Hello everyone and welcome to the March 2023 Edition of The Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas. On the 25th of each month, the Crafty Elves - me, Debra, Lisa, and Misty - share some card ideas with the hopes of inspiring you to make holiday cards too. Direct links to what the other Crafty Elves have made this month, as well as links to all of our social media pages, are at the end of this post.
This month I am focusing on Kwanzaa.
You would think that, since I make holiday cards each month, I would have made Kwanzaa card ideas earlier. To be honest, it's not a holiday I grew up learning about and I had no stamps to use. Being a Jew that also celebrates Christmas, Hanukkah and Christmas cards are a no-brainer.
But that all changed a few weeks ago when I was on AliExpress looking for bulk items to buy for my projects (flowers, sequins, beads, etc.) On the sidebar, I saw an ad for adhesive stickers. I've always loved stickers and have wanted to buy a bunch for another project, so I went and investigated the store and they had Kwanzaa stickers! Perfect! Now I can make cards for Kwanzaa using stickers!
If you are interested in the stickers, I bought them from the Bling Dream Store. They have so many sticker categories it's not funny! Warning: you can be on their site for hours.
Before I started to make the cards, I wanted to learn about Kwanzaa. According to THIS article from the Boston Public Library:
- Kwanzaa is celebrated from December 26th through January 1st.
- It's an African American and Pan-African holiday that celebrates family, community, and culture.
- Kwanzaa was created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, professor of Africana Studies at California State University at Long Beach. He is an author and was an activist during the Black Liberation Movement.
- The goal of Kwanzaa was to preserve, revitalize, and promote African American culture.
- The colors of Kwanzaa are black, red, and green. Black represents the people, red for their struggle, and green for the future and hope that comes from their struggle. The colors are based on national colors for African people throughout the world.
- Kwanzaa is a cultural holiday and not a religious one.
- Gifts are given but mainly to children and the gifts must always include a book and a heritage symbol.
There is SO much more to Kwanzaa than I ever knew. If you also want to learn more, maybe about the 7 principles of Kwanzaa, the symbols use, or how Kwanzaa is celebrated, click on the link above from the Boston Public Library. It's very interesting.
To make these cards...
Next, working slowly, I removed the pieces from the black piece, removed the tape backing from the outline, and adhered it to another piece of black cardstock. I burnished this well with a bone folder and then cut around the edges.
Next is the fun part. Especially if you love puzzles.
This die is perfect for Kwanzaa cards because each section of the die has 3 spaces - perfect for the 3 colors of the holiday. Except for 1 section, which has four. This die would also be perfect for any occasion that has 3 colors to its theme - like July 4th using red, whie, and blue. Or any other card occasion with 3 colors to its theme.
I started in one section adhering 1 piece of each color to that section. Then I slowly did the same for each section of the die. 1 black, 1 red, 1 green.
Until you have filled in the whole die. Each section. With the 3 different colors.
Then you will do the same with the other colors. Attached the green outline to a piece of green cardstock and then fit each of the colors into the sections. Then do the red.
You have enough here to make 3 cards.
I wanted to layer these on a card front but I didn't want to use just plain cardstock. I went online looking at different Kwanzaa papers and designs but nothing fit with this pattern.
Plan B.
I die-cut each of the colors again using a 4.25" x 5.5" stitched rectangle die (Pink & Main). Then I embossed each of them using the Illusion Triangles 3D embossing folder from Altenew. It made a really cool pattern that worked perfectly with the card fronts because once you layer the card fronts on the embossed pieces, you only get a hint of the pattern.
To finish off the cards, I used a stitched square die set to cut a piece of black, red, and green cardstock. I adhered the 3 together and embossed it with the same embossing folder as the card front. I adhered these to each card front and then adhered a sticker to that.
Done! Below are the 3 cards I made, individually.
So, what do you think? I really like how these turned out and I hope to make more Kwanzaa cards in the future. If I am going to be a Crafty Elf, all the holidays should be included. Don't you agree?
Don't forget to check out what the other Crafty Elves have made this month. I've made it easy for you...you can see Debra's card by clicking HERE, you can see Lisa's card by clicking HERE, and you can check out Misty's video by clicking HERE. Also, all of our social media links are below if you would like to see what else we do and, maybe, follow us.
Michael - World of Michael Trent
Debra - Meticulosity
Lisa - BZ Scrapper
Misty - The Jolly Fat Elf
As always, thanks so much for stopping by my blog today. I'd love to know what you think of these cards and I really hope you have a great rest of your week. Until next time...
Hugs from Brasil.
~Michael
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That full die plate is quite the puzzle but you mastered it with those bold beautiful colors!!
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