Holiday Cardmaking struggle

[Bohodiva]

Today I spent a good 8 hrs working on watercolor backgrounds, die cutting images, and layouts for my Christmas cards which I want to drop in mail Monday. It was not until 10pm this evening that I finally came up with a design I like and produced ONE simple card, lol, lol... now I have 12 to go.

[Allistamps123]

Oh good luck in finishing up.

I chose a simple design this year as I struggle to finish my cards each year and I only make about 15.

Every year I end up having to take a vacation day and I've switched jobs and have no PTO so have to finish them todsy!

Sounds like your cards will be beautiful!

[lutheran]

I must get stamping! Today! I have several ideas, way too many new sets to try and a few things cut out. But, I can't seem to carve out more than a few minutes and then I think, well, maybe tomorrow.
Mary Beth

[cjzim]

I need 45 and maybe have 20 made. And no mojo : (
I think there are going to be some store cards mailed this year.

[gregzgurl]

You sound like me - the prototype takes f..o..r..e..v..e..r!!! You should be able to wing right through them now, though, right? I haven't even thought about a design yet... I only need a couple dozen (at most) and have plenty of things to choose from (new and old), so that may happen this week. I'm finishing up the gifts that have to go postal first, because it matters more to me that the grandkids get the gifts than whether or not a pretty paper thing shows up anywhere...

[Dorie95]

Boy, I'm really having trouble focusing on my holiday cards! I get started with an idea and then all of a sudden the design evolves into something I didn't plan on making. So then I keep at it and make a card that takes forever and at the end of the "session" I have ONE card!

And it's snowing like crazy today which should put me in the mood but it's making me crabby. Thank goodness DS will come over after work and shovel for us tonight. ugh.

[estamps]

I started early. Got several made without insides done and no matching envelopes. Then stopped for husbands surgery. Lost mojo. Started again and then developed a frozen shoulder. No use of right arm down to fingers. Painful. Lucky if any decorations get done, let alone cards. Fresh wreaths are in potting shed waiting for bows and hanging. Pumpkins in urns and fall leaves on door still. First snowfall today. I have been sad and in pain. Card Friend just texted she will come next week to clean my house and help where needed. I am blessed.

[Bohodiva]

Lol, I have a beautiful box of store cards for back-up mailing. It's after 3pm and I haven't started production... Its a good thing I'm taking Monday off.

[estamps]

I often wonder why we put ourselves through some of this. Christmas comes the same time each year--no big surprise-yet it seems so many of us do things in a stress mode. We must learn to pace ourselves and enjoy what we can get done and forget the rest. Just saying out loud what I have been telling myself.

[Bohodiva]

Ready or not the holidays are upon us... I hung a string clear twinkle lights at my studio window and called it a done, lol... Don't stress yourself out. Take care of your hubby and yourself, you want to be healthy for the New Year.

[Bohodiva]

We can always send the cards as New Year greetings.

[Bohodiva]

Its comforting to know I'm in good company.

[piecesandpom]

A week ago I sponged and stamped, and stamped inside and outside greetings. Then I went to the address book and realized I seriously underestimated how many cards I needed. And, I still needed cards for my stamp club buddies, tomorrow evening.

Finished stamping club cards Thursday. . .and finished the rest of my cards today. Just as I was cutting trim for each card I got to the end of the roll, 2 inches remained on the roll. Phew! The last batch isn't as intricate as I envisioned but they'll do.

Now getting them signed and sent off, hopefully by the end of the week.

I'm thinking of jo

[piecesandpom]

A week ago I sponged and stamped, and stamped inside and outside greetings. Then I went to the address book and realized I seriously underestimated how many cards I needed. And, I still needed cards for my stamp club buddies, tomorrow evening.

Finished stamping club cards Thursday. . .and finished the rest of my cards today. Just as I was cutting trim for each card I got to the end of the roll, 2 inches remained on the roll. Phew! The last batch isn't as intricate as I envisioned but they'll do.

Now getting them signed and sent off, hopefully by the end of the week.

I'm thinking of joining the monthly Christmas club here so I don't put myself in the same bind next year!

[Cartermrc]

I CASE'd a design a demo had on YouTube and started them a month ago. Made 4 different versions with different patterned papers for a total of 20. Got them addressed and put in the mailbox today!
Making cards are the easy part for me. I never was one who could do Christmas shopping and planning in July. I have to get past Halloween before the holiday mood strikes and I can get going.

[gregzgurl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by estamps

I started early. Got several made without insides done and no matching envelopes. Then stopped for husbands surgery. Lost mojo. Started again and then developed a frozen shoulder. No use of right arm down to fingers. Painful. Lucky if any decorations get done, let alone cards. Fresh wreaths are in potting shed waiting for bows and hanging. Pumpkins in urns and fall leaves on door still. First snowfall today. I have been sad and in pain. Card Friend just texted she will come next week to clean my house and help where needed. I am blessed.

I feel your pain - literally! I've had frozen shoulder twice in the right shoulder and once in the left, and it's seriously more painful than childbirth (which I've done six times, so I know what I'm talking about, lol)! Physical therapy was excruciating, but totally effective. Full range of motion restored, and no pain at all... I hope that you move through it quickly and get back to normal soon!

Meanwhile, enjoy your friend and her help, and don't worry about the peripherals. Christmas is about relationships more than any other thing, right? As long as we spend time with those we love, the other "stuff" around the holidays is just that - stuff.

[gregzgurl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cartermrc

I CASE'd a design a demo had on YouTube and started them a month ago. Made 4 different versions with different patterned papers for a total of 20. Got them addressed and put in the mailbox today!
Making cards are the easy part for me. I never was one who could do Christmas shopping and planning in July. I have to get past Halloween before the holiday mood strikes and I can get going.

Thank you for validating my "holiday spirit" mentality. I get downright cranky about having Christmas stuff in the stores when we're still working on Halloween. Why can't we just have the holidays in their proper order and at their proper times? I understand the idea of "planning ahead" or whatever, but can't the retail folk dial it back a little...?

[wavejumper]

I am grateful I buy cards in the post holiday sale for emergency use b/c I used them this year...I am just getting back online now and no way could I make cards this cycle.

I think what I am going to *attempt* to do is make early and not think of it as part of the holiday season like cookie making/decorating, but as any other card like birthdays...and hope that works. As it is, it takes me 2-3 days just to fill them all out, and I had to get the holiday postage stamps which wont come out till Nov, blah blah.

As for the stores, having done it...it is very hard. Having a holiday Oct, Nov and the BIG ones in Dec. is so difficult. No sooner are you taking down summer theme than putting up Halloween, and before it actually comes, Thanksgiving is up too....

From Halloween to Christmas Eve is +/- 7 weeks to sell us a billion dollars in product. Not a long runway for the holiday that can make/break a store. And since only some people will start to buy that early, you are tying up valuable real estate on product that is just sitting there, but you cant help it. So while I am not thrilled to see it, I do get it.

[Stamping Servant]

I make very few Christmas cards each year .... for some reason I always feel that my handmade ones can't compete with the beautiful Christmas cards I can buy. I'm not sure why I feel that way because I don't feel that way at all about the many cards I make for birthdays, anniversaries, encouragement, etc., the rest of the year. On a related subject, my DH and I have been married for nearly 42 years and this is the first time he's thought to ask if he could help me address our Christmas cards. I was amazed how quickly we got through the process .... he addressed the envelopes and I signed the inside of the cards and placed them in the envelopes he had ready. He even sealed the envelopes. I hope he will offer again next year!! LOL

[bdeyes9]

When under pressure with zero mojo I CASE my cards. I often find what starts out as a total case , ends up to be more my own than theirs! I used to tell my non stamping that the card was a CASE (which I had to explain to them) Now I only tell my stamping friends when something is cased. Heck my buddies and I CASE each other sometimes!! When a CASE becomes mine I call it inspired by as opposed to a case. I make my proto type. Then make my cards "assembly Line Fashion". Cut all my paper and cardstock, do all my die cutting and stamping etc. Hope this helps!

[jeanstamping2]

I made 8 cards for an order. And I haven't started the ones I need for my family... I have plenty of time to do them. I just haven't found my creative mojo.

[Bohodiva]

I'm getting them done, they may make it in the mail by Wednesday...

[lovetostamp3]

I started out making about 100 cards for Christmas years ago. Since my husband died a few years back, my list seems to have shortened, and every year I receive fewer cards - not that it matters. However, it gets harder to get in the mood to make them given the time and production element.

I love coloring with different mediums, and have jumped on the coloring book craze, which I find I enjoy, because I have no pressure to produce something and hope they will like it. The pictures are created at my speed, colored however I want, a chance to practice my skills, color combos, shading techniques, etc. It's truly been using my hobby as a creative outlet with the pure pleasure of creating, and I'm falling in love with it once again!!!!

Hopefully I'll get some made, if not, I've got some store bought to fill in the gaps, but no pressure!!!

[Turkey1969]

My goal is to postmark them by Christmas Eve. I have the inside sentiment left to add and get the addresses ready.I made about 80 total - 50 for my mother and 30 for me.

[TeeGeeDee]

It takes me a long time to find my holiday mojo. Usually I struggle to get a bare minimum of cards made but, I keep going into January and sometimes beyond so that gives a little bit of a stash for the following Christmas. That is, if I can find them etc. Sometimes all I have are pieces but it does help.

My plan this week is to review my list and get inky. I'm off today and hope to make the boss's card and bring it by work for coworkers to sign (boss is off today plus I won't see some of my coworkers before the card is needed).

[bjeans]

Similarly, I'm making a card set for my 92-year-old mother-in-law for a gift so she will have a variety of cards to send all year. I'm stuck, half because when I have a deadline I turn into a just-say-no-to-homework teenager (though I'm decades past my teens); half because I want to design them for her style, not mine; and half because I have too many ideas, thanks to great cards on line. 1/2 + 1/2 + 1/2 = stuck.

Deadline pressure (that I caused) makes me anxious and procrastinatorious (notoriously procrastinating?) But you all give me some hope.

[bjeans]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bohodiva

Today I spent a good 8 hrs working on watercolor backgrounds, die cutting images, and layouts for my Christmas cards which I want to drop in mail Monday. It was not until 10pm this evening that I finally came up with a design I like and produced ONE simple card, lol, lol... now I have 12 to go.

Sounds like me. Love making backgrounds,stamping, die cutting, stenciling, everything-ing. (Techniques, I love you!) But when it comes to committing to a design I'm slower than drying mud.

[Jill with a G]

I feel I have to make my cards each year, and I try to make close to 100 each year. Someone mentioned above that Christmas store-bought cards seem more beautiful than hand-made, but I think hand-made are more beautiful than store bought. It really depends on your design! I did start early and created a design in Cricut design space with my Cricut Explore and made my own "die-cut". Of course I watched a few videos on how to do that! But I started in September, created my own design, assembled a proto-type, and actually liked the way it turned out! Then I made several like it and it didn't take too long. In years past I have been the best procrastinator ever, and almost took until the week before Christmas to mail them all out! This year the Misti helped with stamping my sentiment inside the card, and I was done before I knew it! Some years I get my Christmas cards done early and some years it takes until the last minute! I'm done, they are all in the mail, and now I can concentrate on the rest of Christmas!

[peeps321]

I have a suggestion for all of you for next year.....participate in the Falliday challenges! I had such fun this year doing those and I got a ton of holiday cards done. Granted I don't send a lot..maybe 25-30 but it's a great way to get a start and they also give prizes at the end just for participating. So good luck to those of you who have no card mojo but....I guarantee you will have it if you do Falliday

[bjeans]

Great idea for many. But for me the definition of challenge? Pressure. In order to create I have to be in an anti-challenge, anti-pressure mind set. I did just one weekly challenge and afterwards thought okay, admire people hugely who do them, tried it.

When I was a little kid, my father asked if I'd try lima beans. No. One lima bean? No. How about a half of one? Ummm, okay. He cut it in half. I ate it and that was the end of lima beans. When an adult I re-tried and loved them. Maybe I'll re-try a challenge one day too.

[NicholeC]

It's December 14th and I haven't started by Christmas cards yet. :( I still have about an hour of work left on my kids' teacher gifts, but I'm hoping to get some cards done this weekend (the forecast of 8-12 inches of snow on Friday and not being about to be out and about might help). I have a SU card kit that makes 18 cards that I could throw together, then I only need about 20 more.

Of course, I've gotten exactly ONE card so far this year, so I think it might be time to pare down my card list...

[stampindoe]

Sound like the Christmas Card Challenge may help some of you in 2017.
2017 CHRISTMAS CARD CHALLENGES by annsforte3 at Splitcoaststampers

I have been participating for several years. One year I didn't do it at all.
This is a very low stress challenge. You can do however many cards you want each month and you don't have to follow the monthly suggested challenge-just do whatever you want to. If you get behind, who cares!!!

Check out CCC16 for card ideas from this year.

For those who need a quick solution this year, here are some of my cards which are very easy to make:
SUO, CCC16 NOV Card Mini Mates Happy Holidays by stampindoe - Cards and Paper Crafts at Splitcoaststampers
and
SUO CCC12 July Group by stampindoe - Cards and Paper Crafts at Splitcoaststampers
and
SUO CCC12 JAN Card by stampindoe - Cards and Paper Crafts at Splitcoaststampers

Happy Stampin' and CASE-CASE-CASE!!!

[c-mouse]

I have joined that this year...Trying to keep from having the last minute rush syndrome. I discovered a stash of cards I had reserved for Operation Write Home last year just before they ceased operation, and coupled with those I had made for Falliday Fest, and at card club---I had about a dozen left over! and it felt so good to not be juggling that along with all the other holiday tasks. I did have some guilt pangs about them not all being the same but laughed because--none of the people who receive them will be comparing notes with each other--so what difference does it make? And it was fun to go through the stash and match a card to an individual or family.

[Leona2025]

Ohh I am not the only one. I have a single card I have been laboring over for a solid week and a half. I had no inspiration for it, but its the most important one I will send. Finally last night something inspired me, but it was too late to work on it!

[gregzgurl]

Can someone, ANYONE, explain to me how I can have a bizillion and twelve Christmas stamps, a huge stack of pretty Christmas papers, a handful of Christmas dies and embossing folders and ZERO desire to touch ANY of it? All I have to do right now is make some tags so that when I wrap the gifts I can identify who they are going to. Have I managed that? Nope! They have to be done by Saturday so my daughter can take them back to Utah with her... Cards get to wait until AFTER that. Sheesh! Oh - forgot to mention that I also have a Pinterest board of ideas that I've been collecting... What the...?!

[bjeans]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gregzgurl

Can someone, ANYONE, explain to me how I can have a bizillion and twelve Christmas stamps, a huge stack of pretty Christmas papers, a handful of Christmas dies and embossing folders and ZERO desire to touch ANY of it?
All I have to do right now is make some tags so that when I wrap the gifts I can identify who they are going to. Have I managed that? Nope! They have to be done by Saturday so my daughter can take them back to Utah with her... Cards get to wait until AFTER that. Sheesh! Oh - forgot to mention that I also have a Pinterest board of ideas that I've been collecting... What the...?!

Yes, I can and will explain! Because you must be related to me! And Leona? Nichole?

[Bohodiva]

Finally finished and mailed six cards to my family on the East Coast this morning!
Now I need to complete the cards for local friends and family using another clean & simple design.

[Bohodiva]

Clean & Simple Christmas 2016 -1
2016/12/11/Christmas_2016_1_by_Bohodiva.jpg

[NicholeC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bjeans

Yes, I can and will explain! Because you must be related to me! And Leona? Nichole?

Yep - runs in the family.

[muscrat]

I joined the Christmas card challenge and had a bazillion leftovers to donate too! I mailed 30-40 and put about that many in church mailboxes. Then that is family I hand deliver. The challenge helps me, but I do more than I pledge. Next year I may make duplicates. And I case a lot!