If you have lots of ideas for Christmas cards, but not enough people to send them to, the Caring Hearts Card Drive is a wonderful way to make a senior citizen’s day.
The Caring Hearts Card Drive
This card drive is run by Vera Yates over at Ling’s Design Studio. The purpose of the drive is to collect and distribute handmade holiday cards to senior citizens in nursing homes across the country. I found out this is the 10th year that Vera has run the card drive. The 2019 drive closes today, and I’m already planning for next year. It’s the first year that I’ve participated, and I was thrilled to have a reason to make all sorts of holiday cards. Far more cards than I’d normally send out. And thrilled to know that I would make the day brighter for 126 senior citizens. Plus, each card donated became an entry to win prizes donated by many of the major craft companies. Win-win-win!
So Many Cards!
I found out about the card drive a little late in the game, so I only had 2 weeks to conjure up all my designs and get to work. For most of the cards, I made either 6 or 8 of each. It really depended on whether I was using a full card front from a 12×12 sheet of paper or not. You can get 6 card fronts with a 1/8″ reveal from 1 sheet of paper. For other cards, I made 8 since I could cut 4 base pieces from 1 sheet of letter-sized cardstock. I had so many ideas I wanted to try, it was hard to narrow them down. In the end, I used 19 different designs for 126 cards.
Bulk Card Making
Designing the card took the greatest amount of time. So I figured, make multiples of each to take greatest advantage of the time devoted to design. I pulled designs from both Operation Write Home as well as Kristi Marcotte’s 6×6 paper pad challenges. And, some I just made up on my own based on the supplies on hand. The Caring Hearts Card Drive partnered with some craft companies to offer exclusive stamps. But, I have so many unused craft products that I stuck with what I have.
I learned many tips while making these 126 cards and I’ll be sharing them in an upcoming post. Stay tuned!
I will also be writing up some detailed descriptions of how I made some of these cards. Given the work was spread out over 2 weeks, at all hours of the day and night and across all areas of the house, I did not capture the card making on video. Sorry! If you see a card you really like, leave a comment below and I can make a new one on video just for you.
Impossible Cards
I saw a demo on making Impossible Cards on the MayMay Made It YouTube channel. One A2 piece of paper becomes a twisty, fun card. Using digital paper kits, I made Impossible Cards in five different styles. Oh my goodness. The Simple Stories Country Christmas collection is amazing. I just couldn’t pick one–so I got two totally different cards from this collection.
Vintage-y Cards
I had a 12×12 Recollections paper pad from yesteryear. Actually, I have LOTS of 12×12 Recollections paper pads. So it was time to start using them up! Most of the cards in this collection below came from the Say Freeze! paper pad from some time in the past. There were a couple that were from this year’s North Pole News 6×6 pad as well. Vintage-y cards really aren’t my style, so this was a creative challenge for me that I enjoyed.
Everything Sparkles
I like to add a little sparkle to the cards that I make. The rest of these cards have a small sparkly embellishment in one way or another. I used washi tape liberally, instead of using a quarter sheet of metallic cardstock. It seems a waste to use a full card back of valuable metallic paper when it remains all covered up for the most part. If you sparkle, make sure it shows! (Good life advice, actually.)
It’s So Hard to Choose Just One Favorite!
I had a lot of fun making these cards. And I’m glad I made such a variety. I’m not sure I could have made 10 dozen cards if there wasn’t some variety. But if pressed, I don’t think I can come up with just one favorite. More like three. Or four. Which is your favorite? Leave your favorite in the comments below!