Handmade Scandinavian Christmas - book review

Hi all. This week seems to be whizzing past for me and that's good as I'm really looking forward to the chilling weekend after all the work stresses and frustrations. Hopefully the weather will be nice but even if it rains, I can stay in and do some knitting or cross stitching in the comfort of my own home :) 

I'm still working on my Christmas cards, thinking of the card sale more and more and trying to cross stitch and knit a bit in the evenings too. Oh!...and I'm reading too! In other words, I'm doing everything! 

Today I'm going to blog about one of my recent new book purchases - Handmade Scandinavian Christmas by Hege Barnholt. The book has already hit the online bookstores (I got mine from The Book Depository) Those of you interested in Scandi-themes may find this book very appealing. It's a hardcover edition, David and Charles publisher, 158 pages with templates included. Lots of lovely photographs and ideas how to make your Christmas Scandinavian.

I thought you may like to have a peek inside:

Above all,  this book encourages you to use the natural treasures to make decorations for your home. So prepare yourself for a trip to a forest or park for some cones, berries, leaves, branches, wood sticks, tree bark, moss, pieces of wood, stones etc

Simplicity of the decorations is very distinct here... Scandinavians always like it bright and clean. 

Knitted/ crocheted items are a must in the Scandinavian style! (I just LOVE them!)

There is also something for those who love cards, tags and gift wraps :))

And also something for kids... a baking/crafting section

and there's also a cooking section for foodies :)

All the above photos are just a foretaste of what is waiting for you in this book. You will find in it many more tempting projects, do believe me. Do I like it? Of course! I LOVE it! This books made me want to go on a trip to woods for some forest treasures ;)

Have a good night and thanks for your feedback 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!

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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 :)

Background builders

This week in the evenings I've been busy making (again!) some more vintage Scandinavian Christmas cards as well as making my own stamped backgrounds using my inks and stamps. This is such fun! I'm thoroughly enjoying myself at the card making paper production. There's a new trend in the stamping world - a new type of stamps sometimes called "background builders" or "backgrounders" - these are sets of stamps coordinated in style/theme that are used to build your own scenery on a card. They allow for the personalization of a card - you choose where and how to stamp and in what order and how much. So I've had those 4 gorgeous stamps sets with the Nordic theme from The Waltzing Mouse Stamps and the knitted pattern stamps from  WPlus9 Studio Design and it was a perfect moment to put those stamps into practice. So this week I've been stamping these:

I experimented with various colours and shades. By accident, using a thick chalky ink that didn't stamp too crisp, I discovered how to achieve a shaded knitted pattern by stamping two patterns - one on top of  the other. One fills it with a faded colour, the other gives it a defining outline. I thought the coffee brown knitted pattern will look cosy and warm on my cards ;) I really look forward to making cards with these impressions. 

I was very pleased with how these images came out on card as it can be tricky to get a good even impression from the big-sized stamps. I had to use super long acrylic blocks for these borders. I also used some stamping advice from the stamping expert The Waltzing Mouse website and it did work for me this time. I'm going to cut those papers up into smaller backgrounds and perhaps use some cutting dies and punches on them. The thing I love about those background builders is that there are so many possibilities with these stamps. You can make monochromatic patterns as well as multicoloured ones. You can use the papers as backgrounds, punch various shapes out of them or simply cut them up into decorative borders or create your own gift wraps too!

(Early) Christmas Cards 2013 (6): Nordic Blue (1)

Nothing much to share this time. Now with the work back (back to school in my case) I'm struggling with catching up with reading your blogs and writing mine. Definitely less time now for faffing around on the internet ;)

I'm still on building up my Christmas cards collection. Been experimenting with some cold frosty colours. This time it's a cool Nordic blue look :) These cards are mostly about punching, stamping and glueing. Nothing more than that. Simple is how I like it. I used Martha Stewart Himalayan Snowflake punch for the card below. The backing papers come from a card pack - a freebie to a card making magazine from the past. 

The Noel and reindeer stamp and the other little stamps come from A Muse Studio and the stamped snowflake border comes from a Scandinavian set of stamps by Martha Stewart. The punched floral border is Poinsettia on vine MS punch. 

Now, I can finally put to use my entire collection of Nordic-looking stamps I've been collecting for months :))) Yay!

Off to make some more cards now. Working on some Vintage Scandinavian this time :)

The Prairie Schooler: Nordic Holiday 1 & 2 / 9

Woohoo! My new festive cross stitch project has begun :) Series: The Prairie Schooler "Nordic Holiday"  - it's a 9 piece Christmas decoration set. Once I'd got the chart in my hands, I just couldn't wait till I have the threads and fabric to start stitching. One Saturday my bf took me to a lovely local embroidery shop hidden up in the Welsh hills and there I purchased a piece of the cream 32 count Jobelan evenweave and the DMC threads. The shade of the green colour surprised me a bit as in real it's much like a fresh green rather than a dark pine green from the picture but I like all shades of green and I'm sticking to the original colours from the chart.

I have stitched the 1st two pieces. Both feature the reindeer :)

I'll be showing you my progress bit by bit - that is the finished stitches themselves first. When I'm done with all 9, I shall move on to make them into decorations, all in one go. They will be ironed, folded, hot gun glued and made into padded pictures backed with felt.  The last stage will be making a wooden display frame for them. My bf promised to help with it. I've got a certain idea for it but we shall see how it comes out. 

Currently I'm working on the 3rd motif - the 2 Christmas birds (turtle doves perhaps?) For the first time I've turned to a quick fraying solution - a masking tape on the edges of the fabric :) This lovely Jobelan evenweave is great to stitch on but it frays so easily! This is what it looks like when taken off an embroidery hoop.

I'm really enjoying stitching all those little festive characters. Can't wait to see all of them put together on display!

Thought of the day

This one always makes me laugh LOL

Message: DON'T MESS WITH THE YARN PEOPLE :)

(Early) Christmas Cards 2013 (5): Nordic Kids (3)

I can't believe it's already September. For me this means the end of one thing and start of the other. Back to school, back to work, back to the gymming regime, coming back home later in the darker afternoons and also less time for hobbies. In other words - back to crafting after hours. Is it me or does it really feel a bit nippy outdoor as if autumn was lurking round the corner. There is something invisible in the wind, in the air and in the fact that we start the "-ember" months that brings that longing for long sunny days and holiday time. Even now, as I'm writing this to you, I'm sat on the sofa, wrapped in blanket with hot cuppa next to me. Getting cold aready! ;)

Anyway, more Christmas cards with kiddies dressed warmly for winter  ;) This time I experimented with blues and purples. It's a bit unusual Christmas combination but sometimes I like to diverge from the traditional take. I used the same set of stamps as previously.

Some embellishing bits and bobs - die cuts, gems, stick-on snowflakes, all for the wintry frosty look :)

And how a bit of layering and texture? The card below was made using a card sketch I found ages ago on the web. I also used on this card my favourite Sizzix embossing folder the texture of which reminds a jumper :)

I really enjoyed making these :) Now back to my festive stitching. This lazy Sunday afternoon just seems so perfect for it.
Have a good Sunday evening x x