Special Christmas Card, and how to make card blanks

Amongst my post-Christmas craft trove was the piece of card on the left, with the exquisite design featuring gold and black lettering and diamanté decorations. Ideally I'd have a friend called Noel to whom to send it, but I am not so blessed, so it got made into a Christmas card.
I began by sticking it to another piece of same-sized card (from packaging - it was going to be completely covered so the printing on it didn't matter) to form the basic card. Then I collected together all my scraps of gold paper, card and ribbon, even the tiniest, and frowned thoughtfully at them for a while with my mouth open.
The next step was to cover the back of the card with gold scrap card bits, to be covered with gold snowflake and flower and heart shapes in a sort of collage/montage/mosaic-y thing. (Soundtrack: South Park 'We Need a Montage'). At this stage it looked terrible. I started sticking stuff to it randomly more in faith than in certainty, and was rewarded as it started to look kinda cool. I think. I spilled the scraps over on to the front of the card too.
Then there was the matter of the inside, which had various things about BT technology printed on it. So I covered that all over too, with wrapping paper and ribbon and torn pieces of paper edged with gold eyeshadow.
I was moderately pleased with the result, though I'm never happy with cards when I've finished them - making them is the fun part. It's all a bit flawed and obviously handmade and amateurish, with bits that don't quite fit and uneven bits and, like Neil's snowball card from last year, it actually sheds over time.... however, I can't help being quite pleased with it. At some point, when I find the right card or paper, I shall make a large envelope for it.

And so to the next project, which happens to be a gold one too. I received some packaging recently that included pieces of gold rectangular card, white on the reverse. Perfect! well nearly. There were small printed areas on the card, but these could be covered up easily enough.
If you need to cut your card down to size, scissors should be your third choice after Madame Guillotine and a craft knife, though they will do. The other choices give better, straighter, neater edges though. The next part is folding the card, which may sound simple, but if you fold it without scoring it first then it will probably buckle and craze. Most cardmakers will tell you to use a bone folder, which is neither vegan nor necessary. There are many alternatives: the blunt side of a butter knife, an embossing tool (the sort used with stencils, not the heat type) or, best of all in my experience, a biro that has no ink left in it. Score very firmly down the centre of your card (or a third and two-thirds along if you're making a trifold card) against a ruler or other hard straight edge, and then fold. It should be perfect. Even I can do that bit.
After that it was a simple matter of covering up the printing with co-ordinating card and ribbon - or I could have used an embellishment, or cut them out to make an aperture. With an envelope made of an old calendar, these will be completely re-used cards - except for the glue. I tried using flour-and-water paste, but that led to collapsible cards with a best-before date. Everything else, though, is re-used.
Have a golden year, all!
Jehanine x

Calendars to envelopes, and the Magic of Vince

Hello all and Happy New Year! Time for ethical crafters to use all those beautiful calendars up in one way or another - for instance turning them into envelopes, as in the photos. I use kreate-a-lope stencils because they're brilliant. One doesn't even need a pair of scissors (though I tend to edge mine with crinkly scissors because I'm like that).
I also put a request out on Realcycle (similar to Freecycle - both are pretty good) for used Christmas crackers, bits of ribbon and so on, with this December in mind - organised huh? - and was sent a beautiful little parcel of ribbon by one woman, given a pile of shiny gift bags and bows by another, and then there's Vince. After asking a few questions about what would be useful, this complete stranger turned up with a whole Honda-full of wondrous craft treasure of exactly the right kinds! Hurrah for Vince! So I've been like a little kid on Christmas morning, sorting through all the glittery detritus making wonderfully adult and erudite comments such as, 'Ooh! Ooh! Shiny!' and such-like. I've also made a start on this year's Christmas cards, and I have to say that with all the free goodies they are going to be miles better than last year.
The only problem is that I can't tell you the source of all the elements. The card in the middle, for instance - the silver padded card came from where, I wonder? And the central image, in wire with diamantés - was it a decoration? The ribbon on the right-hand card is utterly beautiful - this card is going to someone special.
Isn't it sad that so much of this stuff gets thrown away, while cardmakers pay through the nose for card, glitter, ribbon and so on?
The more conventional elements - peel-offs for instance, came from a crafter who is losing her sight and giving away her stuff for small prices and charity donations. What a star. Good luck to her in her difficulties. It's worth joining a craft group of some sort - virtual if you're not that mobile or sociable - to help and/or benefit in these sorts of circumstances.
I'm happily crafting away, anyway - and I'm very glad that the world has brilliant people like Vince in it. Happy, happy, crafty, ethical New Year!
Jehanine x