If you want to get ahead…

by PaperPuff

Get a hat!!

I have another two quick card designs to share today, both using the same hat image. I need to ramp up the production now that we are in November. Also so as not to cost a fortune for postage, a lot of the cards I make for me or my mother to send out need to be almost totally flat. In the UK, if your item is more than 5mm thick it incurs an extra postage charge. If you don’t realise this and just stick the envelope in the post box, the recipient has to pay or they don’t get the card! All I have for dimension here is a knot of ribbon, which just about keeps within the frankly miserly, very un-Christmassy stipulation. Now I think about it, I reckon there should be a surcharge amnesty for the run up to 25th December. And of course for every other holiday, religious or state, too. Or maybe ‘happy mail’ should be allowed to be any size, and only bills, junk mail and boring stuff should be subject to regulation? Much better idea!

Totally flat is tough for me, what with the addiction to 3D foam, but needs must. I am sticking with a minimal colour palette and a lot of white space. This time though the white space has been turned into snow using Crafter’s Companion Elegant Snowfall embossing folder for a bit of extra interest.

be-merry

For the first card I have used the Lawn Fawn Winter Big Scripty Words stamps and dies for the ‘be merry’ and a Taylored Expressions Santa’s Hat die.

For the second I used the same Santa Hat and a Tonic Dear Santa die. The hat band and pom pom are glittery but, guess what? Yep, doesn’t show in the photo!

dear-santa

I really wanted to add some jingle bells to the cards but made do with using them as photo props. I think I will make some more with all the bells (literally) and whistles (figuratively) on though, and to hell with the postage costs!

Supplies:

Lawn Fawn Winter Big Scripty Words stamps and dies; Crafter’s Companion Elegant Snowfall embossing folder; Taylored Expressions Santa Hat die; Tonic Dear Santa die; Create and Craft gold linen effect card; ribbons from The Ribbon Room

 

 

 

50 thoughts on “If you want to get ahead…”

  1. Yes love these cards! Very stylish with the pop of colour. The postal rules are so annoying-and Scroogeish- and I generally come to grief as I love 3D decorative cards…

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    1. Thanks! It is so irritating. I once had a birthday card sent to me but it was a bit late. I got a note from the Post Office saying I had something to collect, so I went to claim it and they were going to charge me £1.50 extra! But then the counter chap asked if it was a birthday card (big pink envelope probably helped) and because it was he waived the charge. How nice was he?

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      1. Oh that was nice 🙂
        Our postal service is quite arbitrary…I think a special rate for card makers is an absolute necessity. Perhaps we should add it to the list of policies..?

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      2. For sure. We’ll bring back the penny stamp for cards. Lots more cards sent, lots more jobs for postal workers. Unemployment solved. Hurrah! Seriously, the country needs us….

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      3. How do we make them listen..one of two “R”s…revolution or referendum..or perhaps a chat over a nice cup of tea 🙂

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  3. Oh, both are so cute! I love that scripty sentiment! The post office is the same here! Very limited in thickness and weight! Ugh! When you mail a handmade card, they should have a special rate! After all, we cardmakers are keeping the post office in business…who needs junk mail anyway???!!

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  6. Fabulous cards. Thank goodness someone is talking sense about the postal charges. It is a bit of a rip off. Ok, more post at Christmas so there is more sorting by the PO. Understand that. However, the postman delivers to the same houses. So it doesn’t matter if you receive one card or 101 and if he is in the same street delivering to all of the houses, how much more fuel is he using? Maybe that’s my twisted logic!! lol! I suppose they have a lot more parcels to deliver from online stores these days. There definitely should be some sort of special postage stamp at a special cost for Christmas cards. That would be an easy solution 🙂 I will leave you to resolve the situation with the powers that be lol!
    Hugs Flo x

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    1. I think you have hit on the perfect solution. A special stamp perhaps that can only be used in say, December (so nobody can stock pile and keep using them the following year). Clearly only for cards, not packages, so no cheating! That would encourage more of us to use the postal service, rather than the charges being ramped up so much that people just don’t bother!

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  7. The “Dear Santa” in gold is beautiful. And you certainly can see the glittery bits of the hat in the photos. It was the first thing I noticed.

    We have the same mail stipulations here. I always have to think out the cards I intend to mail. Quite frankly, mine look a little sad and boring. Luckily, most of my cards I can deliver by hand.

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    1. Thank you! I bet yours don’t look sad or boring. You are probably just like me and think ‘I wish I could add this or raise up that..’ I end up focusing on that rather than ‘does it look ok?’!

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  10. Love your cards and your pun! And I can see the glitter! I like the second one more because of gold card you used for “Dear Santa”. I was also thinking of using a hat this way for CAS cards, but I can’t keep up with my own ideas and the list grows faster than my stack of Christmas cards.
    Post charges are not crafter-friendly… I had to pay $13 dollars to mail a card to my friend overseas only for one reason – I packed it in a thicker envelope made of cardstock for protection.

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    1. Thanks! The hat definitely lends itself to this kind of thing. I have a few more ideas for it too, along similar lines. I think I just love the shape!! That postage charge is outrageous. A person can fly from the UK to Europe with a budget airline for not a lot more money!

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      1. This hat is the most simple, easy to ‘read’ for everyone and cute symbol of Christmas with ‘no strings attached’. So you can’t go wrong with it even if you are uncertain about the recipient’s tastes.

        About the postage. For that weight it should have been around $3, but they charged me as if it was a parcel. I just wasn’t in the mood for arguing about this with them, given all the time I spent to get to the post office and waiting in a queue.

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    1. Thanks. Your comment is a perfect example – it just isn’t right! Encourage more people to use the service, don’t punish the ones who do! Rant over….

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  12. I find it really hard to do one-layer cards… I like other people’s, but I always want to pop at least one layer up on foam tape 🙂 And knots in ribbons are evil, they never fit through the 5mm slot! Your cards are great – that embossing folder adds just the right amount of detail to the white space – lovely!

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    1. Thanks! Totally flat does feel very restrictive. And I give the ribbon such a fierce tug to make the knot as small and a s tight as possible, it ends up being a stress buster for the aggravation it causes!

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  13. I’m like Crafty Rat in finding it very hard to make a flat card, so I think you have done a super duper job of these two! I love the hat and you’ve used and those lovely Lawn Fawn scripty words are so on my ‘to get’ list for next year’s Christmas cards. Great job as always Gill 🙂

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    1. Thanks Karen! The hat cost very little and is probably one of the most useful purchases. I do love the Scripty Words too though.

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  15. Our US postal service does not like it if our envelopes do not fit through their little machines. I really like your idea of amnesty for the holidays for “fat” cards. I wonder if my congressman would work on that one this coming legislative year? Hmmmmm……maybe I should send him a “fat” card where he has to pay the postage?
    Anyway…..your white Christmas cards are beautiful. I love the embossed snow and the hat is just the right amount of color.

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  16. I second more postage for junk mail and bills, can you get that passed here in the states, too? Backgrounds can make all the difference on a card, your snow just makes the card simple elegance. Love them both…and I can see a bit of glitter in the white of the hat. Frustrating when you go to those efforts only to have them show up in the photo!

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    1. I think I have camera-shy glitter. The embossing folder is my new favourite product. Hopefully I’ll be fed up with it by Easter. Thanks for the kind words!

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