Why I Need A Craft Room

Clearly in the last week I’ve been too busy for blogging, and this—the incredible mess in the craft/guitar/extra bedroom room—is the reason why. I've been spending every evening and every other free moment working on my Christmas greetings!

As some of my friends know, I have several crafty traditions during the holidays, one of them being the design/creation of my own Christmas cards. As I mentioned in my post on Thanksgiving, this year I’m breaking all personal records with regard to the timeliness of my holiday mailing. Hooray for ME, Billy!! (If you’re not Chad, identify that reference and you’ll win big brownie points from me, which are worth a lot, I know.)

Tonight I finished up about another 20 cards to add to the 30 or so that I finished during the week. I have the remaining 30 or so about 80% complete, so I should be 100% finished in the next couple of evenings! It will be such a relief getting them done early this year for a change--now I just have to worry about my Christmas shopping, which is only about 5% complete!

While I am getting my cards done more quickly this year, I will admit that my design/execution left a lot to be desired. There are some years that I love the way my cards turn out--this year is not one of them. They're kind of crappy, but it actually wasn't because I rushed through the design process. I decided this year that I would try to use up excess and leftover materials from other craft projects, so my design options were a little limited. I found about 30 leftover white envelopes and a bunch of white card stock, so generic white was my boring starting point. I used tons of scraps of colors and patterns that were leftover from previous years, but since the only adhesive I had in the house was Elmer's glue, all of my cards got warped and wrinkly as they dried! I think they look pretty awful, but I'm trying to remind myself that they were part of a cleanup/recycling job, so I was helping to save trees by not buying more paper that I really didn't need!

I did end up having to go out and buy more envelopes and about 10 sheets of paper and some better adhesive over the weekend, but I was able to get more than halfway finished with just the paper and rubber stamps I already had around the house. Because I used so many scraps, just about every card was different than the last, so some were a little better than others. Here are just a few examples of what my friends and family will be getting (or have already gotten) in the mail.




On the inside, there's another stamp with a little decoration of one kind or another, and then of course our annual Christmas picture.



So if and when you get our Christmas card this year, try not to laugh too much! Just think of it as being good for the environment!