Christmas Card Giveaway - yes, it's here. All you need to do is send me an email to silvernutmeg@btinternet.com with your address and I'll send you a handmade Christmas card or ATC. If you're particularly persuasive, I'll even send you both! I've put the same invitation on my other blog, and am hoping for a good response.

A little pre-Christmas project. Andrew's parents have a very good friend, who they went to school with. Over the years we've kept in touch with her too, and I was going to do a letter and some photos with her Christmas card. But really, once you've got two or three photos, you're halfway to a minibook, and in my bottomless Brenda Pinnick kit, there were some very pretty little minibooks just crying out to be used. So, off I went today. I selected a variety of nice photos to pick up some of the news and activities since we last saw her in May. The minibook is very pretty with six pocket pages. You can do the traditional embellishments on the front and back of the pages, but of course you also have pretty little pocket inserts that you lift out by a piece of ribbon - ideal for a photo. I added text that I did in a Word text box, just to give some little notes and context to the pictures. The book itself is very pretty and didn't need a huge amount of embellishing, but I added a few nice little flowers and so on. Photos attached of the book, which I hope she'll like. Tomorrow, I'll be making a card, then wrapping and sending.

Well, some photos to post tonight. A few ATC swaps on the go. I've done a Snowman swap - we're now getting into that time of year when a lot are themed towards Christmas and related subjects. For this, I stamped a snowman image straight onto the cards, then coloured in using a combo of Twinkling H2Os (there's a surprise!) and some Gelly Pens, which also have a lovely twinkle and a good coverage of pigment. Actually, although they are very simple, sometimes that works; I'm pleased with the final effect. Also made a little Christmas RAK for the lady organising the swap. I usually do this - it's a good way to say thank you, and I usually find that by the time I've done the cards for the given subject, I'm on a bit of a roll, so am happy to do one more.

The other cards are for a regular colour themed swap held each month. This month the theme was "My favourite colour". This stumped me a bit, as I love colour and have different favourites depending on the time of year, what it's for (I wouldn't wear bright orange but a bowl of clementines look glossy and wonderful) and so on. Anyway, after a lot of thought, I decided on purple. For one card, I covered it in glossy deep purple paper and trimmed the corners. Then applied some lovely embellishments featuring a vase of purple pansies and a butterfly. Quite simple but with strong colours, so it worked. The other card was one I had brayered with an inkpad called "Evening Enchantment" or something similar. The colours are shimmery lilac, green and blue. Over this, I used a layer of pearl embossing powder to emphasise the shimmery, dreamy quality. Corners rounded again, and then applied some more flowers and butterflies.

I've recently updated my ATC to-do list - it's pinned to my notice board and lets me keep track of swaps. On it I list the swap theme, the organiser, the deadline, number of cards needed or limited to, whether I have the address of the organiser and a tick when I do, and a section for any other notes or special instructions e.g. no peel off stickers is a common one. In this way, I can keep track of the swaps I do, as sometimes people have long closing dates and you can be doing cards a couple of months in advance, or more often quite close to the deadline. When I have the organiser's address, I usually write it on the envelope and stamp it, thus ensuring I have an incentive to make the deadline. By listing them like that it also ensures I keep an eye on the total number of swaps so I don't swamp myself when there's a lot going on or conversely I don't run dry. Receiving cards in the post is always a treat. Often they are also in pretty hand-made envelopes - it almost seems a pity to open them. When I've finished stroking them and admiring them and wondering "How did she do that?", I place them in a special folder. This has clear plastic pages with nine pockets on each page, ideal for storing the cards neatly and allowing me to view them easily. Then it's onto the computer and a thank you to the swapper - this is important - firstly out of gratitude and secondly as sadly cards are often stolen or go missing. The thinking on the forum is that it is assumed there is cash inside - many ladies actually write little messages on the envelopes saying things like "Artwork enclosed - no monetary value". After all that, it's time to have a cuppa and dream of the next swap.....

Well, as promised, today I finished the minibook for our nephews. It's been a while, as we've been busy moving and getting settled (see my other blog for full info on this). Actually returning to crafting has been very therapeutic and I've really enjoyed doing it. Quick recap, this is to thank our nephews for Booty's birthday present of a squeaky rabbit toy which both she and Andy love playing with.

The little minibook is from the Brenda Pinnick Christmas kit I have, but there is no obvious Christmas printing, and the colours are not screamingly festive. When the boys play at shop, their premises are called "The Sunshine Dudes" - our oldest nephew thought up the title, and I think it's lovely.

Pictures show the book (I love the ribbon tie on it) and a few of the pages inside. It was a lot of fun to put together, and I hope the boys like it.

With our local evening paper on Friday evening, we received a brochure from Hobbycraft. A new store opened in Cardiff yesterday, and in the brochure was a voucher for £3 off if you spent £15. After a busy family day yesterday (see my other blog for pics and info) we trundled down there this afternoon. Enjoyable to have a good browse, although I was very shocked at the number of seemingly unattended small children that were roaming around. I bought some nice things which I am looking forward to using. One of the things that caught my eye was a pretty little kit of 15 blank pre-printed Christmas cards with a selection of co-ordinating embellishments, vellums, gems, diecuts, cord etc. In lovely silver and blue tones, it looked cool and elegant. For £6.99 I decided to treat myself and now I have made all 15 cards and bagged them for the GRW shop. So, a productive afternoon. The kit was by Papermania, and they had them in different colour ways e.g. red and gold if you wanted a more classic look. I have a box for cards for the GRW shop and it's now nearly full, so it will be sent off this week, I think.

A post today on ATCs. But first, I should say that we had a wonderful time with my great aunt on the weekend and she loved her sampler. She's going to ask my dad to put up a picture hook for her next time he's round there, so it can be hung up besides where she sits to do her knitting. She also liked the little book I made her.

The ATCs illustrated are a set I made for a Docrafts swap on the theme of the rainbow. Each participant is requested to provide seven cards, one in each colour of the rainbow, to be decorated as desired. I love rainbows, and can remember my grandfather teaching me the colours of it when I was a little girl. Fortunately I was off to a good start with plenty of coloured blank cards and my trusty Twinkling H2Os. Each card was painted in the corresponding Twinkle, just to give it a good base. I love the subtle shimmer they produce. Then I decided to go with an oriental theme - no particular reason, just felt right. I used a variety of stickers, some backing papers covering half a card on some colours (green and violet) and plenty of adhesive gemstones (ah, bling, who can resist?). I also had some very pretty mini postcards and illustrations that I'd got ages ago that were just right for some of these. Photos attached and the cards were posted off this afternoon.

My next project will be for our nephews. They recently sent us some great cards for Andrew's birthday and for Booty's - as we don't know her actual date of birth, we celebrate it on the same day as her master. She also received a wonderful rabbit toy that she and Andy have been playing with enthusiastically. I decided to send the boys a couple of snaps of the dogs, and after printing them out, decided that as I had a couple of little minibooks still available, one of these would be perfect, and allow me to put in a couple of extra pics and maybe some funny text and a thank you note from Booty. So, I'll be starting that tomorrow.

Photos illustrate latest ATC swap, from the monthly colour swap on Do crafts forum. This month it is Lavender and Lace. I made three cards for this. Using pale lavender base card, I painted two with a very pretty Twinkling h2o - virtually the same colour, but gives it a lovely shimmer effect. On one, I applied lavender vellum,attached with mini brads, and a lace effect adhesive border. On top is a very small picture I downloaded from the internet, matted on some purple card, and then glossed with 3D gloss and left to dry for several hours. The second one is again painted, with a self adhesive ribbon across one corner. On the base is a stuck purple patterned tag, from a K & Co kit, with another ribbon sparkling across on the join. In the middle is another image, again matted and glossed. The third card is left plain, with a velvet ribbon across it. Over this, I attached a tag from the same K & Co kit, which features a pattern of lavender coloured lace (perfect!), with a brad at the top. I also added another strip of sparkly adhesive ribbon at the bottom. These were posted today, and I can't wait to see what I receive back.