Firstly, may I wish all readers a very happy and peaceful Christmas season. I haven't posted since the 12th as I realised it would not be good if people who read the blog saw their own Christmas card proudly displayed before it even arrived!! The little stocking ornament I made for my nephews' Christmas tree was much appreciated. When we visited them on the 14th of December, the tree was installed and we were able to hang it on the branches where it looked very happy. I was also very pleased with the way the little seed beads caught the light and twinkled. Attached are two cards I made. The cross-stitched one is for Andrew's sister and family, and features that Christmas perennial, the over-large knitted jumper. I loved stitching it, and the finished card looked great. I substituted red seed beads for the holly berries on the jumper to give a bit more texture and they looked fine. The tree card was for my in-laws and I like these cool colours as a change sometimes from the more traditional bright reds and greens.
For some reason (probably sheer untidiness) I couldn't find the envelope that went with the card, so I used some scrapbook paper to make one. Fortunately I was able to find one with blue and silver snowflakes that worked really well.

Now I'm busy stitching thank you cards for gifts received. I've also resumed my ATCs - these sadly took a back seat in December due to time taken by Christmas preparations in their many forms. Just why for instance does present wrapping take so long? Maybe I'm doing it wrong, and we certainly don't have a huge number of gifts to buy, but it seemed to take hours! Anyway, I attach a picture of the last ATC of the year, which is a DoCrafts swap to raise funds for the charity "Help for Heroes". This worthy charity raises funds for wounded service personnel. Sometimes, in the controversy over the actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, it's easy to forget our brave men and women who are serving in such difficult conditions. I also think it's important they understand that the majority of the British public support our troops, even if we don't always agree with the politicians who send them into battle. Anyway, these little ATCs should be themed on either the Army, Navy or Air Force. I picked the RAF as my brother served in it for a number of years and focused on the ensign and badge with the full heraldic description. I love the words used such as sinister for looking to the left - it sounds so wonderfully gothic. Each ATC is then sent to the lady organising the swap, with a coin attached to the back. These will then be removed before posting out the swapped cards and donated to HFH. What a great idea and how nice to have fun with a hobby and help a charity at the same time.

Another swap I'll be doing shortly is on the theme of birds, and the lady organising that one has requested used postal stamps to accompany any cards. The reason is that the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) is having a stamp collection to raise funds for its conservation work, hence the decision to have a birds theme for the ATC concerned. So I now have a little freezer bag on the bedroom windowsill which is steadily filling with stamps torn off envelopes.

Andrew's parents are visiting us shortly for the New Year festivities, so after that I'll be scrapbooking the Christmas festivities. I also have another very special scrapbook task. My oldest friend Liz (we grew up together) has three beautiful children. The eldest, Sarah will be 18 in January. The last time she visited me (she often comes to stay) she mentioned that she did not have many pics of her childhood. So I'm making her a scrapbook of just that, from when she was a tiny baby to a gorgeous grown up Goth girl. I called in on Liz on Sunday and she entrusted me with Sarah's baby album and another album of photos of her and her sister as tinies. This alongside all my pics will form the contents. I've just invested in a bunch of photo credits on an online photoprinting store so will be uploading and printing via that, as printing lots of photos at home is very expensive.

Finally, I was thrilled with the success of my Christmas card offer. The furthest went all the way to America, and amazingly got there in time, even though I was rather late in posting it. Emboldened by this, I'd now like to extend the offer to birthday cards through the year. If you would like a handmade birthday card from me this year, just send me an email and I'll oblige. The more notice the better!!

To begin at the beginning.... A little while ago, I bought a combined cross-stitch magazine and goodie pack called Cross stitch for Christmas. As well as nice range of small patterns it had a big pile of free threads, aida, ornaments for the tree, needle and ribbon as well as some blank cards. It looked good so I treated myself. I've now stitched two patterns from the magazine - one to go on a Christmas card, a Margaret Sherry design, who is a very well known designer and another one, shaped like a stocking to go as a Christmas tree ornament. This is destined to be a gift for Andrew's sister and family when we see them over the weekend. The cautionary part of this tale is NEVER BUY CHEAP THREADS (FLOSS). I used the threads in the goodie pack and they were not one of the big three brands (DMC, Anchor or Madeira). They were horribly thin, not very shiny and plump and kept snagging and knotting. Generally, I cross-stitch in two strands, but these were so thin, I stitched in three. For the stocking, I used one of my own lilac threads, a DMC one, and the relief was amazing. Fine, smooth cotton that glided through the aida, and lay plumply glistening on the design. I will probably throw the others out, very reluctantly as I hate throwing stuff away, but life is simply too short to tolerate such poor quality stitching stuff.

A picture of the stocking is attached - as you can see, I added seed beads to it - a pretty holographic clear one that I bought a packet of, along with some red and some gold. The red are used on a card I made for Penny, a greyhound friend. Here I x-stitched a simple red star, and added red seed beads. Mounted in a red card, I then added some Christmas borders and peel-offs to give a cheerful and simple card. Penny runs a company that does medieval re-enactments, and we often see Joe her business partner when we visit her on the farm or at shows. I made him a card, pictured, which tried to pick up on the medieval theme. I used a tall red pearlescent card, with a strip of patterned red Anna Griffin paper in the centre. Then I mounted a gold card with rounded corners and added an epoxy sticker of a knight on horseback and a stag. Below, I added a red label bearing the words "Noble prince" applied using rub-ons. I'm waiting to hear of any feedback.

I also attach a pic of the birthday card I made for my mother-in-law's birthday, which is today - happy birthday Rita! Again, a fairly simple x-stitched card, with a small Joan Elliott design (I absolutely love her stuff). She is very fond of beads and French knots. I still have not conquered my fear of the French knot and avoid them wherever possible, although I am a recent and enthusiastic convert to the use of beads. This pretty little floral design was best left fairly unadorned so I simply added a birthday greeting and a butterfly. Sometimes with cards, the best thing is to leave well alone and know when to stop adding stuff.