My Christmas Card Design

This year, I designed and printed all of my Christmas cards.  I kept the design simple and elegant.  You can never go wrong with simple and elegant.  The idea for the theme of the cards came to me one day out of the blue.  I went with the original thought I had about the design.

The paper and the envelopes for the cards came from Paper Source,  of course.  The envelopes were 5-3/4" x 5-3/4" and the heavy cardstock was 5-1/2" x 5-1/2".  I bought the vellum in 8-1/2" x 11" sheets and then printed my card design directly on the vellum.  I made the design on the vellum a little smaller than the cardstock it was adhered to to allow a 1/4" border all the way around.  I then cut out and adhered the vellum design to the 5-1/2" x 5-1/2" cardstock with Scotch brand double-sided tape.  One piece of double-sided tape as close to the width of the vellum as possible without extending over either side of the vellum at the top.  If the tape extends over the sides, you can trim it was a pair of scissors or lay the vellum on a cutting board and use a razor blade and a straightedge to trim off the excess.  If you decide to try this design, go with the Scotch brand double-sided tape.  That way you can be sure that it will hold the vellum in place.  Another brand may not give you the same result.

The vellum sheets have a leaf design.  You could use vellum with no design.  Or you could choose another design.  It is completely up to you.  I thought this was a very nice look.  The vellum is a champagne color.  It really stands out on the stark white cardstock.

I used my new Christmas themed return address stamp from www.Expressionery.com to add the return address in the upper left corner of each envelope.

I thought it was wonderful how the tree was placed at just the right spot on the vellum so that it was centered and right at the perfect location when placed in the envelope.  It is perfectly perched on top of the bottom flap of the envelope.  The recipient will be intrigued when they open it.  And once opened they will find a very simple and heartfelt "Merry Christmas!"  Of course your cards might say "Happy Hannukah" or "Happy Kwanzaa."  Whatever your celebration, this design would work.

This was a fun project.  I enjoyed putting these cards together.  One word of warning - if you decide to use the 5-3/4" x 5-3/4" envelopes, you will need to affix additional postage.  Log onto www.usps.com to find out more about that or visit your local post office.