Produced in Jacksonville, Florida  

Creation Date – December 2016

Artist – Johanna Lawson

Technique – Stamps with embossing powder

Small Batch Cards – Holiday Edition

Every Christmas Eve my family gets together for Swedish meatballs, my Gran’s Christmas cookies, and an evening of good cheer.  This year, my mother, grandmother (Gran), sister and I decided to move the party’s location from my Gran’s house to my mother’s house. Next year, my husband and I will host (eek!).

Because we moved the party, my mom, sister and I assumed the role of hosts. Mom was in charge of decorations, Jeanine – my sister – took care of most of the food and I, of course, was in charge of the invitations.

In the age of the world wide web, “E”vites and digital invitations make it very easy to get the word out about an upcoming event or party; however, there is NOTHING like getting an invitation in the mail. Besides, some of our guests needed a paper invitation, and I was more than happy to oblige. So, I set to work.

Now, my maternal family is Swedish and we were planning a Julfest.

I knew I wanted the invitations to be simple and elegant. Immediately, I remembered this beautiful Christmas tree stamp.

The picture above has the stamp mounted on the MISTI (Most Incredible Stamp Tool Invented) by My Sweet Petunia. Let me make it clear that this IS one of the most incredible stamping tools I have ever used – especially when making multiple copies of the same card or tag. This tool allows you to stamp your image with precision each and every time!

I wanted my invitations to be simple and elegant, but I also wanted them to pop. Therefore, I decided to use embossing powder – white on green paper – making the image stand out. Here are a few tips to remember when you decide to emboss:

To get a clean image when embossing, don’t forget to reduce/remove the static from your paper using an anti-static pad. It might not seem like much, but it can make a big difference in the image you produce when embossing. After using the anti-static pad on the paper, I like to use the VersaMark ink pad for embossing. It leaves the stamped image a few shades darker than the card stock.

Next, comes the embossing powder. Sprinkle the powder on your image and shake off into a container. Tap the paper a few times to remove any excess powder. If any remains in an area you do not want embossed, use a small brush to clear away. Be sure that the powder sticks to all areas of the stamped image. 

Last, aim your heat gun at the paper, keeping your fingers well away from the path of the heat (ouch!). Hold your heating tool about four inches above the paper and make little circular motions with it all over your image. It should take about 30 seconds for powder to start melting. With most embossing powder, you can see it melt- it will go from fuzzy looking to smooth and glossy. Once a part of the image starts melting, move your heat gun to concentrate on another part of the image- remember that you don’t want to over-melt! Now you have an embossed image. Remember to clean your stamp and put the rest of the powder back in the jar.

My invitations were really starting to take shape. I mounted the green card stock onto white cards and used my MISTI to stamp the words “GOD JUL” or Merry Christmas in Swedish.

Simple, sweet, and Swedish. On the inside of each invitation, I added a short poem about the party and included where and when we were meeting. I have a few extra cards that I am going to save for selling at the market next year. I plan to make a new Christmas/ Holiday card each year, and I am happy this one celebrates my family’s ancestry and traditions.

Hosting a Party? 

Hopefully you have already read my About page explaining my vision for Small Batch Cards. Another part of the business will be creating custom invitations, cards, tags, etc. I have made quite a few invitations hosting parties for family and friends. Below is an invitation I created for a friend’s baby shower.

Here are a few pictures from my best friend’s bridal shower. I also made her invitations – it was an Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter’s themed tea party. She is quite the Mad Hatter!

My sister, Jeanine, my mom and me at the tea party!

An Alice in Wonderland themed box made by my mother, Joy, for the party.

This box was made by me.

I have one more that I made for my friend, Jessie. It is a Save the Date for her wedding. For this one, I had to bust out my graphic design skills on the computer. She wanted it to look like a movie poster. I used one of their beautiful engagement photos and continued to get her input throughout the process. Here is the finished product.

If you are planning an event or party and need help designing your invitation – I’m here to help! I will work with you to create a lovely set of invitations, announcements, cards, tags or whatever else you might have in mind. I’m happy to create something beautiful for you!

One last Christmas treat! This year I found the most whimsical and charming stamp set, and I just had to have it! My sister is a lover of unicorns and it has rubbed off on the entire family. So for this Christmas, I used this adorable stamp set to create my gift tags.

Isn’t it precious! The whole family was in love. I used the MISTI to keep the words lined up perfectly on the tag. The stamp set also had a die cut for the unicorn I used to get the cut just perfect. Then, I colored the unicorn using colored pencils and a blender pen. Add a little ribbon and some Tim Holtz IDEA-OLOGY Holiday Flashcards and there you have a fantastic gift!