Cricut Nativity Scene

I actually cut out all the pieces for this amazing Nativity scene over a year ago, when I had an initial Cricut subscription! The pieces have sat around my art room until last month, when I finally assembled them. I had managed to lose one small dove in that time, but thankfully managed to find the scrap of card I had cut it out from, enabling me to draw round the shape and cut another one! I think the hardest part was simply trying to find enough shades of brown card that worked together. Brown card is something I seem to be permanently short of - people find this surprising, but I love creating animal cards, and a surprising number of animals have brown fur! Anyway, it came together easily enough and I'm hoping it will last for years to come.

Bucilla Stocking: Under the Tree

Well, I suppose I fell off the blogging bandwagon for a bit there! I've had a difficult few months health wise, and although I've been doing bits of sewing, crochet, and card making, I've really not felt up to sharing much.

I first discovered Bucilla felt kits a year or two ago, as a friend of mine shared progress pictures of her work. I was taken in by the bright colours and small details, by the sparkle of the sequins and beads. Bucilla kits vary in complexity and price, and often not in a relatable way! Just watch a kit on Amazon for a couple of months, and you can see the price go as low as £10 and up to £40+! I managed to snag this one, Under the Tree, at the lower end of the spectrum.

When I first opened the kit, back in January, I was a little bit overwhelmed... The instruction sheet is maybe A2 in size, with both sides covered in text and diagrams - argh! Thankfully once you remove the extra language sections, and you've read through the hints, you can focus on the step by step instructions, and reference the guide for correct colours and stitches. All the felt comes pre-printed with the shapes on, for you to cut out as you need. The kit also comes complete with needles, thread, beads and sequins, although many people like to replace these, as the quality is not always up to scratch.

I really enjoyed making this kit, although I did have a couple of frustrations. Primarily, I ran out of metallic gold thread (so some of the ornaments are slightly different to others), the gold beads (I realised part way through the tree garlands, and restarted with my own selection), and both dark red and dark green thread. I'm used to doing kits where there is so much leftover it feels a waste, but to be left short feels much worse. I also felt that the yellow and gold threads were the same shade, and yet within the red thread I seemed to have multiple dye lots! The kit comes with a piece of felt to attach to create a functioning stocking. I chose to use this felt as a protective lining on the back of all my stitching, and added my own piece of felt to make a complete stocking. I intend it more for display than usage, but I want the option of hiding things in it!

I did make a couple of small changes as I went along. I added toy eyes to the teddy bear rather than satin stitching. I hung the ornament at the top left from a piece of cording I made, rather than stitching it straight on. I subbed some of the outline stiching for back stitching, as I knew I could do it neater. The tiny ornaments on the tree were horrifically fiddly, and I struggled to satin stitch the tops of them, finding myself wrapping thread around the tops instead!

I love the finished stocking though, and I enjoyed the process. I definitely plan to make more! I'd also love to design my own, but I know I'm not really well enough to take that on just now. I also need to practice cutting felt with my Cricut, as that could make things much easier!

Gingerbread Man (Christmas) Cross Stitch

Well, it's only 292 days til Christmas! In reality, I finished this cross stitch last year, but helpfully didn't get it finally mounted until earlier this year... But, it's ready for next Christmas! The Gingerbread Man is made with a Christmas Characters cross stitch kit from DMC - a lovely little gift from my husband :) I mounted it in a wooden embroidery hoop that I painted gold, and added a little gold bell and a red hanging ribbon. I really love it when I walk by the tree, knock a branch, and hear a little jingle, so I couldn't resist that addition.

Present Gift Card Holder

When giving someone a giftcard or just some cash, it can be difficult to make it look special. This free SVG by Dreaming Tree offers a solution with a little present that holds a gift card inside. This was quick and easy to cut out using my Cricut Explore Air 2, and was even fairly easy to glue together. I chose to make the main body of the present in a dark green, and chose a complimentary hand-marbled paper from my stash for the front. I also added one of my gift tags which I've shared peeks at over on Instagram! I used some simple curling ribbon to tie it up, as I didn't have any appropriate fabric ribbon to hand. Inside is an insert which you glue down, and it has a slot in the middle for your gift card or cash. I've just put a gift tag in to model it! I really love that this was easy and effective. And it wouldn't even be too difficult to make a simpler one without a cutting machine.

Post Pals: Mrs Claus

I'm mainly sharing this little creation to inspire. You may have heard of a wonderful little charity called Post Pals? They send post to seriously ill children (pals) and their siblings all year round. At Christmas time, they ensure their pals get extra post, from Santa's Elves, Santa's Reindeer, and Mrs Claus herself! I couldn't resist signing up to be a Mrs Claus this year. I love the magic of Christmas, and had so many ideas to share with children!

I began by finding a free letterhead on Google, which I printed out on some lovely thick sketchbook paper, before hand writing my letter. I also found a free printable for a recipe card, which I printed out and handwrote a recipe for Gingerbread Playdough on. (The pal I was assigned to cannot eat, so I thought this would be a nice festive alternative.) I also printed out some free printable Christmas designs on to card, and put them through my Cricut to create these cute stocking decorations. I found the SVG for these free over at Fleece Fun.

I had a lot of fun decorating the envelope! The internet has lots of "elf mail" free printables which I was able to use to make the envelope seem like it had traveled all the way from the North Pole!

I sealed it with my wax seal. I'd love to grow my collection of wax and seals, but this is all I have for now and it gave that special touch. It was fun to use too, though I did cause a bit of a splatter!

And then, as happens in the North Pole, Rudolph had to add his mark. The hoof print is made with acrylic paint, and applied with lots of texture so it really seems muddy!

It may be too late to send a pal something for Christmas, but January can be a very slow time for post after the craziness of Christmas. If you could send a pal a simple card or letter, a drawing, or even a small gift, it will put a smile on a seriously ill child's face. It might be the thing that makes them smile after hours of chemotherapy or ending up in hospital again.

LOTV Snow Bears Card

Have I mentioned my Lily of the Valley obsession?! It was helped by a recent win on their Facebook page allowing me to get even more of their beautiful Simply Prints, including this one, Snow Bears! I made it into a Christmas card for my husband, as we're both a bit bear-crazy! I added glitter to the falling snow and round the base of the snowman so that it catches the light. The maroon corrugated card and the cream card came from my stash, and the lovely beige tartan was a free printable I found online. I really love the colour scheme for this card!

Christmassy Cat Card

I made this card for a recent Secret Santa I was involved in, for a guy who had a cute black cat! I found the SVG for this card over at LoveSVG, and I altered it a little bit to fit what I wanted. I based it on the grey cat in the file, but changed it's colouring to black, changed the eyes, skipped the whiskers (though this was partly an accident!) and simplified the sweater a lot. I also cut out a nice big gold star to make it all a little more festive :) This was quite quick to make - I love the abundance of SVGs out there!

Winter Teddy Bear Decorations

The Cricut Explore Air 2 has pros and cons. One of the pros is they have a huge number of templates and projects available to you as part of their design space. One of the cons is that to access it you need a subscription! I bought myself a months subscription in the Autumn in order to get lots of little projects made, including these cute teddies for the Christmas tree.

These teddies are from the Cricut range 'Teddy Parade', and it features these adorable teds in a range of different outfits! I mixed and matched a couple of them to get this hat and scarf look, before cutting out in the colours I wished and attaching coordinating thread! I cut an extra teddy shape out and glued it to the back so that the thread is enclosed and the bears are a bit more sturdy. They're super cute :)

Little Angel Cross Stitch Decoration

When I saw this free Little Angel cross stitch pattern online I knew I had to make it! I used clear plastic aida and various threads from my stash. I changed the hair and the bird so it was only one tone, changed the halo so that it would be easier to cut out, and outlined the wings in the same gold thread as the halo for added sparkle. I made the cord by twisting cream and gold thread together, and backed it with white felt. It was quite a quick and easy pattern to do, and there are so many colour options! The pattern comes in a few designs too, so it's worth having a look.

LOTV James the Bear Christmas Cards

And so my obsession with Lily of the Valley continues. I bought these Merry Beary Christmas card toppers for my Christmas cards this year. I just fell in love with James the Bear, he is SO gorgeous. I realised a flaw though - I'm sending these to hang in other people's houses, but I want some beary goodness in our house! I will have to see if I can make some Christmas decs. Maybe bunting?!

I spent a while trawling the internet for free printable papers, specifically red and Christmassy. I found lots, and printed my few favourites out to pair up as appropriate. (A Google search will lead you to plenty!) I've organised all my free printable papers on my computer now, so I can search for what I want by colour/texture/theme - really useful!

I also pulled some cream card and various different gold cards from my stash. Confession: I used to really dislike the colour gold, but this year I've really come round to it. I think I even like it.

And of course, it's me, so the cards needed some extra sparkle! The top card, with the yellow star, got some pearly paint. Most of the cards got Stickles glitter on the furry trim and pom pom of the hat - so cute! And this little one above got lots of red glitter all over his tinsel.

Oh, and I mounted the James the Bear toppers with 3D foam, just so he stood out a little bit more. Doesn't he look cute all wrapped up in the snow?

Colouring: LOTV Bunny Stocking

I love all the freebies being given away as part of Advent Calendars this December! This freebie came via a group called Kit and Clowder on Facebook. Behind the door of their Advent Calendar yesterday was this gorgeous stamp by Lily of the Valley (who you may have noticed I have been slightly obsessed with lately!) and I just had to colour it in right away. I used my ancient WHSmith pencils because they've got much softer leads than their newer pencils. I used white acrylic paint to add some fluff to the stocking and pom poms, as well as Liquid Pearls White Opal on the stocking trim and a Stickles glitter glue on the pom poms! They look so cute :)

Festive February: Large Beaded Snowflakes

A couple of years ago I made these small beaded snowflakes, and I love how sparkly they look on the tree! So when I was in a bead shop and found similar snowflake bases that are approx. 22cm in diameter, I just had to buy some.

They are a bit big to hang on the tree really, but they look lovely hung around the house, and the beads catch the light so beautifully.

I can imagine an impressive wall display of these snowflakes in a whole range of sizes! Just think of all the beads! This is the last post in Festive February, but thanks for sticking round for this belated Christmas round up :)

Festive February: Cute Wintery Cards

I needed to make a couple of extra cards for friends in December, and they ended up embracing the season! The first was for a lover of penguins. I love creating the shapes of penguins, they're so pleasing! I used some black glitter card, and left the bottom of the card uncovered to be snow - I love this effect. The "Birthday Wishes" stamp took the Christmassy edge off, just!

For the other card, I delved into my stash of old stamping extras - leftovers from years of previous projects - and found this lovely cuddly polar bear. I mounted him in the same way with the snow in relief. Wish upon a Christmas star...

Festive February: Cross Stitch Penguin Decorations

I wanted to stitch a little penguin decoration for a dear friend of mine for Christmas, and went to Google to find a pattern. Well, I didn't quite find a pattern, but I found this, an image of a completed cross stitch, which just happened to be simple enough to use as a pattern! Very useful :)

I ended up falling in love with these little dudes, and so made one for our tree too!

Made on plastic canvas they came together quite quickly, and I attached a ribbon and a felt backing using my glue gun. I really need to get more plastic canvas in time for next Christmas, I'm always finding last minute projects for it!

Festive February: Bauble Gift Tags

When I thought about making gift tags, I decided I wanted to stick with my Christmas card theme of baubles - made much easier with a large circle punch! I took a large sheet of textured cream card, and painted stripes of white and metallic gold across it in different widths. I then punched out the circles I needed, and added extra details to them with Liquid Pearls, before attaching them to presents with sparkly gold thread. I thought they also looked a bit like planets! Maybe that will be a future project...

Festive February: Bauble Christmas Cards

For Christmas 2015, I received a really cool Christmas card from a friend where she had made baubles out of strips of different paper and ribbons. I really liked the idea, but wanted to simplify it to make it easier to "mass" produce. I also had a Graze subscription around that time, and noticed that the Christmassy designs on the delivery boxes had great patterns, so I put them all aside for a few months...

I cut a larger bauble for each card from the Graze designs (and some other glitter card I have) in both "bauble" shapes and with my circle punch. I used a smaller circle punch to cut complementing baubles out of a range of papers from my stash.

I added some embellishments to each bauble, be it a strip of glitter tape, some glitter gel pen, or other such sparkly bits. I drew hanging threads directly on to the card background, before attaching the larger baubles raised with foam dots, and the smaller baubles flat. They're quite simple cards, but I like to think they're effective.

(I just love the red robin and blue snowflake design from Graze!)

Festive February: Butterfly Ornament & Behind the Scenes

Happy Christmas! Well, maybe not quite. But welcome to Festive February! Normally in the run up to Christmas I fill this blog with seasonal creations, but as I mentioned on my Facebook page last December was very much focused on my health and my family, rather than blogging. That didn't mean I didn't spend time creating though! So I thought we'd have a little mini-series sharing all the things I didn't get a chance to blog - it made more sense than waiting til November!

The first project I want to share is possibly the most important, and also fits in with why Christmas was quiet. Our baby daughter, Youngling, was stillborn just days before Christmas, and we were in and out of hospital with difficulties. Even though she's not with us, she's a Christmas baby, and I wanted to make an ornament to remember her every year on our Christmas tree. The room where I gave birth was filled with butterflies, and it just seemed right to blend a butterfly motif with the pure white of a new born child. It doesn't scream of grief or loss, but just something that brings her into our Christmasses for years to come.

It is made from two pieces of white felt, one with cut out shapes. There is a layer of interfacing and a layer of angel hair sandwiched in between, and hand sewn together. I added a hanging ribbon, some sequins and beads, and embroidered her name on the back.