the beginning, as long as I stayed active on it, it would stay on but as soon as I left for five minutes that would be it. These past few weeks, staying active doesn't even help. If anyone out there has experienced the same issues and have found a solution, I'd love to hear it. And what are the odds that it would shut down while I was writing about it shutting down. Every time it does, it takes 10 minutes to go through its start up and get everything running again. Sigh...it is going to be a long afternoon/evening. It is a very good thing that I started this post so early in the afternoon to ensure it is out not too late for tonight. It would have been out for 6:00 p.m. if not for 4th shutdown, this one happening at 2 minutes to 6:00 with just the link up needing to be added! Thankfully though with this current reboot I should have enough time to get it finished before the next.

Anyway, back to the reason you're all here. Given that there are just four months left before December arrives, if you are one of those people that haven''t started your Christmas cards yet, it is time to get adding to your pile. For those of you who've already started and for those of you who've made excellent progress so far, good for you. To ensure you have enough, it is time to continue with our quest to work on all those Christmas and other December Holiday cards we will need for year end! To provide you with some extra incentive to get your cards completed, we have some lovely prizes available! So, why not join us for your chance to win?!

Thus, it is time to get down to the business of our latest challenge. Here is what you need to know...

The Basics

While you can find out ALL the information you need to know in order to participate in the challenge by checking out the 'Challenge Details' tab at the top of the page (or by clicking HERE), here is a refresher of the basics.

• Anyone can link up as many Christmas and/or December holiday themed cards (including Happy New Year's cards) throughout the month with an ANYTHING GOES theme.
• Every person who has linked up a MINIMUM of two (2) cards will be eligible to receive a specially designed Christmas themed digital paper.
• Each month there will be an OPTIONAL theme to follow. Anyone who submits a card adhering to the monthly theme, will have the chance to win a prize from that month's guest sponsor.
• ALL entries adhering to our basic rules also have the opportunity to win a mini pack of digi papers each month as well.

Now that the basics are out of the way, how about we get on with the details of Challenge #44.

Challenge #44

Optional Theme: Add Some Greenery

Did you know that the Greenery we so often associate with the Christmas season has been used throughout history? It was originally used by Pagans during the winter solstice and then adopted by Western Europeans after the rise of Christianity. Once adopted by the Christians, the Greenery was given meanings associated with the religion. To this day many homes, businesses, churches and other locations still decorate with some form of greenery at Christmas time. Whether it is in the form of holly, ivy, laurel, yew, fir, rosemary or pine, the holiday season just wouldn't be the same without some greenery hanging about all over the place!

That is why this month, in order to have a chance to win the prize from our guest sponsor, we want you to create a card that has GREENERY featured prominently in your overall design. The great thing is that there are lots of ideas to choose from including Christmas trees, wreaths, holly and berries, ivy, pine boughs, poinsettia plants, and of course, mistletoe! Which ever form of greenery you choose is totally up to you!

 If you do follow the optional theme, be sure to add FT after your name so that we include you in the draw for the prize. Keep in mind though, that you don't need to follow the theme to link up your cards and earn a free paper each month or for a chance to win the featured paper set. You only need to follow the theme if you want a chance to win this month's sponsored prize of a $15.00 gift certificate to the Lunagirl store.

(Reference:  Cooper, James. (2000-2018). Holly, Ivy and Christmas Plants. Available: https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/hollyandivy.shtml. Last accessed 5th Jul 2018.)


Speaking of Lunagirl, it is time to refresh ourselves with the details of this amazing returning sponsor...

My name is Karen, owner of Lunagirl Images. In 2004, after collecting vintage ephemera for most of my life, I started digitizing and restoring images and designing digital supplies for artists and crafters (my husband collected antique books and prints, so we had quite a house full!) We are proud to have been the first company to offer digital vintage image collections of this size and quality at prices affordable to the home crafter.

At Lunagirl.com (and in my etsy shop) I currently offer you several hundred unique digital collage sheets and dozens of themed craft CDs -- over 30,000 images so far! They are a great resource for card making, scrapbooking, jewelry making, and much more, easy to use, carefully researched and curated, all thoughtfully organized and lovingly cleaned up, ready to you to use in your projects. I love altering and embellishing these beautiful and fascinating images and seeing what my customers create with them.

In addition to digital art and design, I enjoy painting on wood, creating assemblage icons and shrines, reading history books, bellydancing, cooking, and sewing with my vintage Singer. I'm also blessed to be the mom of two teenaged boys.

If you're looking for something in particular in vintage style, feel free to email me at info@Lunagirl.com!

Main Blog: http://www.LunagirlMoonbeams.com
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lunagirlart/
Store: http://www.lunagirl.com/
Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Lunagirl

Check out the awesome collage sheets the team worked with for their projects for the beginning of this challenge. Clicking on the names of the previews below will take you to their location in the store.

Christmas Birds and Holly

Tags: Christmas Holly Digital Collage Sheet

You'll get to see more amazing projects using images from our sponsor during our midway so be sure to come back again at that time!

Sadly it has become the norm these past few months that having the paper set ready at the start of the challenge is a hit or miss. I've got four of the papers done and am working on the last two. Again, it doesn't help with the computer shutting off when I'm in the middle of making a paper. In fact, I had almost finished the fifth one when it shut down for about the fourth time while working on it and when I went to open it up yesterday, all I got was a black page which meant it must have corrupted during one of the shut downs. So of course, that meant I had to start it over. Now I'm creating a back up while in the middle of making it and saving to the back up every few steps as well. It increases the amount of time I'm spending trying to get it done but at least if the computer shuts down again while in the middle of working on it and corrupts it again, I'll at least have an immediate back up to refer to.

Hopefully I'll be able to upload the preview and get the poll added within the next few days. That is my goal anyway. I'll just add it to this post in this spot and then add it again at the midway so that you have a chance to vote on it throughout the month. This means that no one from the Sleigh Belles team will be using the new set but maybe one of the Merry Maidens might. In case you're wondering, the set will be composed of different types of greenery, i.e., pine boughs mixed with pine cones, garland, holly leaves and berries, poinsettias, wreaths and decorated Christmas trees. 

UPDATE--08-15-18: So it took me quite a bit longer than I had hoped but I am finally back to add the previews so that you guys can vote! Actually the set itself was finished a few days ago but alas, I forgot to add it here...sigh. While the Sleigh Belles obviously didn't get the opportunity to work with the papers from this new set called Christmas Greenery, a few of the Merry Maidens did. The remaining members worked with other Décosse's Dynamite Doodles paper sets. Check out the preview for the new set:

Everyone who links up a minimum of two cards during the month of August will earn ONE of the digital papers from this set. The specific paper up for grabs will be shown during the winner announcement post. Additionally, one random winner will earn the full set of papers.

Have your say in determining which paper will be offered to those who link up a minimum of two cards this month by completing the poll below.

DIGI PAPER POLL
Please click "like" to choose the ONE paper that you would like offered up to participants who link up a minimum of two cards during the month of August. Poll will be open until August 31st, 11:59 p.m. EDT. Please note that you can get a better idea of what the actual paper looks like by bringing the preview ABOVE up in the lightbox.

Now check out what the Sleigh Belles came up with to inspire you. Donna is back with the Sleigh Belles from her recent leave. Helen unfortunately isn't able to join us for the start of the challenge but will hopefully have her project ready for the midway. Clicking on the names will take you to the individual blogs where you can check out the details for all these wonderful cards...

So what are you waiting for? It is time to link up your Christmas and other holiday cards for August!

If you are new to this unique challenge, you can find out the impetus behind why I started it under the 'Introductions' tab and all the details you need to know in order to participate, in the 'Challenge Details' tab (both tabs located at the top of the blog).

We have a packed month as usual; so, Pat and I and the rest of the gang hope to see you back with us soon!

• Yes, I know I am seriously behind in the winner announcements, I can't make any promises but I'm going to do my best to get two out this week.
• Then, be sure to join us again on August 15th, for our midway post where you'll get to see cards created by the Merry Maidens! 
• Pat will be here towards the end of the month with something special to share! So check back on the 23rd after 6:00 p.m.
• Other special posts may be published throughout the month. Be sure to sign up to have our posts delivered by email or follow us through Bloglovin' so you don't miss a thing!

CHALLENGE DETAILS SUMMARY
Each month we'll include a summary of details for the particular challenge taking place. If you are new, please be sure to familiarize yourself with all the details and rules in the 'Challenge Details' tab at the top of the page. Please note that dates and times listed below are for this particular challenge only:

• Cards for this challenge will be accepted from 6:00 p.m. (18:00 hrs), August 1st until 11:59 p.m. (23:59 hrs), August 31st, 2018.  All times listed are in EDT (Eastern Daylight Savings Time).
  
• If you wish to receive the free digi paper being offered up for this month, you need to link up a minimum of two (2) Christmas or holiday themed cards. 
• If you receive a free digi paper, you are not obliged to use it in any future link up; though, if you do create something, be sure to let me know as I'd love to see it.
• This is NOT a progressive challenge. You can jump in at any time.
• You are allowed to enter as many Anything Goes cards as you'd like. HOWEVER, please note that if you follow the optional theme for the chance to win this month's prize of a $15.00 gift certificate from Lunagirl, only a maximum of three (3) entries will qualify for the sponsored draw.
• If you do follow the optional theme, be sure to add FT after your name so that we include you in the draw for the prize.
• Make sure when entering your project that you mention The 12 Months of Christmas Link Up in your post with a link back to this blog.
• Please remember to link directly to your blog post where we can see your creation, and not just the generic link to your blog.

We look forward to seeing you participate!

Link Up Below:
If you have any problems linking up, please be sure to leave a comment.

The 12 Months of Christmas Link Up Challenge #44
Please link up your Anything Goes Christmas and/or December holiday themed CARDS with the optional theme of Add Some Greenery below. Don't forget that if you do follow the optional theme, be sure to add FT after your name so that we include you in the draw for the prize. Please see above for all the rules and details.

Members of the EU Please Note:

• By entering your Personal Information (i.e. name, blogpost address, email address) into any type of link up on this blog, you are giving your consent to having your name and blogpost link visible to everyone who visits this site. While we also request that you submit your email address when adding a card to any link up, this particular piece of Personal Information is kept private. It is only visible to me, Lisa Décosse, the owner of this blog or my designate (see more on how your email address is used below).
• By commenting on any post on this blog, you are also giving your consent to having your name and blogpost link visible to everyone who visits this site (unless of course, you have left a comment by remaining anonymous). 
• If you are a winner or top pick in an event that you have entered, a copy of your entry information will be published in a separate winners announcement post. This entry information may include the following: 
• your name and/or possibly your blog name
• the blogpost address of the card that you linked up
• a copy of the image that you originally linked up
• Should you qualify to receive a free digi paper by linking up two or more cards, or possibly win the full set of Digi Papers for any particular month and have linked up two or more cards, we will use the email address provided to send out your prize.

Your continued use of this blog and any services it may provide will constitute your acknowledgement and acceptance of this notice.A full Privacy Policy is being created and when completed will be added to a separate page on this blog.