Shopping Guide: 10 Gorgeous Christmas Cards

I love Christmas and I love nice stationery and I adore sending proper old fashioned bits of snail mail... so it's probably no surprise that I love sending Christmas cards each year! I couldn't resist putting together a round-up of some of the festive and fabulous designs I've spotted recently.

Maybe you don't send many cards but have a few people in your address book you want to send a special note to? Perhaps you've bought a gift voucher and want a nice card to "wrap" it? Or maybe you're like me and have a long list of cards to write?

Whatever your Christmas card plans, I hope you'll find something to love in this list...

1. Christmas Jumpers card by Hanna Melin. Love or loathe the novelty Christmas jumper trend, they make for a very cute card. I would probably wear most of the jumper designs on this one!

 

2. Pack of 5 Christmas Tree cards by Bo Lundberg, available at Hus & Hem who stock the most gorgeous selection of Scandinavian Design.

3. Christmas Furry card by Blank Inside Design. You can also buy gift wrap to match this card, which is even more adorable and perfect for wrapping gifts for all the cat ladies in your life.

4.  Pack of 10 Holiday Foliage cards by Quill & Fox. Sadly the weak pound has put cards from US-based companies out of my budget this year (boo) but these are so very lovely I had to include them in the list anyway. Come on, pound, get your act together so I can start buying things priced in dollars again!

5. Penguin Dress-Up Paper Doll card by Clara & Macy. I would have been thrilled to receive a card like this when I was little. Paper dolls = so much fun. 

6. Pack of 8 Black Cat cards from the British Library. These cards are so delightfully spooky, I love them - though it was hard to choose just one design from the British Library's range of vintage cards.

7. Christmas Baubles card by Telegramme Paper Co. I bought a set of cards from Telegramme at The Renegade Craft Fair a couple of years ago and had a hard time parting with them! They sell gorgeous matching gift wrap, too.

8. Pack of 10 Huntley & Palmers Christmas Cakes cards, from the V&A. Growing up in Reading, I have a special place in my heart for local firm Huntley & Palmers. Luckily you don't need to be from Berkshire to enjoy a card decorated with festive cakes.

9. Merry Christmouse card by Stormy Knight, available from Soma Gallery in Bristol. I do love a Christmas pun, and that little mouse is such a cutie!

10.  Finally, a set of 6 woodland-themed cards by Stephanie Cole (3 deer cards and 3 fox cards in each pack). I bought some of these to send to friends last year and wished I'd bought more because they're so gorgeous - especially that deer, oh my goodness.

Which is your favourite? Do you prefer your Christmas cards classic or quirky or cute? Are you buying cards to send this year... or maybe you're going the DIY route? Let me know in the comments!

365 / day 96 - penguins and poppies

Last night I got totally distracted by Etsy's new gift guides and the reaction to them on the forums, but I did manage to tear myself away from the computer for long enough to do a little bit of sewing! Here's one of my mobiles in the baby girl gift guide... though whether it will still be there when the guides return after "maintenence" is anyone's guess! The guides need a little work for sure, but they will be such a great tool for buyers who get lost amongst so many items, like a fun little sampler or snapshot of assorted Etsy treats. There seems to be a lot of discussion about "fairness" and having spotted several of my own items in various lists (some items in more than one list, or some lists with more than one item) I think my reactions to some of the "not fair!" comments have been a little more emotional than they might ordinarily have been. I will shut up about this now I think :)

Anyway... here's my sewing heap for the evening:
I finished a penguin pin, did some work on a few poppies and cut out a load of pieces to make more poppies, moustache pins & disguises, and an assortment of penguins. I also did lots of tidying up of my work-area (well, the area in which all my stuff is stashed away - I work all over the house!) and have been writing lists of things I need to restock. I really ought to be much more organised about all this stuff than I actually am, and several evenings dedicated sewing is called for. It is much more fun to make new things but little batches have their own relaxing charms and it makes my life sooo much easier knowing I have several of something in stock.

UPDATE: My poppy design is now available as a sewing pattern! Visit my shop to see all my printable PDF patterns