Christmas Cards 2013 (19) Leftovers: 5 commissioned cards with reindeer

Finally, the last post about my Christmas cards from the previous year :)  These cards were made as a last minute commission from my colleague. She wanted some reindeer so to make it more varied I went for reindeer in different styles. 

Below my favourite combination: punched snowflakes in red and white on brown kraft card :) I love the simplicity of this card. 

A sampler-type of card with stamped images, including reindeer :) These were small cute stamps I managed to collect over time and it's a compilation of motifs.

Heat-embossed reindeer in red on a "jumper" background :)

Vintage reindeer with a cute Scandinavian girl ;)

And the last card - reindeer stamped, stitched, die-cut and glued :) Voila!

That's it! Finito! Thank you for your patience :-))))

Christmas Cards 2013 Leftovers: 3 tall ones

3 tall Christmas cards on a brown kraft paper base :) - one of my favourite card blank formats

I've also discovered that cream coloured laces look good on the natural brown paper :) I'm never bored with the Christmas theme. I could keep on making festive cards all year round!

Christmas cards 2013 (15) - Leftovers - Santas

Hi all. Again a few weeks of blog silence. This is due to some unforeseen circumstances. January 2014 turned out to be a horrible start into the New Year. The list opens with the 2 cats ill with the cat flu, costly vet treatments, my broken tooth filling and frequent trips to the dentist. Also, we have had the members of the bf's family hospitalized because of their age and condition, two distant relatives died and one person, a very close and dear to us, has been diagnosed with a progressive terminal illness. This was a very upsetting and devastating news for us. It has obviously put me off blogging and crafting too. I'm trying to take it all in and process this new situation inside me but it's very hard. Unfortunately the world doesn't stop just for us and our miseries and the show must go on. What can we do? Just to be strong, supportive and make sure each day is lived out to the full and treated as a bonus 'cause you never know what's round the corner... and let's not waste time anymore. I'm really waiting for some brightier, sunnier days...

Blogging backlog, as usual. I still got some xmas stuff I have never shown on my blog. Sorry this is way out of date. Just a quick look at the last batches of my festive cards, if you're not bored yet.

I really enjoyed myself making these cards. Stamped background, tartan patterns, vintage santas...

And how has your start into the New Year been? Hope you are all ok and happy. x X x

Kraft cardstock

Just a quick update on what I've been up to. 

Have I ever mentioned before that I'm in love with natural brown (recycled) kraft cardstock? :) I so well am! 'Twas time to top up my cardstock resources :))) My new order off eBay:

I ordered two new card formats this time - narrow tall cards and large size cards. Very happy with these card blanks :)

Most of my Christmas cards this year will have a natural brown card base. It just seems perfect for vintage and Scandi-themed cards. It blends well with various colours and it's got that rustic and hand-made feel too. Ideal for tags as well.  

But the discovery of the month for me has been this paper!

I sooo much love it!!! It was a must-have for me. I love everything about it - the colour, the patterns, the texture, the thickness, even... the smell :) I've been looking for papers of this style for a long time and now Lili of the Valley shop sells them. Gonna cut some them up tonight for some new cards! :) Noticed my new lovely small set of "stitchy" stamps? :) A little treasure in my stamp collection. 

Back to my crafting now. Have a good evening and thank you for your visits x x x

(Early) Christmas Cards 2013 (7): Nordic Blue (2). The Gold Mold Cape.

Hi. In this windy and rainy weather we've had for the past few days I've been feeling inclined to stay with a book and blanket on the sofa rather than to venture somewhere outside. Looks like the season for cold rainy and windy days is just round the corner. 

Craftwise, I'm still working on my Christmas cards and I've been thinking of having a go at selling them at my workplace this year. Just out of curiosity and for fun. I even bought the protecting cello bags for my cards yesterday. I've never sold my cards before as I tend to be rather pessimistic about the card sales considering the fact how many people can make their own cards these days and how many of them still prefer to buy a pack of 10 for £1 and which end up in a recycling bin after the festive days. So all the excess of my Christmas cards will go on sale at work. I really wonder how much interest they will receive :) 

But in the meantime here are some more cards in the frosty blue shades but this time with the mixture of natural brown kraft cardstock :) I love to use this natural brown card - it combines well with lots of colours and it is a nice change from a traditional white card. 

The card below was made using a card sketch I found on the internet. I think it was the one from the Mojo Monday blog where there's a great choice of card sketches to choose from.

Beneath, a simple card with a stamped and heat-embossed Snow Bird - a stamp from Noolibird.

The two cards together :)

And my first attempt at embellishing a gate fold card. The snowflakes have been punched with Martha Stewart punches and the reindeer stamp comes from Noolibird again. 

This type of card kind of reminds me of ... a cupboard so I embellished "the doors" too :)

I kind of like how it opens and closed and stands on it own :) More cards coming soon!

*  *  *

Saturday was luckily a nice sunny day here in North Wales so me and my bf grabbed an opportunity and went out to Wrexham County Borough Museum to see the Gold Mold Cape - we just made it on the last day of exhibition as the Mold Cape is back to its house now - The British Museum in London. For those who don't know it, it's a piece of ceremonial outfit that was unexpectedly discovered buried in a stony grave found in one of the Welsh fields and it comes from the Early Bronze Age, being about 3000 years old! What amazing craftmanship!
The cape was well displayed and I was very pleased how the photos came out :)

The cape must have received lots of interest from the public as there were crowds at the museum, even on the last day of exhibition. Below, this is how the archeologists imagine the cape was used during the ceremonies - completed by a necklace which agrees nicely with the upper line of the cape. It's assumed it once belonged to a woman of a high status. No skeleton parts survived in the grave unfortunately. Apparently some other capes existed too as some extra bits of gold leaf were found in the soil too. 

Below, a contemporary attempt at creating a tool that would reproduce the embossed pattern on the cape. Surely the bronze age people couldn't have one like this! ;) It must have been done by hand somehow.

I really enjoyed this short museum trip. You just don't get to see such things everyday. So fascinating!

Linking up to Hand-made Monday tonight :)

(Early) Christmas Cards 2013 (3) : Nordic Kids (1)

My Christmas card making is at full throttle right now. Despite the early months I still keep making my Christmas cards, bit by bit, pair by pair until a decent card collection arises. I always send and hand in lots of cards around Christmas time and I like mine to be hand-made. Therefore I always start early to make sure I will have enough otherwise I will be stressing over it. With some other xmas projects like cross stitch and knitting on the go alongside the cards, things need to be done in time. So here are my next 2 new Nordic cards but this time with kids featured on them :) 

I thought combining kiddies dressed in cozy winter clothes with the Nordic theme would be a good idea. I'm quite pleased with how they turned out. They have been stamped and coloured with pro-markers. (a note to self: will have to buy some more promarkers with Christmassy colours!)

To stamp the kids I used Hero Arts Holiday Dolls stamps set and for the backing papers I used Warm Winter Wishes I blogged about earlier on. A few bits and bobs like punched shapes and doilies have been added too.

More Nordic kids on their way :) Currently working on one of these cards. 

And what about you, my dear reader? Do you start your Christmas crafting early? Do you make extra preparations? Share your thoughts with me :)