Snow and cards

We have been snowed in! Well, actually we can creep out in our Land Rover, but the roads in this part of the world are not awfully safe at the moment. I am happy with the snow, because I don't need to go anywhere, we have plenty of food and there are shops at walking distance. I find it really cosy with candles lit and doing crafts and my elfy business.

At Elf son's school they have a tradition to have  a postbox at the school and all the children send cards to each other. Now this school is minute and everybody has something to do with everybody. this means that he needs/wants to send cards to ALL the children and ALL the staff. As he is not the greatest writer, even short messages tax him a lot and writing 30 cards is a total no-go area. To offset the printed message inside, I encourage him to make the cards himself. It cannot be too time consuming as he is a boy who won't make 30 same/similar cards or different for that matter. I don't think that I would have at his age. So this is what we made today, for children:

 for adults a different card colour

I think it was a rather good effort. I cut the cards for him with the guillotine and he attached little wooden Christmas figures on the front. We had a choice of three figures and three punches as you might figure out from the pictures. Elf son had a go with the decorative punch, but had to give up as it was too hard going. Even I had to resort to tricks to be able to do it. We produced all 30, so now we just need to plan what to write and get the message printed. I think I scanned his handwritten message last year, might do the same this year.

Have you made any cards? My own cards are not done yet...

Stationery and Shameless Self Promotion

This pretty CD case contains files for my friend's new stationery; business cards, compliment slips and letter paper. A while ago she saw my new business cards, which I designed by myself. She was just running out of her stack, so she asked me to design new ones for her. She wanted to be able to print her own stationery as and when needed. She also liked the idea of having a design made for her. Her business is dance, drama and storytelling, so the theme went with it.

She had also asked for greens and blues as the dominant colours. Otherwise I had free hands.

The pictures suffer a bit from that I printed on normal paper rather than card and thick paper, but you get the idea. I must admit that it is easier to design for a person whose personality I know and these felt right for her. Luckily she agreed! So I as you might guess I am open for new commissions...

Baking and Canning

It is that time of the year again. The projects that  take my time cannot be showed, so there will be an excess of baking and such on the blog. I will try to think other things to show as well and at the moment I still have a couple of things to show.

On Thursday afternoon waiting for the Elf son to emerge from the school one of the other mums asked me what my son had decided to dress as on Friday. I had the feeling of Alice being sucked into the Wonderland, falling, falling,  falling...I had just got over the costume producing and organising the son's week while he was starring on the big stage AND produced the viking costume blogged about previously. It was of course "Children in  Need" Friday, which I had been informed about in good time, but had promptly forgotten.

My luck was in though. Elf son did agreed to be a viking, so the costume had another run with an added woolly waistcoat, which we already had. The other mum did remind me about the cake stall as well, so I went home and made the macaroons in the picture. This is my "quick to make, tastes good and can be packed to impress" coconut macaroons. As  it was, they had sold very quickly, which just proves how much the packaging and presentation matters.

I have beavered away with my pile of baby presents this weekend as I have a queue of them and feel bad about beginning the production of Christmas gifts before I have cleared the work in progress. I will show the results when I have finished and the recipients have got their gifts.
On the kitchen front I took the better late than never attitude and produced eight litres of apple chutney, here all in the jars and ready to go for maturing in our storeroom.

Please forgive me this disgustingly brown post and use of flash. It is annoying that there are very few windows of nice sunlight at the moment. I promise to have more colours in the coming ones.

Vikings

How did this happen? It was just Halloween and now it is the 15th? I am sure somebody or something has accelerated the time recently. Now, vikings...after the great performance at the local theatre as the King in Cinderella, my son needed a viking costume. His school is doing lots of practical history activities letting the children to cook over open fire, re-enacting viking and Anglo-Saxon meetings (wars?) and so on. The children have been encouraged to come in viking clothes and a letter came home with suggestions how to make them.

Elf son has clearly cottoned on that he has a mum who can "make", so there was no end to his wishes as what he needed.  I made the tunic and a wrap. Last Friday I pushed myself to produce the helmet in the evening well knowing that I would not be able to do it on Sunday after I was back from weekend in Edinburgh. I left the father and son to produce a shield for the brave viking warrior and when I came back he had not only a shield but an axe too.

Sunday evening the viking was still pestering for arm rings. I just could not muster the energy, but have now thought a way of doing them, so I might surprise him later this week. I will show how to make them, if I get around to it. In our case all the paraphernalia needs to be weather resistant as they play outside.