4 of the 1000 Handmade Greetings for your Viewing Pleasure!

So here it is! Hot of the press just in time for all those holiday cards that need to be made!

1,000 Handmade Greetings:
Creative Cards and Clever Correspondence

Laura McFadden, with Deborah Baskin

Even in this current day and age, where we are all senders and receivers of voluminous emails, handmade greeting cards, stationery, and invitations never lose their charm or fail to touch the heart. This book is a delightful showcase of 1,000 exciting and contemporary hand-designed greeting cards, with examples that feature a wide array of paper craft techniques, including: paper cutting, paper stencils, stamping, punching, stitchery, monoprints, screenprints, paper piecing, and more.

Laura McFadden runs her own graphic design studio, Laura McFadden Design, Inc., and has contributed to various craft books and magazines. She is co-author with April Paffrath of The Artful Bride: Wedding Invitations and The Artful Bride: Wedding Favors & Decorations. Her most recent book is 100 Ideas for Stationery, Cards, and Invitations.

And now onto the sneak peek!
I had such a hard time picking, just let me tell you.
So I did it random-style and just let a page open, I knew I wouldn't be let down because there are no uninspiring pages in 1,000 Handmade Greetings.

Interestingly, each of these cards contain a design element that I personally love to use, clockwise from top left; recycled paper(in this case a map), the file folder look, excellent quotes, and then repeated images. All great design techniques easily adapted for any theme!

Now on to day 6 of our:

15 days of Holiday Goodness Giveaways!

Simply leave your answer to each day's question in each day's comment section and we will randomly pick a winner of a book from each day's commenter. You can enter every day but you are only eligible to win 2 times! (You can go back and answer previous day's questions. We will be drawing the winners after the first of the year.)

Today's question(s):

6.  What is your favorite holiday craft idea?

My Answer: I have a general answer to this one and it is to use recycled materials in each of my projects. I have always recycled/upcycled materials into new and fun crafts but now I make a special effort to.

6A. In addition to today's question I am in a personal quandary. I want to do some special Hanukah crafting and I have to confess I never have! And for that matter I haven't crafted for Kwanzaa either! Help crafty blog readers! Leave comments with your ideas. I would be ever so grateful.

Be sure to read the comments of others, maybe you can pick one up a good idea that will add a new spin on your holiday crafting!

And be sure to sign up for our Electronic Newsletter, (top right)

A  hot new one will be out the end of this week….filled with last minute holiday ideas you won't want to miss!

 

Comments

[Bonney]

My favorite holiday craft idea? Stand a knitting needle upright and "string" ornaments over the tip. It stands by itself and looks very festive. I also like to use last years cards by cutting circles folding and connecting them to make Christmas ornaments!

[Josie]

Take last years holiday cards and cut them into different shapes. They can be strung as a garland or used as gift tags.

[Angie Platten]

OMG, this book is out?! I was just wondering about it two days ago. I had a card or two accepted for this book but it was so long ago that I submitted, I can't remember! How exciting!

To answer your question, I love taking empty cans, the bigger, the better and making buckets out of them. I have decorated them with fusible web ironed on to cute fabric, cut it out and iron it to the cans! You do have to be careful if you paint the cans before adhering though. You could also collage papers. I then fill the buckets with tissue paper and goodies. A favorite is homemade cinnamon rolls packed in a bucket and delivered so a special friend or two on Christmas morning. Smaller cans can be used for all sorts of goodies or gifts.

[Gayle Richmond]

Each year I make ornaments with a picture of my granddaughter, Becca, and give to her parents, my parents, and her other grandparents. I have let her help me make the ornaments since she was 7 years old and it is a very special time for both of us. She is now 12 years old and I know that we wont have this time together forever, so I cherish each year.

[Hazel]

I love to take leftover materials I have from the year, and I make hand sewn ornaments for the kids trees and homes, I stuff them with their favorite potpourri. With most of them having fake trees these days, it imparts a scent of Christmas in the air.

[Doreen aka LuniLadi]

OMG when my kids were little I made SO many gifts for Christmas...scout leaders, dance teachers, catechism teachers, baseball...school. You can stamp on tissue and use a heating gun to adhere to a candle. Angie mentioned cans...I used to make organizers out of different sized covered cans! Decorated glass balls for ornaments. Gee...if you really need ideas, email me! lol

[Casey]

This year I'm making coffee cup sleeves out of scraps from vintage table cloths. That is definitely a book I will be adding to my Santa list!

[Tamara]

I like making potholders and trivets out of just about anything. They're small, which equals quick and easy, and they're easily personalized to the person's interests, decor, etc.

[Sherelyn Nichol]

The book looks great!
I like making a new angel ornament from scraps of lace, ribbon and material each year.
When I need ideas for making holiday crafts, I look to the Carol Duval sitr. She covers every holiday there is.

Sherelyn

[Candy Grisham]

I make angels from old handkerchiefs and lace for the tree, for gifts, for just having around. Never too many angels.
Candy