How To Create a Charlie Brown Christmas Card

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE and HAPPY HOLIDAYS for those who do not celebrate Christmas.

This is a magical time of year where the snow brightens the spirits of everyone, the glitter entices people to happiness and everyone seems to be in such a charismatic and loving mood. IT is the best time of year by far and I like to think of Christmas as not a holiday but more of a frame of mind, a time to be thankful for everything and everyone in your life and giving things selfishly without anything in return.

If this atmosphere stuck around the whole year round, our world would be in a much better place, so as you enter 2012, reflect on what your thankful for and remember, the best way to show the thankfulness is through a genuine handmade card.

Every year i make several handmade christmas cards, but there is always one that takes 10x longer than any other card, and this is the one i created this year. It is hard to depict the details so i am going to explain the things you can do here.

THE BACKGROUND:

The background consists of pastel and paint. I found an image at fotolia.com and drew my rendition of it. I used a dark blue pastel and shaded dark to light. I then used a tissue to smoothen out the streaks and create a soft look.

Then i started to paint the picture on top of that. I started with dark blue paint and my thinnest paint brush. I created a design consisting of several flowing lines and leaves. Also, a dark blue christmas tree is subdued in the background. I then moved onto the light blue paint and created similar effects on top of that. Finally, white paint stands out in front with a Christmas tree and more flowing lines, as well as some dots to depict snow flakes coming from the left hand corner.

THE POP-OUTS

There are several pop outs here and they took quite a while to individually create. I drew a picture of charlie brown holding his wimpy Christmas tree with the single red ornament ball. Then i drew snoopy, both characters looking up at the top right corner. I then drew a set of three gift boxes that is placed between the two characters. Finally i coloured a red banner that says, “Merry Christmas” at the top and “AND a Happy New Year” at the bottom.

All of these pop outs were then glued to folded paper and made it pop out from the card.

FINISHING TOUCHES

I had glued on colourful snowflakes coming down from the top left corner and to top it off, i took the candy cane styled handles of a bag i found and glued it to the sides to create “candy cane handles.”

MOST IMPORTANT PART

=Presentation. The way the card is presented is just as important as how it looks. Make sure there is a lot of hype around your card and how your SO excited to present it to them. When it comes to that time, sometimes i like to get them to close their eyes as i place it in their hands or have it left in an unexpected place at a time they wont expect to see it.

And that is how to make someone smile on a beautiful winter day.

Feel free to email me your handmade christmas cards and i will post them on my facebook fan page! and make sure you become a fan for updates!

Easy Snowflake Christmas Card!

3D Christmas Cards give more POP than any other card, besides from bright colours which are awesome to do this time of year. Here is another amazing video that shows you how to create an amazing snowflake in a very short period of time! Writing a “Merry Christmas” on the inside of the snowflake can make the snowflake itself a Christmas card.

Happy Holidays!

Mike Tielemans

5 minute Christmas Card! 3D and AWESOME!

An easy 3D Christmas tree card! It can be hard pumping out dozens of Christmas cards by hand over the holiday season, so getting one done in under 5 minutes is PERFECT!

Email me if you have any videos or pictures of your hand made cards this holiday season!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Mike Tielemans

What Inspires You?

Nine ways to inspire creativity. I received this post from “Art Photos And Paintings”

Lately I have had several people ask me what inspires me to paint and take photographs.  This really got me to thinking about what makes me do what I do when it comes to my artwork, and it led me to sit down and make a list of things the that inspire my creativity.  In the process of clarifying it for myself, I realized this might be helpful to others as well, when they are lost for ideas on how to stimulate that creative streak I believe we all have.

1.  Take a Drive
We were driving thru the prairie recently on the way back from a family visit, when all of a sudden it came to me as I watched the fields and farms go by outside the car window, that I had an over whelming urge to stop the vehicle and take some photos.  I wanted to to go back, sit beside the road and paint those farm scenes.

2.  Play with the Features of your Camera
As some of you may remember, I recently purchased a new camera (Nikon D7000).  It has a few features that I was not used to and I am enjoying trying new things while learning the new camera.

3.  Look at Old Vacation Photos
Re-viewing photos taken on vacations always brings back memories that make me want to paint a new painting or re-visit that place again.  They also make me see how an even better photograph could be made by visiting the same place, or even one similar to it.

4.  Visit a Park
There are boundless, intriguing subjects in parks.  Photographing and painting people playing, flowers in bloom, trees, water, birds and other wildlife can be very interesting and exciting.

5.  Look around your House
There are many things we look at every day but no longer really see.  The textures of fabrics, wood, walls, grasses, weeds,and even items of glassware and dishes can be interesting subjects.  Then go outside around your neighborhood and look atthe textures of rocks, walls of buildings, the bark of trees; they all have interesting textures and colors.

6.   Stock of Your Kitchen
The kitchen can be inspirational as well.  Setting up still-life sets with fruits and vegetables from your refrigerator will make for some very nice photos and paintings.  Cups, glasses, and dishes can make wonderful still-life subjects.  You can add a bottle of wine and a houseplant and make it even better.  It is also fun to take your camera to the local farmer’s market and photograph the bins of fruits and vegetables with different light and angles.  Sometimes there are even old rusted farm implements and equipment to photograph.

7. Go to Garage Sales and Flea Markets
Found objects can sometimes be fun to arrange and rearrange, to shoot from different angles and in different combinations.  I even combine some of the old found objects with some new things for interesting combinations to paint or photograph.

8.  Watch an Old Movie (any movie, really)
While watching old movies, I have spotted some great scenery that has inspired me to pay more attention to composition.  Theold spaghetti westerns that made Clint Eastwood a star and many of John Wayne’s western classics have some really amazing scenery that can’t help but inspire any painter or photographer.

9.  Enter a Photo Contest
If you are hesitant to put yourself out there, so to speak, enter some photos or paintings in a county fair or exposition.  They are open to anyone, and it will give you the opportunity to check out what others are producing and get some useful feedback on your creations as well.

-Marsha

Hopefully, this will inspire some of you to get out there and create.

There are hundereds of things that can inspire you to create and it may be different for everyone. Find things around you that inspire you and utilize that whenever you need it.

Enjoy Creating!

-Mike Tielemans

Halloween Crafts and Cards

 This is the most beautiful time of year, not

  only is there beautiful scenery with the changing

 leaves, as well as the fall breeze and autumn smells,

 BUT this time of year is PERFECT for crafts and

  cards! So many things you can do. And the best part is that almost every craft can be turned into a beautiful handmade card!

With halloween approaching I found a cute ghost wrapper that can be wrapped around cupcakes. Awesome craft for kids and even better if there is a birthday coming up! (Make some cupcakes for the gift, make the wrapper the CARD!)

Here’s what you do!

How To:

1. Print wrappers and toppers (free download below).

2. Cut out wrappers on dotted line. Wrap around frosted cupcake and use a small piece of tape to secure ends of wrapper in place.

3. Use a 1” or larger circle paper punch for toppers. One that has a scattered edge would be awesome!

4. Sandwich a toothpick between both sides of the ghost topper circles using double-sided tape.

5. Add topper toothpick to cupcake.

So easy and awesome!

Print wrapper and topper here!

This was found at our friends at thecraftycrow.net

Quilling hearts

Homemade greeting cards, using paper shredder and a quilling device!

All the things you can do with it!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttfukN99Rag&feature=player_embedded#!

Spread Some Magic

I received this newsletter from one of the greatest chiropractors in North America, Dr. Thomas Preston! He talks about the power of Magic Moments and how it can increasingly affect the positivity of someone’s mood with small efforts; and this is what I feel like we are all about in this industry- Creating Magic Moments through handmade greeting cards. He say Magic Moments are those special moments in your life that really make life fulfilling and complete. Many of the great philosophers over the years have stated that life is simply a string of moments held together by the fabric of time. Why not make those moments special and meaningful and memorable for yourself and those that you have the privilege of interacting with? There are other ways to create Magic Moments, but it is in sync with what we do here because it is always from the heart and handmade.

Magic moments need not be expensive nor take a great deal of time. Much of the magic comes forward in the process of planning and/or executing the moment and therefore is tied to your intent in making the moment magical in the first place.

Magic moments are a very individual thing as what I find magical and meaningful may not be what you would find magical and meaningful. However I thought I would share with you another tactic to Magic Moments other than the cards we make.

MAGIC MOMENT

A handwritten thank-you for having the privilege of being in this persons life is one of my favorites. So few people take the time to acknowledge others in their life or show their gratitude for the important role they play in their lives. Even fewer people are willing to write it down and even fewer still are willing to hand-write it. I love giving these as much as I love getting them.

Do a favour for yourself, and write a thank you note for someone, for any reason! This will keep the magic flying all year round, when you have no cards to make for anyone!

–Mike Tielemans

Here is your chance to be a part of the next Greeting Card.

I am interested in creating a crazy card based on unusual things! Why stick to the normal things, So i created a poll on facebook asking you guys what you want to see what the next card will be made of!

Click Here and throw in your input!

Your the best! Keep Creating!

Creating your Creative Corner

As with all art, there has to be a “haven,” a getaway almost where you can escape and be with yourself to create something inspiring. All artists had a place where they went to paint, as with the Group of 7 they would travel all around Canada and find exclusive private sections of forest to paint their masterpieces.

Everyone needs this kind of place to escape to, because it is hard to not get distracted working at a kitchen table with kids pulling at your socks while your trying to draw.. hypothetically of course..

This kind of space is what I call the creative corner; your destination for creation!

The first step to creating unique handmade greeting cards is to find a sacred place where your mind can be set free from the burdens of everyday life. My favourite place is my basement. This place has colourful walls, has a tv i can put on for music or background and most importantly is away from everyone.

The first challenge of creativity is creating a space where your free to imagine! So go and find a place within your house or possibly outdoors that will allow yourself to be free. Let this place be your creativity corner and make sure your consistent with choosing this place whenever your going to create art.

This is the first step to creating unique handmade greeting cards, along with finding the right materials and of course finding the inspiration.

So go ahead, and find your place of creation!

–Mike Tielemans

9/11 Birthday Card

Just in case you had no ideas on what to make for a birthday card for that special someone born September 11. No pressure, Enjoy!

–Mike Tielemans

Make the best handmade creations EVER!