Grab this idea for handmade cardinal cards for Christmas, perfect for batch making!

Making handmade cardinal cards for Christmas is a time tested trend and every year we see beautiful designs that send a joyful message with these beautiful birds. Today’s card from Julie is at the top of the list of beautiful designs and not only is it perfect for batch making, but Julie also paired a male AND a female cardinal for a lovely nod to authenticity.

Let’s check out Julie’s step by step instructions and see which pieces we can make in batches for a nice satisfying assembly session. First let’s “make” one card.

Die cut the birds using our Winter Cardinals die set from red and peach card stock, our Large Birdhouse die to cut pieces from brown and red scraps, and create an oval frame using two dies from either our Nested Oval Stitch or our Nested Oval Small Stitch die sets. (The die Julie used is no longer available.) Use our Greenery # 3 die to cut some scraps of white and dark green card stock and then our Joy Word With Shadow die to cut white and red scraps.

Using shades of red Color Fuse Ink from Set #4 and grays from Set #12, sponge color into the birds to add shading and depth. Adhere your birds together and put your bird  house together, too. Adhere the two portions of the Joy die cut word together. Stamp your sentiment onto a narrow scrap strip of white card stock.

Now cut a piece of patterned card stock from our Festive Farmhouse Paper Pad with the largest die in our Nested Rectangle Stitch Die set and adhered it to a card base. Add your white oval frame to the card with some dimensional adhesive. Trim your sentiment strip to fit inside the frame and adhere right to the background. This gives the frame some lovely pop.

Add your birdhouse, cardinals and die cut word to the scene with additional dimensional adhesive to build that depth and decorate with a little layered greenery sprig.

Ok – so if you want to make a stack of these beauties, here’s a great game plan:

• Do all your die cutting, setting everything into small dishes or containers so they don’t   get lost in between steps;
• Color and assemble your birds;
• Assemble your bird houses and die cut words;
• Die cut all your background panels. PRO TIP: There are so many beautiful designs and you can mix them all up and have each card look different and unique all using the same basic design!
• Stamp you sentiment strips;
• Adhere your die cut backgrounds, ovals and sentiment strips;
• Adhere all your decorative elements.
  Break these steps down to fit into the time slots you have and before you know it you will have a thick stack of stunning handmade cards ready to address and send!

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  Here are the items from our store that Julie used today:

We love seeing handmade cardinal cards for Christmas! They are a beautiful, classic element and since cardinals are symbolic for people who have left us, they can bring extra care and love to the holiday season. Try this card out as your own Christmas card this year!