Christmas in...uh...May?

OK, so you could say I'm a little behind when it comes to posting my more recent handmade cards. I try to wait to post Xmas cards until I'm sure everyone has received theirs, and then I just ended up forgetting altogether. But without further delay, here's my batch from Christmas 2020!

 

The gang's all together

So breaking things down, there's a trio of simple tree card designs:

I really liked these guys! Sometimes simple is best. Here's a closer look at them individually.

Moving on....

So my 2020 Secret Santa happened to be very proudly Italian-American, and the Italian flag colors work well for Christmas too! And I liked the design so much I made it a twin for Mike, my (unofficial) step-dad. Christmas is also his birthday!

This one is unique, I only made one of this design. I liked the kraft card base with the images I'd used from a few different stamp sets.

This one I made with a stamped sentiment background that went unused a year or so ago.

Edit: I just realized that apparently I never posted my Christmas 2019 cards either. Oh boy.  Well, here's those.

Christmas in...February?

As I was cleaning out my desk, I stumbled upon my digital camera. And WHOOPS I just remembered what was on it: pictures of my 2018 Xmas cards that I never posted online. Uh....better late than never?

This was probably my favorite of the designs. It features washi tape, shimmer spray, and the snowflake dies I impulse bought and was DAMNED sure going to use this year at every available opportunity. Here's some detail shots.

I really liked how the shimmer popped against the gray background.
Next I did a set of snowflake cards accented with green or red.

The embossing was inspired by my desire to not have to actually glue down any intricate die-cut snowflakes. I avoided it in the first cards by using the negative space from the dies...clever, right? Work smarter, not harder, am I right? And here's some details on this set...

I arbitrarily used embossed or debossed patterns for the cards, depending on what I thought looked best. Each card was soaked in a tremendous amount of shimmer spray. It reminded me of Jim Henson's Labyrinth. I loved it!

There was one more card that I forgot to get pics of before I gave it away....whoops? I'm like literally the worst content creator ever, I swear. BUT I found a pic I was able to swipe from Facebook chat. Ignore my messy desk in the background. It's still messy, and I'm not sorry about it. It's...part of the creative process.

Well, hope you still have enough Christmas spirit left to appreciate this incredibly late holiday post!

Belated Christmas

With everything going on in my life, Christmas kind of snuck up and snuck past before I had a chance to register it. I barely got any pictures of my cards this year! But here are the two designs I handed out to loved ones.

The Christmas Card I Never Got to Give

I made this card for my former manager, friend, and mentor. She loved wolves, and she'd been talking for weeks about wanting a nice snow globe for Christmas. I knew right away what I wanted to make her for Christmas this year, and I set to work planning it: a winter wolf snow globe shaker card.

 I'd never made a shaker card before, but I was so excited to try. I'd spent a lot of time planning this card and I was so excited to give it to her. I'd given her handmade cards the past two Christmases (her favorite holiday) and she just loved them. I wanted this one to be extra special.

I mentioned very briefly in my last post that I've been going through a bit of a rough time lately.
I was, unfortunately, unable to ever give her this card.
TRIGGER WARNING REGARDING SUICIDE

She ended her life before I was able to arrange to give it to her.

I'm completely devastated. She meant a lot to me, and I owe so much to her. I wouldn't have my horse Wrangler without her encouragement and support. She'd done so much for me over the years. Everything I know, I owe to her.

I can't handle moving past this loss and staying at my current job, it's too painful for me. So today is my last day of employment at the animal hospital. I don't have another job lined up right now, which is pretty scary for me. We'll have to see where life takes you from here.

Even if we're not close or I don't know you at all, I'm willing to talk if you ever need someone. Suicide is a terrible, horrible thing. You are all worthy of love. If you're ever struggling, feel free to get in touch with me.

I'm always willing to talk, and it's never a burden.