Anybody else make your own Christmas cards?

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I’ve always (well at least for about the past 20 years) made my own cards. Here are this years’ cards for close family (the bulk cards for everybody else, about 40 of them, are a lot simpler).

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I found those teeny tiny micro switches at the coolest electronics store (Gateway Electronics in STL, you could kill hours browsing in there). Link is here: http://www.gatewayelectronics.com/

Forgot to mention, the images are stamped from commercially available stamps from Papertrey Ink, Hero Arts, and Wplus9. I want to make my own!

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Are the cards actually illuminated by something? They are so cool. I really like the way they turned out. :yum:

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Thanks! Yes, I put an LED under the central image with the holes, and wired it to a 3V button battery and the switch using copper tape.

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LEDs!!! Everything is better with LEDs! I can’t begin to tell you how much I absolutely love that design! :smile: (And this is a big part of why I love this forum - back to the cool stuff!)

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That is so cool!

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Very pretty!

And when are you coming to the Lake next, @cynd11? You are more than welcome to drop by!

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Ooooo, don’t tempt me @marmak326! No way to get away for even a half day at the moment (kitty with chronic kidney disease needing frequent meds, subq fluids, etc), but if the situation changes you will hear from me!

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Very nice! I have had cards made with my own photography or graphic designs the last several years but was just too busy this year. Found some at a discount store that really fit us.

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@cynd11 brilliant! (pun) Could you please add me to your Christmas list for the custom cards? :grin: - Rich

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Sorry! Only close family got the light-up cards. But I’m flattened–I mean, flattered.

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LOL - Rich

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These are so neat. Thanks for sharing :smile:

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These are great! Love the touch led additions… very cool.

I’m originally from STL… moved to the west coast about 16 years ago. :slight_smile:

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I haven’t had the time for the last couple of years, but I made letterpress Christmas cards not too long ago:

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Wow @rebelpilot and @cynd11, fantastic!

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Oh man, I would LOVE to play around with letterpress. I bet your cards were really something!

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Being a ‘light freak’…I LOVE your cards. Simply amazing! I did make some foiled ones…but only about 10 of them. We don’t have many people left on our Christmas card list anymore. I just posted a photo in another existing thread; Hot Foil Stamping

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So is tyhat switch the :: TACTILE SWITCH .24X.24X.20 ? what leds do you use ( the flat on a strip ones? Those are amazing!! ( Do you use copic markers to color your stamped images?)

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Yes, I think that’s the switch I used. Honestly, I just browsed through the dusty bins at that store until I found something I liked. It’s neat to be able to actually see and compare stuff like that in person. I wanted to use an on/off switch instead of a momentary one, but they were too bulky for the cards.

The LEDs were just loose ones–I had to solder them to the copper tape. The front panel of the card is popped up on foam tape to hide all the wiring and stuff.

I used several types of inks: some dye inks in various colors for the color layering, blending inks for the sky, and Copic markers for the house.

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Yes, I saw your foiled cards in that thread and they are gorgeous! I’ve been getting a bit into foiling myself lately–it’s addictive!

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