Welcome! I thought I would quickly post my last Christmas card for the year today. I finally got the rest of my cards mailed this morning--yes, I know that they won't arrive before Christmas, but at least I got them out. :-}
Want to hear my post office story? [Skip this paragraph if you don't.] It's always an adventure to arrive at the post office on Christmas Eve morning. The line was surprisingly short when I got there, but it took a while since every envelope had to go through that 1/4" template and be weighed. (I did step out of the way when a line formed behind me to let people who had less business to transact go first.) It was kind of funny; if my envelope dropped through the magical 1/4" template, the post office employee picked it up and put it through again, at an angle to see if it would get stuck that way. . . I'm pretty sure it was a disappointment that thirteen of the envelopes refused to get stuck in the template no matter how many times they were dropped through, and therefore couldn't be charged at the $1.95 rate! She told me that since she could hear them touch the side of the template as they slipped through, they might get stuck in a machine anyway, and asked if I wanted to go ahead and pay $1.95 each for those too. [No kidding--true story.] Hmmmmm. . . tempting, but no, thanks. I've made my contribution to keeping our postal system open this year! Maybe I'll try a different post office next year. Edited to add: Link to mailing regulations for the USPS. Anything thicker than 1/4" is not charged at letter rate, but at package rate, even if it is lightweight and 4-1/4" x 5-1/2". If you get it for less, then you are just getting lucky!
Okay, on to business! My focal image is from Papertrey Ink's Beautiful Blessings: Holiday stamp set, stamped in Pure Poppy ink. Patterned paper is from Authentique's Festive Bundle 6" x 6" pad. I really wanted to use my Spellbinders Resplendent Rectangles die template, but it was a little longer than I wanted on my standard A-2 sized card. To shorten it, I cut it apart at one of those points on the sides--shown above--and pieced it, removing about 1/2". I knew that once I tied the ribbon over it, the seam would never show. Tricky, eh? ;-) For the background holly paper layer, I used an A-2 Fancy Postage Stamps die template.
That little star is cut with a Spellbinders Potpourri die template, then glittered. I dyed the seam binding with Copic R27 and colorless blender. That's it--my last Christmas card post for 2012. I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and the happiest of New Years!
