Christmas Card!!!!!!!

Christmas is my favorite time of the year, I find it to be so enchanting. I love the lights, the decorations, the food, the joy, the smell of the tree in the house, and all the Christmas music. I think one of the things that makes Christmas so special to me is a memory that I have from when I was a little girl. Until I was about 8 I never actually celebrated Christmas. My father is Israeli and my mother converted to Judaism before I was born, so technically I was Jewish. However, I always watched Christmas movies and marveled at the decorations around me. I always loved how my friends had trees in their houses and I decided I wanted the same. So I convinced my dad to take me to get a tree  that year, promising that it would be  small like the Charlie Brown tree, it took some convincing but my dad agreed. Unbeknownst to him I had a plan to get the biggest tree possible that could fit our house. Long story short, we ended up getting a 10' tree and set it up in our sun room. My mom came home that night to find a tree with only lights, as we had no decorations. She decided then that if we were going to have this tree we were going to do it right with decorations - so from there on the tradition started in our house to celebrate Christmas. 

Last year I decided to design my own Christmas card as I wanted something very special and hand crafted to send out. As an interior designer, I am always using my eye to put things together, so I thought why not put that into a card. I specialize in 3D computer renderings, I can create spaces rendered that are not actually built yet. I am constantly conceptualizing new design ideas and rendering them, it is very theraputic for me, I consider it to be like a journal.

Pictured above is my Christmas card from 2011. I rendered the image in a 3D computer software program called Rhino, and designed the whole space. My concept for the card was to create a winter room that felt very cozy, as if you could walk in and snuggle next to the fire. I love architectural details, so I designed a chair rail with a wood trim, above is a striped wallpaper, it is simple but elegant. I picked out many different pieces of artwork and put them in different sized frames. This way the walls can be simple and the color and pattern comes from the art on the wall. I made 50 cards last year cutting every element out by hand, and even added a 1/2" strip of sparkle paper on both the bottom and top of the image on the cover. It was really special handing a card out to the people I care about, which was hand made.

This year I wanted to do something a little different, the concept is an old barn set in the snowy hills of Vermont. I envisioned an old wood barn with large heavy doors, this is why I designed the card to open the way it does, you are essentially entering the space. For the front I decided to draw it by hand keeping it black and white, I like the contrast with the color on the inside. It is a very simple drawing but it has a lot of movement to it, which invokes the whimsical spirit I wanted.

Image of the front of the card, the two panels are split in the middle, and open like two doors.

In the interior I mixed a lot of different patterns and colors together, and for the roof I wanted to do beams that crossed both vertically and horozontally. From the beams I hung Christmas lights to give the space an enchanting light quality. I designed all the furniture pieces in the space, as for the club chair and ottoman they were in the card from last year, but just reupholstered this year. That leads to another blog I will post soon about the magic of reupholstering furniture pieces you already have, it can really revamp your space. As for the coffee table and side table on the end of the couch, they are glass and hollow inside, with a gold trim on the edges. I designed them this way so they could be filled with accessories that add a pop of color. There are four lamps in the room and I put three different lamp  shades on them, adding pattern and color to the shades makes the lamps really fun. Then when you put the light on it illuminates the colors from the shades, which adds a soft feel to the room.

The mirror on the mantle I drafted by hand initially to make sure the proportions were correct, I wanted it to have a Byzantine quality to it. The actually frame is made of antique mirror and the framing on the edges is gold. The artwork for the room all adds to the holiday spirit the room invokes, they are images of ornaments and decorations, with the sparkle of light in the background, very Christmasy!

As for the fireplace, I wanted to keep it simple, while I love the idea of sitting next to a warm fire, I also love having candles as well. You can put different colored candles which adds a pop of color and the fireplace really sparkles from the candle light. There are also candles on the other surfaces in the space they enhance the room with color and sparkle. This year I also decided to add window treatments to the space, they are an animal print fabric, they add the right amount of pattern to balance out the walls. I like the straight tailored look for the treatments, I think it looks very handsome. Whether or not the window treatments are custom made or store bought, it really makes the room feel warm, and is a better alternative to shades.

For the architectural elements in the space I designed a 3' high chair rail, the wood trim within houses a wallpaper. This same wallpaper is also applied within the wood trim above the chair rail as well. The wall space above the chair rail is also a wallpaper and the ceiling as well. This also leads to another blog to be posted soon about wallpaper and how fabulous it is, there are so many options out there, and you can apply it to so many areas of you home. The thin gold strip on the walls is a fabric trim that is applied to frame the walls, to add a sharper feel to the wall space.

The great thing about the renderings is that all the materials in the space are completely accessible. From the wallpapers to the fabrics and the carpets, they all come from companies that make really amazing products. Some of my favorite companies are Phillip Jeffries - they make amazing wallpapers, F. Schumacher, Kravet, Ralph Lauren Home, Osborne and Little, the list goes on and on. My job allows me to be exposed to so many amazing materials, and I discover new things everyday. My work is my passion and that is the only way I would have it, because we spend so much of our lives working, you have to LOVE what you do, or you are simply wasting your time. Your life should be your work and your work should be your life. I know so many people that dread going to work and count the minutes until the day is done, that is no way to live.  I don't stop, I am always exploring and learning as much as I can about design, life is so short so you must dedicate to that which inspires you, my card is a perfect example of this for me.

Just to give a little behind the scenes below is a screen shot of the interior of the barn as it looks when I am building it in 3D wireframe.

Below are some of the patterns and materials that I used in the space.





     
    

Rendering for the interior of the card.

Below is an image of the final card! 

All cards were designed, crafted, hand made, cut, folded, and mounted by Jessica Benari. Credit is also due to my amazing boyfriend Ron who helped me construct all the cards, and grabbed snacks on late nights. Thanks for your support!

Thank you so much for visiting my blog, if you have any questions please contact me at benarijessica@gmail.com. Cards and renderings can be customized as needed, just ask! Please visit soon and often for more posts!