I am rather excited again this year about Christmas - since having Little P I seemed to have regained a lot of the festive excitement I had as a child - but it also means there a lot of things to do. Especially this year as I have decided to make my cards, and gift tags, and even some wrapping paper. It did seem like a great idea back in October! I am really enjoying making them though, it's just the time factor as usual, and having a very helpful Little P who wants to join in with everything!
I've had a go at lino printing again. Very simple stuff, but very effective too. I've carved a few 'trial' stamps and blocks and have had mixed results. The ones that have worked though I'm very happy with, and I am learning more about carving lino with each attempt. The cards are still mostly a work in progress but I have a sneak preview...
I made these with a simple triangle and snowflake stamp, and some block printing inks...
I plan to do some more tomorrow when I have some spare time, and have a new block to try printing with... exciting! I really like the simple, yet colourful effect of these cards, and am chuffed with them... they looked great all lined up when they were drying off!
I have also finished the Christmas bunting that my Mum asked me to whip up. Tomorrow will be decorating day, and I will hang it then but light in the lounge is notoriously bad, so I'm not expecting the photos to be great. I took a couple of sneak previews in the little light I could find by the back door...
I love a pile of bunting triangles! It's made using RICO Design Creative Cotton Aran in 3 colours - Cherry, Pistachio and Natural. It's based on the Simple Bunting Tutorial by Pink Milk although I've tweaked it a little bit to suit my needs. There are 11 triangles - 2 with holly on, and the rest spell 'Christmas' using matching felt letters. I'm very pleased with it and can't wait to see it hanging up!
It will also be time to hang the star garland on the fireplace, so I'll try and get a picture of that too! I really hope it stays and little hands don't pull on it too much...
I also have the little felt decorations I made to hang on the tree...
I'm also very busy trying to crochet some gifts too... I have had a little Santa production line going on in the evenings when Little Lady is tucked up in bed...
Ho Ho Ho! I do like these little chaps!
Me and the Little Lady have also been making pom poms. The idea is to stick them around a paper plate wreath, although she has claimed them as her 'fluffy balls' to go in her 'special box' and I am not allowed them. She loves picking the colours for me and choosing which size pom pom maker to use for each one. I just do the donkey work and wind the things! I'm just using up some scraps of Stylecraft Special DK, but I love all the colours!
With all the gifts for everyone else, I felt I needed to treat myself just a little bit. Those of you who follow the Attic24 blog, will have seen the giveaway she is hosting with Fig1 to giveaway a load of RiceDK goodies...
I had my first glimpse of RiceDK wares several years ago and really liked it then. Over the last 18 months of following Lucy's blog - who often makes reference to Rice products - I have been sorely tempted to order something. Somehow I resisted... until there was a 10% discount code on her blog to buy from the Fig1 online shop. Sorted. Now just to choose what I want...
That was the hard part. The range of melamine products are to die for. Over the last year I have been collecting a few oddments of melamine, the plan being to one day to have a cupboard full of mismatching colourful melamine cups, bowls and plates. I have previously bought some from John Lewis...
The top ones are by a company called Anorak. The bowl and plate in the bottom picture are John Lewis' own (I think the range was called Pioneer) and the cup is an Orla Kiely. And no I have 3 more items, from Rice! Yay the collection is growing slowly!
I love, love, love these. The colours are great. The patterns are beautiful. And they are nice and sturdy too (and very bouncy thank goodness!) Little P instantly claimed these for a pretend picnic on the lounge floor, and she had to use all 3, so I didn't get to study them for a while!
I love how the insides are coloured too. So pretty.
What a happy treat to myself!
Now I must go, time is of the essence and I need to go and make some more gift tags whilst I have 5 minutes! So, until next time (when Christmas will probably be pretty much on top of us!)...
I hope you managed to get everything finished in time for Christmas! I'm very impressed with your cards - did you manage to do some wrapping paper too? I love how your bunting and tree decorations are in the same palette of colours. And your Rice things are simply scrumptious! I was sorely tempted to use that discount code too! \hope you've had a super Christmas and New Year.
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