Every year I search Pinterest for inspiration for my annual Christmas card making expedition and every year I am frustrated. so many of the delicious pins I find are of supplies not readily available in Australia….or at least not affordably available once you account for the dismal exchange rate and postage. Often the postage is more than the item itself! This is not at all helpful at a time of year where budgets are already stretched.
This year I am determined to use products manufactured in Australia, or in a pinch are readily available from local sources. Kaisercraft must have heard my cries of frustration and despite it being only September, they released their 2018 Christmas collections. Spotlight further supported my adventure by providing a 30% off sale – brilliant! So with thanks to the Crafting Gods, I am now armed with the Kaisercraft ‘First Noel’ 6×6 inch paper pad, Collectables pack, coordinating Washi Tape and the ‘Village’ cutting dies.
The challenge is to make as many cards as possible from this one set of supplies and share each one here with you with some instructions so you can follow along if you like. If you aren’t into sending Christmas Cards yourself, keep in mind they make excellent teacher gifts. Who wouldn’t love being given a bundle of hand made cards tie up with a bow in early December when school finishes? Way better than soap I recon.
Basic Supplies
I’m going to use as few supplies as possible so this series of cards can be created with basic supplies and don’t require a huge investment to achieve. Having said that I may get carried away with the creative flow, but I will try hard to stick to the following basic supplies:
- Scissors
- Double Sided Tape
- Glue Stick – I like the Prima Planner Glue Pen
- Die Cutting Machine
- Paper Trimmer
- Kindy Glitz or similar
- Basic Black and White Cardstock
- Card Bases
- Coordinating Ribbon – I have used Semco 9mm Everyday ribbon, $1 per 3m roll from Spotlight
- Circle Dies – I really like the Uniquely Creative Cross Stitch Circle Dies
I like the Prima Marketing ‘Planner Glue Pen’ – its good and sticky, and comes in a pen sized tube, so it’s easy to use and goes where you put it. They are available at Paper Flourish, if you are here in Adelaide, or any good scrapbooking store. I also like the precision of the Zig Glue pens. You can get those at Riot stores.
I use and highly recommend the Uniquely Creative Cross Stitched Circle die set as it cuts a cross stitched circle and frame, plus leaves a cross stitched outline – all with a single pass of the die. Brilliant!
Where I think it adds to the design I have added small amounts of basic black and white cardstock and little bits of glitter card here and there as I am a total magpie and nothing looks finished to me until I add glitter. You can stick to the paper pad designs if you prefer.
About card bases – Kaisercraft have a great range of card bases available in both rectangle and square shapes and various colours. They are reasonably priced, readily available at Spotlight or Kaisercraft stores and are sturdy enough to build on. I have used these for my cards that use a black base.
My absolute favourite card bases are available from Target in packs of 25 for $5 – with envelopes and cards sold in separate packs. They are a metallic card in a heavy weight that cuts and handles glue well. I have used those for most of the cards in this series.
In some cases I have added some bespoke Christmas sentiments, just to be a bit different. You can download these here. Print them onto plain white cardstock and cut out to use them in these designs. Spoiler alert – the download contains multiples of each design, as there is more than enough paper to repeat designs.
Never discard any off cuts from a card. My plan is to use it all in later designs, to get the best value for money. Let’s get started!
Kaisercraft First Noel – Card 1
Supplies for this card:
- Target 15cm x 15cm white Metallic Card
- Three Wise Men and Evening Star Collectables from Kaisercraft First Noel Collectables
- Oh Holy Night label from the back pages of the Kaisercraft First Noel 6×6 Paper Pad
- Gold Splat, White on Grey Spot, Gold Star and Gold Foil papers from the First Noel Paper Pad
- Adhesive Tape or Glue
Tools:
- Uniquely Creative Inside Outside Cross Stitch Circle Dies – the second largest one.
- Die Cutting Machine – if you don’t have one you can use scissors to cut circles
- Scissors
Preparation:
Cut a four inch strip from both the Gold Foil and Gold Splatter on Black paper.
Open the card base flat and position the circle die so it sits just off the right-hand edge, leaving enough room at the top for two strips of washi tape. Run that through the die cutting machine and put the inside portion of the circle aside. We will use that later.
Using the same sized die, cut a circle from both the gold foil paper and the Gold Splatter on Black paper. This will produce a circle frame and a circle with each cut. We will use the Gold Foil circle frame and the Gold Splat on Black circle for this card.
Cut a small circle from the Gold Star on White paper.
Cut the Three Wise Men Collectable apart, so they are able to be positioned separately.
Assembly:
Position and glue the Gold Foil circle inside the cross stitched circle cut into the card base. Avoid putting glue on the edge that will fall off the edge of the card if you can. It tends to make a sticky mess on things 🙂
Position and adhere the circle cut from the Gold Splat paper inside the foil frame, again avoiding gluing the protruding edge.
Glue the Evening Star Collectable to the small die cut circle and position and adhere this so it sits to the top most edge of the Gold Spat circle.
Using the Gold Star washi tape, stick a piece along the lower edge of the card. This is the ‘ground’ for our Wise Men to ‘stand’ on. It needs this so they don’t look like they are levitating, which I thought was a bit creepy for Christmas.To balance that out, select two tapes to run along the top of the card. We left room for these earlier.
Now stick the Wise Men Collectables onto the card front, positioning them so the are ‘standing’ on the Gold Star washi tape ‘ground’.
Cut a small piece of White Spot on Grey paper to fit behind the Oh Holy Night label and adhere these together.
Position and adhere the Oh Holy Night label onto the Gold Splat circle.
Sit back and admire completed card number 1! Well done you.
This design is very versatile. I have re-used this same design using the Sizzix O Little Town stamp and die set, which I bought from Charlotte’s Web last year. Sadly it’s no longer available, but you could use another First Noel Collectable or any other Christmas stamp you have.
Card 2 coming soon.