Friday 28 May 2021

Rudolph Days Challenge - May 2021

Whilst hunting all over the place here for a particular stamp, with matching die, in order to make my Rudolph Days Challenge card for May, I opened my box of saved 'shop bought' Christmas card fronts and immediately spotted possibilities for three cards to make. What was all that about then? All of a sudden Mr Mojo came rushing back into the craft room and in about a couple of hours I came up with these three cards:

I used:

- 5.75" x 5.75" off-white square card blank, side opening

- gently removed the stocking topper from a lovely plum coloured Christmas card, then removed the thick sticky pads from the back of the topper and set it to one side

- hunted through my huge stock of Christmas papers and found a lovely beige paper with gold flittering from First Edition's 'Gilded Winter' paper pad

- trimmed it to 5.5" x 5.5" and glued it onto the card front

- then cut a plum coloured scalloped circle from some of the original card - using a very old Spellbinders scalloped circle die

- glued a round gold Christmas sentiment on top of the plum circle, made by Craftwork cards, and also pretty ancient

- then added bits of thin sticky pad to the backs of the stocking and sentiment and popped them onto the card front 

final touch - just three Lucy's Little Things 'Rose Gold' sequins, added using very narrow and tiny pieces of red line tape

I used:

- 7" x 5" white card blank, side opening

- a carefully trimmed piece of Kanban 'Christmas Wobbler' background card - glued to the card front - love this scenic pack for quick and easy backgrounds!

- the Christmas tree topper was removed from the original very simple white card, and the original sticky pads carefully removed. 

- then stuck the tree onto the card front using thin sticky pads

- nothing more needed, finished!

I used:

- 5.5" x 4.25" white card blank, side opening

- silver mirri card for the first layer, glued onto the card front

- topped that with a trimmed piece of red and white paper from a Fizzy Moon 'Festive Fun' paper pack

- then die cut the 'frame' for the image panel I wanted to use, because it makes me smile, using a snippet of silver mirri card and a die from The Works set of 'stitched squares'. Cheap as chips and great quality dies

- trimmed the image to fit 'inside' the silver frame and glued it in place

- 'meep' - glue oozed onto the silver 'frame' and then smudged when I tried to remove it so I just went over it with clear Wink of Stella so it all looks a bit 'distressed' - just like I was at the time

- adhered the image panel to the card front using thin sticky pads - job done!

That amazed me to be honest. I recently did a radical 'cull' of Christmas card fronts I'd been saving, some went back years and years, and that was a huge help.

Also, hunting through my Christmas papers was an eye opener. There are so many lovely and untouched papers to be played with. I like to strike a balance between 'over fussing' upcycling, but then at least showing that I made an effort as well. 

If you save Christmas cards to upcycle, I do recommend that you don't keep too huge a selection to choose from. Be a bit brutal and ask yourself if the image itself shouts 1990's - if so then ditch it. Otherwise it really is likely to end up looking just like an old Christmas card that's been played with. Look critically at the images and ask yourself if they would look up to date once you've played around with them - if not, be ruthless and pop the rest into the bin! Then, spread out the cards you have left and look through your neglected Christmas papers - holding cards and papers alongside one another. You could be really surprised - I certainly was! I easily found the makings of these three cards  - with the assistance of Dudley watching in curiosity. I spread everything out on our bed so I could actually pick out paper pads and wave them over the card fronts.

I'm certainly no expert so the above paragraph is very much how I see things. It isn't necessarily right! Back in the dark ages I started off by using an old pair of pinking shears to make Christmas tags - very probably as a child to be honest. Some would say I never moved on very much! Grin.

I went a bit over the top with sequins when 'staging' the cards - but it's a lesson learned. Less is more in future. Mind you - it does show the lovely variety of sparkly bits in three different 'Lucy's Little Things' packets of shaker stuff/sequins. 

And, so far, I still can't find that missing stamp and matching die either. Sob.




23 comments:

  1. Lovely cards Di and great upcycling. I agree about being ruthless about what you keep. I used to keep every card that 'may be okay to use' and I got swamped - now I just save those that are 'special' and I know I can use. I used to love my pinking shears too!
    Kath x

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  2. Well done Di...three fabulous up cycled cards that anyone would be glad to receive. I remember making tags from pinking shears too!...nowadays some will question..Pinking shears?..lol xx

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  3. Great selection of cards, and honestly, I'm impressed with the staging. Your advice is spot-on, and I need to go through my stash as you suggest.

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  4. I love a bit of recycling Di what you have here is perfect lovely set of cards love them all x

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  5. Hi Di,
    Happy Rudolf Days.
    What wonderful up-cycle cards and such gorgeous designs and images.
    I have used the paper pad used on the first many times myself.
    So sad when it was all gone.
    I too only keep just a few wonderful images to use again otherwise it would take over the craft room.
    Yes I too remember the first few months of crafting with pinking shears.
    Hope you find that stamp.
    Thank you for joining the Rudolf Challenge.
    Lots of crafty love. Jenny L. DT

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  6. Great up-cycling Di! I was surprised at the attaching of sequins with red line tape, as I have always glued mine with 'glossy accents'

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  7. Hi Di your cards are gorgeous I love them all. I have lots of people giving me old cards I am very ruthless with what I keep. Have a good weekend. Take care. Hugs Jackie

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  8. Three beautiful upcycled cards Di and a great idea to just keep the very best old cards to revamp and also to go through paper pads to match up with the colours and the new look you want. I have kept only a few old cards and must go through and see what I can do with them..thanks for the tips. x

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  9. Three super RD cards Di and very well done on the up-cycling.

    Kath x

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  10. I really like your trio of recycled Christmas cards. Ahh pinking shears . . . Still got some of those! xxx

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  11. Three great cards Di and brilliant idea for using passed bought cards. Have a lovely weekend, Carol S.xx

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  12. Such wonderful trio of upcycled cards! The first one is my favourite with that pretty stocking in unconventional colours! Thanks for the recommendation, but I don't know if I will be able to trash something LOL :D
    Hugs

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  13. Wow your mojo is on fire, what lovely cards you have cleverly made from your recycling stash, great job, and beautiful staging again xxx

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  14. Ooh these are all gorgeous! I never think to keep toppers from received cards, might just start! Thank you for the advice too. Glue mishaps are a pain - there is always a way to cover them up though. Take care my friend. Hugs xxxxxx

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  15. Three great cards for your Christmas collection and some clever recycling, very smart so you'd never guess

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  16. Loving these Di - and it is so satisfying to get some cards made quickly! I don't bin my unwanted Christmas cared fronts -0 I gove them to the local pre-school - they love them!
    Stay safe
    Blessings
    Maxine

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  17. Awesome upcycling. Your pairing of images and papers is fantastic, love all of them. Yes mirror paper is so easy to grab the glue, but you had a fix awesome. Give you a hint on your lost item, Ask Angel Sarah to remove the obstacles to find the "name the item" you will be amazed when it pops out for you.

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  18. OMG Rudolf Days!!!!! I almost forgot! Love the punny sheep. Thanks for the reminder. Hugz

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  19. These are beautiful!! I often save my received Christmas cards with the idea of recycling them, but just can't quite do it. I'm afraid of them looking too "recycled" if you know what I mean. But your's look fabulous!! They look like designer, commercial elements! Great job!

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  20. These are a Super set of Christmas cards DI, and they DO look up to date, good for you.
    Faith x

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  21. You could ask Dudley if he has seen them.!! A sheepish shake of his head would be a dead give away. Hugs Mrs A.

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  22. Wonderful and fun, and so happy for you that your mojo returned with gusto!

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