Christmas Past and Future

Because my daughter came to stay over Christmas, and then again on New Year's Eve, the spare bedroom had to be cleared and much of the 'stuff' found a temporary home in my craft room. This meant no possibility of cardmaking until the 'stuff' was replaced once more in the spare room, so Julian's birthday card had to be made in early December and I've been waiting impatiently for a return to creativity ever since. Some of the time I was able to use productively by developing a new storage system for my Nesties and various stencils: they're now all standing up in a box separated by labelled card dividers, which looks just like a library card catalogue such as I used when I started work in the local library in 1963 - I felt quite nostalgic! I also now have my JustRite Stampers in a wonderful collection of boxes given to me for Christmas by one of my best friends.

Finally I sorted out all my patterns and threads for stitched cards, and made a start on my Christmas cards for 2011. We receive around 120 cards and have them displayed on the two doors in the living room so looking at them over the holiday period is when I'm most inspired. It's several years since I did any stitched designs (apart from one poinsettia design last year) and I've decided to prick out as many patterns as possible while I'm in the mood, then I can stitch whenever I feel like it throughout the year. Yesterday I actually completed one card, shown here, even down to the insert sheet and my stamp on the back, and I also have another two fronts stitched but not mounted. Don't worry, this level of enthusiasm can't possibly continue!