Every year we look for Christmas cards but rarely find exactly what we like. We’ve also looked at e-cards. Not that there isn’t some wonderful artwork out there. But this year we wanted to do something unique to us. And we want to be green about it all too. So what to do?
I used to look for Christmas cards at Thrift stores. Believe it or not they do exist there and you can buy a real selection that way instead of a box of all the same card. It’s a good idea, you’re recycling but takes a lot of time.
Bill and I happen to really like to create collages from old magazines. This is what I call fun with Glue sticks and Scissors. Why not create collage Christmas cards? Some will become paper cards and all the images will be used for e-cards too.
This year I just happened to have found in my reorganization of old mags and papers saved for collaging, quite a few Christmas editions of decor mags. Voila, lots of relevant stuff to create our own Christmas cards. And I also kept some of that glossy junk mail that comes to our mailbox to use as more collage fodder. If you’ve saved old Christmas cards you may want to look at them with a new eye, as fodder for Xmas collage.
So with the table strewn with mags and busy cutting out colors and textures we soon had more than enough to start with. The idea is to look through all the mags cutting out bits with an eye to color and texture not necessarily literal depiction’s of trees, santas etc. We try to go for the “feel” of Christmas. And with a sense of abstraction as well. And this is what we came up with…… a few abstract art cards in the Christmas theme
Deck the Halls with lots of color
An abstract take on Rudolf?
A psychedelic take on Giving Joy
Sometimes you only need one word….Merry
Another collage using almost the same elements, the snowflake and the colors
Another idea we had last year was to create our own e-card in Photoshop. So in a way, just another collage but of a favourite Santa ornament and some decor arranged into a jolly looking card. Now you may not be a fan of e-cards. They are hard to display for one. But we think of the paper and resources saved too. I also like to take the time to send a little personal message to everyone with each email.
Ok some people on our list still get the real card. We just happened to have a lot of old stock greeting cards from a former business and we just scan our images into the printer and create a new image and tape that onto old cards. You can do the same by just taping an image onto card stock cut to fit any envelopes you have. So there you are, a DIY way to create your own unique take on the Christmas card. Have fun. We did.
Oh, here’s a little bonus thought, in case you didn’t get your cards bought and sent in time. Why not create something great with some family photos and collage and create an e-card you can send out at the last minute? Cheating? maybe, but why not? It’s still personal, you get a chance to be creative and send something unique to your friends and rellies.
We are all about recycling, and living the recycling lifestyle has also given us an abundant lifestyle especially at Christmas. And especially where collecting Santas is concerned. What started as a little collection to add some color on the sideboard at Christmas grew to over 100 Santa ornaments in no time. How do you create such an abundant display of Santas? Well, it’s almost all secondhand thrift shop finds and a few are gifts from friends who knew I’d been collecting. In the spirit of Christmas and the spirit of recycling I’ve decided to recycle some of my old posts about Christmas. Three years ago I spent some time for every day for the 25 Days before Christmas making up little vignettes of my huge Santa ornament collection. Today, to make it much easier to view, I’ve decided to replace and recyle those posts and put all the collection on one post. Starting with my fave Grumpy Santas and ending with my other faves, the Gumby Santas. Enjoy….
Fall seems to come a bit later here on the island. All the trees haven’t quite turned yet, but the annual fall color parade is definitely on its way. This is the time when the leaves and the flowers show off a bit.
Bill likes the look of Dahlias and this year we added a few to our collection. Now I did mean to keep the names of these handy, but as usual, lost in the piles of stuff that accumulates. And, to be honest, as artists, we don’t really care about proper plant names, just lust after the colors and looks. This white beauty with shots of pink is the size of a dinner plate and looks so lush.
Then there is the purple-burgundy making quite a show..
And the reds looking like a fireworks against the green. Love that little late poppy poking up too.
Then this week just as all the Dahlia were at their peek, and after weeks of what was becoming a drought, it absolutely poured down. And the lovely,luscious heads of the Dahlias, heavy with rain, just fell over.
Our front garden is to put it bluntly, awkward. It is bisected not only by a straight ugly sidewalk but just a few feet away is an even uglier driveway. We have a space of about four feet in between the two and that leaves us with a strip in the middle to make something out of. On top of that, the soil needs constant amending since it is rock hard and dry all summer. Victoria, for all it’s rain in winter, is desert-like all summer and we live with water restrictions as well.
What a lovely weekend, hot, sunny and full of surprises.
With the strawberries keeping cold in a cooler ( we think of everything, dontcha know) we spent a bit of time walking the beach.
We discovered acres of grape vines for wine? Mind you looking at the photo today, I’m wondering….maybe kiwi? Never mind, imagine grapes in the south of France, ripening in the hot sun….
near rolling farm land.
It felt like a holiday to us as we meandered along, drinking iced tea and stopping at every good photo spot on the long way home.
People born in Victoria often complain about rain. I must have heard at least three times some one wondering aloud if summer is already over and all because of one day of coolness and rain. I never let rain get to me, in fact I love the smell of rain. I say stop all that whinging as the Brits put it. Go out in the garden when it’s still wet with rain and find all the flowers you can and pop them into a vase. That’s exactly what I did. And look at the lovelies I found!
All in all, this Saturday was a great garage sale day. Lots of good loot! Here are the highlights. This gorgeous chair that I snapped up as soon as I spied it across a lawn. $5! Plus another bamboo blind for the green house, the aforementioned porcelain ball, and a trivet in aluminum which will be added to another collection I started last summer that graces the wall above the post box. I must admit the pineapple is my favourite though.
