What Do You Dare Say in September About Christmas Cards?
Ha! This is always a tricky question. Christmas Cards are still a big thing... In December! Nonetheless, no handmade gift ware website is worth it's name if there isn't at least a humble fresh handmade Christmas card offering available each year but when are you supposed to make them?
In fact making cards by hand is one of the most pleasurable things I do. It brings back those Friday sessions of art crammed in between 'Comhra', (chat, in Irish, for the uninitiated) and going home time, when we would stick and glue to our little hearts' content until the bell rang. it is a tactile, colourful and totally freeing experience. You should try it if you never have.
I have sometimes missed my opportunity over the last few years as things get way too busy as the time nears and it is way too difficult to carve out enough time to make Christmas cards. So I have to get into the 'spirit' briefly to design some very Christmassy things, create them and then go back to normal like everyone else.
I Use as Much Recycled Materials as Possible
For me designer Christmas cards should be few, they should take a broader view and incorporate values of environmental respect and fair trade.
What I mean is that the production of cards and other products should be a conscious act and therefore over production should be avoided.
The reuse of the materials is an obvious approach. Using recycled paper, fabric, painted surfaces, plastic bottle tops, sweet wrappers and other materials is a great start. This year there is the Carrowholly Sheep's wool too that I got from a kind friend. The handmade aspect reduces over production too as it is relatively self-limiting by the time it takes to complete the task.
Christmas Greetings
HaHa! It's so funny mentioning this Christmas Greeting topic in September but believe me it has to be that way if we want to be in the running come actual Christmas time.
The handmade element means that we have to plan ahead of others so we have the goods coming up to the normal organisation and acquisition stages of the 'Season'. I find that when we have the back of the work broken it is easier to enjoy the details later. It is not like we can order the Christmas cards and wait for them arrive conveniently just before the season is here, have them photographed, promoted and available along with doing all the rest of the seasonal organising required.
Regarding Christmas greetings, I prefer these days to leave the exact sentiment to the giver. I like to put something like 'Christmas Wishes' or 'Season's Greetings' inside and that allows the giver to decide if 'Happy Christmas' would be too strange for a person given their particular circumstance in a given year or time. I suppose it gives room for more sensitivity.
Shop Handmade Christmas Cards and Printed Art Cards Here!
Glitter Was Synonymous With Christmas
Yes, I confess. I have had a glitter addiction all my life. Especially the frosted variety on snowy Christmas cards! For me, glitter was synonymous with Christmas. OOOH! I really wish it hadn't transpired that glitter is so very very bad for the environment!
Really bad! I have a stash of glitter tubs and glitter glue for my card making sessions which I cannot use anymore with a happy heart so I just don't. I haven't throw them out in case even a bit gets into the environment.. Instead I have been coming up with alternative gorgeous things that are equally lovely and give me that fuzzy feeling when I look at them. Lace, flicked paint for snow, water based pva glue dotted about gives a nice shine, foil backgrounds, stars, recycled foil paper.. the list goes on and I will experiment more and more.
Shop Handmade Christmas Cards and Printed Art Cards Here!
Handmade Christmas Cards in short take a bit of thinking and planning.
Including a Christmas card with your gifts is a lovely way of saying a few things of sentiment without getting too mushy. It shows you appreciate the relationship you have built with a person or family.
When you are making them the design is the easiest part and then comes the work. The repetition of even a limited number, like our offering, will leave you depleted if you are not careful. It is a bit like sequestering yourself in a bedroom or office like so many people do around actual Christmas time to wrap all the presents or making the time to write your cards. It is so hard to take the time out but you know it is worth it.
When it is done you have a comfortable feeling where you can just enjoy the process of giving and making people feel a little bit special.
