Well, it’s the Thursday before Christmas and I am STILL making my last batch of cards. I have to confess… Even though I am an avid card maker, I really suck at sending cards! With only four more sleeps till Christmas day, I still haven’t got all my Christmas cards made, let alone in the post! I’m literally racing against the clock to get my cards in the mail before Santa and his reindeer set off on their Christmas Eve world tour! This bugs me because I am generally very organized – there are things in our home that run with almost military precision but, sadly, sending Christmas and other greeting cards aren’t one of those things. (Perhaps I need to use my Love Today planner more!)
At last count, I worked out I have around 90 Christmas cards to give out this year to family, friends and my stamping friends. Of course, I need to have few extras on hand. You know “just in case” I’ve missed someone, or my husband decides he wants to give cards to his team. In anyone’s language 90 Christmas cards is a lot of cards to write let alone hand craft. (No I will not be running to the shop to buy my Christmas Cards).
But I have a plan…
This year I have made it easier on myself and decided to indulge in batch card making.
Here’s the batch cards I made for some of my stamping friends:
In retrospect, these weren’t the best card for me to do as a batch as it involved fussy cutting (hand cutting) the little Santa hats. (Not a good idea when your hands shake!) I managed to make 24 in a session. That was an achievement! Remember your batch can be any size… 5, 10, 27 or even 100 cards – it’s up to you. To be honest, I prefer smaller batches as I like variety and boredom sets in when I create too many of the same card. But you have to do what works for you!
Did you notice that I combined the decidedly non-Christmas stamps from the Pop of Paradise stamp set with the Oh, What Fun holly and sentiments, the stars from Star of Light and the poodle’s hat from the Santa Paws stamp set? Nothing says quirky Australian Christmas like the bright colours of summer! (All the products used in this project will be available at the bottom of this post).
So what is batch card making…
It is the creative process of making multiple cards of a single design that can be created fairly and quickly in large batches.
The batch card making or batch cards concept is perfect for a bunch of cards to that you want send all at once, like with an invitation or Christmas cards. OR when you want to have a stash of cards to be able to grab, write and send in a flash.
I LOVE batch cards!
You can make huge batches as with a big batch card making session where you make a stack of cards all at once using an easy prototype OR you can make a big batch step by step or element by element. For example, you might cut all the card bases, then cut and stamp the card front panels, then stamp, cut and notch the banners, sponge the edges make the bows with the 10 Second Bow Maker! (which is a great thing to do while watch Love Actually for the millionth time!) – then later when you have the time, stick everything everything together.
OR you can make smaller batches using One Sheet Wonder Templates, using up scraps or using any of the wonderful kits from Stampin’ Up!
Batch cards are designed to save you time. You know those times when you are too exhausted after work to think about cooking dinner and you get so excited when you realize you have something healthy and nutritious in your freezer all ready to go? Or when you’ve been to the shops and your pantry is full and you can pick and choose what you want and need? That’s what having a stash of batch cards all ready to go is like. Easy and convenient!
So schedule yourself a batch card making session, crank out a big batch of cards and sit back and know that you have cards YOU created to send at a moment’s notice!
