Recycling with festive flair: Create enchanting Christmas cards with leftover scrapbook papers

As the Christmas season approaches, the urge to spread cheer and warmth starts to rev up. Amidst the festive preparations and gift shopping, consider embracing sustainability and creativity by crafting personalized Christmas cards using leftover scrapbook papers.

During 2023, I have been making a conscious effort to use up my leftover scrapbook papers to make handmade cards. For this post I am using Ciao Bella Paper Snowy Days Collection.

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Crafting Christmas cards with leftover scrapbook papers is a great way to reduce waste, reuse materials, and unleash your creativity. Instead of letting those beautiful papers gather dust, transform them into festive greeting cards that will bring joy to your friends and family.

Crafting Your Festive Masterpieces

With your supplies at hand, it's time to unleash your creativity. Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Layered designs: Create a layered effect by using different scrapbook papers and sticking them to the card base in varying patterns. Also raise some of the layers with 3D foam pads or gel medium style glues.

2. Collage creations: Cut out shapes, figures, or motifs from your scrapbook papers and arrange them into a collage on your card base. It's amazing how things you think do not go together, suddenly work!

3. Festive patterns: Use patterned scrapbook papers to create a festive backdrop for your Christmas greetings. Quick, easy way to batch make your Christmas cards.

4. Embellished delights: Add a touch of sparkle and shine with ribbons, buttons, stickers, or glitter to your card's design. You could also add dried fruit pieces, moss & natural twine to add a Christmas smell & texture.

5. Personalised messages: If you do not have the perfect sentiment for the front of your card, why not create your own on your PC. You could also make inserts for your cards, personalised to the person you are sending the card too.

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Hello Winter

For this 6" x 6" card, I have used a piece of scrapbook paper as my mat layer and then added lots of different cut out elements layering them on top of each other. To add a bit of texture, I have added fake snow, moss and flower stamens.

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Mistletoe & Falling snow

This 7" x 5" card has been inspired by the beautiful, romantic image on the backing paper. To add to the romantic feel, I have added cut out mistletoe elements, paper flowers, flower stamens & glittered hearts. A few pearl effect drops have been used to give the illusion of falling snow.

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Mistletoe & Falling Snow - idea #2

This DL card was all about that wonderful swan image and how I could use it to make my Christmas card. It has been layered up from the backing paper and then lots of different cut out embellishment pieces have been added. These have all been taken from different papers. I finished off by adding some glitter glue to give a snowy, glistening effect.

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More ideas & inspiration

I have written previous blog posts of recycling our scrapbook papers in to cards. Click on the photos below to be taken to the bog post -

Blog post #1

Blog Post #2

Blog post #3

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Ciao Bella Paper

Ciao Bella Paper is a wonderful Italian company who just adore making collections with different themes from the "norm". Their papers are layered and they always include lots of cut out elements, toppers, sentiment, alphabets ... everything you need for both scrapbooking & card making.

Here are some shops/stores that I know stock a good range of Ciao Bella Paper ranges:

A Cherry On Top

Susie B Supplies

Personal Impressions Global

Go Craft

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Although I have been trying hard to use up my ever growing stash of leftover scrapbook papers/ephemera etc, I know I have only made a very small dent so far! However I am determined to keep continuing with this idea going forward.

Until next time, take care,

Lou
xxx