Holiday Cards
So it's just about that time of year once again that those of us crafty folks start making our annual Christmas cards. Yes, I know, I know it SEEMS early, but it's already mid November, and in about 4 minutes it will be smack dab in the middle of December. And by then it'll be time to start baking up a storm. So I thought it best to get a head's start. And what's a girl to do with her time all day long other than make Christmas cards? Besides, it's a fantabulous way to avoid, oh, say, REAL work. Like finding an agent, or writing book number 2.
So, to get started, I decided to make a few of these guys:
Penguins!
Or, as we call them here at home, pengui !
(which we pronounce PAIN-GWEEEE)
Cute, aren't they?
In order for you to make them at home, you'll need a few things:
You'll need scissors, a glue stick or two, a piece of scrap paper (to glue things on so that your desk doesn't get covered in sticky glue goo), a recycling bin (for leftover bits), some craft paper (orange, black, white, and red), a pair of scissors with a scalloped edge (or a teeny flower punch, which I WISH I had, but I don't. Sigh. Poor me.), AND, this incredible owl punch from Stampin Up.
When you use the punch, you get a cute little owl. In order to turn him into a penguin, you have to lop off his feet and his ears.
Poor de-footed black owl. Alas, he can't hear the screams, as he has only the one ear. And no mouth.
Then you need to punch out various pieces with your lovely owl punch.
Please note that the teeny triangle beak was cut by hand with the leftover orange belly/feet pieces. I also cut out the triangles by hand for the Santa hats. And the fluffy part of Santa's hat was made by cutting strips of white paper with a pair of scalloped scissors, flipped over, matched the scalloped side so that the lumps matched, and then cut into a "beaded" white paper strip. I saw several examples where other people used really cute flower stamps and placed those on the rim of the Santa hat instead. It was über cute. But alas, I don't have a flower stamp (sniffle) so I made do.
Then I spent quite a bit of time and cut out lots and lots and lots and lots of pieces.
So then I got out my scrap pink paper and started lining up my penguins in an assembly line. I like the purple glue sticks from Elmer's.
Oooh, the creepy zombie pengui!
For what it's worth, I like to change up the eyes, having some go left, and some go right.
Starting to resemble normalcy...
A million, gajillion pengui !!
I think mine are even cuter than the real thing!
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| Many thanks for the photo from: http://impressivemagazine.com/2013/10/26/30-facts-know-penguins/ |
They are just so cute I can't stand it. LOVE my pengui!!
I'm working on a few more designs (I like to shake things up a bit), and I'll add them on here as I get them done. Sometimes I just do the same design, but change the paper, and that can make all the difference! Super easy, no fancy tools necessary (other than the owl punch). And what a fun way to spend a cold and icy afternoon!!
I liked the cards so much that I made gift tags too!!!
These gift tags will go on hot cocoa mixes as thank you gifts
(layers of crushed candy canes, then a layer of mini marshmallows, then hot cocoa mix,
all put into a small mason jar and topped off with a large candy cane and these tags)
Happy Crafting!
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