A Spooky Season of Handmade Halloween Cards

 

In case you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m a postcard-sending, notecard-writing, letter-penning, holiday-card-creating sort of woman. I’ve been designing my own Christmas and Halloween cards for more than two decades. Of all the cards I create throughout the year, I think Halloween cards might be my favorites.

Naturally, I can’t simply slap a pumpkin on a card and call it Halloween. Oh, no. I like to do a little research, hunting down obscure facts, fascinating places, unusual traditions, and anything suitably spooky. If I happen to uncover something of local interest, so much the better. This year’s card features a local mausoleum, and you can read its story in the photo below. Nothing says holiday cheer quite like a mausoleum, does it?

Decorating the envelopes is almost as much fun as designing the cards themselves. I put considerable thought into those little paper packages, too, because why should the inside get all the attention? This year, I decided to coffee-dye the envelopes before decorating them with rubber stamps.

 

There was just one tiny detail I hadn’t considered: when coffee-dyeing envelopes, leave the flaps open! Otherwise, the coffee acts like a rather enthusiastic postal adhesive, sealing everything shut. I discovered this the hard way and had a devil of a time getting the envelopes open again. Fortunately, I prevailed, and the envelopes survived the ordeal. No one will be the wiser. At least, that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. 

As in years past, I relied heavily on the wonderful rubber stamp creations of Tim Holtz to bring my spooky designs to life. His stamps are practically made for this sort of thing, and they fit right in with my fondness for the mysterious, the macabre, and the delightfully peculiar. I used the following sets:

 Tim Holtz - Framed Frights

 Tim Holtz - CADAVEROUS

 Tim Holtz - Mr. Bones 

 The funny thing about being so passionate about this little creative endeavor is that I’ve already planned themes for the next three years! Apparently, my Halloween card production department has no intention of slowing down. I suppose that’s what happens when you combine a love of crafting with a fondness for obscure history and all things spooky. I hope you’re enjoying the Halloween season as much as I am. May your days be filled with creativity, your nights with a little mystery, and your mailboxes with something more interesting than bills and political advertisements.

Here’s to a spooky, creative season!

I haven’t blogged about all of the Halloween cards that I’ve made over the years, but I have about these three. If you’re interested just click on the highlighted links below.

 Halloween Card 2025

Halloween Card 2024

 Halloween Card 2011

 

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My 2024 Christmas Card

 

I know that due to the expense it’s become less popular to send cards. That’s a shame. I don’t think there is anything better than getting something personal in the mail. When you think about it, that someone will come to your home, pick up a card or letter, and take it anywhere in the country that you desire for only 73¢, has to be one of the best bargains in the world. For me, a good part of the joy of Christmas is designing my own Christmas cards, decorating envelopes, writing notes, and putting them into the mail. I got a bit nostalgic this year, using a picture of vintage salt and pepper shakers that belonged to my mother on the cover. Every card I design has a special meaning for me. I suppose I should gather them together into a book of sorts because, combined, they tell a story of my life.I decided to do something different with the envelope this year and do an open collage. I’m not sure that I like it. I’m also not sure that it’s going to get through the mail intact, which is why I’m including a photo of it here so that, should the recipients receive something a bit battered, at least they’ll know what it looked like when it began its journey.

If you’d like to take a look at what I’ve done in the past, here are cards from 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.

My 2023 Christmas Card

 

It has become a bit of a tradition here on the blog to share my annual Christmas card. I have been making my own for the past six years now. Selecting the picture for the front is always enjoyable. In the past I have used a picture of my own. This year’s card features a picture from Nigella's Christmas Cookbook. I thought that it was most appropriate for the recipe that I chose to use on the inside.

I have as much fun with the back of the card as I do the front. Stanley makes an appearance decked out in holiday attire. I enjoyed using him on my Halloween card, so couldn’t resist putting a Santa hat on his head for this one. I put as much if not more work on the envelopes as I do the card itself. This year I bought a couple Christmas sets of Tim Holtz stamps, and had a bit of difficulty getting the ink coverage that I was hoping for. Nonetheless, I’m sure they will brighten the mailboxes of all the recipients. If you’d like to take a look at what I’ve done in the past, here are cards from 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.

 

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