My 2009 Christmas Cards

I had great ambitions to create my own Christmas Cards this year (which I never do, ironically since I run GE Designs)... What I didn't take into account, was my hectic schedule, the amount of work it takes, and the amount of money... Seriously, the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas passes by way to quickly. Instead of making 30 cards, I ended up with less than 20. AND, I didn't even ship them till yesterday. Yikes. My original vision, was to create handmade cards with CD holders inside for a CD collection of cool Christmas songs. Hopefully, the recipients receive them by Dec 24. At least I got them off my hands. They'll at least have some music for next Christmas.


I wanted to make a "Starry Night" type of feel, with the clear Swarovski Crystals against the navy Blue and silver metallic cardstock, but once I was done with the first one, I thought the theme looked more like Hannukah cards. So I added the silver embossed Christmas tree on the cover. I probably should have gone with Red. I wanted to make them as intricate as wedding invites, since I was inserting a CD, but once I started pushing back my deadline, I got less and less ambitious with it.

What took the most time, was affixing 3 different sized Swarovski Crystals on each card to make it look like a starry night (Outside and inside). Yikes. It took time to heat/cool the applicator, change attachments according to crystal sizes, the placement took a while since crystals got stuck on the applicator -- the obstacles with rhinestones just lasted days. Never again.

But in honor of the Holidays, check out my 3 Christmas Card designs. Merry Christmas and GE Designs will be back in 2010 with new photos and projects!

Here's a closeup of the embossed Christmas tree. Embossing was another lengthy activity.

This one has a ribbon closure, which required cutting slits and looked pretty... But then I realized that it wouldn't fit in the envelopes. So only one lucky person gets this design.

I originally wanted to create the outer CD holder myself with cardstock using my creativity, but I opted to purchase the Diagonal Enclosure Cards from Paper Source. I think I saved myself the headache by purchasing the ready-made versions. I didn't take photos of the CD labels for the CD itself, but I affixed a sticker label so that the final product wouldn't look half-done. Here is my playlist below. These songs range from the early 90s to now. I tried to include different genres to keep it eclectic.

1. Last Christmas by Glee Cast
2. White Christmas by Rascall Flatts
3. I'll Be Home For Christmas by Rascall Flatts
4. Where Are You Christmas by Faith Hill
5. Christmas Shoes by Various Artist (Not sure who recorded this song - someone sent this to me years ago)
6. Do You See What I See? by Destiny's Child
7. All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey
8. Love's In Our Hearts For Christmas by N'SYNC
9. Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire by Toni Braxton
10. Let It Snow by Boyz II Men
11. Silent Night by Boyz II Men
12. Little Drummer Girl by Alicia Keys
13. Christmas Song by Dave Matthews
14. Winter Song by Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson
15. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Colbie Caillat
16. Mistletoe by Colbie Caillat
17. Christmastime by Smashing Pumpkins
18. Happy Xmas (War is Over) by Maroon 5
19. The Little Drummer Boy by Charles Brown