2009 Christmas Card & Ornament Swaps

Late in November 2009 I received some information on Christmas Card & Ornament Swaps.

Both these concepts intrigued me – it seemed like something fun and a good networking tool. So I put my hand up for both swaps!

Brooklyn Brides Third Annual Holiday Card Swap (with a Tasty Twist) – 3rd year running!

There are some rules that you have to adhere to:

1) Must be handmade
2) Must be sent no later than 15 December 2009
3) If you are feeling extra crafty include a Holiday Cookie Recipe

So this got me thinking….. What to make? How to make? And what recipe?

One of my points of difference in the both swaps was that I was from Australia, so I wanted to wave the Aussie Flag proudly!

I started my search on Etsy which is a online handmade community where sellers can make their living my selling handmade items direct to customers.

I came across a great Etsy store called 'i do' it yourself. 'i do' it yourself had some fantastic wedding invites that had green and brown gum leaves on them. I was able to have the wedding invite custom made into an event TH!S Season’s Greeting Card!


'i do' it yourself sent me the proofs and presto the outside of the Christmas Cards were done!


I designed the inside of the greeting card and included a cute gumnut and gumleaf!


Vane from Brooklyn Bride emailed me the list of Card Swappers from all corners of the States – New York, Texas & Missouri (check them out below)!

Brooklyn Bride www.bklynbrideonline.com

Anne-Marie Scali www.perfectboundblog.com

Danielle Harder

Kerry Quade www.marriedtobrooklyn.com

Ashley Raydo http://magpiesmagnolias.blogspot.com

The next question on my mind was what cookie recipe will I contribute? In Australia we don’t really call them “cookies” rather “biscuits”!

You can’t go past the true blue Aussie ANZAC biscuit! I also included the history of how the ANZAC Biscuit came to be via www.anzacday.org.au I took my artwork to the printer and had the cards printed up!

Assembling the cards wasn’t too hard. A bit of cutting, tying, signing my name and folding and it was done!

I picked a lovely lemongrass coloured metallic envelopes to complete the set.

I also made a few extra Aussie greeting cards to send to other Twitter pals!

Card Marking Shopping List

Etsy Store
Lemongrass Metallic Envelope
Jute String
Labels

Translucent Paper


Southern Weddings Magazine “Holiday Ornament Swap”

I wanted to keep the Aussie theme going with the SW Holiday Ornament Swap – and I will say I did find getting a hold of an Aussie Xmas Ornament a little difficult.

I came across some gorgeous baby Koalas in gumnuts on the Royal Botanic Gardens website. They are actually made from Queensland (where I am located) palm fronds and a tiny Santa’s hat to finish the cute look!

I used the customised event TH!S Greeting Cards and I also made some gift tags with the card off cuts.

I wanted the look and feel of my ornament gift to match the packaging. I even hand shred the brown kraft paper for the inside of the package for that authentic look!

I made sure to include a letter to customs in case of any questions regarding the treatment process the gumnut Koala went through before making its way to the States.

The little gumnut ornaments are going to make their way to the Christmas Trees of:

April McEwen www.aprilmcewen.blogspot.com

Katie Bond www.Twitter.com/ksbond

Cristina Perry Events www.cristinaperry.com

Southern Weddings www.iloveswmag.com

Located in Tennessee, North Carolina & Georgia!

All in all it was a great experience, I am now thinking what am I going to do for next year’s swaps?


Ornament Shopping List

Ornaments
White Shipping Box

Jute String
Tissue Paper
Kraft Paper
Magic Tape