Greeting cards

I use to be fairly good about sending greeting cards out for birthdays etc but, I have not been doing it very much the last few years.  I miss doing that so, I started making cards again today.  I got 6 of these done.  I design the first one and once I like it, I make it in multiples.  This is for Christmas cards.  When I do Birthday cards etc, they are usually just one of a kind cards.

 The basic steps I took are

Using beige card stock, I folded it and partially stamped the front with a word stamp in Stazon Brown Ink.  The stamp is cursive lettering in french and is made by Stampendous.  I inked the edges with brown ink also.

I used 3 different types of Christmas cardstock cutting each one about 1/4 smaller than the prior one and stacked them.  Prior to gluing, I used Tim Holtz brown distress ink around the edges.  The base was a green and red print, the inner layer a red print and the outer layer a beige word print.  The papers were from a coordinating pad of Christmas papers.

I then placed the stamp on the card.  Its a stamp by Stampotique and I stamped it on white card stock, colored it in colored pencil with some gel pen accents and cut it out.

For the finishing touches, I wanted to add some texture so, using the same circle stencil from the last project, I placed some circles at the bottom left and the top right using modeling paste.  Once it was dry, I used chalk pastel on top of it in a matching green shade  I dabbed it with a wet water brush to spread the color around the circle.  A little bit of washi tape was applied to the bottom right.

The inside is empty but, I will use that to give me personal greetings.  I like to make Christmas cards in November so, I can have them completed and ready to mail in early December.  If I actually wait until December they never seem to get done!