A Holiday Tradition -- Just a Little Late

This weekend I plan to scrap Christmas pictures so I thought I would get in the mood by sharing a layout I did of our 2012 Christmas card. For more years than I can remember, I have been sending a holiday newsletter to family and friends who live out of state. At the time I started this tradition, it sure seem to beat hand writing an update in 25+ cards. However, once I started making our cards instead of using store-bought cards, writing the newsletter started to seem like just one more thing that had to get done before the holidays. I try to keep the newsletter tongue and cheek so that I am not thought of as one of THOSE people. And, yes, it does take time to write -- time that I usually don't have around Christmas. However, what was begun for others, is now something I do for me. Every year Sal tells me to skip it and just get the cards mailed. But since I don't keep a journal and I don't scrap in chronological order, the newsletter  is the only way I have of capturing a year full of memories on paper. 

Since I have a file filled with newsletters, I thought it was time to make them into layouts. Here it is:

Since I keep my layouts in page protectors, I decided to change the margins of my holiday letter and print it on vellum.  This makes it easier to read the letter without taking the page out of the book. (Click on the picture to embiggen if you want to read the newsletter.) With the exception of the thin strip of the black and red checkerboard (which is from an old Crate Paper collection), all of the papers are from the Echo Park collection  -- the same collection I used to make the card. 

I used my Cricut to cut the frame and negative for the word "Holiday" in my title,  and then backed the mat with another paper from the collection. To complement the hand-stamping on the card, I stamped the word "Greetings" on the title piece. On the Special Delivery sticker, I stamped "Eterno-ly Yours" which is something I stamp in the back of all of my cards.

I added a touch of red with machine stitching around the vellum plus a piece of ribbon and some holly berries. Usually I believe in the Rule of 3s. This time, however, I felt that adding another spray of holly was overkill.

Here's a close-up of our holiday card as it appears on the layout:

And here's the inside of the card:

Thanks for visiting!

Supplies:
Cardstock (on Card): Papertrey Ink;
Pattern Paper: Echo Park, Crate Paper;
Stamps: Papertrey Ink; Hero Arts;
Ink: Ranger Archival black;
Sticker: October Afternoon;
Tools: Cricut Cartridge (December 25th); EK Success punch (Postage Stamp); Janome Sew Mini; Spellbinders Nestabilities (card);
Misc. Embellishments: Maya Road twine (on card); Stickles; DailyLike gingham fabric tape.