'Home Made Christmas Cards'

I love to buy home-made Christmas cards. They are so much nicer than the kind you get in packs of 10, 20 or 50 from the supermarkets... They are usually blank inside or simply have the message 'Merry Christmas' and so they are ideal for sending off to loved ones in far distant places because you have plenty of room in which to write a few words about your life and times at present and that encourages you to re-kindle happy memories from the past. 

The biggest snag with buying such beautiful designs is, however, that often you like them so much you don't want to get rid of them! For a natural hoarder like me that can be a BIG problem so I have to be disciplined and force myself to use the cards I have bought for the purpose I originally bought them. 

It ALWAYS takes me ages writing my Christmas cards because I am also in the habit of buying loads of Christmassy stickers with which to decorate the inside of the cards and their envelopes. Talk about a BIG KID I just LOVE messing about with stickers and trying to add a few laughs for people by drawing speech bubbles by characters. As soon as any of my cards hit your doormat you know who its from!

The pictures you see here are some of this years cards. I had a real job getting myself to part with these because I think they are amongst the nicest cards I have ever bought. I got them at a Christmas Fair (bootsale or craft fair) out in the countryside last year and have kept them in a safe place ever since. 
That is sometimes a good tactic when it comes to buying your Christmas cards as, love or hate them, Christmas cards can be quite expensive to buy and so if you get the chance right near Christmas to stock up for next year at bargain prices it makes good sense to do so. They always come wrapped in protective film anyway so they won't go yellow or discoloured.

Home made Christmas cards are so more personal and lovely than 'standard issue' cards and I love the fact that I can say exactly what I want inside rather than have to scrawl a few words around the cliches. Christmas is a time for connection and thinking about friends from the past and the present who are miles away now for one reason or another and sending them a really nice card makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!