Christmas is for Children

So today I had a bunch of kids in to make Christmas cards - such fun! I made up a few samples (pictured top) so that they could copy if they wanted to & also had a big box of stash for them to have a play & make their own designs up - once in a while, you gotta encourage a bit of free thinking, right?
I find it much harder designing cards for the little ones to make. There's so much more to consider and I end up using lots of materials that I'd usually avoid - think sequins, epoxy stickers and printed greetings (still not a peel off in sight! LOL). The other thing is I'm a bit of a fan of the little touches that make a card 'pop' so keeping it simple means no ink, penwork, minimal layers - nightmare!
Anyway, Di comes to the rescue (again!!) & the bottom two piccies show a couple of designs made from this week's sketch (Nov. #3) - I have to say that even without the ink & the fabulous,

intricately patterned papers that I would have chosen (see the next post, coming up soon for an example!) this sketch does make great cards!

For the finale, we made a 'something special' concertina card (my sample is at the back in the top piccie). I'd made and folded the base cards in advance and pre-cut some papers, so all they had to do was stick & decorate. The youngest children were 6 but still managed to make some pretty impressive cards!

There's nothing better than having the little ones pitching in with Christmas preparations. My little lad is 3 1/2 and this will be the second year he has made all the cards for his little friends. My top tip? Let them make their cards, their way. Provide a bunch of pre-folded card bases (4"x4" is good for the li'l ones) and stickers or stamps. Don't worry about symmetry, colour etc., you can save your artistic flair for your creations - just let them have fun!