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It's getting close to Christmas/holiday season, and I'm wondering how most people make their cards... Do you make custom cards for everyone on your list? Or do you prefer to make a bunch of the same card, assembly-line style?
The last couple of years I haven't even sent out Christmas cards (oh! The shame of it all!! The card maker didn't sent out Christmas cards!!). To be honest, December is my busiest time at work and there was just no time! But! When I do send them out (still crossing my fingers for this year), I do assembly line. Too many cards to send out custom cards to everyone!!
I just finished 40 assembly line style for a couple of "groups" (hubby's work, my daycare parents, etc) and I have another design that I'll do assembly line style for our church family. For my other friends, I do lots of different ones.
I only send 10 cards, so I make 5 each of 2 designs. If I was really lazy, I suppose I could use the same designs 2 years in a row and just flip the list as to who gets what design. But I do do them assembly line for the few that I do.
I made 50 of the same design 2 months ago - a few weeks ago I sat down and addressed the ones already made to find out that even cutting the list in half I needed 25 more so I got them made this past weekend along with 25 cards for my Mom! This is the first year that I made them all the same - in the past I made 10-15 of several designs but came to realize this year that I can't remember who I send what card to so decided to make them all the same from now on! I will be posted them in my gallery soon!
I make a couple of many different designs then decide which one(s) I like the best then will make 15-20 of those. My DH and I only send out 60 or so, so by the time I make 15-20 "samples", it really doesn't take many to finish it up.
There is no way I could do assembly-line. I would, first of all, make a mess by the time I got to #60 and, secondly, I'd hate the card by the time I finished #60 :>
I usually send out about 35 or 40 Christmas cards to family and friends. I make only one design, and do them assembly line style. I know lots of folks think that is a boring endeavor, but I enjoy the repetition.
I get all the images stamped, die cut and colored, cut my cardstock and mats, and gather up and count whatever embellishments I'm doing. Then when I have spare time in the evenings, I assemble a few. Before you know it, they're all done!
For cardmaking in general, I seldom do just one card. When I make a design, I usually make at least 4 at the same time. I may change the sentiments a little, but the basic cards are the same. I love having a Birthday, or Thinking of You card on hand when I need it.
__________________ Bugga in OK
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." Dalai Lama
I used to make 3 or 4 of almost the same design, but this year I'm making them all different. I only have about 70, and I'm retired so I have the time. Two years ago I started in January and made 5 a month. By that Christmas I had them all done, and no crunch time. I'm having a really good time making my cards this year since I adopted a "no hoarding" policy. Using stuff I've had for years and loving it. I don't know how you people who work and/or are raising a family find the time to make any cards.
__________________ Keep what is worth keeping
and with the breath of kindness
blow the rest away.
I usually make 5 or 6 or even more designs. Some are fancier than others - and get sent to people who I think will appreciate them. I would get bored, I think making 50 of the same design. And I think I'm up to over 60 cards. Yikes !
I don't have a game plan. I just sit down to create and if I feel like making 5 of the same design, I do. But if I feel like making 5 different designs in that particular card-making session, I'll do that. When it comes time to mail out the cards, I usually have a hodge podge where some designs have multiples and others are one-of-a-kind.
I also do not pressure myself to make a set total number of cards. However many cards I make is however many I send out.
I do assembly line style for the bulk of my cards - those are usually faith based. Then I go to a couple of stamp camps where I make at least 6 cards so I end up with a dozen or so unique ones that I send to people who I think might not appreciate the others. I like the assembly style because I don't like the idea of sending someone the same image more than once. I use a different stamp set every year for the bulk cards.
I made over 350 for Operation Write Home. No more that 6 of a kind per style. I took that idea and incorportated it into my personal cards this year. I have made 88 so far with a variety of styles. Which helps me out a lot. I have been tired of Christmas cards since Halloween!! Last year I made all the same style, and I got really bored with it pretty fast. The way I am going about it now makes it sooooo much easier for me to WANT to make cards.
I make usually 4-6 of a design and do about 60 cards for Christmas. I started in Jan. and finished in Oct. There is no way I could do more than 4-6 of each design; I'd be bored, make lots of un-fix-able mistakes and would hate them all!
I never seem to get started until the end of November so I design one card and do assembly line. It goes so much faster for me that way and I can get 60 made in just a few evenings. This year my almost 10 year old daughter helped me make the cards. We used several different DSPs so they aren't all exactly the same.
I make some assembly-line clean and simple cards but change things up by eg: changing the colour of the tree I am stamping and the colour of the sentiment. If you look in my gallery, you will see that I did a Christmas tree + sentiment in that way the other day - and I made 5 or 6 cards of each colour. I get sick of making the same card in the same colours. These are cards I give to teachers, work colleagues, acquaintances etc.
For more detailed cards that I give to close friends, neighbours and family who appreciate my home-made cards, I spend a few evenings making my card bases and add the designer paper usually from the same dp company's range, then spend a few evenings stamping a bunch of different images and colour them all at the same time. Using just one company's dp means I can match the colours easily to my pencils, and only need a select few colours of ribbon to match. That way, once I have coloured the images, I just need to plonk them on the card and add some embellies like snowflakes etc. I have been far more productive this year doing it this way instead of doing one at a time. So it is more streamlined but not so much so that I am sick of them and each card looks very different to each other.
And I am not ashamed to admit that I do buy some cards because I realise that I am not super-woman and can't do it all and don't want to stress about it. I love Christmas cardmaking and don't want to take all the joy out of it.
Last year I made 80 cards all the same style. Then I had a few come back and a few left over. oops. Can't use those again this year. I ended up gifting any unused cards to a handicapped relative we have.
So this year, I'm still making most of my cards in assembly line style, but making small batches and each batch is a different style. That way if I have any left over, I can save the extras and use them next year.
Oh and there are a few single design cards for those people that really appreciate the craft or that I'm quite close to.
This year I went with assembly-line style for the majority of my cards. I had a few scrapbooking crops to go to and loved being able to take my cards and work on them while I chatted (making them all the same made it easy for me to still be able to chat while I assembled them). Once that was behind me, I started making additional cards to attach to gifts or send to people throughout the month, and I made a few different styles of each of those. We are expecting a baby any day now, so I wanted to have them all ready to go and just stick in pictures of the kids and info on the new baby (our Christmas cards will double as baby announcements this year), so I finished most of them a few weeks ago. With a 2 1/2-year-old and a baby on the way, I decided that something had to give this year and making a lot of the same card design made the most sense for me. And I usually have a box of store-bought Christmas cards nearby, just in case I forget someone and need a card at the last minute!
I join in the Christmas Card challenge here, and commit to making 5 a month January thru' November. Occasionally I make more than one of a design, but most are one-offs. Now I just have a couple of special ones to make, and I can take my time and enjoy those without feeling too stressed.
I normally always do mine assembly line style. It seems quicker for me especially right now, I just started making them. Thank goodness i don't have alot to make! :lol:
I do mine usually one at at time. I see something I like online, and then make it. I might make 2 of the same, but usually one at a time. I get bored making the same thing over and over again, especially when there are soooo many cute designs and techniques to choose from!
I usually go to the gallery and case cards that use the same stamps as what I have then I will make 6 of each one, I keep one of the cards in my stash of cards that I have made and the rest are sent out. I usually find about 5 or 6 cards in the gallery to case. We have small families on both sides so I am able to send each family member a different card and because my family lives in the same province as us and my DH's family lives in Ontario I can give the same cards to his family that I given to mine and they will never know the difference. The cards that I have left over are for our Church family and friends. I do try and make a special card for our Pastor and for our own kids though. I have so many stamps that need loving that I don't think that I would feel right making all the same cards for everyone, but that is just me. I do need to learn to start earlier making my cards though because some of them I need to get mailed out near the first part of December if I want to make sure they get to where they are going in time.
I assembly line. I generally do order picture cards for friends and family, then send the handmade ones to crafty friends who don't really know my kids.
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I make Christmas cards two at a time (all different designs) basically all year long. I get in higher gear when the SU holiday mini comes out and then after Halloween/Thanksgiving. I end up with 100 or more cards to send when I'm all done. I hate mass production and have way too many stamps so this works the best for me! The drawback is that people comment on the card I sent and I usually have no idea which one I sent them so I have to ask what it looked like, ha! I DO pick out the cards for each person based on what I have and some I do remember with special friends/family but most I don't remember:-)
... The drawback is that people comment on the card I sent and I usually have no idea which one I sent them so I have to ask what it looked like, ha! I DO pick out the cards for each person based on what I have and some I do remember with special friends/family but most I don't remember:-)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cook22
Oh yes, this is so true!!
Glad I'm not alone, ha! And usually once I tell them how many I made and that I make them all year long they don't mind that I didn't remember and then they go on to describe it:-) I should address them as I go along though....THAT is the part I hate and am always scrambling close to Christmas to get it done!!!!!
I usually make my cards over Thanksgiving weekend when we visit my Dad, this year I prepared some of the elements, ie, the embossing (way too much embossing, will need to remember that next year.)
Next year I am going to try to do a few every month so I have a variety of cards rather than the same card for everyone, since I send out about 50 cards I can do five a month and be done by October (we shall see how that plan goes).
__________________ AfterHoursStamper.blogspot.com �It is easier to believe a lie that one has heard a thousand times than to believe a fact that no one has heard before�
I make Christmas cards two at a time (all different designs) basically all year long. I get in higher gear when the SU holiday mini comes out and then after Halloween/Thanksgiving. I end up with 100 or more cards to send when I'm all done. I hate mass production and have way too many stamps so this works the best for me! The drawback is that people comment on the card I sent and I usually have no idea which one I sent them so I have to ask what it looked like, ha! I DO pick out the cards for each person based on what I have and some I do remember with special friends/family but most I don't remember:-)
That is one of the only down sides of making several different styles, is when someone says I LOVE THE CARD YOU MADE ME, and they comment about it... I think to myself... oh no... what card did I send them! I am glad I am not the only one....But I do it anyway with the several different styles..
I make Christmas cards two at a time (all different designs) basically all year long. I get in higher gear when the SU holiday mini comes out and then after Halloween/Thanksgiving. I end up with 100 or more cards to send when I'm all done. I hate mass production and have way too many stamps so this works the best for me! The drawback is that people comment on the card I sent and I usually have no idea which one I sent them so I have to ask what it looked like, ha! I DO pick out the cards for each person based on what I have and some I do remember with special friends/family but most I don't remember:-)
The Holiday Mini was the death of my pocketbook! LOL So many lovely things! I love the Stocking Building punch and stamp set!!
ACK!!! reading this thread, I am soooo behind!!! Haven't even started the Christmas cards yet!! They may be New Year's cards. I usually do about 6 or so of one design then switch it up. I do have a list of cards that I want to do, got the stamps out and the paper. So it's a start. ;)
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Haven't started yet. Stopped at LSS today and picked up some more supplies. First couple ideas didn't work out. I make them assembly style and switch them up with what I have.
Definitely assembly line. I have a few different elements i.e. die cut reindeer, cricut wreath, die cut ornament, etc. so I do a bunch of one element - cutting - painting - glazing and then move on to another element. I have not started to assemble the actual cards - hoping I've done enough of each since I haven't really kept count. UGH - might be a rush at the last moment to throw together some simple cards!
I make all of mine (about 70) different. I try to start early every year, and this year wasn't bad....I have about 27 done so far. Unfortunately that means I usually send my cards out the day before Christmas.... :P.
I make my holiday cards one at a time, therefore they are all unique. It keeps me inspired that way. Plus, I get to use all of my holiday stamps and not let them collect dust.
I tried doing different cards for each person I send cards to, but that got out of hand. So I "demo up" three different designs. I make a batch for my mom to send out, a batch for my sister to send out and one for me to send out. Of course, by the time I get to the batch I send out, I'm so tired of Holiday cards, that they are really, really simple.
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I like assembly line style....that said I only do about 25 cards. That's really not that much "assembly line" going on. If I did 50 cards I might do two different styles.
__________________ All I want is the chance to prove money won't make me happy!
Holiday cards! One-at-a-time or all-at-once?
