Simple Idea for handmade Christmas cards

Simple Idea for handmade Christmas cards

Hello everyone this is a really simple idea for a set of Christmas cards. I made these cards because I have run out of time to cross stitch but still had many more people to get cards to. 

To make these cards first I started out with a blue card blank. The exact shade of blue doesn't matter because a darker shade of blue could be a night-time sky and a lighter shade of blue can be a twilight sky. Next I got some snow patterned paper and simply cut out some gentle wavy lines to represent a snowy hill.
I used some Christmas tree cutouts which my friend had made using her paper punch and added some glitter glue for some extra sparkle. 


Using a punch gives great results every time and saves time in cutting out ornate shapes. I think If I would have had to cut each tree by hand these cards would have taken much much longer.

 To top it all off our use some spare star shape sequins which  were lying about in the bottom of my sewing box. I used Pink and yellow to match the glitter glue on the trees. A mixture of blues, yellows and silver/ white sequins would look fabulous as a realistic colour sky or you could go all out and use a variety of colours because of course its Christmas and everyone knows Christmas eve is a very magical time. (for children and adults alike)

Both of these cards took me about five minutes of cutting and gluing together but I think the end effect was very worth it. 

Now all I need is a very jolly merry Christmas stamp to add to the inside unfortunately the one I have is very very small and would be dwarfed and all that paper so I'm going to have to invest in getting a bigger one for next year. Maybe if I stick a link here to one I really like someone may add it to my WishList for Christmas. 

For some more fun things to make for Christmas here are some links:

Christmas designs

Christmas stocking maze
Christmas bauble collection
Gingerbread people
Colourful Christmas Crackers
Christmas bauble maze
Cute advent calendar motifs
Not a creature was stirring not even a mouse - card and bookmark design.

Christmas Bauble Upcycling
Upcycling worn out Christmas Baubles
Spiderman Halloween decoration
How to make a Bloody handprint Halloween decoration from an old Christmas bauble
How to make a dripping bauble Halloween decoration.
Pokemon Gastly Halloween decoration
Upcycled bunting from left over wrapping paper

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A big stash of Cross stitched cards from 2014

Hello everyone,

This week I thought I would show a bunch of cross stitched cards I finished off last year. I couldn't post them up until they were all sent though. :p I'd hate to spoil the surprise for my friends and family.
All of these designs are from the book: Two-Hour Cross-Stitch 515 Fabulous designs

I wrote a review of this book in an earlier post. Heres a link if you want to check it out:
http://buzybobbins.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/craft-book-review-two-hour-cross-stitch.html

This is a collection of flower themed cards. A few of these cards are reserved for my Nan, Mum and Stepmum but the rest are 'emergency cards'. Does anyone else have those times when you realize you just haven't stitched a card but have no time to quickly make one? After a few of those times I always make a couple of spare cards in each batch just in case.

In this batch of cards you can see a couple examples of the patterns which are quick to stitch because they make effective use of un-stitched space within the pattern. For example the tulip on the pink card at the top and the blue flower in the bottom right.  In these patterns you just stitch the outlines of the flowers without spending the extra time filling them in. They look really effective and can create a bigger card with no extra time than the smaller, more detailed flowers.

I just love the animal designs in this book. The bunnies and cats are my particular favourites.
In the book the rabbit pattern on the left is just a simple plain pink but with a plain pattern like this variegated thread really makes a great effect.
I may try that black cat pattern again in a variegated thread, maybe a nice orange colour so that it looks like a ginger cat.

I also sewed a number of the Christmas patterns in this book and made up the cards for them for last Christmas. Heres a link to the post: http://buzybobbins.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/my-stash-of-cross-stitched-christmas.html

 For the Buzy Bobbins Index page Click here.

My stash of cross stitched Christmas cards for 2014

My stash of cross stitched Christmas cards for 2014

Hello everyone.
This week I thought I would show off the Christmas cards I made for last year. I could not post them before Christmas else my family who also read my blog would have the surprise totally ruined for them before the post got to them.
All of the designs sewn here are from one book: Two-Hour Cross-Stitch 515 Fabulous designs
I have also sewn some other patterns from this book, and written a review (can you tell I really enjoyed using it?)
If you want to know more about this book I have written a little review: http://buzybobbins.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/craft-book-review-two-hour-cross-stitch.html

These cards are all decorated with some simple flower shapes I found in the pound shop near me. Whats nice about these that by picking the snowy colours (white and blue) they can also pass for snowflakes.
I'm thinking for next year I want to get I really cool Merry Christmas stamp for my cards. Would you believe all of the craft shops near me had sold out of that type of stamp in November when I went to have a look? So the only one I have is really small, it barely stands out on a card at all.

But then this will work best for big bold and colourful designs, it may look out of place with a very delicate stitch next to it. I shall have to invest in a larger bolder stamp to stand out on bold cards.

And finally heres a pair of Christmas cards. I just love the stocking designs in the book.
I chose this marbelled paper because my own fireplace happens to have a marbled design. This has given me an idea for using this type of card to make a cute fireplace with some stockings. I'll post the card up if it looks nice when I am done.

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Cross stitched angel cards

Cross stitched angel cards

Here are a pair of lovely angel cards I made. One for my Nan and one for my stepmum who both love angels and pretty flowers.

The patterns are from the angel Alphabet collection in the book Cross Stitch Angels: Over 30 inspirational designs

I have written a review of this book if you want to know more about it: here

I just loved the addition of the seed beads to help make the flowers and the angels crowns sparkle. In this design I used some matching seed beads from my stash but the book contains some recomendations for matching bead colours. Be prepared for the backstitch on these fairies if you wish to sew them. The facial features are made from tiny detailed backstitch and there is quite a bit of backstitch over the wings and dresses of each angel.
I mounted these stitches in a plain aperture card because these designs are detailed enough not to need lots of extra colour around the card.

For the Buzy Bobbins Index page Click here.

Mothers day finished cross stitch cards - Tea and flowers

Mothers day finished cross stitch cards - Tea and flowers

Hello everyone I thought today I'd show off some mothers day cards I made this year. There are three cards because I have three wonderful people who I send mothers day cards to each year. I do believe that not only is mothers day for your own biological mum but for the most wonderful women in your life who you would consider to be mentors or who helped you through life.

Ok so this post is a little late for Mothers day but I didn't want to put the photos online before I sent them all out then forgot to put the post up on the blog OOPs.

All of the designs for these cards come from the book Quick and clever Cross stitch if you want to make these cards yourself. I wrote a review of this book here

The flowers and daffodils are on Page 80,  and the Teacups are on page 51

For the Buzy Bobbins Index page Click here.