Christmas Card Challenge - Week 1 Update

Hello, hello! Last week I set myself a challenge to start making Christmas Cards in honour of World Card Making Day. Over the past week I have learnt/ remembered a few things...

1. Cross stitching takes longer than I give it credit for
2. Just because something is small doesn't mean it'll be quick to make if it still involves lots of stitches and colour changes
3. I find it hard to concentrate on anything other than self pity if I have a bit of a cold (pathetic..seriously...I'm pathetic)
4. I love finishing projects, no matter how big or small
5. As much as I've side-eyed people who start talking about Christmas in October in the past - starting to get prepared early actually feels lovely 

So the three cards I had planned to make this week were wayyy too adventurous. I'd just forgotten how many hours can go into even the smallest of projects when it comes to cross stitch. I think I'll try some other crafting techniques (in addition to cross stitch!) over the next few weeks to help build up my card stash.

I cheated slightly this week and ended up making one card and some gift tags (I'm sure they count, right?). These were made using kits I had hanging around. I know exactly who is receiving the teddy card and I really love the Scandinavian tags - they'll look lovely with parcels wrapped in brown paper.

Here's my week 1 photo...the bear bowl in the photo is a purchase I made today in Next...a bowl with bears climbing into it...does winder home ware get much better than that? I'll blog more about my most recent Next home ware haul as soon as there is enough daylight for me to take photos!

World Card Making Day...and a Challenge!

Today is World Card Making Day, a day dedicated to encouraging people to make cards rather than going for the mass produced market. It has inspired me to have a go at making my Christmas Cards this year. It's something I promise myself I'll do every single year...and then before I know it, it's the 20th December and I haven't made/ posted a single card. I'm determined to change that this year so I'm setting myself a goal. I don't actually send that many cards each year, so my goal is that between now and the 10th December I'm going to try to make three cards each week, so I should have 30 in total. That's more than enough, and any left over I'll either save for next year or donate to charity.

My plan is to cross stitch most, if not all, of the cards, and I have soooo many free kits from magazines to make, so that's my first focus.

I don't think for a second that my blog has enough of a readership to start this as a 'proper' challenge with other people participating, but if you're out there and would like to give this a try too, let me know...I think I'm going to need some motivation to stop me getting distracted and making anything and everything but Christmas Cards!!

I'll do weekly updates of where things are with my card making challenge...wish me luck!

Bye for now!